MESA/Boogie® Mark IIC+ full demo & overview ft. Doug West & Tommy Waugh

  • Thread starter Thread starter JohnnyGtar
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That’s better, for sure… obviously there are going to be differences. Not sure how much better this is than the IIC+ mode on the VII?
 
IME it depends on the room, the guitar & the cab. My gig setup is fairly static so going from rehearsal to a show just the room changes, and I find that I only tweak 80hz and 6600 for the room. I can see setting your presence based on if you want the top end more smooth or more raw though, then balancing to suit with 6600. I've always liked more raw (high pres) for thrashy stuff, but I can see a guy wanting it low (more smooth) for a brown sound.

Guitar wise for example, going from my EMG to my Fishman guitar I have to really pump up the 80 & the 2200 to get it to equate. Same story if I switch speakers, a re-EQ will be in order. Settings are so contextual not only to the gear, but also to the style being played.

On my IIs and IIIs if I want a clean clean and a high gain tone on the two channels it doesn't seem to me as big for a deal as I hear guys make it out to be. If I was recording I'd set things differently to optimize, but live it's totally usable. Even more so if you're willing to roll your vol knob back for cleans.
my takeaway is i’m stoked i scored my OG III when i did, your stash of gems systematically murders the Gibson era stuff, and your raving about your IIB Coli has me spontaneously bolting upright from a deep sleep, shouting over the pain of letting mine slip away all those years ago.
 
That said, with the baby Fives at least my Treble Dump trick REALLY wakes them up. May work on other modern Marks, not sure. Give it a try. Standard 0:50, treble dump 1:50.
Hey man, I just tried this on my V:25;
the good: It *does* get bolder and more aggressive sounding
the less good: the low end becomes a bit woofy and bloated in the process.

Tried it with the IIC+, IV and Xtreme settings; Gain at noon or higher, Treble off, Mid full, Bass off, Presence full and gEQ in classic V shape; playing through a pair of Mesa Thiele cabs. (both channels in 25W mode)

I preferred a setting I made for the Xtreme mode: Gain at 2 o' clock, Treble 3 o' clock, Mid at 12 o' clock, Bass at 9:30, Presence at 2:30, + classic V gEQ. That came out quite ferocious for such a small amp.
I've also noticed that for neck pickup lead playing, all 3 modes of the V:25's 2nd channel remain clearer and less hairy than when I'm playing high gain leads with neck pickup on my Caliber 50+. I wonder where the OG IIC+ sits in this regard.
 
The easiest to dial in is the Mark VII. (even though it's not my favorite, this is true.)

The best at low volume is the JP2C, with a solid nod to the Five 35 on 25W mode.
the VII is extremely versatile and struck me as a hardware triaxis.
the tri was a boogie lover’s dream EXCEPT for the dynamic voice = digital GEQ.

a 2025 triaxis reissue would be a cool swan song before MB hangs it up:

R 1 green: Mk I-Lone Star vintage clean
R 2 yellow: hyper IV cleans

L 1 green: vintage santana/carlton/ford/timmons low gain blues
L 1 yellow: TC British crunch
L 1 red: prime recto

L 2 green: III- IV smooth fusion lead
L 2 yellow: IIC+/III+ liquid lead
L 2 red: ++/kitchen sink left to a user poll on what the people want.

with an actual analog graphic! NO MORE DYNAMIC VOICE.
 
Seems on high gain it’s a squealing hog.



That seems very abnormal to me - but what do I know. Not a Mark expert. I'm sure someone else here at Mark-Talk will have more input.

Seems we would have known about this already - over the years of use. He seems to think it is a design issue? Doesn't sound like a microphonics issue.

The real issue here starts around the 3:00 mark - no pun.
 
Seems on high gain it’s a squealing hog.


That could be a bad pot. I've had that exact problem with 2 other amps in my lifetime. 1st time I changed all my pre tubes and nothing. Finally took it to a tech and it was a bad pot. 2nd time it happened to me on a different amp, learned from the first time and I went straight ahead and did a pot replacement on my own and problem was fixed.
 
It does seem to have more mids than the 4 I had; but my 750 was bottomed out and these seem not to be. Also, the feedback...he's got that gain WAAY up there, I never had mine past 4-5; that allowed me to dime both vol 1 and treble. Then, I boosted it IF I needed more gain. So, I'd dial that amp differently than where he ^^ has it. And, I've used a Decimator pedal for years, so feedback for me is mostly non existent.
 
It does seem to have more mids than the 4 I had; but my 750 was bottomed out and these seem not to be. Also, the feedback...he's got that gain WAAY up there, I never had mine past 4-5; that allowed me to dime both vol 1 and treble. Then, I boosted it IF I needed more gain. So, I'd dial that amp differently than where he ^^ has it. And, I've used a Decimator pedal for years, so feedback for me is mostly non existent.
I just ran those settings on my OG ++ without any issues.. maybe it’s a pot etc.

Reissue definitely has a lot more mids, and they’re voiced differently to my ears than the OG. Once again I’m not in the room so…
 
Hey man, I just tried this on my V:25;
the good: It *does* get bolder and more aggressive sounding
the less good: the low end becomes a bit woofy and bloated in the process.
Yeah, I can totally see that with a ported cab. Have any sealed cabs handy?
 
As far as I can tell from available clips, it’s a really good sounding amp, but it doesn’t sound like a C+.
I don’t hear any of the sweet chewiness and complexity in the gain of the OG, and without that Ima go ahead and say that the feel won’t even be close.
 
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