Sell your mark IIC+: the black album was a mark 3.

V

VESmedic

Well-known member
I’ve hinted at this before on this forum, and I knew I wouldn’t get anywhere without some kind of proof. I’ve seen pictures but I can’t find them at the moment. For anyone that has the AJFA box set, apparently hetfield talks about this as well and confirms it as well. But from the man himself, bob rock. It was a mark 3. Go to the 1:57:00 mark. I realize some won’t believe this or it won’t matter at all, but I still think it’s interesting how this 10k dollar amp has taken on this mythical proportions that stems mostly from
This record, Atleast a huge proportion of it. I never thought the C+ sounded anything like the black album to me personally, but the mark 3 does, and for AJFA as well: which they used a BBE on :) enjoy.

 
The C+ reputation for Metallica tone came from MOP from what I remember. I always thought the Black album was multiple amps.
But beyond that, playing a Mark III and then a C+, at the same time and comparing them you’d think the III had a blanket over the cab. Big difference in clarity. I’ve owned a purple and a red stripe; at the same time I had my SRG C+.
 
ultimatemetalguitartones said:
Nope - Bob is wrong - It was a mark iv rev A. Check it out here at 56.05
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Ive seen it. Tons of pics of the mark II as well. Yet bob rock and het themselves say it was a 3. I find it hard to believe the guys who played on it and produced arguably the best sounding metal album of all time, would be confused on what was actually used.
 
VESmedic said:
Ive seen it. Tons of pics of the mark II as well. Yet bob rock and het themselves say it was a 3. I find it hard to believe the guys who played on it and produced arguably the best sounding metal album of all time, would be confused on what was actually used.
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I have yet to read an interview of James saying they used a mark III to record it. Here's another video of James saying it's the mark IV head. 10.48
 
VESmedic said:
I’ve hinted at this before on this forum, and I knew I wouldn’t get anywhere without some kind of proof. I’ve seen pictures but I can’t find them at the moment. For anyone that has the AJFA box set, apparently hetfield talks about this as well and confirms it as well. But from the man himself, bob rock. It was a mark 3. Go to the 1:57:00 mark. I realize some won’t believe this or it won’t matter at all, but I still think it’s interesting how this 10k dollar amp has taken on this mythical proportions that stems mostly from
This record, Atleast a huge proportion of it. I never thought the C+ sounded anything like the black album to me personally, but the mark 3 does, and for AJFA as well: which they used a BBE on :) enjoy.

Click to expand...


Bob Rock seems like a surprisingly well grounded dude for someone as rich and famous as he is.

This is a good TT episode.
 
C+ is legendary because of MOP I always thought. I've assumed the Black Album was a IV just based on how it sounds.
 
VESmedic said:
The original Metallica AJFA box set, het says it.
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Well here you have him saying it's the mark IV head for the black album. The AJFA was a mark 2C++ / quad + strategy 400 ...
For what I know there were something like nine total cabs used in the end, so a blend of different speakers . Amp-wise, IIC+ plus ADA MP-1 plus Jose-modded Marshall JMP and the Mark IV. Now, I've never seen any photos of a Mark III
 
DragonCrestPC said:
That's funny. I could get 95% of the sad but true tone on my Mark III green stripe but my C++ didn't quite achieve the same level, it was different. Both are amazing amps.
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Is a Green Stripe the one that's very close to the IV tone/circuit? That could explain why folks are saying it was a III but it seems to sound like a IV.
 
ultimatemetalguitartones said:
Well here you have him saying it's the mark IV head for the black album. The AJFA was a mark 2C++ / quad + strategy 400 ...
For what I know there were something like nine total cabs used in the end, so a blend of different speakers . Amp-wise, IIC+ plus ADA MP-1 plus Jose-modded Marshall JMP and the Mark IV. Now, I've never seen any photos of a Mark III
Click to expand...


lol whatever you say man!
 
I just think Bob Rock have a hard time remembering the details 30 years afterwards.
I’d rather trust the pictures from the sessions showing the Mark IIC++ and Mark IV amps. As well as the 1991 interview with Hetfield saying he used the same Mark II he used on earlier albums. And if I remember correctly it was Toby Wright that said “I think they were Mark III” in the Justice box set, not Hetfield.

“Did you experiment with different amps and cabinets?


Hetfield: “We tried a bunch of amps, but I ended up using the same Mesa/Boogie Simulclass Mark II that I've used on the last three albums. In Los Angeles there are a million amps you can try out, but none of them were up to snuff.”

https://www.guitarworld.com/features/metallica-black-album-1991-interview
 

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NineShallDie said:
I just think Bob Rock have a hard remembering the details 30 years afterwards.
I’d rather trust the pictures from the sessions showing the Mark IIC++ and Mark IV amps. As well as the 1991 interview with Hetfield saying he used the same Mark II he used on earlier albums. And if I remember correctly it was Toby Wright that said “I think they were Mark III” in the Justice box set, not Hetfield.

“Did you experiment with different amps and cabinets?


Hetfield: “We tried a bunch of amps, but I ended up using the same Mesa/Boogie Simulclass Mark II that I've used on the last three albums. In Los Angeles there are a million amps you can try out, but none of them were up to snuff.”

https://www.guitarworld.com/features/metallica-black-album-1991-interview
Click to expand...



I think that’s where I disagree. I find it hard to imagine a producer of this magnitude coming up with one of the most iconic tones of all time, just forgot exactly what amp was used. Especially considering when Dave Friedman specifically asked “ it wasn’t a IIC+?”, and he said no it was a 3.
 
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