Can I get some confirmation on what the USA IIC++ model is?
Previously the Wiki just showed a photo of James Hetfield's "CrunchBerries" Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ amp with the IIC++ mod (a mod offered by Mike B at Mesa Boogie). But Metallica's techs have specified this is not James' specific amp, and I can't find any confirmation from Cliff that it's any other IIC++ modded amp.
What I could find, and have added to the wiki instead is this quote:
Which seems to imply that in Axe-FX II firmware 18.08 when the IIC+ model was replaced with a IIC+, IIC+ Deep, IIC+ Bright, and IIC+ Bright Deep model the Metallica team didn't want to have to port all of their presets to the newer models. So in Q3.03 the "Metallica USA IIC++" amp was added for them to update while keeping their tones. It's "the Metallica amp" because it's used by them, not because it's a model of an amp owned by them.
Cliff himself seems to support it's just another IIC+model here as well.
Although information on the real IIC++ mod is sparse and varies, it does seem to do more than change pot tapers. Many have gotten it done in a foot-switchable way, and although you could in theory foot switch between the different parts of a stacked pot with different tapers, in practice finding the exact right pots in small quantities in the 80s doesn't seem practical.
Regardless, I was curious both if that was the case, and which IIC+ mode it corresponds to (Normal, Bright, Deep, or BrightDeep). So I started testing. Different tapers affect the travel along a knob's path, but 0 is still 0 Ohms and 10 is still the full pot value. So I did some testing with the IIC++ and different IIC+ models using settings like Gain 10, Overdrive 10, BMT 0, Presence 0, Master Volume 10, and even going through the advances parameters tabs and matching Sag, B+ time constance, and triode frequency where they differed.
The result is that IIC++ model still had a different character to the sound than the IIC+ models.
So I'm curious if anyone knows any more or if Cliff wants to enlighten us on whether it's distinct model of a IIC++ amp, a returned legacy model which was confusingly named the same as a different mod it has nothing to do with, or something else?
@FractalAudio
Previously the Wiki just showed a photo of James Hetfield's "CrunchBerries" Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ amp with the IIC++ mod (a mod offered by Mike B at Mesa Boogie). But Metallica's techs have specified this is not James' specific amp, and I can't find any confirmation from Cliff that it's any other IIC++ modded amp.
What I could find, and have added to the wiki instead is this quote:
Which seems to imply that in Axe-FX II firmware 18.08 when the IIC+ model was replaced with a IIC+, IIC+ Deep, IIC+ Bright, and IIC+ Bright Deep model the Metallica team didn't want to have to port all of their presets to the newer models. So in Q3.03 the "Metallica USA IIC++" amp was added for them to update while keeping their tones. It's "the Metallica amp" because it's used by them, not because it's a model of an amp owned by them.
Cliff himself seems to support it's just another IIC+model here as well.
Although information on the real IIC++ mod is sparse and varies, it does seem to do more than change pot tapers. Many have gotten it done in a foot-switchable way, and although you could in theory foot switch between the different parts of a stacked pot with different tapers, in practice finding the exact right pots in small quantities in the 80s doesn't seem practical.
Regardless, I was curious both if that was the case, and which IIC+ mode it corresponds to (Normal, Bright, Deep, or BrightDeep). So I started testing. Different tapers affect the travel along a knob's path, but 0 is still 0 Ohms and 10 is still the full pot value. So I did some testing with the IIC++ and different IIC+ models using settings like Gain 10, Overdrive 10, BMT 0, Presence 0, Master Volume 10, and even going through the advances parameters tabs and matching Sag, B+ time constance, and triode frequency where they differed.
The result is that IIC++ model still had a different character to the sound than the IIC+ models.
So I'm curious if anyone knows any more or if Cliff wants to enlighten us on whether it's distinct model of a IIC++ amp, a returned legacy model which was confusingly named the same as a different mod it has nothing to do with, or something else?
@FractalAudio
