"If you boost a Mark you're a 'tard."

  • Thread starter Thread starter GJgo
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i thought they all sounded good, would just depend on the whole mix and what im going for. ive not tried boosting my iic+, maybe today ill try it. i really gotta get one of these od1x's too
 
NineShallDie said:
I personally never seen the need to boost a Mark amp. With all the push/pull knobs there are many ways to make the amp super tight. I think it’s a matter of playing style as well. If you’re heavy handed and pick the strings hard you can really play with the dynamics of the amp and dial back the gain to tighten it up. I think often people use too much gain which can make the amp less tight. For me, that’s where the treble knob is the key. Especially on a C++ you can dial back the treble a lot to tighten it up.
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I agree that when you dial back the gain / treble it becomes more articulate, however then it loses the clank / chug that I really enjoy. A boost helps me to get that back while keeping the gain / treble lower.
 
if it needs it (at a gig) boost it.
IMHO the MB Mk series have "enough" tone shaping to prevent me from goosing the front end or having to shave off frequencies.
BUT i've had to do that at certain gigs where the FOH is giving me grief
 
I was laying in bed this morning thinking about it, and realizing that close micing just isn't capable of capturing the difference in feels I'm talking about. I need to follow up with a room mic version to show this.

@Beyond Black remember what it was like playing my IIB KRG boosted in the room?
 
GJgo said:
I was laying in bed this morning thinking about it, and realizing that close micing just isn't capable of capturing the difference in feels I'm talking about. I need to follow up with a room mic version to show this.

@Beyond Black remember what it was like playing my IIB KRG boosted in the room?
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Some mics definitely do it better than others. The Neumann tlm 102 is the closest to the “in the room” sound when close micing imo.
 
Unboosted sounded best IMO but I‘m not anti boosting, either. There was a thread on tgp where a guy thought an SLO, XTC classic and BE-100 all didn’t have enough gain, and he boosted all of them. Even put a lynch mod in the BE-100 for more gain… at some point it becomes insane and user error. You can play metal with an OD into a fender amp if you can play IMO.
 
I boost my Mark III. I like the tone shaping I get out of the different OD’s. I could probably get the same tone out of the EQ.
 
*UPDATE* Decided to add an "in the room" set and re-upload. I've updated the link in post #1. Check it out.
 
GJgo said:
I was laying in bed this morning thinking about it, and realizing that close micing just isn't capable of capturing the difference in feels I'm talking about. I need to follow up with a room mic version to show this.

@Beyond Black remember what it was like playing my IIB KRG boosted in the room?
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Yes and it was horrifying. Super raw, brutal, and fluid. Aren’t the IIB’s looser than the latter Marks though, and more boost friendly?
 
I don't typically reach for a boost when playing either or my mark series, but if I'm after a sound & not quite getting there, it's as valid a tool as any.
 
Boosting a Mark amp rules.

Of course it’s not mandatory, but it can be useful and sound great. Just because these amps give you more control over the guitar’s input EQ than most other amps doesn’t mean you have total perfect control over it. Also what if you just want to hit the input harder to get more juice out of the preamp?

Some guitar players can be narrow minded, myopic idiots sometimes.
 
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I boost the fuck out of my loop modded IIB and it may be my favorite Mark tone. I usually don't feel the need to boost my III++ and I go back and forth with the IVB.

So many variables to consider here, but at the end of the day I couldn't care less what people think about me for sticking an OD in front of any given amp LOL.
 
Beyond Black said:
Yes and it was horrifying. Super raw, brutal, and fluid. Aren’t the IIB’s looser than the latter Marks though, and more boost friendly?
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Depends on which B...there are 3-4 different preamp boards. The latest, the 9C is tight like a 2C and almost the same amount of gain. But, ironically the later one took boosts best vs the very early Coli I had, #81 if I remember right. Even boosting it, didn't help the looseness enough.
 
I do have access to an early IIB and yeah, boosts don't help it as much as they need. Like a SLO. LOL Our very very late IIB KRGs Mike has said is really more a IIC than a IIB. I haven't given it a run against this IVb yet.

It's interesting that the more I play this IVb, and record it, and it is becoming clear that the (high gain) rhythm tone is better without a boost. I think oftentimes what we hear in real-time is colored, and coming back to recordings does help to show you what's really going on.
 
I have a 4 and sometimes I like to boost but depends on my mood and tuning. I don’t like when people tell you what you should or shouldn’t do with an amp, pedals, or guitar. Make it your own. Too many people use the same settings as the forums and social media tells them.
 
Too many folks don’t understand that placing a boost or OD in front of an amp is not the same as just turning up the amp gain. Hopefully experience will change some of their minds over time.
 
I was under the assumption that every amp needed a boost. That was until about 10 years ago when I stumbled across a Boogie Mark four at a pawn shop. I tried a few boost pedals with the Boogie, but it was fruitless as it sounded worse. If you need a boost with your boogie Mark amp to sound good, that’s fine but I think they sound best without a boost and I’ve never run one at full out 10 on gain.
 
Alright here you guys go, same test & same riff, same gear, with the IIB.

We've established through consensus that the IIC+ & IV have better lead channel tone w/o a boost. What about the IIB? It definitely has a fatter (and more devastating) ass than the later Marks.

All amp 0:00
Fortin TS9 0:24
Boss OD1X 0:47

 
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Big fan of boosting R2 of my mark IVA. I haven't had the best results with boosting the lead channel, but I also have not tried really turning down the gain, then boosting. To me boosting R2 is the secret to unlocking that channel on the mark IV. Will have to check out the clips later.
 
blackba said:
Big fan of boosting R2 of my mark IVA. I haven't had the best results with boosting the lead channel, but I also have not tried really turning down the gain, then boosting. To me boosting R2 is the secret to unlocking that channel on the mark IV. Will have to check out the clips later.
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100%, the III and IV R2 channels are MUCH better boosted if you're looking for heavy tones.
 
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