which of the Mark III stripe versions had the most gain?

[Jackel]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the board and I have a few questions for anyone who knows.

Sorry if this has been covered before I looked through the posts on this board but the info I found was not conclusive.

I was just wondering which of the Mark III stripe versions had the most amount of gain or distortion in the lead channel?

I'm looking for the maximum amount of distortion possible from a
Mark III without having to boost it with a external overdrive such as a tubescreamer.

From what I have read it sounds like the (red stripe) version may have the most gain or crunchiest distortion but I'm not sure.

I have tried some Mark III's that sounded much crunchier and way more distorted than others.

I didn't know about the different striped versions until I had read about them on this board.

So has anyone here had a chance to compare the different striped versions to hear which has the most distortion?

Thanx

 

[trem]

How much gain do you need anyway? I find the gain on any Mark III to be in ridiculous amount.

~trem

 

[CoG]

if there are any differences between the stripes they're almost certainly less than what you'd get through tube choice (high gain preamp tubes and power tubes that break up early.)

I've only had mine for a couple weeks but I can tell you that the MkIII definitely has a point at which it stops sounding good and just gets really harsh (and not in a good, Ministry kind of way, I mean in a crackly, clunky kind of way.) There's more gain available than you can really use, so you have to balance between the different gain stages. The harder you hit it at the front end, the less flexibility you have with the master, which, if you are on the lead channel, seems to have a useful range of between about 3 and 5. Below that it sounds dead, above that there's too much breakup.

Seriously, I think any MkIII will do ya, just pick tubes after that. But if your main goal is major saturation for heavy chugging, you might be better off looking at a Recto.

 

[Anonymous]

Red, blue, or green will do best at high gain. I had a blue.

I usually kept my gain on 7. The trick is to keep the volume high at about 8, but the clean suffers.

 

[Jackel]

Ha ha ha LOL some of your replies were very funny but I understand I must sound insane. Sorry if my post came across the wrong way

gts and others Thanx for the replies the reason I ask for your opinions is there are no music stores that have any mark III's in them to
(Play through it, if you like it, done!)
if only it were that simple.

It would be great if there were to test drive at least one version never mind all the different versions to plug in to try all of them to compare to each other.

If I was to buy one it would more than likely have to be off of ebay
there would be no way to try it before I buy it to see if I like it
and I would hate to lay out $1000.00 dollars or more only to find out it isn't as aggressive or as heavy as another model and while I realize the differences are not night and day physically they are still different sonically.

Just like a ts-808 and a ts-9 I have both there are only three components that are different physically but what a difference sonically the ts-808 has in sound anyone who has compared those two tubescreamers knows what I'm talking about.
if someone asked me which is better the ts-808 or the ts-9 I would be more than happy to tell them which is better and why it's better.

Another example closer to the matter at hand, just as there are differnces between the mark IIc and the mark IIc+ to some this may be a minor difference to others they may feel it to be a major difference and while they are both more similar than dissimilar in terms of overall design and parts they both contain they still do sound very different.

I was hoping someone here had the chance to A/B a few versions and had a honest opinion of which model was the heaviest most aggressive sounding distortion of the all the versions.

It looks like the Red stripe, Blue stripe or Green stripe are in the running has anyone here had the chance to compare them or own a the red, blue or green to compare against each other?

Now you can blast me for whining like and old hag hahaha LOL

But seriously any info you guys can provide to help me would be very very cool and very helpful thanx again

 

[JimAnsell]

i think they're all pretty equal in terms of gain.
besides, once you start diming all the gains, it starts to squeel at higher than bedroom volumes.

i play metal and i can't figure out for the life of me how anyone could need more gain than what the mark III's or IV's offer.

i don't get the whole "boosting your lead channel" thing either.

 

[trem]

If I was to buy one it would more than likely have to be off of ebay
there would be no way to try it before I buy it to see if I like it
and I would hate to lay out $1000.00 dollars or more only to find out it isn't as aggressive or as heavy as another model and while I realize the differences are not night and day physically they are still different sonically.

Most Mark IIIs in ebay go for around 800 bucks these days. If you dont like it, you can sell it again with no money loss. Seriously, they're all aggressive and very potent gain wise.

Another example closer to the matter at hand, just as there are differnces between the mark IIc and the mark IIc+ to some this may be a minor difference to others they may feel it to be a major difference and while they are both more similar than dissimilar in terms of overall design and parts they both contain they still do sound very different.

I'm in no way an expert in IIC and IIC+, but I don't think the differences between them are minor at all. If it were minor, just about any tech would have offered the conversion mod by now.

Now you can blast me for whining like and old hag hahaha LOL

Cheers mate. I don't think you're an old hag at all.

~trem

 

[AustinK]

in terms of gain i believe the only channel that has more gain on the later models is rythem 2. I dont know if the lead channel has more or less gain. I do know that the mark III offers more than enough distortion for any application. With both gain knobs maxed the amp really loses a ton of character.

What type of music are you playing? because the mark III will not produce the real over the top loose rythem sound. If you want that get a recto. :lol:

 

[Jackel]

I play a variety of different styles but I am looking for an amp to do anywhere from 80's thrash such as the dreaded M word (Metallica)
the (Master of puppets) & (and Justice for all) album sounds to Death Metal such as Cannibal Corpse the (Gallery of Suicide) album guitarist Pat O'Brien used a Mesa Boogie Mark III Coliseum Head on that album and the sound is one of the heaviest sounds out there in fact I'm not sure why he change to the rectifier I'll never know???

But when you ask how much distortion do you really need listen to the album Gallery of Suicide by Cannibal Corpse and that is the insane sound I'm after.

No offense to anyone here but I don't like the rectifier series I had a triple rectifier before and the sound to me is very loose cold sterile and very generic and
non-dynamic and not nearly enough gain I had to preamp the front end with a tube screamer to get the gain I needed but more importantly to try and tighten the sound up.

You can always spot it whether it's (nickel back) using it or Metallica or even Cannibal Corpse now that Pat O'Brien is using them for that matter.

You here it it all over pop radio and almost every pop-punk band uses it yuck!

No matter who plays through it it sounds the same! they are all recto channel cloned!

Sorry for the pun couldn't resist ;-)

Even George Lynch (one of my favorite lead guitarists) who sounds like himself through anything he plays through because his personality shines through no matter what guitar or amp he uses.

Now he sounds like everyone else who uses a rectifier just listen to the live Dokken DVD reunion he uses the rectifier and his distinctive lynch tone is lost.
Put anyone through a rectifier and there own personality is gone striped away and replaced with the recto tone it may be the artist songs but they all come out sounding homogenized sounding very generic cold lose with almost no dynamics and also one dimensional sounding.

Now with the mark series amps they sound warm majestic and massive almost three dimensional sounding and allow the player to shine through case in point both Metallica and John Petrucci use the same Mark IIC+ with the additional Mod Mike B. does Petrruci got Mike B. to do the
Metallica mod to his mark IIc+ but does John Petrucci's tone on the albums he used the mark IIc+ sound like Metallica's Master of puppets or and justice for all?

No not even close does Carlos Santana who also used the Mark IIc+ from time to time sound like either Petrucci or Metallica?

The mark series allow the artist to shine through so that's why I kind of laugh with the rectos and all these bands that jumped on there proverbial band wagon to get their rectum fried I mean rectifier is the most successful best "worst" amp of all time even I made the mistake and bought one LOL hahaha

Also how many times can you repackage the same amp help me Jebus haha


Single Rectifier Solo 50 Rect-O-Verb Dual Rectifier Solo Head
Triple Rectifier Solo HeadRoad King - Series 2 Dual Rectifier Roadster
Rectifier Recording PreStilettoDeuce & Trident-Stage 2 Stiletto ACE

I'm sure I missed a few even, I hope to God the Mark V isn't a repackaged recto!

Now I know for sure I'm going to here some flack about this but hey just my opinion so please no rectos for me anymore I sold it! goodbye and good riddance so no I don't want another rectifier ever again.

Sorry for the rant guys and to anyone who owns a recto hey if you like what your hearing great more power to ya.
Enjoy and bath in the generic-ness of the rectum tone LOL

But back to the Mark III I have read here and on other post the Blue stripe sounds like it would be the way to go it has a power section as close as they could get it to the Mark IIc+ with a more aggressive preamp gain I think in both the rhythm but correct me if I'm wrong on this the lead channel is voiced more aggressive as well?

It's no secret that the Mark IIc+ power amp section was considered the best and heaviest most majestic widest and warmest sounding so the blue stripe was apparently there attempt to approximate that sound

Then the Preamp was voice more aggressive which for me is great I want a tighter crunchier more distorted aggressive sound than the Mark IIc+

If I am incorrect please let me know and what you think of the Blue stripe Mark III's

I know you all say they are the same in tone and sound but even if it's 1% more intense (which I know is much higher percentage in difference in tonality and gain between the different stripes sounding) that still is more desirable to me.

Before anyone can retort and say you say you don't want to sound like everyone else who uses a recto but you want to sound like Metallica's puppets album or Cannibal Corpses Gallery album I was asked to give an example of what type of tone I'm after those are two albums I could give to describe from on extreme to the other and everything in between I don't want to copy Metallica's exact sound or I would get a Mark IIc+ with the extra Mike B. Metallic mod, nor do I want to sound exactly like Cannibal Corpse. I have used them as examples from Metallic to Cannibal Corpse in terms of levels of gain and aggressiveness and tone.

Let the war Begin! LOL

Thanks for all your replies

 

[AustinK]

I play a variety of different styles but I am looking for an amp to do anywhere from 80's thrash such as the dreaded M word (Metallica)
the (Master of puppets) & (and Justice for all) album sounds to Death Metal such as Cannibal Corpse the (Gallery of Suicide) album guitarist Pat O'Brien used a Mesa Boogie Mark III Coliseum Head on that album and the sound is one of the heaviest sounds out there in fact I'm not sure why he change to the rectifier I'll never know???

But when you ask how much distortion do you really need listen to the album Gallery of Suicide by Cannibal Corpse and that is the insane sound I'm after.

Ok as far as thrash this amp will dominate,but switching to death metal will require some knob turning. With the extreme settings the other chanels will suffer but i dont know if you will be using them.
That canible corpse sound doesn't really sound all that distorted but more extremely scooped. If you want this then deffinetly get one with the graphic eq, it makes a huge difference. As for the stripes, if you feel that blue will suite you then just go for it :lol: .

 

[AustinK]

I'm not sure why he change to the rectifier I'll never know???

Because the mark series reveals every nuance of your playing unlike the rectifier series that cover everything with gain. Thats my $.02 but then again i am not a fan of death metal.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Just remember that when you are hearing a recorded amp--it's not a 'Live" amp. Lots of little tricks to get that sound, and most have NOTHING to do with the amp.

Tubes make a huge difference in Mark Series amps, and I suspect in Rectifiers, too. My Mark IIIs and Mark IV can be brittle and harsh, but put the right preamp tube in V1, and they sound fat and round--lush and full. Put the wrong power tubes in the Mark III Coliseum head that I have, and it sounds flat and lifeless. With the right tubes, every note comes out of the amp and hits you in the gut like a Chuck Norris beat-down.

And, new speakers sound different than well-broken in speakers, too.

With guys like Lee Ritenour and Al Di Meola using Rectifiers, I can guarantee you that their amps do not sound harsh or brittle. I have personally played a BF Fender Deluxe Reverb side-by-side with an original Dual Rec and been able to MATCH THE TONE! With all the gain that the DR has--that is a pretty amazing capability! The Stiletto Ace has incredible clean tone--warm and punchy. But most guys will never hear what a really great tone you can get from that amp--even using a big jazz box. Trust me, a Rectifier has tone to go along with the over-the-top gain.

I think the Mark III 112 EVM combo with reverb, EQ and Simul-Class on top of a 112 Theile Cab is about the best amp a club gigging classic rock and blues guitarist can have. Simple, compact, durable, and reliable. There are lots of tones in there. Myself, I'd probably go for the red or blue stripe, or have Mike B at Mesa modify it. But I honestly think that if you are looking to play "heavier" music with buzzsaw type distortion and over the top gain, there are other amps on the market that are better suited for that kind of music.

I think the modern guitarist playing a vareity of styles in various sized venues needs a variety of amplifiers and cabinets in various sizes, wattages and configurations. So there really isn't any harm in having a red stripe and a blue stripe and a green stripe, is there?

You start by building your collection one piece at a time.

Good luck.

Bill

 

[Jackel]

Hi Bill, you have a Mark III Coliseum head?

If you don't mind me asking which color stripe version is it?

Does your Mark III Coliseum head have the graphic eq and Simul-Class feature or what are it's other specs/features if you don't mind me asking.

Thanx, The Jackel

 

[AustinK]

But I honestly think that if you are looking to play "heavier" music with buzzsaw type distortion and over the top gain, there are other amps on the market that are better suited for that kind of music.

I agree that there are other amps on the market that are much better for this. Check out Engl i hear good things about them.