Pedal For Mesa Mark IIC+ and Mark IV Tones

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mflemmer2

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I know that there's no substitute for an actual amp, but since I'm usually more of a Marshall JCM 800 crunch, Vox clean to slightly dirty, & Fender clean kind of guy, Mesa-like ultra high gain isn't a sound I plan on using that often anyway. SO--for certain songs or passages, I just want something that can get me reasonably close to John Petrucci's Mark IIC+ sound on Images & Words, or maybe even some of his later stuff with the Mark IV. It doesn't have to be a perfect imitation--I'm just interested in acquiring a more American flavored, metal-sounding gain with good definition, and not muddy chugging death metal thrash stuff. Metallica's "Master of Puppets" is the most I need. I've already got the Wampler Pinnacle, along with several other MIAB pedals, including an original Marshall Guv'nor and Ramble FX Marvel Drive. I've been considering the Wampler Sovereign and the Triple Wreck. The Sovereign is somewhat close to the Pinnacle IMHO, but with more bottom end and slightly more gain. The Triple Wreck is really more than what I need in terms of gain, but some of the better demos (e.g. Brett Kingman and Jason Hobbs) show that it's good for more than just uber high gain rectifier metal---more versatile than I would have thought. My question is---with the Triple Wreck gain dialed back a bit, and the mids turned up (as opposed to scooped), can it approximate what I've described? Or, would the Sovereign maxed out with the boost on come closer? If there's another pedal suggestion, I'm all ears---it doesn't have to be a Wampler. I considered the Mesa Flux Five and Throttle Box EQ, but to my ears they don't sound any better than the Triple Wreck, cost more, and aren't as versatile.
 
This is a bump for my original post, but also to add to it. I am more seriously considering the Mesa Throttle Box EQ or Flux Five now, considering they're only $30 more than the Triple Wreck. To reiterate a bit, I know that I can't buy a pedal and expect an exact duplicate of someone else's entire rig. I understand the Flux Five is more Mark series flavored, but I'm not sure if it has quite the gain needed for DT and older Metallica stuff. The Santana tone certainly appeals to me, but I have several other ways to approximate that (a Mad Professor Simble and Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire, which are good at Dumble tones). So, when I mention Mark tones, I'm thinking at least Mark IIC+ or more, but high gain rectifier sounds aren't really what I'm after, except on occasion. It's been mentioned in a few forums, and on Mesa/Boogie's blog, that the Throttle Box actually falls somewhere in between Mark and Rectifier, depending on the settings. So, can either the Throttle Box EQ or Triple Wreck get me in the neighborhood with lower gain and higher midrange settings? I'm not that into extremely scooped mids, for the most part---slightly below the center line on a graphic eq is as low as I like to go for mids. I'm deliberately not mentioning my amps, speakers, guitars, pickups, etc., because that would open up all kinds of other discussions. I will say it's a 6L6 tube amp combo with open back, 2 12" Eminence CV-75's (Vintage 30 flavored), and I have several additional preamps to bypass the one in the combo. That, together with various pedals, can approximate quite a lot of different tones, but I want to get closer to what I've described.
 
I like these pedals, they seem to get a pretty good Boogie tone at easier to manage volumes. More vintage sounding not the Fizzy metal tones but like Santana and the fusion guys from when the Mark I and the IIC+ was young :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avmoi4UCLm0

And this one is more of a IIC+ impersonator pedal based on the actual circuit biasing fets to behave like preamp tubes.

https://soundcloud.com/goforthsound/mark-iic-cleaned-up

Heres a Dream Theater backing track, using a Music Man BFRJP6 guitar, please excuse my sloppy playing, but you can get the idea :)

https://soundcloud.com/goforthsound/trial-of-tears-iic-pedal-8-2-15
 
Hey I am pretty impressed with that "IIc impersonator pedal" clip https://soundcloud.com/goforthsound/mark-iic-cleaned-up

I can't seem to find the manufacturer or company etc. Can you give me any more information on the pedal etc?
 
Check out the Neunaber Neuron. It reminded me very much of a Mark IV. Right down to how difficult it can be to dial in an exact tone. (Due to the fact that every knib is extremely powerful & it's quite easy to get lost when tweaking). It has amazing cleans, a very Boogie like crunch & can chug like only a Mark can chug due to the built in compressor & gate. Even has midi.
 
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