S
Shredfever
New member
Greetings all! Long time lurker, first time posting. Hoping some of the knowledgeable folks here at RigTalk might be able to give me some info on one of my amps that I purchased some time ago, but haven't been able to get much info about. It's a Mako Dorado 100 single channel amp, with several additional factory mods, that are controlled by various unlabeled switches and knobs on the front and rear of the amp.
There are four mini toggle switches on the front of the amp, and two additional knobs on the back of the amp, that, as best I can tell from online sleuthing, weren't standard to the Dorados. The loop level knob also seems to act as an additional gain boost that can also alter the sound/structure of the gain. Each of the mods and controls are fairly sensitive, and a small adjustment can drastically alter the sound of the amp. Ultimately, for a single channel head, there is fairly daunting amount of tweakability, and with some of the controls being on the back of the amp, it's difficult to tweak and have a solid understanding of what change you're making to the sound.
The person I purchased it from got it in trade, and knew relatively little about the amp, but going by the research I've done, and the little bit of info I can find, I believe I know at least what the mods are called, and I think I have some idea what they do. I've also read that some of these controls (i.e. the loop level gain boost) have "secret" secondary functions when dialed to a specific "sweet spot". I've attempted to contact the manufacturer a couple of times, but it doesn't seem like he's doing a whole lot with the company these days and has never gotten back to me. I'm hoping someone here might have experience with these amps and be able to give me some guidance.
I know the amp is a Mako Dorado, D100 based on the model # on the back, but I also believe it was modded by the maker so that it can either function with the Dorado preamp, or with the company's Makoplex preamp, making it essentially two amps in one, selectable via one of the toggles on the center front of the amp.
I LOVE the amp. It's an incredibly high quality piece of gear, is built like a tank, and I have a sound dialed in the I'm pretty happy with now. I would like to have a better understanding of what each of the mods was designed to do, to (hopefully) dial in an even more godlike
tone.
So I'll start with a pic of the front of the amp, and a description of what I think the toggles do
I believe the center toggle controls which preamp I'm using; the Makoplex or Dorado, as switching it from left to right seems to take it from a more open, mid-rangier Marshall sound, to a tighter, gainier more compressed sound, with additional low end. More
I believe the three toggles on the far left of the amp to be additional gain stages;
- Flip the first switch, it sounds very "plexiesque" to me
- Add the second, it sounds to me kind of hotrodded JMPish. Playing some 80's rock like Whitesnake, Ratt, Dokken, etc here sounds awesome
- Add the third it turns into more of a very hotrodded JCM800
- Flip the toggle in the center of the amp to the right, dial the loop level control to around 8, and it turns into a much gainier, more modern sound that to me is more reminiscent of a VHT or Bogner...generally I would call this sound bestial. This is where I'm spending most of my time these days. Fantastic for thrash metal, and when I add my Boss HM2 in front of it, it's old school, buzzsaw, Swedish death metal brutality to the max. It just gets nasty
From the reading I've done, I believe the two extra knobs on the back to be Sub and Depth controls, and these two are the biggest conundrums for me.
It would seem that these are designed to control the amount and "shape" of the low end frequencies, but it's difficult to get a good idea since I have to stand behind the amp to adjust them, particularly since the amp is so brutally loud (although the master volume is probably the single most useful master volume control I've ever used - you can get pretty awesome sounds even at low volumes.)
I'd be curious if anyone here has had experience with Makos, and could either validate, or invalidate my thoughts about what each of these functions are designed to do, and better yet, if anyone had recommendations for settings for this amp. I find myself spending way too much time obsessing over tweaking the amp, so any help or insight would be most welcome!
Thanks in advance!
There are four mini toggle switches on the front of the amp, and two additional knobs on the back of the amp, that, as best I can tell from online sleuthing, weren't standard to the Dorados. The loop level knob also seems to act as an additional gain boost that can also alter the sound/structure of the gain. Each of the mods and controls are fairly sensitive, and a small adjustment can drastically alter the sound of the amp. Ultimately, for a single channel head, there is fairly daunting amount of tweakability, and with some of the controls being on the back of the amp, it's difficult to tweak and have a solid understanding of what change you're making to the sound.
The person I purchased it from got it in trade, and knew relatively little about the amp, but going by the research I've done, and the little bit of info I can find, I believe I know at least what the mods are called, and I think I have some idea what they do. I've also read that some of these controls (i.e. the loop level gain boost) have "secret" secondary functions when dialed to a specific "sweet spot". I've attempted to contact the manufacturer a couple of times, but it doesn't seem like he's doing a whole lot with the company these days and has never gotten back to me. I'm hoping someone here might have experience with these amps and be able to give me some guidance.
I know the amp is a Mako Dorado, D100 based on the model # on the back, but I also believe it was modded by the maker so that it can either function with the Dorado preamp, or with the company's Makoplex preamp, making it essentially two amps in one, selectable via one of the toggles on the center front of the amp.
I LOVE the amp. It's an incredibly high quality piece of gear, is built like a tank, and I have a sound dialed in the I'm pretty happy with now. I would like to have a better understanding of what each of the mods was designed to do, to (hopefully) dial in an even more godlike
tone. So I'll start with a pic of the front of the amp, and a description of what I think the toggles do
I believe the center toggle controls which preamp I'm using; the Makoplex or Dorado, as switching it from left to right seems to take it from a more open, mid-rangier Marshall sound, to a tighter, gainier more compressed sound, with additional low end. More
I believe the three toggles on the far left of the amp to be additional gain stages;
- Flip the first switch, it sounds very "plexiesque" to me
- Add the second, it sounds to me kind of hotrodded JMPish. Playing some 80's rock like Whitesnake, Ratt, Dokken, etc here sounds awesome
- Add the third it turns into more of a very hotrodded JCM800
- Flip the toggle in the center of the amp to the right, dial the loop level control to around 8, and it turns into a much gainier, more modern sound that to me is more reminiscent of a VHT or Bogner...generally I would call this sound bestial. This is where I'm spending most of my time these days. Fantastic for thrash metal, and when I add my Boss HM2 in front of it, it's old school, buzzsaw, Swedish death metal brutality to the max. It just gets nasty
From the reading I've done, I believe the two extra knobs on the back to be Sub and Depth controls, and these two are the biggest conundrums for me.
It would seem that these are designed to control the amount and "shape" of the low end frequencies, but it's difficult to get a good idea since I have to stand behind the amp to adjust them, particularly since the amp is so brutally loud (although the master volume is probably the single most useful master volume control I've ever used - you can get pretty awesome sounds even at low volumes.)
I'd be curious if anyone here has had experience with Makos, and could either validate, or invalidate my thoughts about what each of these functions are designed to do, and better yet, if anyone had recommendations for settings for this amp. I find myself spending way too much time obsessing over tweaking the amp, so any help or insight would be most welcome!
Thanks in advance!
