Mark III Tone.....

[Schmoog]

I just got my mark III and am LOVING it. I mean where has this amp been my whole life, honestly. but the tone I am looking for is a real heavy, but full sound. figure maybe metallica but with mids, maybe a Killswitch-esq kind of dream theatery sound. If anyone understands what i'm looking for and can point me in the right direction, that'd be great......

 

[Schmoog]

I don't mind the shared EQ, because I use the lead channel for my main rhythm, lead, and clean sounds, and I use R2 for crunch. I usually keep the volume on my neck pickup at like 4-5 so when I want lead I just twist the knob up, and I keep my rhythm pickup volume low enough that the lead cleans up almost totally, so when I want clean, I just switch pickups, and I switch to r2 for my crunch. I also gotta try it cranked with my full setup. I have only played it thus far with the EV in the combo, and the thiele, I gotta get a series box and hook up my two 1x15 ported cabs, and that will definetly make the sound bigger. we'll see. I'll update this tonight when I get home from work.....

 

[user 2126]

Put a boss GE7 in the loop and you would have a very compressed Metallica sound.

 

[Schmoog]

what about a keeley compressor instead?

 

[user 2126]

what about a keeley compressor instead?

Maybe, but I garanty you that the GE7 make it very similar to the Metallica tone and give you a variety of other one.

 

[Schmoog]

I've never really been a fan of digital effects and such, especially the boss ones. to me they've always sounded very cold. like trying to emulate the real thing and failing. but I'll check out the GE7 again and see whats up

 

[reo73]

Try this if you want a heavy sound that shakes your body...Its actually on the R2 channel.

Volume: 9
Treble: 9-10 (this knob really controls the gain)
Bass: 1 Pulled
Mid: 1 Pulled
Master: 3-4 Pulled
Lead Drive: NA
Lead Master: NA
Presence: 4

EQ From left to right: 75%-60%-10%-80%-90%

Killer!!!

 

[Schmoog]

I'll try all the settings that you guys have suggested this evening when I get home from work. I am also going to hook up my full rig, which is the combo (running at full power of course) with the EV, my 1x12 thiele with a EV black label which just came today (cant wait to hear this monster), and my 2 1x15 ported cabinets which are loaded with eminence commonwealth 15's. it should sound absolutely enormous theoretically. esp. with my emg loaded les paul.

 

[Schmoog]

speaking of which, I am thinking a noise gate is a good investment, as this amp just loves to be played loud, and for some reason my emg's just LOVE to feedback. anyone have any recommendations on a noise gate?

 

[eldi]

Congrats! the Mk III is a underapriciated & very kickass amp. I have an '85 no-stripe simulclass long head that I either play through a Marshall 1960AV 4-12 cab or a Mesa 1-12 half open back long cab with a C90.

Is your Mk III a Simulclass, 60/100, or a 60 watter? If it is a simul-class, I recommend putting EL-34's in the outside sockets, if you don't have them in there already. That will really round out & even out your tone.

Using 15" ported cabs may make your tone fart out & sound too flubbery....15's, IMHO, are for bass, NOT guitar. Your mids will get lost using 15's, meaning you'll get lost in the mix and won't be able to cut through if you're playing with a band. I recommend getting a good closed back 4-12 or 2-12 cabinet with some good speakers. I like Celestion vintage 30's, but C90's are good too. Let your guide you on that.

If your amp has the onboard 5-band eq, it's really pointless to put a eq pedal in the effects loop. I do not recommend putting a Boss GE-7 in the effects loop. My experience is with that pedal is that it takes the warmth & depth away from your tone when put in an effects loop. You might as well sell your MkIII & buy an old solid state Crate & go to the strip club with the money you have left over if you have to put a GE-7 in the loop, because thats what that pedal will make your amp sound like!

Assuming your amp has the 5-band eq, you may try these settings on the lead channel as a starting point for a good metal tone, and fine tune it abit to fit your speakers, guitar/pickups, & your personal tonal preferences: Volume at about 5-8 (Bright pushed in), Bass around 5 (shift pulled out), Mid at 9-10(Rhythm 2 pulled out), Treble at 7-8(shift pulled out), Presence between 2-4, Lead Drive between 8-10 (pulled out, of course), and set your master volume & Lead master volume (with bright pushed in) to your desired volume level, if your using single coils, pull the Deep on on the Master Volume, if using humbuckers, keep the Deep pushed in, run at full power, with the 5-band eq in the "V" formation. This should get you into "Master of Puppets" territory. A good quality compressor pedal may be a good thing to put into the front of the amp, for solos. A BBE Sonic Maximizer might help you fine tune your tone also, but that may not be nessesary.

Have fun with your new toy!

 

[user 2126]

I do not recommend putting a Boss GE-7 in the effects loop. My experience is with that pedal is that it takes the warmth & depth away from your tone when put in an effects loop. You might as well sell your MkIII & buy an old solid state Crate & go to the strip club with the money you have left over if you have to put a GE-7 in the loop, because thats what that pedal will make your amp sound like!

:lol: I really disagree on that quote, the GE7 make it sound a lot heavier like Metallica kind of sound. Shure it change the tone of your Mark III but it has nothing to do with Crate amps NOTHING it still a Mark III with a GE7 in the loop :roll: . So give a try again and come up with a more intelligent quote next time.

 

[eldi]

I do not recommend putting a Boss GE-7 in the effects loop. My experience is with that pedal is that it takes the warmth & depth away from your tone when put in an effects loop. You might as well sell your MkIII & buy an old solid state Crate & go to the strip club with the money you have left over if you have to put a GE-7 in the loop, because thats what that pedal will make your amp sound like!

:lol: I really disagree on that quote, the GE7 make it sound a lot heavier like Metallica kind of sound. Shure it change the tone of your Mark III but it has nothing to do with Crate amps NOTHING it still a Mark III with a GE7 in the loop :roll: . So give a try again and come up with a more intelligent quote next time.

Why use an eq pedal, when the onboard 5-band eq is, in my opinion, far superior to the GE-7 in terms of maintaining the tone, warmth and natural character of the amp, which in my experience, the GE-7 takes away. I've tried the GE-7 in a couple of different amps: a Marshall JCM 900 Master Volume (2500) that I used to own & a Mesa MkIIb combo that does not have the onboard 5-band eq. I was very displeased with the way it seemd to "squash" out my tone on both amps, making them both sound colder, taking on an almost solid state quality to them, making both amps sound very uninspiring, hence the reference to Crate amps. I've not tried to use it in the effects loop on my Mk III, and I probably won't, mostly because I feel that it is unessesary, the onboard EQ does a fine job of fine tuning the sound and I am happy with the sound of that amp without the EQ pedal.

 

[reo73]

yes, killer feedback, good luck. with the master volume that high, going higher than 7 and 7 on volume and treble is asking for feedback trouble UNLESS you have a noise gate. depends on active or passive pups and cables as well.

I'm sure this will sound pretty solid though. I've learned that in order to get good hard rock/crunchy tones from R2 on my Mk III, the master volume needs to be past 3.5 or so with the treble around 7. You can get some decent sounds with or w/o the 5 band EQ engaged.

I don't have a problem with feedback with this setting. Just pure killer crunch tone. I have found that R2 has a more open lower end response and thump than the lead channel which is why I like it for really heavy tones but the trick is to get the treble up to 9 for the gain and back way off the 750 slider so it is not honky.

 

[eldi]

I think the bottom line for Mark III's and professional use is the following:

-great for tracking

-poor for live

due to the shared EQ problem. Thus the Mark IV...

maybe I should've tried to get a Mk IV, maybe that would've cured my GAS....

 

[reo73]

yes, killer feedback, good luck. with the master volume that high, going higher than 7 and 7 on volume and treble is asking for feedback trouble UNLESS you have a noise gate. depends on active or passive pups and cables as well.

I'm sure this will sound pretty solid though. I've learned that in order to get good hard rock/crunchy tones from R2 on my Mk III, the master volume needs to be past 3.5 or so with the treble around 7. You can get some decent sounds with or w/o the 5 band EQ engaged.

I don't have a problem with feedback with this setting. Just pure killer crunch tone. I have found that R2 has a more open lower end response and thump than the lead channel which is why I like it for really heavy tones but the trick is to get the treble up to 9 for the gain and back way off the 750 slider so it is not honky.

does it sound close to a JCM 800 50 watt with the gain max'd and volume up? My 2205 was great for what you're talking about I think.

Not really...Mesa is just a different voicing all together from Marshall and I have never felt they are similar.

 

[user 2126]

I do not recommend putting a Boss GE-7 in the effects loop. My experience is with that pedal is that it takes the warmth & depth away from your tone when put in an effects loop. You might as well sell your MkIII & buy an old solid state Crate & go to the strip club with the money you have left over if you have to put a GE-7 in the loop, because thats what that pedal will make your amp sound like!

:lol: I really disagree on that quote, the GE7 make it sound a lot heavier like Metallica kind of sound. Shure it change the tone of your Mark III but it has nothing to do with Crate amps NOTHING it still a Mark III with a GE7 in the loop :roll: . So give a try again and come up with a more intelligent quote next time.

Why use an eq pedal, when the onboard 5-band eq is, in my opinion, far superior to the GE-7 in terms of maintaining the tone, warmth and natural character of the amp, which in my experience, the GE-7 takes away. I've tried the GE-7 in a couple of different amps: a Marshall JCM 900 Master Volume (2500) that I used to own & a Mesa MkIIb combo that does not have the onboard 5-band eq. I was very displeased with the way it seemd to "squash" out my tone on both amps, making them both sound colder, taking on an almost solid state quality to them, making both amps sound very uninspiring, hence the reference to Crate amps. I've not tried to use it in the effects loop on my Mk III, and I probably won't, mostly because I feel that it is unessesary, the onboard EQ does a fine job of fine tuning the sound and I am happy with the sound of that amp without the EQ pedal.

It all a matter of taste, sometime when it come to heavy riff I go with the GE7 to get a very compressed sound but like you said overall I like the warmth and natural character of the III.

 

[Schmoog]

I basically found the sound I am looking for. bu before I get to that, this amp, for me anyway, is great for live. you just gotta know how to use it. first thing I did, go buy a volume pedal. I usually keep the volume slightly low (like 7 or so) for my rhythm work, and I will only kick the volume pedal all the way up for solos or chorus if there's no solo. second, turn the volume on the bridge pickup almost all the way down. mine is on like 1. and flip the pickup when you want clean, and crunch is there all you have to do is dig in. so anyways, here are my settings, go and try them and tell me what you think. and please note that i had NO feedback issues at these settings at all, but it was a larger size room with very little echo.

volume: 8
treble: 7
Bass: 1-1.5
Mid: 3
Master: 7
Lead Drive: 7 (pulled)
Lead Master: 3
Reverb: 4.5
Presence: 1-1.5

eq was kinda like this:

80: top line at middle of slider
240: bottom of slider at top of middle line
750: bottom of slider at top of bottom line
2200: top of slider at bottom of top line
6600 top of slider a hair below bottom of middle line

heres a pic of the eq in case my wording sucks.....

 

[Schmoog]

oh, and I really don't want to hear that it's too loud. I stood 10 feet in front of my amp rocking for 2 hours, then my band came over and we jammed for an hour. if your amp is too loud for you, I don't know, donate it to the schmoog wants 3 blue stripes 1 for each channel association or something

 

[reo73]

Glad you liked it and found a tone that excites you. The Mark III is full of tone and once you find the sweet spot on each channel it is easy to dial in variations from there. One thing I noticed looking at your EQ setting is that for me having the 6600 slider that low would make the amp sooooo dark. I usually can't go any lower than 75% on my treble slider and I keep my presence around 5. Maybe it has to do with my speakers being darker, I don't know.