MKIII control noob control questions

[uderoche]

First post. Sorry in advance for the noob questions. Just picked up my first MKIII. A used Blue Stripe.

Do the Lead Drive and Lead Master have any effect on the clean channel and the R2 channel?

Also, is the lead channel activated by pulling the lead drive control? I do not have a footswitch.

Basically, I'm trying to figure out how to access all 3 "modes" and if the Lead Drive/Lead Master have any effect on the other 2 modes or only the lead mode.

Thank you all for your help

 

[mott555]

Lead Drive and Lead Master have no effect on clean or R2. The lead channel is activated by pulling one of the knobs, my amp isn't in front of me so I don't recall which one but it should be labelled as such.

 

[Markedman]

My advice for you is to download the manual and try the "settings " that mesa listed. This is crucial to not getting frustrated with this amp. The more tones an amp has, the more room for bad ones! No matter what, these are underrated amps.

 

[Agustín Collia]

I'll echo what the two guys above me said. The manual is very informative, and very easy to read. Also, you can access Rhythm 2 by pulling the Mid knob. You'll also notice that the Lead channel sounds a bit different when it's alone (just the Lead Drive knob pulled) and when you combine it with the Rhythm 2 channel (both Lead Drive and Mid knobs are pulled).

 

[MrMarkIII]

First post. Sorry in advance for the noob questions. Just picked up my first MKIII. A used Blue Stripe.

Do the Lead Drive and Lead Master have any effect on the clean channel and the R2 channel?
No, but the higher the Volume is set, the more gain is available from all three modes. More Treble adds a bit more gain as well, in all three modes. The one thing to avoid is too much Bass with high gain. "Pull Shift" on the Bass adds Bass mostly to the Rhythm 1 & 2 modes while avoiding yellow, waxy build-up in the Lead mode. Try it with the Bass knob set at zero. "Pull Deep" adds even deeper Bass to all modes, so use it sparingly, as it can easily make the Lead mode flubby-sounding.

Also, is the lead channel activated by pulling the lead drive control? I do not have a footswitch.
Yep. "Pull Lead".

Basically, I'm trying to figure out how to access all 3 "modes" and if the Lead Drive/Lead Master have any effect on the other 2 modes or only the lead mode.
Which ever Master (Master or Lead Master) is set the lowest determines how loud you are. However, don't get fooled into thinking that running the Lead Master very low and the Master very high will "overdrive the power section".
No, it won't.
The only way you can "overdrive the power section" is to play very loud, or use an attenuator, a device with a giant watt-devouring resistor which plugs in between the speaker and the amp's output.
Any box with a knob that plugs into the effects loop is NOT an attenuator, no matter what the advertising claims.

The manual is your bestest friend.

Not in the manual:
Not sure, but the manual may not make it clear that the Graphic EQ comes after everything else. The Reverb, on the other hand, comes BEFORE the effects loop, unlike 98% of other amps. So, any effects in the loop will be POST reverb. So, if you stick a compressor in the loop, the reverb will be totally over-the-top, as the compressor will amplify the reverb level to make it the same level as the dry guitar.

 

[Promethean]

If you are lucky the amp may have an R2 level mod. This lets you control the mix between R1 & R2 which is a fixed difference in unmodded MK3s. May be a knob marked as such on the back.

The manual makes a great read though and explains many things. It has sample settings at the end.

http://www.mesaboogie.com/media/User%20Manuals/Mark%20III.pdf

 

[Markedman]

The lead master knob does affect the volume of the clean channel, try it!