NAD: Mesa IIC+ DRG (clip add comparing to Mark III)

[cardinal]

Looks to be an original IIC+ DRG. Cute little thing

I'm impressed so far. Been a die-hard Marshall guy for a while; been a long time since playing a Mark. Sounds really nice.

I know it's not the long-head presence-on-the-front version. Still sounds great and is effortless fun to play.

 

[skullfxr]

That is r really nice!

 

[Exo-metal]

Congrats on that beast! What's the black box?

 

[cardinal]

Congrats on that beast! What's the black box?

The stomp box? It's a Fortin 33. I was using it with an old Marshall combo (model 4010, the 2204 circuit in a 1x12), but the Mark certainly needs no boost.

 

[Exo-metal]

Ugh, no friend...all the kill tones you could ever ask for and then some. Very nice score! Btw what tubes are you running? Does it have the X105 transformer? Need pics of the back...

 

[cardinal]

Ugh, no friend...all the kill tones you could ever ask for and then some. Very nice score! Btw what tubes are you running? Does it have the X105 transformer? Need pics of the back...

Looks like recent STR 440 tubes. PT is stamped with 105. It's a non-export model, so I think it's the "typical" DRG with the 105PT.

 

[Racerxrated]

Looks to be an original IIC+ DRG. Cute little thing

I'm impressed so far. Been a die-hard Marshall guy for a while; been a long time since playing a Mark. Sounds really nice.

I know it's not the long-head presence-on-the-front version. Still sounds great and is effortless fun to play.

Eh, the 'long head front presence' in a collectors thing...they do sell for more but I've talked to guys who've owned multiple C+, including many original, upgrade, long head versions and they all say the same thing...a short head upgraded C+ can sound as good or better than any long head original version. Just the normal differences between any of the same amp models, like a 2203 is great while the same year 2203 is just ok.
I've had an upgraded SRG C+, an original HRG and upgrade HRG C++, and now the king, C+ Coliseum.
I love the Coli, but honestly the best sounding was my first 2C SRG...and was a killer C+. But even as a plain ole 2C it was incredible sounding BEFORE the upgrade. Sometimes I think I should have kept it a C.

Anyway, congrats on the score!

 

[DragonCrestPC]

Congrats!

 

[cardinal]

Eh, the 'long head front presence' in a collectors thing...they do sell for more but I've talked to guys who've owned multiple C+, including many original, upgrade, long head versions and they all say the same thing...a short head upgraded C+ can sound as good or better than any long head original version. Just the normal differences between any of the same amp models, like a 2203 is great while the same year 2203 is just ok.
I've had an upgraded SRG C+, an original HRG and upgrade HRG C++, and now the king, C+ Coliseum.
I love the Coli, but honestly the best sounding was my first 2C SRG...and was a killer C+. But even as a plain ole 2C it was incredible sounding BEFORE the upgrade. Sometimes I think I should have kept it a C.

Anyway, congrats on the score!

Thanks man! I'm sure the long-head front-presence ones sound awesome. No idea how different they sound from this one.

I'll bet that Coliseum is earth shattering!

At first, I thought this one was broken. I zeroed the volumes when turning it on and slowly brought up the Lead Master, but it wasn't very loud even cranking the lead master. Then I wondered if Master 1 influenced the lead channel, gave that a quick twist and nearly blew out my ears.

 

[Racerxrated]

Yep, there’s a learning curve to the Mark series. Try volume 1 pulled/maxed, treble pulled/max, bass pulled/0-2, mids 0, lead master pulled/1-3, lead gain to taste(I boost so its at 3-4) Master pulled, 4-6. The treble up high adds gain; but also limits the bass/mid knobs. Then of course V your eq for the classic metal tone.

 

[cardinal]

Yep, there’s a learning curve to the Mark series. Try volume 1 pulled/maxed, treble pulled/max, bass pulled/0-2, mids 0, lead master pulled/1-3, lead gain to taste(I boost so its at 3-4) Master pulled, 4-6. The treble up high adds gain; but also limits the bass/mid knobs. Then of course V your eq for the classic metal tone.

Thanks, will give it a shot. I set it with both gains, treble, and presence at 7. Bass and Mids at 2. Pulled both brights and left everything else pushed in. Sounds really great. A lot of amps struggle with my 8 strings, but this one seems to handle it with ease.

I like it just fine with the EQ switched out. Sounds mean as hell. I tried the typical V curve and it sounded cartoonish to me, but I also was just using this EVM-loaded open-backed 1x12 that it came with. Maybe with a 4x12 it's different. But I'm also used to SD-1-boosted Marshalls, so having a lot of thumping low end is strange to me.

 

[blackba]

I didn't even know they made short IIC+ heads. Did they make short mark III's as well?

With the latest lunchbox amp trend, this sure fits right in, bet it sounds great.

 

[cardinal]

I didn't even know they made short IIC+ heads. Did they make short mark III's as well?

With the latest lunchbox amp trend, this sure fits right in, bet it sounds great.

Yeah, it's the same chassis that fits into the standard Mesa 1x12 combo cab. They just put it into a headshell, too. The long heads fit into the 1x15 combo cabs. Eventually the Mark IV long-heads went into a wide-body 1x12 combo. But they still made the short-head sized chassis for the short heads and normal 1x12 combos.

 

[Racerxrated]

I didn't even know they made short IIC+ heads. Did they make short mark III's as well?

With the latest lunchbox amp trend, this sure fits right in, bet it sounds great.

Yeah, it's the same chassis that fits into the standard Mesa 1x12 combo cab. They just put it into a headshell, too. The long heads fit into the 1x15 combo cabs. Eventually the Mark IV long-heads went into a wide-body 1x12 combo. But they still made the short-head sized chassis for the short heads and normal 1x12 combos.

Yep my C+ Coli is a rare 1x15 combo with the 400w EV..let me repeat...400w..
Who the hell needs a 400w guitar speaker. Haha. But it does rip. I run it through 2 cabs; a Recto V30 and a halfback w/C90s and EVMs. The Halfback sounds ok at low volumes, but when I turn up(2 is deafening lol) that cab really shines. V30’s are killer but that halfback sounds incredible loud.

 

[Fordman65]

Need to run STR415 power tubes and 8th gen chinese pre amps. Imo. This amp like no other benefits greatly from these improvement

 

[Racerxrated]

Need to run STR415 power tubes and 8th gen chinese pre amps. Imo. This amp like no other benefits greatly from these improvement

Agree 100%. They aren't cheap; but if you like the tone now, wait till you put a quad of those in....huge difference for the better.

 

[JB 1970]

STR 415/416 power tubes in a simulclass model, with Tungsram pre's in V1, V2 and RFT's in V3,V4 for me.

 

[Markedman]

Think about this; gain & hiss. The enemy of high gain amps. Mark series amps have an incredible amount of gain and the gain to hiss ratio is insane. There is no need for a boost or gate pedal.

As I write this, I'm playing my C++ with the master at absolute zero and it sounds awesomely fantastic. I can turn the master to .5 to where it sounds thicker and still the hiss is not apparent and the gain is through the roof. At 1 on the Master, where I usually set the master, you wouldn't know that the amp was on.

[video coming, it's 10:00 P.M. here, but it's needed and I'm vain]

 

[Racerxrated]

Think about this; gain & hiss. The enemy of high gain amps. Mark series amps have an incredible amount of gain and the gain to hiss ratio is insane. There is no need for a boost or gate pedal.

As I write this, I'm playing my C++ with the master at absolute zero and it sounds awesomely fantastic. I can turn the master to .5 to where it sounds thicker and still the hiss is not apparent and the gain is through the roof. At 1 on the Master, where I usually set the master, you wouldn't know that the amp was on.

[video coming, it's 10:00 P.M. here, but it's needed and I'm vain]

It ain't about 'need' to boost. It's never about gain...hundreds of pro players boost their high gain amps for lots of reasons but none would say "I boost my amp because it doesn't have enough gain". Feel, more upper mids(my reason) and smoothing out the tone are some.
As much as I love the C+ Coli I own(and the previous 4) I drop the gain back to 3 and boost that bitch. And she loves it. So did all the others.

 

[311boogieman]

Awesome. Happy New IIC+ Day. Sweet.


Enjoy