Mesa MkIII conversion & restoration (quick clips added)

[ZEN Amps]

Picked up a very early MkIII (no stripe) late last year and just got around to getting her sorted. Conversion from combo, retube, most electrolytics, few pots etc and holy crap now she smokes. Amp is with me at home but will be taking her to the vault soon to do a video for sure.

I'm a fan of the tones the Mark series are known for but I'm not really a Mesa guy. How are you guys running yours for clean, crunch, metal and lead? Does anyone even bother with a range of tones, or just the classic metal rhy sound?

For this sound I'm digging:
Vol 1 = 7 (bright off)
Treb = 7 (w/ pull shift)
Bass = 2 (no shift)
Middle = 2 to 4
Master 1 = 4 (w/ pull deep)
Lead Drive = 8
Lead Master has pull bright on
Pres = 8 to 10
GEQ - classic V as pictured

These setting work well with most cabs, tunings and guitars - tight, thick and defined.

 

[Mikeyboyeee]

I always went for that 1 sound (you know which one) when I had 2 black dot IIIs.

 

[Techdeth]

That’s super close to what I run on my III++ green stripe . I can’t wait for this video . Huge fan of the mark III

 

[peterc52]

Presence seems a bit high. I usually has it between 3-5

 

[easstudios]

Absolute beaut of an amp, congrats. Restoration looks great too, I'd love to put mine in a headshell too. It is awesome at the kind of "fender" thing in the combo too which I didnt expect to like.

I have a pretty similar model (black dot/stripe). for the heavies, all knobs except rhythm 2 pulled out. I run the presence very high on mine (and maybe less on the GEQ).

Input 6-7
Treble 7-8
Bass 0-1
Mids 2-3
Lead Drive 8
Masters both around 3
Presence up high, 8-9 from memory.

Sounds something like this:

also did this a while ago, a little more rectifier sounding:

 

[JimAnsell]

what, no chassis pics!?!??

 

[Beyond Black]

Anxiously awaiting this vid.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

For Lead sounds, the listed settings are great to start with. From there, small adjustments are best.

The one thing I’ll say is that with my Mark IV, I usually run the 240 slider set quite a bit further downwards, probably half way between where the Mid slider is in your pic and the center line marker, and the 2200 slider maybe just a tad below the center line as well.

 

[ZEN Amps]

That’s super close to what I run on my III++ green stripe . I can’t wait for this video . Huge fan of the mark III

Anxiously awaiting this vid.

Next few weeks. I'm actually thinking about a ban on Metallica riffs ... otherwise it'll turn into a 'it doesn't' sound like Hetfield' fest!

Absolute beaut of an amp, congrats. Restoration looks great too, I'd love to put mine in a headshell too. It is awesome at the kind of "fender" thing in the combo too which I didnt expect to like.

I have a pretty similar model (black dot/stripe). for the heavies, all knobs except rhythm 2 pulled out. I run the presence very high on mine (and maybe less on the GEQ).

Input 6-7
Treble 7-8
Bass 0-1
Mids 2-3
Lead Drive 8
Masters both around 3
Presence up high, 8-9 from memory.

Yeah cool, funny how folks gravitate towards similar settings - I too like the Presence high.

Interestingly it's not a traditional presence control at all - from memory it's essentially the same as the Response or Contour controls on Friedmans and Wizards respectively. Opened up the power section really breathes due to the lack of negative feedback, sounds great.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

Another thing with the Mark series amps, you'll want to be careful with the 6600 slider and Presence knob. If you set them too high, the amp can start to sound kind of ratty and choked out.

For some reason, I've found that it's actually hard to hear this effect while you're adjusting the amp, but if you record clips and listen back to it with too much high frequencies dialed in, you'll hear it then. Once you catch onto what that ratty sound is though, it's much easier to hear it while you're dialing in the amp.

 

[DanTravis62]

Be careful with the presence knob and the 6600 slider.

That's the key to mark amps.

 

[ZEN Amps]

Yep cool, that 6600 is indeed brutal.

The Mark III manual is pretty funny, they actually call Rhy2 their 'Marshall channel'. You don't see that often from big companies.

I know these amps are supposed to be versatile but frankly anything other than the heavy AF rhythm tone on the lead channel is kinda boring. A tube screamer on Rhy2 might be cool, some more experimenting to do.

 

[Beyond Black]

Love the ban on Metallica riffs idea. Soooooooo overdone with all things Mark…

 

[311boogieman]

Looks like you did a great job looking forward to seeing/hearing more.

 

[Techdeth]

Kim definitely looking forward to this one . So far the MTL2 and Herbert mk3 and 2203 been my favorites

 

[TheGreatGreen]

I’ve always kind of heard the term “versatile” thrown around to describe Mark amps as well… but I’ve never thought of them as versatile either. Instead I think it’s the opposite. Mark amps give you a whole lot of control over being able to dial in almost any guitar and cab to fit the Mark sound, if that makes sense.

I love the Mark sound though, and credit where it’s due, there is an ok amount of variety of Mark sounds you can dial in. They can sound slightly thicker or leaner, slightly more or less saturated, and they have a decently flexible EQ section, but they always sound like Marks to me.

 

[311boogieman]

Kim definitely looking forward to this one . So far the MTL2 and Herbert mk3 and 2203 been my favorites

who is Kim?

 

[Techdeth]

who is Kim?

Lol it should have said I’m . Lol idk a Kim

 

[ZEN Amps]

Been messing with some settings, think I have it dialled in better now. Less highs and the only pull switch is the Pull Deep - the pull brights don't really seem necessary.

Here's a quickie riff running through a Mesa OS cab:



And here's a mini-song I'm working on for the main video (no solo yet). No prizes for spotting the influence, though I have told the pending lead player absolutely no wah is allowed. Kirk has ruined that particular effect for me.

 

[easstudios]

Been messing with some settings, think I have it dialled in better now. Less highs and the only pull switch is the Pull Deep - the pull brights don't really seem necessary.

Here's a quickie riff running through a Mesa OS cab:



And here's a mini-song I'm working on for the main video (no solo yet). No prizes for spotting the influence, though I have told the pending lead player absolutely no wah is allowed. Kirk has ruined that particular effect for me.

Loving that. It made me try something similar on my MKIII, presence fairly high, GEQ had the highest bands around the middle. Quite like the mids low down to keep the squishiness under control. The Soundcloud clip has a little bit less of that upper mid squelch compared to the youtube video, no idea if thats down to their ridiculously lossy compression, or whether that tone just pairs with the guitar a little nicer for my tastes.

Really useful to know that the presence control is more like a negative feedback, its definitely how it sounds. Theres some cool tones to be had with the presence lower and the MV and graphic EQ working a bit harder but I generally always prefer less NFB and a looser feel. Even fully cranked, it sounds really good to me, you just have to make sure the rest of the amp is ready for it