Reset Mesa II C+ preset, still problematic

FractalAudio said:
Mark IIC+ Dialing Tips:

1. Model choice: Start with the Brt/Dp mode but after mastering the dialing-in process you may want to experiment with different modes.

2. For high gain sounds Pull Bright and Pull Shift are your friends so select the Mid knob and press Enter (Fat = Pull Shift) and then select the Treble knob and press Enter (= Pull Bright). Note that the Lead 2 modes in the Triaxis have Pull Bright and Pull Shift on by default and there's no way to turn them off. What does that tell you?

3. The Mark IIC+ has a logarithmic Mid pot. This is too drastic IMO and MB probably felt the same way as the later Mark amps had linear tapers. So crank the Mid control up (7-8 sounds good).

4. The tone stack is pre-distortion. That means it's shaping the tone prior to distortion. The classic recipe for any high gain amp is to reduce the bass before distortion. Therefore turn that Bass knob down (just like Mesa tells you).

5. I like to turn the Presence down just a touch (3-4) to smooth things out.

6. Find the sweet spot. Adjust the MV until you feel the power amp just start to compress. Then back off a touch. Boogies sound best with the power amp not distorting IMO because the power amp has too much negative feedback and if it distorts the clipping is harsh. FWIW the best "analog" tone I ever had was a Triaxis into a VHT power amp. I never liked the MB power amps, too cold and the clipping is too harsh. Maybe one day I'll make a model of that combo.

7. Now add the graphic EQ. Note that the sliders in the Axe-Fx are much more sensitive than the real amp. On the real amp they pretty much do nothing over the center half of the range. This is because they used the wrong taper pots (usually you would use an S-Taper but those are hard to find). So don't move the sliders too much or you'll rapidly get into Funkytown.

8. Finally, above all else, use your ears and not your eyes. These are notoriously difficult amps to dial in. If you use your eyes you'll end up with a mess.
Click to expand...

Would you suggest to proceed in the same way also for the Mark IV or would you suggest other tips to dial in with the IV?
Thank you very much!
Coby
 
I hate to say it, but I've just abandoned the IIC+ sims for my main gain Presets.

I've always found the Axe's IIC+ sims tricky to dial-in but had convinced myself that since a real IIC+ is such a prized amp that the sims of this amp would be the best Mesa offering inside the Axe.
And I'd convinced myself that my IIC+ based presets were happening, but they weren't.
Although I never owned a IIC myself I have owned a IIA, a III and a IV.

But I've gone to using the USA Pre LD2 Yellow for those tones now.
Much easier to dial in something akin to my memories of what it was like using a Mark Series amp in the past not to mention that I also used to own a Triaxis rig and the LD2 Yellow channel was my go-to lead tone.

The LD2 sims in the Axe seem to have quite a bit more gain at comparable knob/virt-control positions but that's easy enough to compensate for with Input Trim.
Other than that they seem incredibly accurate to me.
Part of the trick with these sims is to reduce the Axe's Bright control somewhat.
That control at noon is equivalent to the Triaxis' Presence control on max and I would never have run that control on max.
Usually it was somewhere between 5 and 7 on my Triaxis presets.
On the Axe I reduce the Bright control to approx 10:00 or less to mimic this, otherwise it's too bright.

I don't know if a real IIC+ is this hard to dial in or not because I've never played one.
The sim seems wanting in the mids and a bit harsh on the top end and a bit flubby on the bottom, to me.
Was hoping for more from this sim.
But I bet if I spent more time with it I'd be able to a better job.
Moving to the LD2 Yellow sim was just easier.
 
Last edited:
It was better in terms of "Amp from Axe FX II" in the earlier versions. At least "better" in the sense of tweaking and general tightness+fluid-ness.

I've tried the Yellow lead myself and it feels more like the way to go. I'll pass on tweaking that one, let's see what happens :)
Do you guys use the GEQ like in the Mark IIC+ / Mark IV even in the USA PRE Yellow lead2?
 
One thing I found out today, as I briefly revisited the IIC+ sims, is that I tend to like, as a starting point, using the sim with just the Deep switch modelled as opposed the sim that Cliff said to start with that was modelled with both Deep and Bright (Lead) engaged.
As I said earlier, with a real MK Series amp I always had the Volume Bright, switch engaged, which affects both clean and lead channels but tended to not engage the Lead Bright switch which only affects the lead channel because doing so makes things too bright since there are 2 bright switches in line.

So when I use the USA IIC+ Deep sim I turn on the sim's bright switch which is analogous to the real amp's Bright switch on the Volume knob.
And I also engage the sim's Fat switch which is analogous to the real amp's Treble Pull Shift switch.

Also, I seem to be having memory lapses on the Deep switch.
Although I owned a MKIII and a IV, which both had this switch (I believe), I don't recall if or how I used it on the real amps.
But judging by the sims I probably did have it engaged.
MKII A's and B's did not have this switch IIRC.
I guess it made its debut in the IIC+.
 
joegold said:
One thing I found out today, as I briefly revisited the IIC+ sims, is that I tend to like, as a starting point, using the sim with just the Deep switch modelled as opposed the sim that Cliff said to start with that was modelled with both Deep and Bright (Lead) engaged.
As I said earlier, with a real MK Series amp I always had the Volume Bright, switch engaged, which affects both clean and lead channels but tended to not engage the Lead Bright switch which only affects the lead channel because doing so makes things too bright since there are 2 bright switches in line.

So when I use the USA IIC+ Deep sim I turn on the sim's bright switch which is analogous to the real amp's Bright switch on the Volume knob.
And I also engage the sim's Fat switch which is analogous to the real amp's Treble Pull Shift switch.

Also, I seem to be having memory lapses on the Deep switch.
Although I owned a MKIII and a IV, which both had this switch (I believe), I don't recall if or how I used it on the real amps.
But judging by the sims I probably did have it engaged.
MKII A's and B's did not have this switch IIRC.
I guess it made its debut in the IIC+.
Click to expand...

+1 on this. in the last month or so I switched from IIC+ Deep/BRT to IIC+ Deep. I like it more right now and it's my goto IIC+ amp.
 
Same here. Prefer IIC+ Deep. Bright is a bit much. You can tame it some with the 6.6K slider on the graphic EQ. Same goes for my real Mark IV head. Never used pull bright on the lead channel as it's pretty shrill sounding.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom