Mark III without eq, questions

[EleventhHour2139]

Hi everyone, just ordered a Mark III red stripe a few days ago, and cant wait for it to get here! I have a question though, particularly to those of you without the graphic eq, as mine doesnt have it. I play mostly metal and thrash, with the occasional clean moment here or there. How necessary is the eq to getting the awesome 80's metal and thrash tones? Will buying an eq pedal (i.e. KFK 10 band, boss 7 band) help this? I know it sounds a bit extreme, but i would even be willing to ship it to boogie to have an eqalizer installed, if there is such an option.

 

[phyrexia]

Do you want to scoop? I think you can get good rock to heavy rock sounds out of the III without the EQ, but if you want the scooped sound you'll need an EQ.

 

[EleventhHour2139]

Absolutely, scooping is a must! I do love un-scooped metal tones, but the majority of the time I use a semi-scooped to scooped tone. Would an outboard eq work as well as having one installed?

 

[Supertaster]

1 have a 60w red stripe combo with no EQ. I tried various EQ pedals in the loop (because everyone here said that you 'must' have EQ with a Mark III) but didn't like the sound. Then I tried a mark III with built-in EQ and I didn't like that either! I figured out that the mids were a huge part of this amp's sound and vital for my sound cutting through when I played with a band. The obnoxious mid-range hump I was getting disappeared as soon as I went through an extension cab. The amp with cab and without EQ is perfect for me.

I play rock and blues, and can't stand 80s mid-scooped sounds, so YMMV. I'd certainly try it first and get to know the amp well before EQing it too drastically. There are a lot of sounds in the stock amp that have taken me years to find.

 

[PnKnG]

An Eq pedal works fine. I have a Mark III without a GEq. Just make sure it's in the FX-Loop.

 

[EleventhHour2139]

An Eq pedal works fine. I have a Mark III without a GEq. Just make sure it's in the FX-Loop.

What style of music do you play?

 

[Mesa/Kramer]

I ordered my MkIII direct from Mesa right after they came out in 85 or 86.
The thing cost $950 even back then new, adding options like EQ and reverb were $150 each. Didn't have the cash, and didn't think the EQ was a big deal.
I had tried out a friends MKIIC w/ all options prior to buying mine and that's what sold me on it.

When my MKIII arived, I was so disapointed, it sounded like **** (for metal), No matter what amp settings I tried, sounded really thin and lacking.
Didn't know any better back then as to why it did not sound good.

Suffered though for a few years, bought an MP-1 and put the Mesa in the closet.

It would be many many years later of trying again that I would finaly figure out how to get an awesome metal sound out of this "Non EQ" MKIII.

EQ in the loop
Pull out the "Deep knob"
Run a boost in front (To smooth out any mud from the deep knob pulled)

 

[EleventhHour2139]

I ordered my MkIII direct from Mesa right after they came out in 85 or 86.
The thing cost $950 even back then new, adding options like EQ and reverb were $150 each. Didn't have the cash, and didn't think the EQ was a big deal.
I had tried out a friends MKIIC w/ all options prior to buying mine and that's what sold me on it.

When my MKIII arived, I was so disapointed, it sounded like **** (for metal), No matter what amp settings I tried, sounded really thin and lacking.
Didn't know any better back then as to why it did not sound good.

Suffered though for a few years, bought an MP-1 and put the Mesa in the closet.

It would be many many years later of trying again that I would finaly figure out how to get an awesome metal sound out of this "Non EQ" MKIII.

EQ in the loop
Pull out the "Deep knob"
Run a boost in front (To smooth out any mud from the deep knob pulled)

Ok, sounds good. Just as long as it can be cured with an eq pedal. Ive been looking at getting a Sniper GE-7, anyone have any experience with those?

 

[EleventhHour2139]

So Ive just spent about an hour and a half trying to dial in a decent metal sound, but to no avail. I started off with the recommended settings in the manual and went from there (not straying too far), but there just doesnt seem to be enough gain available to give it that "over the top" metal tone. It seems as though it would be beyond the scope of an eq pedal to fix, so im curious as to what anyone might recommend, or even better if you metal players might lend me some insight as to what your settings are. Thanks to all

 

[GIG4FUN]

I just re-read your post above mine and edited to add this one paragraph comment into my response: I am worried about the amp since you comment about not having enough gain to do the metal sound. Mine screams plenty of gain at lead drive "5". How's your tubes?
**

I'm stepping in even though I have the EQ.... I am just looking at the face of one in a picture for a guide...(I'm not by my amp BUT I do remember this sounded good because I found a note I wrote down on it. I have a 300w EVM in mine but I "hope" that it will still be something worth your effort to try...your speaker may react differently. Now the following settings I saved and liked without using the EQ. Let me know what it does for you with your amp.

How about your presence knob in the back of the amp?
Do you have that? Try it up at least higher than "3.5".
First knob...volume I think it says.... Got that at "8"? try that there.
pull Deep switch out on master have master at "2" for starting!
Bass dial on "3"
Mid "8"
Treble "8"
lead drive "5"
pull out the lead master ("pull bright")
Mess with the "presence" to get it "better" to your ear.
this was in simul-class mode

still there are loose variables (guitar / pickup /style / your gas milage may vary BUT try this and get back here with a comment.) hehe

 

[EleventhHour2139]

Hey, thanks for the settings, but I just found out something disturbing. I bought this amp on ebay, and it said other than some minor tolex rips that it was in perfect condition. I noticed, as I started looking at the amp, that the bottom part of the speaker was pushed out at an angle, kind of bloated or I guess you could say it looked like it was pregnant, and was pushing against the bottom part of the grille. I looked at pictures of other Mk IIIs to see if this was the norm, and I noticed that obviously it was not. So I just took off the grille, and come to find out that THERE ARE NO SCREWS HOLDING THE SPEAKER IN!!! NONE!!! There were only 4 screws present, and those look like they had been ripped out of the speaker support! There are wood chips lining the bottom of the case where the grille would sit on, and the bottom part of the grille itself is split in two. Thats not to mention the wood chips that are sprinkled around the edge of the speaker. Right now im just too pissed to even know what to say.........im honestly in utter disbelief.......

 

[GIG4FUN]

Can you re-index the speaker say... 10 ° and use some 1" screws to hold it (screw them in from the front) and give it a go? At least do this until you get resolve? It's a hell of a package to at least not give up on yet. Killer amps....

 

[EleventhHour2139]

If I had done the damage, then absolutely! But as it stands now ive contacted the seller and we'll see what happens. If the amp had been described as such, then by all means i'd already have it back together lol, but this is on their hands. And this by no means signals my giving up on this amp. In fact, I am hoping to be able to keep it, provided all things are worked out. However, either the store I bought it from or the shipping company are going to be held liable here, and I would rather just leave it be for the time being, rather than them try to claim "this" or say "that". Sucks too, its been a long week of waiting and I was giddy like a 4th grader in Toys R' Us when it finally got here. Should this move toward going the long haul, then I believe your advice will perfectly fit the bill!

 

[GIG4FUN]

respect that !

I wish you well. Update as needed.

 

[EleventhHour2139]

Hey thanks man, if I could ever figure out how to post pictures I could show ya the "carnage". For now its back to my Line 6 Spider II 150

 

[GIG4FUN]

ah, I need to get my rest. The less seen the better right now. Maybe on a weekend! haha I'd have to hit the Gin/Tonic to get to sleep after seeing all the mayhem

I wish you well.