Mark III tone issues

[Schmoog]

Hey guys,

been having some issues with my mark III. just for background, its an 87 blue stripe, with sylvania 6l6's, mullard EL34's, RCA Black plate 12ax7's, except for V3 which is a NOS mullard shield logo. It's simul class, eq, reverb, with the original EVM 12L.

I never had a problem when I was playing heavier stuff, metal and whatnot, however, now my tastes have changed, and I am playing more classic rock brit rock types of stuff. and I've been noticing that the amp is coming across very boxy sounding, like there is too much mid. My mid dial is at 2, and the 750 hz slider is almost all the way down, but I can't seem to shake this boxyness. Could it be the mid-heavy nature of the EVM? Perhaps an MS-12 is in order?

any thoughts?

 

[Schmoog]

Also note that I am using R1 set to almost breakup, and driving it into mid-gain crunch using the zvex super-hard-on

 

[AustinK]

try rythem 2 or the lead channel set to low gain. Also to sharpen it up a bit bump the presence.

 

[Schmoog]

I should say that it's plenty sharp. the treble side of things sounds great, and over all the sound is clear as a bell. R2 and Lead really oversaturate for what I'm doing now. There is just too much mid. I'm trying to shift from a mid-focused sound to getting a little more growl on the low end, and sounding less like a late 70's and early 80's punk band. Think low gain JMP/Plexi type sounds. the top end and the clarity is there, the mids are giving me trouble.

 

[JOEY B.]

Does it still sound boxy when you disconnect the combo speaker and play through a closed back speaker cab?

 

[AJ_Newkirk]

I'd have a hard time imagining that an EVM is too strong in the mids.

Most likely your problem can be solved by a good retube.

 

[Schmoog]

Does it still sound boxy when you disconnect the combo speaker and play through a closed back speaker cab?

don't have a closed back around. my 2x12 is an 2/3 back.

sounds a little better. could be my micing also. Though I don't think so because it never came across boxy before.

In my experience, recording an amp is the best way to tell tone, listening to it in the room almost never gives a true representation of what the amp sounds like.

 

[AustinK]

I would try running straight into the amp not using an overdrive. It might be that the pedal is coloring your tone and making it sound boxey.

 

[Schmoog]

I would try running straight into the amp not using an overdrive. It might be that the pedal is coloring your tone and making it sound boxey.

a zvex super hard on? coloring tone? :shock: I'm pretty sure that's not it...

you're using a les paul???

I get the same issue with my epi les paul w/ EMG's, and to a somewhat lesser extent with my Hamer Studio Custom w/ SD 59s. I think it might be related to the gain structure of the amp. Mark III's are generally pretty boxy if you're not careful. Problem is i need to look for a different amp if its cause of the gain structure. The general tone I'm looking for requires as few stages of gain as possible. If I use the lead channel, I can get the right gain level, but its over-saturated sounding. Too "compressed" if you can believe there is any compression at all in the thing...

 

[AustinK]

Ok i think the solution is to retube your pre amp with low gain tubes. Then you can drive them hard to get that overdriven but not distorted sound.

 

[MrMarkIII]

The Treble control may be the ticket. Try all tone controls at 5, or even zero, then tweak the middle and bass first. Pull the Bass Shift and Deep to start also. Then the Treble will have less dominance. Avoid the Treble Pull-Shift, it adds upper mids, albeit in Lead mode only. The Middle, whether on 2 or on 10 is still the weakest tone control. It says so in the manual, so it must be true LOL. Also try raising the two outside sliders on the Graphic. Sometimes it's not enough to dial out stuff; you gotta dial some "opposite" stuff in.
You may be suffering from "ear fatigue". Try playing the amp for a while with the Graphic "un-dimed" (all sliders bottomed out). It will sound muffled, but probably not "boxy".
I know if I play with the Graphic set to the so-called "classic V" for a while, then switch it out, the Mark III sounds VERY mid-heavy. It's just what your ear gets used to.

 

[AustinK]

try a lower gain factor preamp tube in V1 or V2 (or just turn down the gain).

also try rolling back the volume knob on your guitar. that may help as well.

+1

 

[edward]

try a lower gain factor preamp tube in V1 or V2 (or just turn down the gain).

also try rolling back the volume knob on your guitar. that may help as well.

Ditto. As well, my tastes/playing has changed over the years (getting old ) and I found dialing the gain back gets you more chime/less mids tone. If that doesn't move you close enough to what you want, gain down your amp with a 12AT7 in place of the ax7 in the PI position and/or the V1. Experimenting here is key. Give it a try and see what you like

Edward

 

[Schmoog]

It's due for a retube anyways. I'm going to retube the gain stages with 12AT7's and see what happens. I want to leave the 12ax7 in the driver stage because I like the preamp to hit the power section pretty hard.

 

[AustinK]

let us know if that fixes it. Good luck