More New Mk III Madness

[camsna]

So. I LOVE the amp. But I find myself a bit discouraged. My only Mesa before it was a 3 Ch. Dual Rectifier. Took me a long time to get it 'dialed in.' But once I did - it rocks.

And that's how it seems with Mesa. They sound better than just about anything out there - but getting to the gooey center of great tone is something of a journey. That's what I'm learning about my Mk III. It's harder to get going than Martha Stewart on a set of mismatched sheets!

So I hope I find the zen soon. It's tough to sit in front of it and dial it all in because one's ears wear out (at that volume!) in a matter of minutes. So I get it sounding good, take an hour off, and realize that it really sounds a'crap.

Just gotta keep telling myself that it's all part of the fun

By the by - my JCM 900 sounds good no matter where the knobs are set So it seems that Mesa amps are a hard-to-find 10. Marshall is an easy-to-find 7

 

[Nomad]

You will get there with it.

Marshalls are a whole nother animal. Your eally cant compare a Marshall to a Boogie. It just depends on your taste and what your looking for tonally.

There are plenty of Boogies that dont require much Tweaking. The DC-5 comes to mind. Pretty much just plug and play.

 

[Nomad]

Oh and BTW that crack about Martha Stewart is sho nuff funny. :lol:

 

[Nomad]

Here is one for you. Tweaking a Boogie is sort of like Zen Boggieism.

Peace is on the horizon but it takes some serious meditation. :lol:

 

[AustinK]

i would recomend not sitting right in front of it but rather to the side. It helps to hear the whole amp and not just the speaker that is pointed at your face. Also try and step out of the room and listen to it. Don't be discouraged i just finally dialed in my mark III last week after 1.5 months of tweaking.

 

[phyrexia]

At least the knobs on your Mesa do something.

 

[camsna]

Ha! How true. The knobs on a Mesa remind me of the shower faucets at old, seedy, motels! I'm getting closer now, though. I'm still trying to decide if I like the stock EVM-12L.

Welp. Off to tweak some more!

Thanks all!!!

 

[Anonymous]

For god's sake, just keep the presence low! It adds unnecessary treble and fizz and will further add to troublesome dialing.

 

[edward]

Your first problem is why in the world would you want to get Martha Stewart going?!! Overcome this personal failing and you'll do much better

Now as for the MKIII, yeah, it takes some time ...but ohhh so gratifying once you hit tonal nirvana. And the best thing is you actually KNOW how to use the amp's tone controls to get what you want. It's almost as if you have learned the secret order of the III, and only then can you learn to utilize its power and unleash its potential ...to do Good, of course.

You're right about taking lots of break as ear fatigue sets in fast; even sooner at high volume. Remember, too, that you're not trying to "find" good tone (or your personal tone) in the amp by tweaking knobs; you're trying to find out what *exactly* each knob does to alter the amp's voice and dynamics. Learn this and you'll find the tone. Seriously, that's what's I've found is so tricky about the the III is the shared controls and how they interact with one another. Their specific jobs and how they interact is their "power" (and ingenuity, IMHO) to those who paid due diligence to learn it vs. those who hate boogs because they were "too hard" to tweak. True the learning curve is steep initially; but like any task that's new to our gray matter, once you "get it," you're got it. Learn each part of her and you'll be richly rewarded

Edward

 

[carlosasi]

Use the manuals suggested settings. I found this very helpful in breaking the code.

 

[camsna]

Wow. After dialing down the presence and 6600 - sure darkened and smoothed this thing up! Very slick, man. So much to discover!

 

[Nomad]

Cool.

 

[ianvomsaal]

I've never been able to get good Clean and OD tones at the same time (it's either one or the other).
I'll get my Crunch or Lead tone absolutely perfect, but then the Clean tone absolutely Sucks ***.
It's the interactive knobs - You almost have to run 2 amps at the same time for both OD and Clean.
Anyone else???

- Ian

 

[Boogie Woogie Man]

It took me a while but I have the three best tones I have heard yet from a Mk lll. Lush clean, powerful crunch and liquid lead. I firmly believe that turning the presence way down..(mine is at 1.5) helps a great deal.