Mesa Boogie mark III tips & tricks

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Lespaulnmarshall

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Hi, i'm new here on the forum

I recently bought a blue stripe Mesa Boogie Mark III (My first Boogie) and I love it! I have heared there are some cool tips and tricks I should try but I don't know them. The only one I know is a 12AT7 in the PI slot. (Is this a good trick BTW??)

So are there any tips and tricks I sould check out?

Thanks in advance,

Maurice
 
I quickly tried a 12at7 in the PI slot and didn't like it, I like it in the reverb slt though. It's a JAN Philips.
 
tung-sol re-issue in v1, fatter speaker wire, keep the presence down to 1 or so.
 
boogiemon said:
tung-sol re-issue in v1, fatter speaker wire, keep the presence down to 1 or so.

+1

Also, if you want your leads to really sing and bite, jump the mids to 6-7 range. You didn't mention if it had GEQ or not, but depending on what you're trying to do with it, try not to bury the 750hz slider as I think it gets too muddy ( I keep mine a touch below the middle line). You can set the rest to taste.

:D
 
Thanks for the replies so far! I'll try keeping the presence down to 1. I still have to
Experiment with the EQ, thanks for the tip on the 750k slider.

I use a nos GE tube in V1 so I won't replace that one with a CP, but it's good to know a Tung-sol RI sounds good in the V1 slot. I will change the speaker wire, that's some great advice. I am mostly going to use the amp as a head, but it's nice to have a better speaker cable for small gigs, when I don't feel like bringing my big speaker cabs. I am still tweaking my settings, but so far I always kept the mid knob around 6-7.
 
First off, congrats on the purchase! I'm currently on my second blue stripe Mark III and should never have sold the first. Having owned, among countless other amps, a half-dozen Mesas, including a Mark IV and a two-channel DR, I've come to realize that the Mark III makes the sound that's in my head more closely than any other amp.

All the advice given so far is great. I would add this: when tweaking your amp settings and dialing in your Mark III tone, do it LOUD. Some of the tips here, including the "don't scoop the 750hz slider too badly" and "keep the presence low" (I keep mine around 2.5), really come into play at volume. Low presence may make the amp sound slightly dark when your master volume is at 0.5, but when you crank that MV to 3 at practice or at the gig, the amp suddenly roars to life without a hint of harshness or graininess.
 
Lespaulnmarshall said:
I quickly tried a 12at7 in the PI slot and didn't like it, I like it in the reverb slt though. It's a JAN Philips.


Which socket is the Reverb socket? I'd like to try that. I have a blue stripe too.

One setup I do with mine that REALLY sounds good is this:

Volume 1 - 5-7
Bass - 0
Mids - 2-3 <Rhy2 pulled>
Treble - 6 <Pulled>

Master - 1.5-3

Lead Drive 5
Lead Master 4 <Pulled Bright>

Reverb - 10
Presence - 10

Graphic - <Auto>
set w/subtle V

I use a BB Preamp light gain, medium volume, neutral bass/treble

Mesa C90 in a combo

This sounds amazing close to a Soldano SLO
 
kramerxxx said:
...sounds amazing close to a Soldano SLO

^This.

Many of us could give you lots of great settings tips (including some that are pretty much identical to the ones that look like they are straight out of the II-C and III operating manual!) and you can get a slew of tones from "Fender" to "close to a VOX chime" (imho) or Marshall/Soldano, or the random infamous Boogie tones used by greats like Petrucci, Metallica, Santana, Al di Meola, and countless others. The Mark series is so interactive with your guitar/speakers/tubes that when you start tweaking on knobs very slowly it gradually changes the sound in wonderful ways and will effect how you even play. The biggest thing to remember that the amp isn't point and shoot like a Marshall - all the controls interact with each other closely and sometimes honing in on a sound can be a pain or a pleasure! Congrats on the new amp, and if you find yourself looking for a specific tone, odds are someone here has found it, but I think the more fun chase it finding your tone!

Boogie on!
 
] "SonicProvocateur The biggest thing to remember that the amp isn't point and shoot like a Marshall - all the controls interact with each other closely and sometimes honing in on a sound can be a pain or a pleasure! Boogie on![/quote said:
I think this is the ONE thing that drives impatient players from this amp.


I think that the Mark III is the most underrated amp I've ever owned, played, and/or read about.
 
SonicProvocateur said:
The biggest thing to remember that the amp isn't point and shoot like a Marshall - all the controls interact with each other closely and sometimes honing in on a sound can be a pain or a pleasure!

Boogie on!

I think this is the ONE thing that drives impatient players from this amp.


I think that the Mark III is the most underrated amp I've ever owned, played, and/or read about.[/quote]
 
SonicProvocateur said:
The biggest thing to remember that the amp isn't point and shoot like a Marshall - all the controls interact with each other closely and sometimes honing in on a sound can be a pain or a pleasure!

kramerxxx said:
I think this is the ONE thing that drives impatient players from this amp.

Yep.

If you turn every knob on a blackface Fender Bassman to 5, it's going to sound great and simply require some minor tweaking to get you to tone heaven.

If you turn every knob on a Marshall Super Lead to 5, it's going to sound great and simply require some minor tweaking to get you to tone heaven.

If you turn every knob on a Mesa/Boogie Mark III to 5 on the lead channel, it's going to sound like poop, and it's going to take you a while to get it sounding better if you aren't used to Boogie EQs or dual cascading gain controls. :D
 
Yeah, that's one thing the IIC+ doesn't have. The III has an incredible amount of gain already but this really puts it over the top.

mesaboogie6L6 said:
Try using the lead and rythm channels at the same time, sometimes I use it for a subtle lead boost.
 
Very interesting : tung sol and fattere wire

What tung sol is recommended ? AX or AT ? and how fat should the speaker wire be ?
Have I to dig out the two inch phone cables out of the road and have the speaker jacks to be replaced to bigger ones.

Cheers
 
megavoice said:
What tung sol is recommended ? AX or AT ?

Either is a good tube, but understand that a 12AT7 has substantially less gain (about 30% less) than a 12AX7. 12AX7s are the usual default tube here; you can swap an an AT7 without hurting anything, but it will make a radical difference in the sound and the amount of available gain.
 
12ax7 in V1. the other positions sound good too but the tube is fragile & over time may begin to sound too dark.
Recently i've discovered that a jj long-plate sounds really good in v5 (pi).
This is the speaker cable i use: http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KASA12PRL

regards.

megavoice said:
Very interesting : tung sol and fattere wire

What tung sol is recommended ? AX or AT ? and how fat should the speaker wire be ?
Have I to dig out the two inch phone cables out of the road and have the speaker jacks to be replaced to bigger ones.

Cheers
 
Chiming in on the tube replacement- I just retubed a '77 Musicman 210 HD 130 with Tung Sol EL34's and a 12AX7. I have used Marshall tubes in this(not sure who manufactured the ones I used), Mesas, and JJ's. The Tung Sols just made this amp jump!!! Maybe a nice choice for the Mesa? They were more expensive, but Mesa Boogie owners don't seem to have a problem spending $$$$ ;)
 
Try using the lead and rythm channels at the same time, sometimes I use it for a subtle lead boost.

How can I do this? WTF? I've used a jumper on my Marshall to combine channels, but how do I do this on a Mark III? I am clueless as to how I could combine two channels!
 
Markedman said:
Try using the lead and rythm channels at the same time, sometimes I use it for a subtle lead boost.

How can I do this? WTF? I've used a jumper on my Marshall to combine channels, but how do I do this on a Mark III? I am clueless as to how I could combine two channels!

Pull the rhythm 2 knob and the lead knob, it will give you a little more gain, and a little more kick!
 

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