Mesa Mark III red stripe 100/60… with R2 mod

[Neoclassical.Sucubus]

Acquired my first Mark III (red stripe) this weekend. Definitely a learning curve
coming from a Mark V 90 and being my first experience with a vintage Mesa. Finding it difficult to get chunky, aggressive lead channel tone I’ve heard so many times in reviews.

Any recommendations on knob and eq settings?

 

[ultimatemetalguitartones]

Presence 5

 

[Neoclassical.Sucubus]

Presence 5

These are great, thank you. A great starting off point. I was way off originally…

 

[Beyond Black]

Pull brights and pull shift (treble) for more saturation. The higher you run those, the less lead drive you’ll need.
Pull shift (bass) is too much for hot humbuckers in lead mode, but works well with lower output and single coils.
I always prefer pull deep pulled and then manage the lows with the 80 slider.
6600 can get very aggressive in the highs, depending on speakers/guitars. Don’t be afraid to run the 2200 a little higher than 6600 if necessary. You’ll also need to find your preferred balance between 6600 and presence. I prefer presence around 6ish.
The brutal scooped tone is fun in the bedroom and for recording, but for live use, be prepared to lower the bass, and elevate the mids, or you’ll cut like a plastic butter knife through Tungsten.

 

[GJgo]

Here's another example bedroom starting point. Treble, deep & lead are pulled, and here presence was pretty low.

 

[anomaly]

I'm trying to remember my settings when I owned a red stripe. The red stripe is a little darker than the blue and green stripe so you can move that presence up a bit higher, but I think I had it at around 4, maybe 5 at the highest. They get quite hairy or sizzly with the presence too high.
Volume - 8
Treble - 8 (pulled)
Mids - 3
Bass - 1
Lead Drive - 7 or 8
about 3 ish on the master and lead master (pull deep)
and a V shape on the graphic EQ, but when playing live you'll want to raise the 750 and 2200 a bit. Actually, even the 6600 and presence helps it cut too. The brighter it is, the better it will cut through. Then lower your 80 and 240 sliders a tad, the 240 can congest the tone a bit if it's too high. I never liked using the pull bright on mine because I found that keeping it off worked like a high cut filter in a way, and helped the high end definition. When it was on it congested the high end and made things less defined. Try it on, then off and you'll see (or hear) what I mean.

 

[Chubbs]

I like to run mine like this. It's a black stripe but you get the idea.
Vol1: 7.5 pulled, treble: 7 pulled, bass 0-2, mid 2, master 1: 2-3 pulled, lead drive: 4-7.5 pulled , lead master: 3 pulled. Presence on about 3.
Eq: 80hz top of the slider touching the thin upper line, 240 bottom touching the center line, 750 bottom touching the lower thin line or to taste, 2200 bottom just above the midline. 6600 centered on the thin top line.
Also if you have a PS I like to tweak it just a bit with depth and presence on about 8oclock.

 

[LPMojoGL]

I had a blue stripe. Only sounded good when cranked. Otherwise, thin shrill. Opened up, mean af.

 

[Neoclassical.Sucubus]

Here's another example bedroom starting point. Treble, deep & lead are pulled, and here presence was pretty low.

Acquired my first Mark III (red stripe) this weekend. Definitely a learning curve
coming from a Mark V 90 and being my first experience with a vintage Mesa. Finding it difficult to get chunky, aggressive lead channel tone I’ve heard so many times in reviews.

Any recommendations on knob and eq settings?

All of this was a big help and thank you again. Since then I have actually found myself a nice 32 EQ rack unit I have hooked up in the FX loop and have been having the most fun with Channel 2 running either the TS9 or the Walrus Audio Ages OD pedals.

So maybe someone can shed some light on this also. I always thought the red stripe was introduced in 1987, well mine has had the Channel 2 Master Volume Mod done to it by Mike B but the interesting thing is that Mike B also dated it for October 86’? Any thoughts? Here are some pics of the amp.

 

[VESmedic]

All of this was a big help and thank you again. Since then I have actually found myself a nice 32 EQ rack unit I have hooked up in the FX loop and have been having the most fun with Channel 2 running either the TS9 or the Walrus Audio Ages OD pedals.

So maybe someone can shed some light on this also. I always thought the red stripe was introduced in 1987, well mine has had the Channel 2 Master Volume Mod done to it by Mike B but the interesting thing is that Mike B also dated it for October 86’? Any thoughts? Here are some pics of the amp.

You shouldn’t need a 32 band graphic eq to get heavy tones out of amp. Especially the Mesa mark series amps, they are the best amps EVARRRR!!!!! For heavy tones, just ask this board!

 

[Neoclassical.Sucubus]

You shouldn’t need a 32 band graphic eq to get heavy tones out of amp. Especially the Mesa mark series amps, they are the best amps EVARRRR!!!!! For heavy tones, just ask this board

I wasn't saying you needed an EQ to get good tones, I was saying I got an EQ and am having fun with it. I know that's hilarious!

 

[VESmedic]

I wasn't saying you needed an EQ to get good tones, I was saying I got an EQ and am having fun with it. I know that's hilarious!

It’s definitely hillarious with how much mark series dick this board sucks to make everyone believe that the amp is SOOOO GOOOOD for heavy tones I’m just trolling, carry on.

 

[Exo-metal]

You're just trolling for mesa cock hahaha

 

[Little B]

O.P. - who did your mkiii footswitch? Looks great!