Finally played the IIC++ on the weekend...

Wolfenstein98k

Wolfenstein98k

Power User
And bloody loved it. The way the amp compresses on power chords but breathes otherwise is amazing. I ran it with the Input Drive and Overdrive on around 8, with the Tubescreamer on zero drive, Level on 8 in the front.

But I've one qualm... With that set up, it felt plenty gain-y while riffing. But whenever I'd slam a chord and leave it, it trailed out in seconds... Basically no sustain to speak of.

For those of you who love this amp or the similar Mark models, what do you do to squeeze more gain out, without just turning it into another squealing, bland, everything-on-full amp?

I'll try a compressor up front next, but I'd have thought the Drive pedal + running the gain high up would've done that enough...

Don't read this as a complaint about the model though - I'm just asking for personalised tips, as this is the first Mark model I even bothered with for more than five minutes!
 
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iaresee said:
How loud were you playing? Was the gate on?
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Fairly loud, but not as loud as possible. Loud enough to get the reinforcing effect of sympathetic vibrations etc though, I would suspect.
As to the Gate, good point - I usually turn that off but hadn't in this case. It certainly felt like a lack of gain causing the quick fade-out though, it didn't "choke" like you'd suspect a gate to sound like.

APOGEE123 said:
Up the Xformer grind and drive
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Great idea - never touched 'em before! I'll give those a whirl too.

Thanks guys.
 
I messed with the amp once before I too had to use fairly high levels of input drive and gain. Way more than I would on another amp. I did not hit it with an over drive though. Sound thing is def funky if all that gain has no sustain
 
Yeah, I was hoping to have people share similar experiences haha. I should note that I'm playing really high gain stuff, and using the Bulb IRs (from Cab Pack 13).
 
I have no issue with sustain with this amp. It sustains long enough to play all the riffs from Creeping Death at least.:D

I'm using the ML-USA-Bulb-sm57-sm57 01 cab from I believe CP13. I also use the Modern pre in the cab block as my final tone shaping. I also have a scene with the T808(MOD) but don't use near as much output. I set the drive to.5, the level to 3.5 (any higher and the creeks from hand position shifts become wails) and the tone to 5.75.

I could share my patch, but obviously not the cab. When I listen to it compared to the iso tracks it's a little fuller and more bassy than listening to the iso tracks, but it also sounds a little more modern which is fine with me. It still has that snarling attack.
 
Hellbat said:
I have no issue with sustain with this amp. It sustains long enough to play all the riffs from Creeping Death at least.:D

I'm using the ML-USA-Bulb-sm57-sm57 01 cab from I believe CP13. I also use the Modern pre in the cab block as my final tone shaping. I also have a scene with the T808(MOD) but don't use near as much output. I set the drive to.5, the level to 3.5 (any higher and the creeks from hand position shifts become wails) and the tone to 5.75.

I could share my patch, but obviously not the cab. When I listen to it compared to the iso tracks it's a little fuller and more bassy than listening to the iso tracks, but it also sounds a little more modern which is fine with me. It still has that snarling attack.
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Thanks for the tips! I use the same IR haha. Would you be happy to expand (in writing) on what you've done in your patch? I much prefer it to just getting the patch myself, as I can mull over the individual changes.
 
Well, first off I'm using my RR1T with a Duncan Custom in the bridge. I find it's a fairly bright pickup but still strong mids. Fairly hot output. Not as hot as an active, but hotter than a PAF.

I have the input gate set to intelligent, -76db, 2.25 ratio, 7ms atk, 20ms rel
Amp block - drv 9, od 8.5, B 1.85, M 5.56,T 7.66, Mast 4.0, Bright on. GEQ 2.3, 1.68, -3.6, 2.16, 8.64 - My starting point here was Mikko's settings
Cab Block - LC 85, HC 15k, Preamp - Modern HQ, 3.2 D, 1.15 Sat, -.93 B, .32 M, .49 T, No Room. I actually have experimented with a higher low cut and it still sounds good, I just like the extra grunt with my 5" monitors.
I run a Rec Studio C Reverb block at stock settings at 10%

The Drive block I obviously put in the other post. I actually play it without the OD most of the time for better dynamics but the TS gives it more of "that sound". This setup retains crunch for pretty much as long as the strings are still ringing. Especially with the T808 Mod kicked on.

For my lead scene I don't use the T808-Mod, I have a FAS Boost set D 3, T 5, L 5. I also run a digital mono delay set pretty subtle. 10% mix, 375ms.

As usual this is with my guitar/fingers/room/monitors, so ymmv. :)
 
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Hellbat said:
Well, first off I'm using my RR1T with a Duncan Custom in the bridge. I find it's a fairly bright pickup but still strong mids. Fairly hot output. Not as hot as an active, but hotter than a PAF.

I have the input gate set to intelligent, -76db, 2.25 ratio, 7ms atk, 20ms rel
Amp block - drv 9, od 8.5, B 1.85, M 5.56,T 7.66, Mast 4.0, Bright on. GEQ 2.3, 1.68, -3.6, 2.16, 8.64 - My starting point here was Mikko's settings
Cab Block - LC 85, HC 15k, Preamp - Modern HQ, 3.2 D, 1.15 Sat, -.93 B, .32 M, .49 T, No Room. I actually have experimented with a higher low cut and it still sounds good, I just like the extra grunt with my 5" monitors.
I run a Rec Studio C Reverb block at stock settings at 10%

The Drive block I obviously put in the other post. I actually play it without the OD most of the time for better dynamics but the TS gives it more of "that sound". This setup retains crunch for pretty much as long as the strings are still ringing. Especially with the T808 Mod kicked on.

For my lead scene I don't use the T808-Mod, I have a FAS Boost set D 3, T 5, L 5. I also run a digital mono delay set pretty subtle. 10% mix, 375ms.

As usual this is with my guitar/fingers/room/monitors, so ymmv. :)
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Great detail, great tips! Thanks!
 
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