Good trade? Mesa Boogie MKIII Head Green Stripe vs VHT UL?

[Anonymous]

Dry can mean many things: fast attack/decay/release, lack of overtones, even frequency curve, etc.

To me, the VHT sounds like a distorted hi-fi amp
Dull, toneless, flat and not musical at all

 

[fretout]

am I on crack for thinking the UL absolutely smokes the mark??? I mean, to me, the vht is AMPLIFIER perfection...which means it amplifies whatever you are playing with nothing extra, so you better not be playing sloppy or you'll sound like shit! The vht has instantaneous response, and no extra saturation, maybe that's why people don't like it, but in the end only you can decide so go play the amp if possible..

You are not crazy. The ul kills almost everything else in my collection of amps. It's the best amp to tell me if I am "on" at that moment.

But many other players find it too unforgiving. Some think the amp sounds like crap,when it's them that's sounds bad...the amp just highlights their picking imperfections. And since it cuts thru so well, everyone can hear them sucking. Why would anyone want an amp that does that?

Because it makes you a better player. You work harder at it, and then the amp rewards you with a great tone, which gives you confidence, and you play harder.

I'd take a ultra lead over another typical Mesa tone. Not that Mesa tone is bad, it's just that everyone has it. Why have the same tone so many others have when you can have something different? Why do people pay so much for diezel? It's different and awesome. Peters, rhodes, dar...gotta love having your own sound. People hate on dimebags tone, but it was his own and he made it work for him.

Pretty good arguments here. The Marks (depending on what series) is also very transparent. It certainly isn't as dry as a VHT, but it will definitely amplify your picking technique, good, bad or otherwise. It's one thing that I would say is a definite selling point of a Mark VS. a Recto when someone is looking for that "Mesa" tone.

 

[apophis]

Dry can mean many things: fast attack/decay/release, lack of overtones, even frequency curve, etc.

To me, the VHT sounds like a distorted hi-fi amp
Dull, toneless, flat and not musical at all

You need to raise the master volume for it to become toneful or musical man....try the orange channel. Setting the bias correctly also helps A LOT in these amps..

 

[Mklane]

Tone is in the fingers, and the VHT will give you exactly what you put in. Yeah, that master needs to be cranked though.

 

[Nachorc90]

So, I should forget about using the VHT with gain at 2:00 o´clock on my bedroom I guess? correct me if I´m wrong please.

 

[RJF]

The UL sounds GREAT at low volumes. Infact, it's probably one of my best amps for the "new baby asleep in the next room" volumes. That MIGHT be a characteristic of a P50E speaker too, I don't know. I do know that V30's like to be pushed.

I personally think a UL smokes a mark amp, and most any other amp as far as that goes. It's not harsh or unforgiving, etc. It's a mean, tight, focused, punchy, vaporizer.

 

[Nachorc90]

The UL sounds GREAT at low volumes. Infact, it's probably one of my best amps for the "new baby asleep in the next room" volumes. That MIGHT be a characteristic of a P50E speaker too, I don't know. I do know that V30's like to be pushed.

I personally think a UL smokes a mark amp, and most any other amp as far as that goes. It's not harsh or unforgiving, etc. It's a mean, tight, focused, punchy, vaporizer.

Do you have the EQ or non EQ version? did you have the chance to try one of the non EQ versions t.o compare, mate?

thanks a lot.

 

[RJF]

Mine is EQ'd.

 

[Nachorc90]

Thanks everybody, really, thank you very much.

I´ll let you know what amp will be the keeper.

Cheers!

 

[garey77]

Yeah, that master needs to be cranked though.

Yes, but you can have it at low volumes with the master cranked by keeping the individual channel volumes down. That's how you milk those teats!

 

[RJF]

Not real sure about some of these responses. A mark 3 is a $650 amp. A UL is a $1400+ amp, more like $1600+ with GEQ. So no question, the UL non EQ is still worth a lot more than a mk3.

Good luck finding a green stripe mark with geq for 650.

Just picked up a Green stripe long head with eq for..........550.

 

[Nachorc90]

Ok, so, i checked out and tried both amps at once, here are the results on MY opinion:

Tried with a 2x12 loaded with celestions v30. On the clean settings, the VHT sounded nice, lots of headroom, but thing is, it sounded a little too "stiff" and not the classic clean which I really like. The Mark III has a wonderful clean, open, warm, very very fenderish.

On the crunch, I liked a little bit the R2 of the mark III, very marshallish.

And the lead, the most important: I have heard that the VHT was a dry amp, but I wasn´t really prepared for this kind of dryness. Couldn´t found my favourites lead tones with this amp no matter what, maybe it was because the lack of Graphic EQ, I really don´t know, but for heavy tight rythm the channel is quite good. The Mark III is the complete opposite: big sounding, tight but NOT overly tight creamy and liquid leads, the notes just pop out of the fretboard, didn´t have the need to play as hard on my strings, and the rythm tone is way more aggresive. The gain on those two was about the same amount, just the dryness of the VHT seemed like there was a little less (the MKIII is known for the gain achievement).

For me, there was no contest, the guy even offered me the trade without the Yammy, which tempted me a LOT, but prices aside, for my applications, the Mark III GS all day long.

Both amps were good at low volumes I must say, but I decided to keep my Mark III GS and in the future get another type of amp, possibly a EVH 5153.

Thanks again and just writing to comment my impressions.

 

[Racerxrated]

I just picked up a VHT Deliverance 60 on trade...best freakin deal I've ever made. GREAT tone and I just sold an SLO recently..it has that same clarity at volume. Change the gain style knob and you go from modded Marshall to thicker modern tone. I'm sold on VHT.

 

[RJF]

Maybe the non EQ UL sucks, I've never played one. All I know is every time I fire up my UL and start playing something heavy I kind of have a "woah" moment.

 

[Kelly]

Ok, so, i checked out and tried both amps at once, here are the results on MY opinion:

Tried with a 2x12 loaded with celestions v30. On the clean settings, the VHT sounded nice, lots of headroom, but thing is, it sounded a little too "stiff" and not the classic clean which I really like. The Mark III has a wonderful clean, open, warm, very very fenderish.

On the crunch, I liked a little bit the R2 of the mark III, very marshallish.

And the lead, the most important: I have heard that the VHT was a dry amp, but I wasn´t really prepared for this kind of dryness. Couldn´t found my favourites lead tones with this amp no matter what, maybe it was because the lack of Graphic EQ, I really don´t know, but for heavy tight rythm the channel is quite good. The Mark III is the complete opposite: big sounding, tight but NOT overly tight creamy and liquid leads, the notes just pop out of the fretboard, didn´t have the need to play as hard on my strings, and the rythm tone is way more aggresive. The gain on those two was about the same amount, just the dryness of the VHT seemed like there was a little less (the MKIII is known for the gain achievement).

For me, there was no contest, the guy even offered me the trade without the Yammy, which tempted me a LOT, but prices aside, for my applications, the Mark III GS all day long.

Both amps were good at low volumes I must say, but I decided to keep my Mark III GS and in the future get another type of amp, possibly a EVH 5153.

Thanks again and just writing to comment my impressions.

Grats, you already have your dream amp! Only you know what tone you're chasing, and those 2 amps are apples and oranges.