Boogies not cutting in the mix live??

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anomaly

anomaly

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I call this pure bullshit and user error. I've used Mark III's and IV's in many bands with other guitarists using Marshall's, Peavey's, etc... and have never had trouble being heard live. I mean, it takes some time to get the tone to sit just right without being honky, but it's absolutely possible. You got your gain settings and all of those possible EQ settings and you just gotta remember that a Mark series mids sit in a different place than Marshall's do, they sit lower, so there's a place there where you can get a lot of your cut. Also don't forget your presence control... This can be very key to bringing the tone more upfront and clear in the mix. Dropping that 6600 slider a bit and then bumping up the presence can do alot for clarity and cut. Another thing, the 2200 slider, that's your higher mids, use it. You don't need to have the 750 slider up to honk city to have a Mark cut through.

Sometimes I notice that people just generally dial in a too saturated tone that is muddy to begin with. With too much gain and not enough attack you're not gonna be heard well. Have you ever had trouble getting a clean tone to cut? probably not hey, so just think about getting your heavy tone as clear as your clean tone. With a Mark IV it's easier to do cause there are so many different ways you can dial in that amp. I'm not just talking rock tones either here, i'm talking modern heavy tones and thrash tones.
 
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The only time I remember any Mesa not cutting through in the mix was back in the 80s when guys would scoop the mids so much the guitar sounded like it was in a vacuum. I called them jar guitars.
 
Never had issues cutting with my mark iii or when I had my IIC++. I even had an aggressive v in the EQ and still cut just fine.
 
It's still the 750 slider that controls the focus of the "beam".

If it is down when playing with a band, you won't be heard, generally. When at home practicing, that a whole other ballgame.
 
My best luck with the Mark II/III is to run the VOL 1 rather high and the lead drive lower, with the Master at least on 3 or better. The other way around seems to lack much punch and/or dynamics.
 
I think people that have this problem just use the same eq they do while playing alone and not realizing you got to change the eq for a band mix . I find cymbals mess with tone badly so you got to mix with them in mind hardcore .
 
Techdeth said:
I think people that have this problem just use the same eq they do while playing alone and not realizing you got to change the eq for a band mix . I find cymbals mess with tone badly so you got to mix with them in mind hardcore .
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I think we've all had the experience of getting incredible tone at home with any amp and having to do a total complete knob turn fest at band practice. It just happen to me. I got my Marshall back from Dave Hopkins and once band practice started I was turning knobs after thinking I had Grailtone.

"Man it sounded so awesome back home, what the fuck happen?"
 
I've never heard anyone say they got lost in a mix with a Mark. Maybe if the 750 slider was all the way down. If you are the type that does that, you should probably sell the Mark and go back to a Line 6 Spider.
 
when I used to use dual & triple recto's I never had a problem cutting through. The guys that did have trouble cutting through the mix heavily scooped the mids. Recording with a recto was a bit of a challenge if you were working with someone that didn't know how to record them. Also, I found that pairing a recto with a boosted Marshall or something else with EL34's was best when recording rhythm tracks.
 
Markedman said:
It's still the 750 slider that controls the focus of the "beam".

If it is down when playing with a band, you won't be heard, generally. When at home practicing, that a whole other ballgame.
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Yes, the 750 slider does need to be up a bit or you'll dissapear. I run it just above the bottom line. If I'm using two cabs I run it higher, like half way between the middle line and bottom line, sometimes even a bit higher depending on the sound I'm going for. I like mids, but it's gotta be balanced to. You don't wanna have too extreme of a setting with any of those sliders or things will end up sounding weird, the 80hz slider can be run pretty high though depending on how bass heavy your cabinet is. The presence can be run really high on a Mark IV (presence pushed) without sounding Ice picky to as long as the 6600 slider is not too high as well. Those amps have a very smooth top end, but aggressive mids. On a III the top end is more sizzly.

As far as what my favourite Mark Is...? I find the Mark III's much more 80's sounding, while the Mark IV's can cop some very modern tones as well as some vintage tones, so I prefer the IV, but out of them all, you can't beat a good IIC+ or C++. Those amps sound timeless to me.
 
Been playing mks since the late 80s and never had a problem cutting thru a mix,even with Marshall's on the other side of me..like what's been said,that 2200 and presence control on the back are key.At least for me I always thought that mks had a lot of mids to begin with right out of the gate
 
Techdeth said:
I think people that have this problem just use the same eq they do while playing alone and not realizing you got to change the eq for a band mix . I find cymbals mess with tone badly so you got to mix with them in mind hardcore .
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Ya, it's very rare that you can use your favorite bedroom settings in a live situation, but if you are the only guitarist you have a lot more freedom to choose how you sound. With another guitarist there is always compromise for the bigger picture... You need to find a tone the blends well with the other players tone. And yes, cymbals are a bitch sometimes. Getting the right top end bite can be hard to dial in sometimes because of the cymbals.

This is why so many people love Marshall jcm800's, you just plug em in with a boost and you are already mix ready. Settings don't matter as much with those amps. They are for lazy guitarists, lol.
 
RaceU4her said:
my settings on my iic+ are mids 0, 750 slider all the way down
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I saw a Line 6 that "sounds great" on reverb. I think you should buy it and sell me your IIC+. I would be happy to bring those mids into my life.
 
Rectos cut really well...I had some trouble with a couple MKIVs , especially when the other guitar player was using a recto. The marks are more tricky to make cut and have a bit of a scooped nature. That's just my experience. I would take a good 2 channel Recto over a Mark series amp.
 
the4thlast1 said:
Rectos cut really well...I had some trouble with a couple MKIVs , especially when the other guitar player was using a recto. The marks are more tricky to make cut and have a bit of a scooped nature. That's just my experience. I would take a good 2 channel Recto over a Mark series amp.
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Scooped, are you kidding me? Mark's are more middy than Rectos. But yes, recto's are a little easier to use in a band, they naturally have a good bit of upper mids, but you can definitely get a Mark to cut against a recto, no problem.

You coulda tried cranking the presence up high on the IV, dropping the 6600 a bit and raising the 2200, then of course there's always that 750 slider, have it as high as you can handle it. That usually does the trick. Also, if you want a bit more of a up front in your face kinda tone with a IV, try pulling the presence out... it shifts the upper frequencies and lowers the low end a bit (you can comphensate with the 80hz slider). Doing this gives it a bit more of a cutting tone, and you just gotta keep fucking with the dials until it's right. I've used IV's with rectos before and actually had a really good blend with the two amps as their mids sit in different spots, but they sound huge together. You always gotta compromise though in a two guitarist band.
 
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