The Terrifying Versatility of the Mesa Boogie Mark Series
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- Опубликовано: 22 окт 2024
- The Terrifying Versatility of the Mesa Boogie Mark Series
This amp basically has 3 different knobs for treble,
3 different knobs for middle and 3 different knobs for bass at different places of the circuit. So there is enormous control here. And an enormous number of combinations. It can basically be tweaked into any classic sound, but between those settings it can very easily also sound very bad. But if you’re willing to put in the time to learn it. This is the worlds greatest amp!!
I’m playing a 1989 Mesa Boogie Mark III through a Marshall 4x12 with 1980s Marshall Vintage Speakers in it.
I’m tweaking in a classic Marshall tone, a classic Rolling Stones clean tone and a Thrash Metal tone today and discuss the settings. Cheers!
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Johan Segeborn - the god father of croc rock 🤘🐊
😆 Cheers!
Rock out with your croc out!
Mesa boogie amps were one of the best amps made back in the day. Versital Carlos used to use them for a while and he got crazy tone.
Thanks Johan! Great demo!
Thanks Darrell! Yeah Carlos Santana and then James and Kirk on the Black Album, Keith, Ronnie and Mick on Tattoo You and Mark Knopfler on Brothers in Arms. Izzy on Appetite for Destruction
@@JohanSegeborn you got that right!
They still are among the best made. I'd take a Mark V over any other amp you can name.
It is daunting to think about tweaking these amps, but once you find a sound you like, they can't be beat.
Johan, you just summed up why I could get a good sound out of one of these in a rehearsal studio after someone else had set it up, and then hated it the following week after the settings had been changed. Great explanation and demo.
Thanks, glad you like it!
Johan, I always love your video titles! I love that you describe the Mark series tone as so versatile that it’s “terrifying”! 😂 Thanks for all you do!
Thanks Kevin, it's great to hear that! 🙂
Mesa amps I find take more finesse when knob turning. Very little adjustments make big tone differences. Patience is required but well worth it. Great amps.
Hi, Johan!
Thank you for the great speach and taking me 30 years back. I love those amps more, then anything else, but its really like a river. Well you said. See you!
Siegfried
See you man! Cheers
I've got myself a Mark IV Rev B this year and love it - so versatile as you say Johan - Enjoy the journey!
Cheers Lewis!
You never hear these amps through greenbacks, it’s always V30’s. To the point where it’s irritating! Kudos to you for providing a long awaited amp/speaker combination! Long live the G12M!
FWIW I have lots of comparos of Marks & Rectos with Greenbacks on my channel, here's an example.
ruclips.net/video/v0RM3RImaHI/видео.html
Johan is THE reference on the internet for a honest review of amps..because he cranks them up.. to a real volume..you don't hear the guitar's strings and the pick and plonks.. Thanks Johan..
The tones and playing are fantastic. Keep them coming Johan thanks
Thanks, I’m so glad to hear that!
I have 7 different mesa amps as well as quad preamps , triaxis ,v twin. The key is to read the literature , they explain in plain english how to go about dialing them in. Its eye opening how they work. They are beautiful amps .
I use a Mesa Mark IV, love it!
been playing my mkiii a lot lately.. its great.
I want to take a journey down the river of tone with you! 😁 Sounding great as usual. God bless and rock on 🎸😎👍
Thanks my friend, I’m glad to hear that
Great video Johan. By the way, when you pull the treble knob, that doesn’t have any effect on either of the rhythm modes on the rhythm channel. Pulled treble only affects the Lead channel. Put it in lead, and when you push or pull the treble knob you will hear the difference (pulled adds treble boost to the lead channel).
I bought my Mark III (green stripe) in 1988 directly from a Boogie rep who came to my college apartment in the Nashville, TN area with a couple of models for me to play through and then took my order on the spot. I still have it today, and it sounds amazing with the EV12 speaker that I ordered in it as an upgrade when I purchased it. It can get LOUD while still remaining pristinely clean. And of course it can get about as intense as you want in the lead mode but when dialed properly produces a range of soaring, singing lead tones to suit virtually any style or song.
They can definitely be intimidating if you let them be. Or they can be one of (if not the) most versatile amps ever that will produce outstanding tones across the full spectrum if you’re willing to experiment with them and learn how the various controls affect the sound and how they interact with one another (some controls affect how other controls work and how much they influence the end result/sound).
By the way, it sounds very different (better for my purposes) when loaded with vintage Mullard, Amperex, and RCA 12Ax7 preamp tubes and RCA black plate 6L6GC power tubes. Thanks again for all your great videos and the straightforward and honest way you do them. 🙂
*spits out drink* YOU HAD THE MASTER AT 10!? JFC, are you sterile now? You mad hero!
Holy shit how did I miss this?? Love your channel (yes I'm subscribed with notifications active) and I own a Mark IV. Marks are my favourite! Great video!
Love all my Marshalls, also love my Mesa Single Rectifier. Love them together in Stereo too.
...and terrific presentation Johan!
Thanks Stelios! 😃
@@JohanSegeborn u welcome! By the way, I got 2 Mark III combos in pristine condition for sale. If anyone is interested, please let me know.
Currently have a Mark V 35 in the line up. It has a learning curve to it but can capture multiple classic models incl Mark IIc+, Mark 1 etc. very well. It takes some time to explore as it certainly is not a plug and play 4 holer. Their manuals are small books that offer extensive descriptions and helpful tips. I don't see these amps as a challenge but certainly more of a fun experience in tone seeking. Very few amps offer the level of tonal palate (super clean to super thrash) and provide such a wide platform for maximum creativity for a guitarist willing to invest the time. I much prefer authentically seeking some new tones via a Mesa Boogie than using any digital modeler.
I'm terrified. Another amazing demo. Thanks.
Stunning amp!
Does it all!
Thanks, yeah it’s Swiss Army knife for sure
@@JohanSegeborn A friend of mine has an old Mesa Studio 22. THAT thing screamed too.
Shane did a few demos of it last year!
I just acquired a Mark IV Rev A (Long boy) and Have owned a couple of Mark V's I absolutely ADORE them. Have you considered doing some vids on the Recto (with 6L6's and EL34)? Surprisingly versatile and weird to EQ. I'd say, Check out the Badlander as well. Its quite "Marshally" for a Boogie. I'm not sure why the called it a Rectifier as its missing tube rectification. Cheers Johan.
Hi Jorma! I did a couple of Rectifier videos early on in the channel but I’d love to more of those. Cheers!
@@JohanSegeborn Ill look for them and Id love to see more of these amps from you!
Great video as always, Johan. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!
You said it perfectly at the beginning: because these amps have so much versatility, it's easy to make them sound bad!
i scored a near-mint mark IV at the start of covid...BEST AMP EVER!!! cheers!!!
All the settings sounded really good Johan 🤘🤘🤘!!
Thanks, it’s great to hear that!
@@JohanSegeborn yes sir!!
the Marks have always been my favorites
Yea, I almost sold my Mark V 25 a few times, one day I would love it, and the next I would feel like I wasted a bunch of cash, but in the long run, I am glad I kept it, it is now my #1.
My mk iii covers so much ground best tube amp Ive ever had and I've owned alot of other high tier amps as well and came back to the mark sound 3 times.
I like your videos man. I have a Mark V. Love it.
One thing to remember is that the controls are like pre-filters. Settings on the volume and Treble will also affect the gain. Setting the Bass above 3 will often turn the tone muddy on the lead channel. Most EQing should be done with the graphic EQ and the push/pull pots.
Synd att Mesa är så dyra i Sverige (eller Europa för den delen) :( Dom verkar dock ha gått ner en del i pris, kanske är en bra tid att köpa in sig på Mesa nu? Var köper du dina Mesa förstärkare?
I just bought a mark V. I’m amazed at the versatility.
Yes! I LOVE Mesa Mark amps, but you absolutely can dial a terrible sound. I read the mk2b manual, and literally pointed this out by saying that if you have a Ferrari that does 200 Mph, you must remember it will NOT do that in a tight corner. Brilliant analogy for a brilliant amp
Love your tones here Johan, great video as always.
I've been a Mesa player for years, a few DC series, 50 cal.+, a JP2C.
The versatility can certainly be a double edged sword when it comes to Mesa's.
I've spent a lot of time tweaking settings and such.
I eventually got to the point where I dialed in my tones at the home studio and then set them in stone.
Just the most minor change can make a world of difference in sound on them!
This last year or so I have been using a little Marhall Origin 20c with a Green Back that I put into it.
Master 10, gain 6, everything else at noon. MojoMojo for extra gain, Spark for lead boost.
Happiest that I have ever been with my tone.
But it is a rock tone, and far from the METAL capabilities of the Mesa's.
I've got mine modded to 3+ spec a few years ago and it got easier to dial in, specially the presence knob.
I didn't see a mic on the combo speaker. Were you using the Marshall 412? I've always found small 112 combo amps too boxy sounding and always prefer a 412 cab sound
Yeah, It was played through the black 4x12 1960BV
This is the first time, I heard someone cranking the presence. Most people advise to keep it below 2 or something. But as always, your sounds sound great. So I might need to experience a bit more with the presence control of my '88 Blue Stripe Mark III. What stripe is this one?
Thanks! Yeah I've heard that presence should be dialed back too but this has worked the b best for me. It's an 89 Blue Stripe. Cheers
@@JohanSegeborn your sound proves that. Never trust the internet..😉
Maybe as it’s cranked up loud it’s less in the circuit if that makes sense
@@abrackas1 that is possible. The presence probably sits in the feedback loop, which might be dependent on the master 🤔
But I'm not sure.
nice video as always :)
just a clarification
pull treble doesn't work on clean channel.
It only works on lead channel, and also on rhy2 channel, but this depends on the stripe revision
Put simply, the tone controls adjust the equalization of the signal going into the distortion circuit. The equalizer adjusts the sound AFTER the distortion circuit, which makes a very large difference in the total tone you get.
I had a MKll head with reverb and graphic and stupidly sold it. Have a MK lll Simul-Class long head with reverb and graphic and use it from time to time but more like a fine wine that you bring out every now and then to sip and enjoy. Still consider it the best amp I own. The 1982 MK ll was wonderful-I just wasn’t used to how ultra “focused” and “perfect” they sounded since I was used to Marshalls Music Man’s and a modified and boosted Fender Twin. It did everything cleaner and too predictable and sounded like soda and beer adverts do with studio musician tone. I do like my MK lll Simulclass-Class which gives me an older amp cranked sound because of the class A power.
I had to look at the schematic for my Mark 2b before I was able to really dial it in - knowing where in the circuit the four volumes are located is essential to getting a full sound, it's much too easy to accidentally turn that input volume down and choke out the whole signal chain!
Yeah it’s pretty hard to tweak
Versatility is my favorite thing to see in an amp! It's why I got a seymour duncan convertible 100 after all. Still want a mark series tho...
Great sounds
How much it costs
I came across one on the used market just yesterday and put a deposit on it. It’s $1000 Canadian , good buy or ?
it would be great if you did one about the Subway rocket
If you include the SOB as the first Mark 1 reissue, I've owned every Mark from I to V. They got more and more impressive with every newer model. The V is absolutely astonishing.
Which Mark III do you have? Is this the Simul-Class 15/75, 60 or 100?
Tone 3 was killer!
they are great amps, I've always wanted one.
I'm going to start this off saying I love Mesa amps. But to get simple things fixed. And yes amps sometimes need things fixed. Boogie's are known to be assembled really goofy. Like stacking circuit boards on top of each other and setting up where a repair man can't reach parts without disassembling so much. That's a main reason I love my S O B cause inside its rather simple and outside its just sounds so heavy and heavenly at the same time. And the clean is a great pedal platform. Plus mine's wood and wicker and still looks so pretty for a 37 yrs old amp.
The stones sound - wow
I allways think that if I was stocked on a dessert ireland and just had to pick one amp it would be a mesa (if I got the burst with me and there is electric)👏👏👏
mark iic+ is my dream amp
all the Mesa stuff is super versitile, Not sure why so many just crank the gain and scoop the mids without trying literally anything else.
A mesa boogiewoogie! (sic)
I have the iib and I don't know how to use the damn thing!
Fellow Croc-er!
Rock the Crocs!!
They sounds very good but are a nightmare to repair and these ones are getting old
It’s indeed a space ship in there 😃
Why is that? I thought the mark 3 in particular wasn't that difficult to repair, though I'm not a tech haha.
@@DigiEvoluido They like to build in layers and very compact. So most of the time replace 1 cheap piece is very expensive because you need to dissamble a huge part of the amp
@@krauz111 not the mark 3 I don't think, it's definitely not stacked as I've seen the circuit myself. I know the build quality is not that great, some components cannot handle the current they are subjected to and should be changed to higher valued ones. But the mark IIIs are definitely not stacked that I'm sure.
@@krauz111 The Mark 3 isn’t too bad to work on. They’re tight inside, but not impossible. Luckily all of the solders can be accessed topside so no need to pull the PCB for deep work. I believe the Mark 3 was one of the last ‘easy to work on’ Boogies
Johan....can i sugest..?
I have mk3 since 90...
My voice...
Vol 9./8...treb 7...bass 2...mid 5...Master 2/3...lead 7...mastlead 3
Hi! How do you set he push/pull pots? Cheers
@@JohanSegeborn ....sorry my friend for delayed pull all vol...treb...bass...master...lead too
How did Randall Smith start from super Hot Rodded Fender Princeton's to these ABOSOLUTE UNITS!!!! it does a bit of every sound.
Yeah, there is an insane amount of brilliant engineering packed into these small amps
Are these Amps similar to the Mesa DC3 model??
I haven’t played one of those yet. They certainly have similar looks
I will get a 2nd Mk3 someday, I love my Boogie simulclass Mk3 blue stripe and Rockit Retro 50w plexi clone.
I've owned all the Mk III "stripes" and the blue stripe is the most "musical" of the lot .... it just sings with a voice all it's own.
I like mark lll use to own one the blue stripe,i try to buy a mark v-35 past month i tested for 40 min didn't like it like friedman jj jr i went home with jj jr better cleans and gain,still love old marks just those.
This is really a dangerous amp.in scared to even play one.wow 👍👍👍👍🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Hello Johan, these amps are very good sounding but honestly...the more the knobs, the more are chances to screw up your tones!🤣 Cheers!
Hahaha! Yeah anyone who isn’t willing to put in the time to learn it is definitely better off with some other amp. I’ve certainly been in that category myself until now. Cheers!
What speaker?
Got a V30 i think! But Celestion made some other model FOR them!
@@DMSProduktions yes, Black Shadow speakers were made for Mesa. 90 watts I think. My Mk1 combo had a EV12L 200 watt monster in it. My 2x12 Recto cab has V30s.
It’s 1981 Marshall Straight 4x12 with Marshall Vintage V30. 2 from 1987 and 2 from 1989
@@JohanSegeborn oh, thanks. I didn't realize you were using an external speaker.
@@evanward4303 Yeah, they used EV too!
Man, for us amp nuts, you do great vids, played my entire life pretty much but just recently (2017) fell into this amp phase
The biggest deficiency of Mesa Boogie vs most other amps is it too easily gets lost in the mix when playing live at full volume. I've been to countless shows where the guitarist with the Mesa Boogie is practically inaudible compared to the rest of the band, especially so if the other guitarist is using a Marshall.
I've been gigging with my mark III+ for 4 years now and never had this happen to me. You might be referring to a rectifier I suppose.
@@DigiEvoluido My cousin had a mark 3 I used to borrow alot to band practice and play shows with until I could afford a decent amp. Everytime I used it, I had to radically change the graphic EQ or just turn it off and cut the gain in half before I could actually hear myself and keep the amp from running off into feedback. It sounded amazing on it's own and I spent tons of time tweaking the knobs to perfection only to have the rug pulled from beneath me when I had to crank it up.
@@lgmx-peacekeeper3204 To me this sounds like a case of using too much gain, and scooping out your mid range. When you're playing in a live band setting, you don't really want to do either of these things if you want your tone to cut through.
The biggest problem with Boogies is having to service or work on them.
Johan you should try out the line 6 pod go, or other modelers from the Helix family. They're very versatile and will get you great studio tones. The Plexi bright model is especially good, I think you would be surprised. My primary rig is a pod go with headphones and it works out great!
I used the Line6 POD 2 way back and I remember I loved the AC30 emulation
I have a pet hate when I see the EQ section not in the standard, and logical, arrangement of Bass Middle Treble. Sometimes they do it backwards, which winds me up, but I feel that Mesa designed the controls on this amp with the sole purpose of upsetting me more. 😂
That aside, these are awesome amps.
I think this dood should put the hours in before he demo a mesa
GAINNNNNN!!!!!
Yeah not bad sounding considering how mesa's are made and designed (from a amp building perspective they are pretty terrible, noisy circuit design and cheap out on things they should not, repair something simple and the whole amp needs to be disassembled including undersold components - which makes 'mesa engineering' pretty ironic)
So im always surprised that mesa's sound good. sorry I just dont like companies overcharging customers and selling sub par gear. Not the biggest mesa fan
First gen Peavey Valvekings will do the same thing for a fraction of the price.
Haven’t tried those. I’ll look it up
😂🤣😅 No way. I owned one, got rid of it after a couple of months. Tried many different brand tubes but it always sounded like it was inside a cardboard box!
Don’t they just do great clean and great hi-gain and nothing in between?