NAD: the purple people eater

[spawnofthesith]

Purple stripe SR. This amp is a bad motherfuker

The guy made me an offer I couldn’t refuse and I’ve been eyeing this for over a month now

Exceeding expectations actually. Spent a good hour or so without adding any EQ and just jamming it as god built it. Was able to dial in some pretty great and aggressive high gain tones. I know there’s only like one component difference in the circuit of EQ/non EQ models but I swear it sounds less honky than my other marks when disengaging the EQ


Anyway, then I popped on the “Cali Q graphic” on the stomp


HOLY. FUCK.

Now we’re REALLY talking

I did have to modify my settings that I dialed for “non EQ” but man this thing sounds epic.

For leads it definitely dunks on both the IV and the V for smoothness. Just crazy immediacy and tightness. It’s been a long time since I had my DRG red stripe, but I dunno I think I like this better from what I recall (and that amp was incredibly awesome)

I’ve heard the purple stripes as being “the least aggressive” but IDk, this sounds pretty fuckin aggressive to me

No issues balancing in a beautiful clean and a menacing lead either (didn’t have that issue on my red stripe either, but I’ve heard people say that)

Only tested through my thiele so far so still have a lot to experiment with. Definitely very glad that I didn’t let the lack of GEQ scare me away

 

[greatmutah]

So Purples are considered the least aggressive of the Mark IIIs but a Mark III is still WAY more aggressive than a IV or V. Not a bad thing at all! Congrats and HNMrakD! Balancing clean and lead isn’t hard to do. Trying to balance clean, R2 and lead is impossible.

 

[spawnofthesith]

So Purples are considered the least aggressive of the Mark IIIs but a Mark III is still WAY more aggressive than a IV or V. Not a bad thing at all! Congrats and HNMrakD! Balancing clean and lead isn’t hard to do. Trying to balance clean, R2 and lead is impossible.

Yeah I haven’t even engaged R2 yet


I was emailing with Mike B. Earlier this week, he didn’t mention the R2 mod at all, just +, ++, and he said that he could in fact do a GEQ retrofit despite what support initially said (he has a stash of “blem” faceplates and other components needed). That costs a pretty penny though and I’m more than happy with the HX model of the Mesa EQ lol

I don’t really need a good sounding R2 anyways though. My tones are pretty much either beautiful clean or brootz.

 

[dbagchee]

You did it! Good to know the Cali EQ is a viable solution. Congrats on growing the collection :)

 

[Achilles]

AWESOME! Congrats for sure.

 

[spawnofthesith]

You did it! Good to know the Cali EQ is a viable solution. Congrats on growing the collection :)

Thanks!!

I was doing some preliminary testing with the Cali EQ and A/Bing against the natives on my IV and V to get the temperature. Definitely closer than I would’ve expected

And also “for science” I tested it with my bandlander and 5153 to make sure I don’t just have the brain of a 14 year old and hate miss

Didn’t like it at all with those other amps. Very much a mark thing to tame the mids lol

AWESOME! Congrats for sure.

Thanks man!

 

[greatmutah]

Yeah I wouldn’t worry about R2, honestly. Treat the amp like a 2 channel amp. That’s all you need anyway.

 

[la szum]

I am excited as hell for you..... and also disturbed and perturbed that my, "You don't need a GEQ
to make a Mark sound great" talk is now like some kind of epiphany for you.











It's a Good Friday, SOTS! Congrats!!

 

[spawnofthesith]

I am excited as hell for you..... and also disturbed and perturbed that my, "You don't need a GEQ
to make a Mark sound great" talk is now like some kind of epiphany for you.











It's a Good
Friday, SOTS! Congrats!!

Definitely some cool aggressive sounds without even on high gain! Just some fairly different settings than what I’d typically use for a GeQ situation.

I’ll add, for doomy/stoner tones no EQ is actually a huge asset and sounds great for that type of thing


ALL THAT SAID, for chugga chugga palm mutes once I kicked on that HX geq definitely reigns supreme to massacre the 750hz

I also noticed with this amp conpsred to my other marks that on palm mutes I’m triggering a lot more resonate frequencies in the room, all kinds of things are getting vibed

 

[spawnofthesith]

Also yeah, definitely rehoused. Which is a plus for me because I don’t fuck with combo marks so that saves me $300 if it were a combo right there

I dig the natural look, kinda looks like it belongs in an 80s cabin which matches the vibe lol. And it’s actual hardwood too. Looks real nice in person, the Craigslist photos looked absolutely horrible haha

 

[Achilles]

I dig the natural look, kinda looks like it belongs in an 80s cabin which matches the vibe lol.

Oh, absolutely. Slammed into my head when I first saw it too.

 

[greatmutah]

I gotta ask, since both Mark IIIs I had were Simulclass amps, how beastly is that 60 watts head volume wise? I know the masters taper on my old ones went from church mouse to leveling city blocks pretty damn quick.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I gotta ask, since both Mark IIIs I had were Simulclass amps, how beastly is that 60 watts head volume wise? I know the masters taper on my old ones went from church mouse to leveling city blocks pretty damn quick.

So far only used at home (just got it today lol), and with what I know about my IV (with exactly what you’re describing) just went straight to using the -20db attenuator on my captor. -seemingly- volume tapers are actually more useful than the IV 1:1. But there is a big differentiating factor there since both “master” and “lead master” control the lead channel volume. Surprisingly it’s actually easier to dial in “lower volumes” compared to a IV

Not exactly a direct answer to your question but that’s all the data I have at the moment

 

[greatmutah]

I remember both masters so this makes sense to me. So heinous loud without the captor lol.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I remember both masters so this makes sense to me. So heinous loud without the captor lol.

With the captor, these were comfortable “later evening apartment volume” settings

On the IV past two on the master is pushing it at home, even with the captor

 

[CorrosiveMatter]

LOL you did it... I was shocked you had the ability to resit it this long!

 

[JiveTurkey]

Jesus christ you are killing it! What a lovely room of death you have!

 

[spawnofthesith]

LOL you did it... I was shocked you had the ability to resit it this long!

Haha same here tbh

Jesus christ you are killing it! What a lovely room of death you have!

Thanks mang, badlander and 5153 on the other wall too (and a deluxe reverb lol) feel like I’m in a state or amp nirvana right now, not really wanting for a single thing at this point

Main issue is that now I have more amps than cabs again…..

 

[CorrosiveMatter]

Main issue is that now I have more amps than cabs again…..

You need a switcher!

 

[spawnofthesith]

You need a switcher!

Oh god I was very much thinking about that switcher this morning