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

anomaly said:
I agree, the tone on RTL is a blurry mess compared to MOP.
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I love RTL and the tone, but I agree 100%.
Although, when RTL dropped that guitar tone was horrifying, and I pretty much shit myself the first time hearing FFWF.
I literally remember it like it was yesterday. Lol
 
Candiria said:
My IV is the only thing keeping me from buying this and trying it out. I lean more towards the IV's 90's/00's sound than the 80's IIC+ tone.
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I totally get that. It’s a little tighter, more modern/compressed, and still has such great feel and growl.
I believe Nevermore’s “Politics of Ecstasy” was a IV, and my favorite recording of one,
 


Love the company Randall built. Always will. But IDK if the C+ Carlton crowd will take off.
All i ever need is a rippin Marshall.
 
anomaly said:
Well, heavy guitar is still popular here, that's for sure, but in the real world it's not as popular as it once was for sure. But seriously, when you buy an amp, don't you want it to have enough gain to rip your face off, I know I do. The Mark IVb I have fits the bill for me, i'm still finding new tones in that amp 10 years later so I rarely have GAS for amplifiers. Not really interested in the IIC+ reissue to be honest, I think all of the tones in that vid sound kinda dated, although they weren't bad, it reminded me of the III red stripe I used to own. Good sounding, but definitely stuck in the 80's.
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I pretty much only buy NMV amps. I have not bought anything high gain since 2008. I still have a few of these amps. I bought them in the 80's and 90's. I haven't seen anyone play this type of stuff in about 25 years.

Last time I listened to Metallica was 1989.
 
anomaly said:
Midrangey because the graphic EQ is turned off for a lot of those clips, compressed for sure but not overly so IMO. Not like a Diezel VH4 or a Mark V.

MOP, AJFA and The Black Album have incredible tones as well IMO, it's not just his great riffage, which is great. It's a very unique sound IMO, a sound that is instantly recognizable. Honestly, we should all know now that great tone comes from the speakers and cab primarily. This amp will deliver, just wait.
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Im simply going by the allure of this amp online, and what they fetch for ( the OG)….ive just never seen so many excuses for a supposedly grail amp for some people sounding like…a fart. I mean I get it, I know how to dial them in and owned a IV for years ( my fav out of the bunch personally), but for 15-20k, and all these dudes including Mesa are struggling to “get what this amp is known for” out of it? I mean….thats just kinda lame…..id struggle really, REALLY hard to make a 5150 NOT sound like what it was known for, or just about any other high gain amp. Im not comparing the amps I’m simply comparing the ideology here. I’ve always felt that what the mark series is trying to do well, the recto with a great boost kills it, especially r he dirty tree. I realize this is off topic as well. But give. The marks eq structure and being preamp based, it’s eq is essentially the same thing as putting a boost in front of an amp, and I just feel like the rectos have always done that sound better. Much more dynamic ( honestly a recto is one of the most dynamic amps I’ve ever heard tracked ), more open, less compressed etc. this thing feels like its hitting you with a wiffel ball at 30 mph, while a recto feels like it’s hitting you with a bowling ball at 100mph.


Got off topic here, at the end of the day it shouldn’t be this difficult or so many excuses for a “grail” amp. Especially demos done by boogie themselves, they know what the hell they are doing with that thing, obviously.
 
VESmedic said:
I’ve always felt that what the mark series is trying to do well, the recto with a great boost kills it, especially r he dirty tree. I realize this is off topic as well. But give. The marks eq structure and being preamp based, it’s eq is essentially the same thing as putting a boost in front of an amp, and I just feel like the rectos have always done that sound better. Much more dynamic ( honestly a recto is one of the most dynamic amps I’ve ever heard tracked ), more open, less compressed etc. this thing feels like its hitting you with a wiffel ball at 30 mph, while a recto feels like it’s hitting you with a bowling ball at 100mph.
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100% agree at every angle you mentioned. Glad to see someone else like-minded!

I absolutely love my Mark IIIs ( w/ matching half back cab) but a boosted Recto ( in the right hands ) is absolutely oblerating. I have 5 two channel Rectos ( Singles, Dual Rev G and Rectoverbs) running EQs in the loops and boosts out front. Earth shaking punch with the fattest growl with Soldano V30 412s. Though I know Marks are their own thing, there's really no comparison IMO.
 
VESmedic said:
Im simply going by the allure of this amp online, and what they fetch for ( the OG)….ive just never seen so many excuses for a supposedly grail amp for some people sounding like…a fart. I mean I get it, I know how to dial them in and owned a IV for years ( my fav out of the bunch personally), but for 15-20k, and all these dudes including Mesa are struggling to “get what this amp is known for” out of it? I mean….thats just kinda lame…..id struggle really, REALLY hard to make a 5150 NOT sound like what it was known for, or just about any other high gain amp. Im not comparing the amps I’m simply comparing the ideology here. I’ve always felt that what the mark series is trying to do well, the recto with a great boost kills it, especially r he dirty tree. I realize this is off topic as well. But give. The marks eq structure and being preamp based, it’s eq is essentially the same thing as putting a boost in front of an amp, and I just feel like the rectos have always done that sound better. Much more dynamic ( honestly a recto is one of the most dynamic amps I’ve ever heard tracked ), more open, less compressed etc. this thing feels like its hitting you with a wiffel ball at 30 mph, while a recto feels like it’s hitting you with a bowling ball at 100mph.


Got off topic here, at the end of the day it shouldn’t be this difficult or so many excuses for a “grail” amp. Especially demos done by boogie themselves, they know what the hell they are doing with that thing, obviously.
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Yeah, I've said it before but if they reissue a chrome chassis rev F/G Triple Rec, I might just break my mouse clicking the preorder button. :D Take one of those amps and put a Dirty Tree out front, and you're kind of in grail tone territory. For heavy rhythm tones, that rig beats a Mark any day imo. Hell it beats most rigs.

I tend to really like Marks, but to me they're definitely built for a specific purpose, like they're inherently a more focused, slightly narrower, higher negative feedback (more polite, well behaved, controlled) kind of amp than most modern high gainers. They're great for smooth leads and very clear and controlled rhythm playing and stuff like that, but the hair-on-fire massive crushing stuff can be done better with a lot of other amps these days.
 
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My Mark IIC+ doesn't get to me until Saturday. Has anyone one this forum gotten one yet and had a chance to play it?
 
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