USA Lead amp help!

B

BMH

Inspired
Ok, I use the USA Lead amp for Foo Fighters tunes and a few choice classic rock songs ... and I have not been able to dial it in with version 10.

What cabs do you Mesa pros use? My old 9 presets sounded like mud after the upgrade, mostly due to the Depth now defaulting to a high value for all the USA models. I have been dialing for 3 days, and I still can't find the sweet spot.

I cut the low fequencies back, dial in the speaker params, bring the depth back to around 9:00, lower the gain, raise the default master a bit above 50% .. and I am lost.

Tried a bunch of cab combos, cannot find one that works well for these models. The Rectos rip, and have been easy to setup. But for some reason this mid gain Mesa modeling has me stumped!

Thanks for any info ...
 
As in real life, it can be har to hit the sweetest sweet spot on the Mark series... Mark II+bright worked like a charm for lead stuff.
 
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For me, the trick with the USA Lead is to dial the bass control way down. I usually have it at "1". After that I find it sounds great with a variety of cabs, but I prefer that model with V30s.
 
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Is there a particular reason you raise the MV and lower gain? Mesa's typically don't sound that great with MV that high. Maybe try going back to default MV, put the gain at level of distortion you want and then adjust other things to taste.
 
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BMH said:
Ok, I use the USA Lead amp for Foo Fighters tunes
Click to expand...

Foo Fighters use Rectos (but not too much gain).

i'm no Mesa expert by far. But I do find PRE Yellow (Triaxis's IIC+ mode, IIRC) much easier to dial in.
 
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Amp

- Fender Tone Master amplifier heads (x2)

- Hiwatt Custom 100 amplifier

- Custom Audio Amplifiers PT100 amp heads (x2)

- Mesa Boogie Road King (replaced the Vox/Dual rectifier setup in 2009)

- Vox AC30/6TB Top Boost Combo Reissue - 2x12

So we need both the Road King and PT100 :D
 
BMH said:
Ok, I use the USA Lead amp for Foo Fighters tunes and a few choice classic rock songs ... and not been able to dial it in with version 10.

What cabs do you Mesa pros use? My old 9 presets sounded like mud after the upgrade, mostly due to the Depth now defaulting to a high value for all the USA models. I have been dialing for 3 days, and I still can't find the sweet spot.

I cut the low fequencies back, dial in the speaker params, bring the depth back to around 9:00, lower the gain, raise the default master a bit above 50% .. and I am lost.

Tried a bunch of cab combos, cannot find one that works well for these models. The Rectos rip, and have been easy to setup. But for some reason this mid gain Mesa modeling has me stumped!

Thanks for any info ...
Click to expand...

If you reset the amp block and dial it in the way you believe it should sound good, just touching the gain, bass, middle, treble, presence, master and level. Please post your settings! What cab and mics did you pair it with? What pickup and what guitar?
 
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jeppekristoffer said:
If you reset the amp block and dial it in the way you believe it should sound good, just touching the gain, bass, middle, treble, presence, master and level. Please post your settings! What cab and mics did you pair it with? What pickup and what guitar?
Click to expand...

I am loooking for setting from people that already have it dialed in. I have tried every cab with V30s, tried all gain settings. The default is mush sounding. So I dialed back on the gain and depth, and raised the master.

Tone controls at default. Low frequencies cut at 80 ... still, just does not work the way I had it in 9.

Cliff mentioned the Tone Shift is off on all the models ... and to simulate it being on, the depth has to be set to zero. Maybe that is what I should start with ... I just read through his notes again.

Rectos are a bit over the top sounding for me, the Foos actually blend sounds on the recordings. The frequencies in the Mark amps are perfect, but I was hoping somebody found a holy grail cab pairing for these amps.

As somebody mentioned, these are brutal to dial in on the actual amps too. The rectos take minutes, the Marks take days and weeks LOL

But THANKS, everyone, for the advice ... and any other tips are greatly appreciated.
 
After I reset my mark IV patches (I have about 6 of them)
I dialed back the Depth to around 2 as the default of 7 is way too muddy for any higher gain use, and raised the "thump" up to around 2
I like the new petrucci cab or the OH Recto mixed with the Cali 4X12 with the R121 on the Cali cab.
if you want to buy the new OH cabs that were just released, they are mesa cab IR's , it should e pretty easy to find a killer mix out of those.
and as Yek stated the new TriAxis yellow is really easy to dial in and sounds great with the Petrucii cab or the TV producer cab
 
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when I dont find the mesa sound I am looking for I go Euro Blue and it usually never lets me down ;) creamy smooth distortion all the way. but then again with new triaxis and stuff... anything is possible
 
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I'm using USA pre green and yellow for foo fighters with the Petrucci cab. Sounds dead on to me.
Very easy to dial in. Try a very low drive zen master in front too.
To me the pre green is best. Drive around 4
 
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If default settings means bass, middle and treble at 5 I totally understand why it sounds like crappy mud, especially since the amps now are so close to the originals.
I had a Mark 5 before my Axe.
Try these settings:
Reset your amp block first by double press bypass.
Gain 6-7
Bass 1-2, the lower the tighter
Middle 4-6, this adds saturation, lower equals clearer
Treble 5-7, this adds gain
Presence to taste, higher settings give open crisp, and lower settings equals more compressed and duller sound.
Master 3-5
Use Depth and GEQ for more bass and sculpturing.
Pair with v30 and try proximity in the cab block for more bottom.

Final tip, when the gain goes up in a Mark model turn down the preamp bass!

Please report!
 
By the way!
The tone controlls in Mark amps are before gain. Try to look at the tone controlls as gain shapers. They determine where the grain is! This is why you have to reduce the bass as the gain goes up!
 
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Awsome tips guys, and thank you Cliff ... I am pumped to give it another go!

Now if I can only get out of work and try these ...
 
On Mesa's youtube channel there are a couple of video's of how Petrucci sets up his mark v and he explains what he's doing.




part 1 is clean part 2 dirty iirc.
 
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Has anybody got close to the black album sound in firmware 10, using close amp settings and graphic eq?

I heard it was Mesa Mark IIC+ slaved into a Marshall's power section for the main setup, marshall cab (stock speakers?), and sm57, 421 mic blend.

e.g.

hetfieldsmesamk2ccrunch.jpg


http://web.archive.org/web/20060721...m/Metallicanotes/04-Battery Gtr EQs Small.jpg

(unfortunately a MoP setting)
 

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