Mark III/Petrucci questions from a noob

[destropiate]

Ok im actually a pre-noob, Im buying a Rackmount MKIII redstripe next sunday and it will be the first boogie I've ever owned.

Ive heard Pertucci Uses MKIV's and II's and i just want to know where the gain on a MKIII sits comparably to his sound on Images and Words and Awake.
Also i wanted to know if i can get the MKIII into high gain territory at a reasonably low volume.
I know its not going to sound like it would cranked but sometimes I like to thrash late at night and I dont like to thrash clean. If not im going to have to get myself an attenuator.
Thanks.

 

[reo73]

It will be in the general ballpark of his I&W tone (a little less for the Awake tone which combined a Recto into the IIC+ tone) but if you have a very critical ear the nuances are not quite the same. Most notably you will not get the low end thud that petrucci got on I&W with a III. Also, the III is not quite as smooth, but to a casual ear they are close and this may suit you fine.

You can get fairly good lead tones at a low volume with a III as well but it shines when opened up.

 

[destropiate]

Cool, thanks for the info.
I just wanted to make sure that I would be in the same ballpark with the MKIII. I dont really want to cop his tone completely I just love how articulate and well defined it is even when he's playing very heavy complex chords.
Hopefully with the addition of some rack gear for live stuff and studio magic for recordings I can get that kind of definition, which is something I was always lacking with my Marshalls.
I cant wait

 

[Shep]

reckon the mk III can pull the early dream theater tones off excellently... the very tight focused Rhy sounds... the thinner than the mk IV leads.. very (I&W)

guitar really help's too..

 

[Mesa Boooogie]

My Red Stripe is doing I&W and Awake quite nicely here.

I dare say the sound I'm getting is a hair more Recto-like than the I&W tone, so its almost like having a combination of both album tones in one amp.

High gain isn't a problem, nor is volume so don't worry about that, you'll be just fine once you get the amp dialed in. It takes a little time finding out about where each knob has to be set but doing a search will yield great results as it seems most settings are very similiar for the "heavy mark sound." Just remember to keep the bass and presence low (real low-start at 0 and work your way up) because they will easily overwhelm your sound if set too high. Most other knobs can be set to where they usually are on most any amp.

The graphic EQ is your best friend when it comes to those heavy tones. I've heard people say otherwise, but I couldn't see myself using the lead channel without it. I'm using a semi-Hetfield EQ shape. Each of the 4 sliders that gets set high in that shape I have pulled back though. I don't like to boost the bass or highs as much as he does.