NAD: The Mesa-Ning

[Mikael Dez]

and mids… well wherever, kinda useless knob

I’m glad that I’ve read this after the last few months of wondering wtf the mid knob is even doing half the time - I hear drastic changes with treble and bass but mid seems to be like

 

[spawnofthesith]

I’m glad that I’ve read this after the last few months of wondering wtf the mid knob is even doing half the time - I hear drastic changes with treble and bass but mid seems to be like

Oh man the mid knob is even more of a placebo on Mark amps

 

[newholland]

Oh man the mid knob is even more of a placebo on Mark amps

oh man. well.. i know with mine, which has no geq, thats not true. it absolutely changes the lower mids AND upper midrange a bunch to the extent that you can back off treble AND bass. i run mine upwards of 7-8 (which ive had people tell me THATS CRAzAY?! its totally not, and is half the battle to equalizing dirty to clean tones if you use your guitar volume knob.. or the footswitch, for that matter!)

dont be afraid of cranking that sumbitch. it goes some surprising places if you turn off the geq!

 

[spawnofthesith]

oh man. well.. i know with mine, which has no geq, thats not true. it absolutely changes the lower mids AND upper midrange a bunch to the extent that you can back off treble AND bass. i run mine upwards of 7-8 (which ive had people tell me THATS CRAzAY?! its totally not, and is half the battle to equalizing dirty to clean tones if you use your guitar volume knob.. or the footswitch, for that matter!)

dont be afraid of cranking that sumbitch. it goes some surprising places if you turn off the geq!

My III is non GEQ (although I use the HX stomp model of the Mesa geq in the loop with it)

Early on though I did do a lot of tone testing just the amp as is, and I certainly had to treat the amp COMPLETELY different to dial in with no geq action. That said, I don’t recall what I was doing with the mid knob at the time


Ngl running it up there DOES sound a lil crazy to me but now I want to experiment on the III

 

[newholland]

My III is non GEQ (although I use the HX stomp model of the Mesa geq in the loop with it)

Early on though I did do a lot of tone testing just the amp as is, and I certainly had to treat the amp COMPLETELY different to dial in with no geq action. That said, I don’t recall what I was doing with the mid knob at the time


Ngl running it up there DOES sound a lil crazy to me but now I want to experiment on the III

haha.. oh shit.. dial it WAY up. it really changes the gain texture, and it lets you back off a enough on gain 1 to buy you some clean tones, and lets you drive the lead gain up- which kinda has a scoopier texture anyhow. on my ii, i haveta crank the presence and mids the get it really breathing. iiis are probably totally different, but i wouldnt be surprised if theres some overlap! you DEFINITELY meet the exploding bassman with the mids up though, and it goes to a way less modern gain place to my ears, especially if you goose the bass to loosen up just enough.

 

[newpedals]

Can’t pass up too good of a deal so here I am. Local used shop kept plummeting the price on this. Brought in some remaining junker pedals off the shelf and out the door was $267

Has 2x V30s which I’ve been wanting to grab some v30s anyway

So far sounds pretty awesome. Heavy and LOUD af. Even with -20db attenuation can’t go too high in the masters in my apartment lol

Surprised how well it sounds for heavy chugs considering the open back cabinet. Gonna have to test it into some closed backs as well. Clean channel is gorgeous. I like the distortion too not quite sure what to compare it too. I know the express was the circuit successor to these and I owned and loved a 5:50+ but this definitely has more gain available and is tighter. Oh and did I mention loud and heavy?

Only bummer is no footswitch. Looks like I can still get one new from Mesa for $80 or a third party for like $60

View attachment 42338

This is beautiful. I watched a demo of this and fell in love.

How is the reverb on this one? A user knows much more than a person demoing gear, from their experience.

 

[spawnofthesith]

This is beautiful. I watched a demo of this and fell in love.

How is the reverb on this one? A user knows much more than a person demoing gear, from their experience.

It's not mind blowing but it sounds good to me, more than good enough. It seems pretty subtle on this unit, I have the knob past noon on the clean channel and its very far from being washy or anything like that

 

[laxu]

Oh man the mid knob is even more of a placebo on Mark amps

How effective it is depends on where the treble knob is pointing.

 

[la szum]

Oh man the mid knob is even more of a placebo on Mark amps

Only a Mids-denier would ever think Mids are a placebo.

 

[la szum]

Congrats on the New Amp!

 

[spawnofthesith]

Only a Mids-denier would ever think Mids are a placebo.

Hey, on my badlander I'm running the mids at like 2:00 on cleans and close to noon on the gain

 

[Orvillain]

I'm definitely a mids denier.

 

[la szum]

Anti-Midders caught out there sneezing in public. You've all been warned.

 

[newholland]

Hey, on my badlander I'm running the mids at like 2:00 on cleans and close to noon on the gain

oh, you gotta try the amp at 0-10-0 at least once.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Even in the manual for this amp Mesa is like “fuck them mids!”

 

[spawnofthesith]

oh, you gotta try the amp at 0-10-0 at least once.

With the badlander, you can. Cruelly get away with this and it’s still good and usable in a mix. Badlander probably the most “go ahead and set the knob anywhere and you’re still fine” amp I’ve ever played

 

[la szum]

oh, you gotta try the amp at 0-10-0 at least once.

That seems a bit Phishy to me.

 

[spawnofthesith]

That seems a bit Phishy to me.

 

[newholland]

That seems a bit Phishy to me.

oof.. yikes! i have no idea what phish sound like, but i know for a fact they dont sound as good as a mark ii dialed 0-10-0. which oddly, works.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I was actually just messing around with my Lp into the F100 with the mids cranked and it actually sounded pretty righteous

oof.. yikes! i have no idea what phish sound like, but i know for a fact they dont sound as good as a mark ii dialed 0-10-0. which oddly, works.

Trey (often) runs a Mark III with a GEQ in a “reverse V” shape with the mid slider cranked up mad high lol… and also is known to stack multiple tubescreamers as well