New member with Mark III blue stripe

[lowercasee]

Hi, I am new to the board and Mesa in general. Just recently purchased a nice clean Mark III blue stripe simulclass / EQ combo from Music Go Round. So far I am LOVING it!! I am playing it through a Carvin 4x12 straight cab with Vintage 30s and it just crushes. I mostly play metal and rock, but I like the sparkling cleans too. So many tonal possibilities in this thing, it's unreal.

In the past, I have never really been much of a Mesa fan. My only experience with them was limited to the rectifier series, though. After playing around with the Mark III a bit, I was sold. Looks like there is a TON of good info and great members on this board. Hoping to learn a lot and contribute anything that I can.

 

[Seanboy]

Welcome to the group! Congrats on the new amp, I've got a no stripe Mark III and love it. There's a ton of people on this forum who really know their stuff and have been a great help to me. There's tons of posts with settings and other great advice. Just remember that a Mark III can be a little difficult to dial in at first, but once you figure it out, the tonal possibilities are endless! Enjoy the new amp!!

Sean

 

[sotosprince]

Hey man, congrats on the amp! Myself got a very clean blue stripe combo too and it's like one of the best things I have ever listened to! I am into the old metallica thing and it can do it perfectly! I also play blues and some rock and I must say it delivers so nice!

 

[lowercasee]

Thanks guys. The amp just keeps getting better and better as I learn to tweak the settings. It's amazing how responsive it is to even the smallest knob or slider change too. The volume is ridiculous too. I ran it on Master volume 2 for a few minutes over the weekend and beer mug collection nearly rattled off it's shelf. :lol: One thing I have noticed is the fluctuating volume when using the fx loop. After reading on here, I am going to try some contact cleaner to see if that helps. It's not a big deal as I don't really use FX, but I like to run the Boss NS-2 in 4 cable mode so the FX loop is a must for that.

 

[dlpasco]

The volume is ridiculous too. I ran it on Master volume 2 for a few minutes over the weekend and beer mug collection nearly rattled off it's shelf.

AT *2*?

I refer to that as "The cops will be here in five minutes"

 

[lowercasee]

:lol: Yep, that's about right. For all out decibels, this thing blows away the X100B it replaced.

 

[tony777]

If you haven't already, try to pull rhythm 2 while in lead mode, it gives a little extra boost.

 

[lowercasee]

Interesting, will give it at try. Just got an EQ/reverb switch pedal, quite nice to have. Another thing I notice is that when using pedals in the loop, I lose volume and gain. Seems like it is a common issue with these older amps. Kinda sucks though as it would be nice to have delay and chorus. Using Boss pedals, wondering if other brands would react differently?

 

[kdorsey]

Interesting, will give it at try. Just got an EQ/reverb switch pedal, quite nice to have. Another thing I notice is that when using pedals in the loop, I lose volume and gain. Seems like it is a common issue with these older amps. Kinda sucks though as it would be nice to have delay and chorus. Using Boss pedals, wondering if other brands would react differently?

That's more likely due to the pedal(s). My Strymon pedals work well as does the Carbon Copy. Vintage MXR Flanger is horrible for tone suck.

 

[lowercasee]

Going to try a Phaser in the front and then just use the amp's reverb. That should get me by.