RA-100=Mark IIC+

[guitarrhinoceros]

If Mesa thought there was even the most remote chance to market the RA as kinda like a MKIIC, I highly doubt their spin doctors would skip that.

They claim the MKV is dead on the IIC and it is not, and they claim the IIC owners are overpaying tone snobs.

Does that really sound like the kinda guys that would come out with a great amp on it's own, that also nails the MKIIC?

I have played a few of the Atlantic family of amps, great amps btw. I own a MKIIC. They seem a bit different, probably complementary.

With respect, I don't think your logic is that feasible. The MKV came out three years before the RA, and since Mesa was on record as touting the MKV as possessing the MKIIC sound -- then I'm not at all surprised that Mesa's so-called "spin doctors" aren't stating that their newer offering, the RA-100, is capable of such sounds. It would be bad marketing and would promote more confusion than excitement. They know the MKV is selling like hotcakes. Why would they do anything to jeopardize that?

I can see your point. But consider that Mesa has no problem marketing a mode on multiple amps. A few stabs at Brit type, tweed, replicating the Lonestar on the Road King.

The MKV is good but it is the only choice. The RA and Dyne are great. In the end, if people buy Mesa, whichever one, Mesa wins. They do seem to be trying really hard to find another niche aside of the Mark or Recto lines.

I have heard some good Stilletto tones but that amp gets almost no love...

I may be somewhat prejudiced since I am in the process of selling my MKV to a jamming partner that has had it on loan for months.

Good counter arguments. Your points definitely hold up well. Either way, as a current MKIIC owner your views hold more weight than some of the views expressed here. Mine included.

 

[Heritage Softail]

I will probably get a RA used and try to bond with is for a few months. Part of my love with Mesa is the way you can dial in a feel, get that connection to it and just play.

I am a part time guitar hack that just loves music. The feel of getting the tone just right and hitting a few right notes and chords. That is the most fulfilling hobby and personal expression for me. For whatever the reason, the IIC gets there for me. Can't explain why. But I got this DSL cheap used and it hits the vibe zone easily too.

I went into Guitar Center one Saturday morning and heard a Recifier getting cranked up. There was this kid, smaller than the guitar he was holding. His dad was there watching him, you could tell he was proud. The kid was doing a great job playing Killing In The Name Of. He was jammin it hard... That was a cool moment. That is all I look for in an amp. Don't care what nameplate is on it. That is what rock and roll is all about for me. YMMV.

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned 6L6 Vs El34 with the RA-100 and Mark 2C generally loaded differently. People argue about output tubes for days.

As for the Mark V, personally I could not find great tones in channel 3. The tones were OK, but I didn't love any of them and that was the reason I skipped the Mark V. Perhaps if someone showed me where the good tones are I would have a different opinion. After an hour of trying I gave up. The RA-100 on the other hand didn't excite me to much when I first turned it on, but after 10 minutes I had found a number of my dream tones.

Probably try Petrucci's settings for a start, and tweak from there. That being said, if the RA tone dialing works in similar fashion to the Electradyne, then I would say the Mark V just needs more tweaking done to get it nailed perfectly...

 

[richb]

Tweaking is one thing but lets face it,Tone starts with the guitarist's fingers.john and i were talking about Mk IIc+'s and tone in general,he said no IIc+'s even sound the same,a light went off in my head.This amp does sound like a IIC+ on low gain with a BB Preamp and on the hi-gain it can come into mk IV territory.
I remember reading a old article about the Ted nugent/Van halen tour where ted was floored by eddie's sound so during sound check ted plugged into ed's rig and it sounded like a completely different rig!go figure...
RA-100=Mark IIC+ ?
Richb

 

[lesterpaul]

i remember that article...

Interview: John Shanks Discusses Producing Van Halen's New Album, 'A Different Kind Of Truth'


In a new interview with Esquire, Eddie Van Halen opens up about the band's new album, A Different Kind of Truth, and reminisces about his long and storied career.


"Ted was cool enough to give the band a sound check," he said. "He's standing off to the side and he's listening to me, and he comes up and says, 'Hey, you little ****! Where's your little magic black box?' I'm going, Who the **** is that? And it was Ted. Hey Ted, it's nice to meet you, thanks for the sound check. And he's going, 'Let me play your guitar!' I go, 'Okay, here you go.' He starts playing my guitar and it sounds like Ted.

"He yells, 'You just removed your little black box, didn't you? Where is it? What did you do?' I go, 'I didn't do anything!' So I play, and it sounds like me. He says, 'Here, play my guitar!' I play his big old guitar and it sounds just like me."

 

[JOEY B.]

I am a part time guitar hack that just loves music. The feel of getting the tone just right and hitting a few right notes and chords. That is the most fulfilling hobby and personal expression for me. For whatever the reason, the IIC gets there for me. Can't explain why.

Snob alert! Don't sweat it, I can't explain it either. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Hollis]

But doesn't Mesa/Boogie claim that it is the actual circuit, not a facsimilie, the real IIC+ circuit?

 

[Heritage Softail]

But doesn't Mesa/Boogie claim that it is the actual circuit, not a facsimilie, the real IIC+ circuit?

I want to start out saying I love me some Mesa amps. And I owned a MKV with it at my house for a year and change, then at a bandmates place on long term lend. He bought it. It was a great amp. He loves it. He likes more classic rock. I like a strange mix, Dire Straits, Hair metal, then Alice in Chains and Metallica.

To me, the MKV modeled a type of MKIIC+ tone. They could not replicate the entire amp. They made a slice of the pie. And I think they did a good job in modeling so many of their own amps in one unit.

But, the IIC is an entire amp, and they picked a piece of it. I like much of the rest of the IIC. it is a very player input dynamic amp. I have wasted more money on gear than my wife will ever know! :lol: it was chasing a Strat Knopfler tone, then the massive tone of AIC in Rooster or Man In A Box. The IIC gets it done. The clean channel is epic. You have to spend an hour or so on one. The high gain side can just belt out hair metal or anger. My JP6 sounds straight up evil thru it when digging in hard.

I was up at guitar center playing around with a Bogner Ecstacy. Struggling to dial it in and feeling quite humbled by the experience. The guy that sold me the MKIIC came by and said he was glad it went to someone who knew what to do with it. We cranked that little beast and had fun jamming it on the test drive. It just gets down to what fits you. That amp fits me for the pieces of it that boogie did not replicate in the MKV. Taking nothing away from the MKV' the IIC is just the amp for me.

Not trying to say one is better than the other, one fits me better than the other.

Find your fit and rock on,

 

[Hollis]

Yeah, I see your point. A specific amp is more than just a preamp circuit.

 

[jmontgomery]

I'm thinking I read that they designed the Mark Vs IIc+ circuit after a non eq model IIc+ they have at the factory and nailed it. I doubt they were identical at all levels but I'll bet they could be dialed in to sound the same.

 

[JOEY B.]

Yeah, I see your point. A specific amp is more than just a preamp circuit.

The Push-Pull knobs make that preamp circuit very unique. :wink: