Mark VII vs IV vs IIC+ vs IIB comparo project!

  • Thread starter Thread starter GJgo
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UPDATE! I was scheduled to get the MkVII I ordered next week, however a little probing has uncovered an issue with the reverb in a lot of VIIs that Mesa is aware of. Sounds like a bad batch of pots. They've halted all VII shipments until it's resolved which they estimate to be "in May" so it'll be at least another month before my VII arrives & I can start testing..

In the meantime I have picked up a Radial Reamp Station and a pair of Adam Audio ribbon tweeter studio monitors so I'm hoping to step up the recorded tone game for these comparos. I've still just got a SM57 & an e609 which hopefully will suffice because the mic rabbit hole is $$$ and intimidating..
 
GJgo said:
UPDATE! I was scheduled to get the MkVII I ordered next week, however a little probing has uncovered an issue with the reverb in a lot of VIIs that Mesa is aware of. Sounds like a bad batch of pots. They've halted all VII shipments until it's resolved which they estimate to be "in May" so it'll be at least another month before my VII arrives & I can start testing..

In the meantime I have picked up a Radial Reamp Station and a pair of Adam Audio ribbon tweeter studio monitors so I'm hoping to step up the recorded tone game for these comparos. I've still just got a SM57 & an e609 which hopefully will suffice because the mic rabbit hole is $$$ and intimidating..
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Where did you hear this? From axe palace? Didn’t you order from nick?
 
GJgo said:
UPDATE! I was scheduled to get the MkVII I ordered next week, however a little probing has uncovered an issue with the reverb in a lot of VIIs that Mesa is aware of. Sounds like a bad batch of pots. They've halted all VII shipments until it's resolved which they estimate to be "in May" so it'll be at least another month before my VII arrives & I can start testing..

In the meantime I have picked up a Radial Reamp Station and a pair of Adam Audio ribbon tweeter studio monitors so I'm hoping to step up the recorded tone game for these comparos. I've still just got a SM57 & an e609 which hopefully will suffice because the mic rabbit hole is $$$ and intimidating..
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Thanks for the update, looking forward to your clips! I'd personally prefer you using an e906 instead of the 609, as it makes a big difference imho. The SM57 is fine.
 
GJgo said:
UPDATE! I was scheduled to get the MkVII I ordered next week, however a little probing has uncovered an issue with the reverb in a lot of VIIs that Mesa is aware of. Sounds like a bad batch of pots. They've halted all VII shipments until it's resolved which they estimate to be "in May" so it'll be at least another month before my VII arrives & I can start testing..

In the meantime I have picked up a Radial Reamp Station and a pair of Adam Audio ribbon tweeter studio monitors so I'm hoping to step up the recorded tone game for these comparos. I've still just got a SM57 & an e609 which hopefully will suffice because the mic rabbit hole is $$$ and intimidating..
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Interesting. I noticed the VII can be ordered from MF and GC as open box for a decent discount but are not available for shipping yet. Being curious, I added a number of them to my cart to find out if there was a limit but had no problem adding a bunch without being told there weren't that many available. I did settle on one though.
 
peterc52 said:
Where did you hear this? From axe palace? Didn’t you order from nick?
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Yes & yes. When multiple guys in the VII group started having the same problem I asked Nick to reach out to Mesa to see what's up & how it would affect the amp I ordered. I'm OK waiting to have the issue resolved.

The one I played at GC Denver, the reverb was completely non-op.
 
GJgo said:
Yes & yes. When multiple guys in the VII group started having the same problem I asked Nick to reach out to Mesa to see what's up & how it would affect the amp I ordered. I'm OK waiting to have the issue resolved.

The one I played at GC Denver, the reverb was completely non-op.
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I agree. Rather having it all working. Especially me being in Europe and don’t have to ship it back to us again. That would be a PITA
 
GJgo said:
In the meantime I have picked up a Radial Reamp Station and a pair of Adam Audio ribbon tweeter studio monitors so I'm hoping to step up the recorded tone game for these comparos. I've still just got a SM57 & an e609 which hopefully will suffice because the mic rabbit hole is $$$ and intimidating..
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Those mics will be plenty good enough. Lots of the most skilled engineers out there get their sounds with just a single sm57. Although, there is some cool shit out there!
 
GJgo said:
Solid amp, best of the Fives. Crunch is worth the cost of admission.
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Thank you for that vote of confidence,

I’ve been thinking about getting one of the smaller heads that are available. I have the time to play through with all the other one hit wonder amps available at GC and what my friends have. I realized that the V35 had everything I needed. The bottom line is there’s basically three tones, Fender, Marshal and Boogie. Why fuck around? I’ve had a ton of amps, and I only need high gain, two channels and these things are plenty loud.

If you ask Google for answer on, what is the best mini amp it’ll send you straight to all the other amps that I know are not very good for what I want. They might be fine for guys playing AC/DC, but when it comes to fucking metal, they lack compared to the Boogie.

I’ve owned every boogie. Yes, every C, C+,C++, Mark IV A, B and the rarest A/B model, all lMark IIl stripes amps, all marks except for a mark one or a mark seven, I played through the little mark 25 for a few months, and had a JP2C for a few years, Mark V full size, Mark2B, etc.

My favorite of all Boogie product is the quad preamp through a 50-50 boogie power amp. I had that set up, a C plus, a C plus plus and the mark four to compare to in the same room, same speakers. For metal, the quad is the king! But that shit is too much to carry around to small informal gigs.
 
Since I have the rack mount, I disconnected the reverb tank as soon as I opened the box. LOL.
I don't have this issue with mine.
 
So while I'm waiiiiiiting for my VII to arrive, I've started some tracking & reamping to do some setup and testing with the OG amps. This is also helping me to dial things in before going into the studio to reamp my band's songs that we're recording. Here's a first pass with the IIC+, thought I'd share while we wait.. I'm super happy with the lead tone. The rhythm tone I think may have a click too much gain.
 
Great read so far and thank you for doing.

Looking forward to all the results :yes:
 
Thanks guys. So I reamped the C+ with a couple successive clicks less gain, and it was definitely an improvement. Interesting to note that the IIB+ and the IIC+ have the "same level of gain", in that they reacted the same to the same gain knob numbers when I did reamp tests. I have the amps set the same except the IIB has the 80 slider down a bit and the 750 slider up a bit compared to the C+. The Mark IV however (aside from the 80 slider being up a bit compared to the IIs) when I run the knobs at the same values, definitely has less gain by about 1+ clicks on the gain knob when I ran presence pushed & mid-gain. IOW 7 on the IV was a good "gain on the mic" match to 6 on the MKIIs. Considering how they sound in the room I was not expecting this disparity on the mic. However, if I pulled presence or went to Harmonics the gain fell far away & IMO it really didn't record near as well. Harmonics especially made it very hollow & lifeless in comparison to my ears. So, I'll be sticking to mid gain for the IV clips as that's how the amp records best IMO.
 
Alright we're live! I've done all the reamping, have been spending time mentally comparing things to come up with with personal opinions, I'll post the vids as I get them edited.

Here's the IIB. My thoughts? They are both very good- for different things. For classic rock & blues- the OG all the way. However, the VII version with a Tele would be as country as it gets & does have better clarity. I do appreciate that the VII has a LOT of latitude for different styles of music- this is a good thing! The MkV did as well, but the tone was lackluster, this is a way better amp for my needs..

Full Mix- 0:00
Guitars Only- 2:01

 
Next up the IIC+.

My thoughts? The VII is very good. Is it AS good as the IIC+? Well, ...it's different. While the feels are there the voicing is sliiightly different so it's not really apples to oranges. To be honest while the OG has better clarity & slightly more liquid leads I think the VII might sit better in the band mix. The 750 on the VII does not have the range to scoop as far as the II, III and IV can so even bottomed out there's more mids in the mix than the OGs with a traditional scoop. In a nutshell they are both top shelf and I can see different guys having different opinions.

Full Mix- 0:00
Guitars Only- 2:01

 
GJgo said:
Next up the IIC+.

My thoughts? The VII is very good. Is it AS good as the IIC+? Well, ...it's different. While the feels are there the voicing is sliiightly different so it's not really apples to oranges. To be honest while the OG has better clarity & slightly more liquid leads I think the VII might sit better in the band mix. The 750 on the VII does not have the range to scoop as far as the II, III and IV can so even bottomed out there's more mids in the mix than the OGs with a traditional scoop. In a nutshell they are both top shelf and I can see different guys having different opinions.

Full Mix- 0:00
Guitars Only- 2:01

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I’ve been waiting for this! 🤘🏻
 
I feel like the VII is so close that strategic tube changes could close the gap to be discernible. As recorded you can tell a difference still though. The gain character has that unorganized 5150 thing going on where the IIC+ was crystal clear.
 
glpg80 said:
I feel like the VII is so close that strategic tube changes could close the gap to be discernible. As recorded you can tell a difference still though. The gain character has that unorganized 5150 thing going on where the IIC+ was crystal clear.
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Right, the key thing is to look for differences that you CAN'T equalize by tuning knobs or EQing. I'm sensing that the VII mids sit in a slightly different spot than the OGs, which is a good thing for the band mix, and the VII's onboard GEQ doesn't have the range / power that the MKII/III GEQ did.

Also, flame suit on, tubes don't make a significant difference in close mic recording. At least, this is a hypothesis I'll be testing soon.
 
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