# Which boost for Mesa Mark?



## Flick (Jul 25, 2018)

I am considering getting a boost pedal for the Mesa JP2C. Thinking about a few: Fortin Grind, Horizon Precision, Macon 808. Anyone have any success with boosting a Mesa Mark series?


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## TedEH (Jul 25, 2018)

Your hands? The pre-gain knobs? 
I kid, but on some level I'm not kidding. I never liked boosts in front of Marks very much.

I had a tube screamer for a while, but I found it didn't do anything pleasant in front of my IV. I've also got a TC Spark, which is just a clean boost with a mid-bump switch - I like what the mid switch ads, but any significant amount of added level usually end up being too much. 

I'm also not a huge boost / pedal kind of guy, so maybe others have had better luck in this territory.


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## KnightBrolaire (Jul 25, 2018)

marks are pretty fucking tight and gainy amps, I don't really think they need a boost (at least a TS style one). If you want a great clean boost, then the abominable hate stomper works really well. The precision drive is also solid when used as a clean boost.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Jul 25, 2018)

Oddly I've yet to see an example online of anyone djenting on a mark. But I'm sure it's possible.


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## KnightBrolaire (Jul 25, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> Oddly I've yet to see an example online of anyone djenting on a mark. But I'm sure it's possible.


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## Shask (Jul 25, 2018)

Back when I had a Mesa Mark III, I liked the Boss SD-1 in front of it. It gave it some of those aggressive Marshall~ish upper mids it was missing.

I don't think a smoother type of TS, like an OD808, would work well in front of an amp that is already smooth.


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## Kyle Jordan (Jul 25, 2018)

Try an EQ.

The EQ before the amp gives you a more fine and nuanced control than the tone knobs onboard do. And I have to ask, does the Shred mode not work for what you're after?

If you want to add some clipping, give a Mesa Grid Slammer or Boss DS-1 a try. The DS-1 will be a bit hard to tame with the JP2C (I'm basing this on my experience with it on the IV) but may work for what it is you want.

And my understanding is that the Fortin Grind is really just a clean boost with a fixed EQ curve. So you can buy a cheap or used EQ pedal to see if that delivers.

Also, here's Ola with a TS in front of a IV.


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## DudeManBrother (Jul 25, 2018)

The typical OD boost cuts bass and adds quite a bit of midrange, which the Marks easily do at the tonestack. Check out the Seymour Duncan Forza. It doesn’t overly cut out the bass, or overly boost the mids. It has the 3 band EQ like the 805; but it’s peak frequency is like 550hz vs 805hz. It has almost 40dB of boost so it’ll get you ultra saturated but never thin or nasaly. It’s a boost pedal for an amp you already love the tone of. I’ve used it on R2 of my Mark IV a few times and it’s pretty crushing. The channel does have a lot of gain, but it’s so uncompressed that it sounds like less until you dig into each note. The Forza can boost that sound into some natural compression and saturation. But the Lead channel never needed a boost for my ears. It’s already compressed, saturated, and smooth.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Jul 25, 2018)

Yeah the thing about a mark that makes it different than most gainy amps is that the tone stack comes before the distortion, which is mostly what people use boost pedals for. So if you crank the mid and cut the bass and adjust treble to taste you can get basically the same effect. Adding a boost would kind of fight against the tone controls on the amp.


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## Flick (Jul 25, 2018)

What I am hoping to do is run the pre-preamp bass knob higher and then tighten up the response with a boost. Even when pushing the 80/240 sliders in the eq, it seems to be missing something in the low end. What I am looking to do is add more “attack” in the low frequencies. That MIV Ola video sounds pretty close to what I’m trying to accomplish.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Jul 25, 2018)

Cool beans. I always just start with the input bass at 0 and then turn up the 80 slider. And then slowly turn up the input bass knob until I get where I want to be.

It is a tad wooly though. That is until I switched to El34s.

Also this is a mk5 I'm using. Not a JP2C so ymmv


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## Kyle Jordan (Jul 25, 2018)

Flick said:


> What I am hoping to do is run the pre-preamp bass knob higher and then tighten up the response with a boost. Even when pushing the 80/240 sliders in the eq, it seems to be missing something in the low end. What I am looking to do is add more “attack” in the low frequencies. That MIV Ola video sounds pretty close to what I’m trying to accomplish.



It's a balancing act, but a boost or EQ should offer what you want. 

Again, I'll recommend an EQ here and specifically the 10 band Whirlwind BASS EQ pedal slightly, but the Guitar version or the MXR 10 band would work too. 

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Bass10EQ--whirlwind-bass-ten-10-band-bass-eq-pedal

The Bass pedal gives you more bands to shape and tighten the low end with, but sadly skips the 250 area that can really cut flub before distortion while leaving the lower frequencies intact to still sound big.


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## Shask (Jul 25, 2018)

Kyle Jordan said:


> It's a balancing act, but a boost or EQ should offer what you want.
> 
> Again, I'll recommend an EQ here and specifically the 10 band Whirlwind BASS EQ pedal slightly, but the Guitar version or the MXR 10 band would work too.
> 
> ...


It seems like all Graphic EQs are missing some bands, lol. You dont know how many times I have thought about buying two 31-band rack Graphic EQs to run one before, and one in the FX loop.


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## TedEH (Jul 25, 2018)

It does sound like an eq in front is what you want. The bass knob can probably get you "close", but an eq will just give you that more fine control of the shape of things before hitting the gain.


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## Kyle Jordan (Jul 25, 2018)

Shask said:


> It seems like all Graphic EQs are missing some bands, lol. You dont know how many times I have thought about buying two 31-band rack Graphic EQs to run one before, and one in the FX loop.



I have a TC 1128 that will NEVER leave my collection and am always looking to get another two or so. A TC 1120, Whirlwinds (1 guitar, 1 bass) and 3 Dano Fish n' Chips round out the current crop.

For my 8 string mainly, i'll run one either the 1128 or a Whirlwind in front of my Mark IV, put a Dano in the loop (boosting 3.2K sounds great with Mark series amps), and run the other TC or Whirlwind after the slave out to my DAW. It's ridiculous, but it gives me so much control over the tone. Subtle use is the key. 

I long ago jumped on this because it's hard to find the right distortion that I like. Once I hit on that, using EQ and other things to shape the tone is pretty easy.

Moral of the story: Buy the two 31 Band EQs!


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## Wizard of Ozz (Jul 25, 2018)

As the others have mentioned... a boost is not really needed or exactly what you need... that said...

Keeley Red Dirt works great and JP himself uses one. Mesa Grid Slammer too. Level up, gain down. 

The JP2C is about the chunkiest sounding of the Mark amps. It’s pretty different from the MKIV due to the extra compression and different transformers, and power filtering in the MKIV... which gives it that somewhat bigger feeling lowend and liquid feel together at once... although it’s a different story live and in person. They are two different sounding amps, which is why I have both. Similar heritage... but different.


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## Shask (Jul 25, 2018)

Kyle Jordan said:


> I have a TC 1128 that will NEVER leave my collection and am always looking to get another two or so. A TC 1120, Whirlwinds (1 guitar, 1 bass) and 3 Dano Fish n' Chips round out the current crop.
> 
> For my 8 string mainly, i'll run one either the 1128 or a Whirlwind in front of my Mark IV, put a Dano in the loop (boosting 3.2K sounds great with Mark series amps), and run the other TC or Whirlwind after the slave out to my DAW. It's ridiculous, but it gives me so much control over the tone. Subtle use is the key.
> 
> ...


I have a BYOC 3-band Parametric EQ pedal, and a Boss GE-7. I have had others along the years, but that is all I currently have. I try not to go too crazy with EQs and amps. In the Axe-FX II is another story though. I typically use 3-4 EQs in the chain to dial in every little detail.


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## Shoeless_jose (Jul 25, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


>




love all those Browne Mesa demo vids... the Stygian Blue one on the Mark V 35 was so sick


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## KnightBrolaire (Jul 25, 2018)

Dineley said:


> love all those Browne Mesa demo vids... the Stygian Blue one on the Mark V 35 was so sick


yeah john is an absolute monster on guitar, but he can make a pod sound good, so of course he can make a mark sound good


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## TheWarAgainstTime (Jul 25, 2018)

I've used a TON of overdrive pedals in front of my Mark V and I keep coming back to my Maxon OD-808  it's just a classic sound that I've built "my" tone around. 

Some strong contenders for heavy tones are the 808X, Mesa Grid Slammer, and OD9. I also use a Duncan 805 for leads, but it doesn't get as aggressive as the others for rhythms


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## Shoeless_jose (Jul 25, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> yeah john is an absolute monster on guitar, but he can make a pod sound good, so of course he can make a mark sound good



Yeah that Flux Conduct album that's like all guitar tones from a POD is hilariously good, shames so many other tones


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## NateFalcon (Jul 25, 2018)

I love my Boss OD3 in front of my
Mark IV...


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## oniduder (Jul 26, 2018)

i use a clone of the TC integrated preamp, works/sounds good to me,


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## LiveOVErdrive (Jul 26, 2018)

So I just got an ocd clone in the mail the other day (joyo ultimate drive) and it sounds ridiculously good in front of the iic+ channel. And pretty tasty with the mk1 too. I crank the mark bass knob up pretty high and it stays Really really tight if I crank the ocd tone too, but with some focused bottom end. A little less boogie sounding but still boogie sounding.


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## Jacksonluvr636 (Jul 26, 2018)

I had a JP2C for a month or so.

The most unbelievable tone I got was into the OS Mesa Cab with a Buxom Boost and a G&L Cantrell guitar.

It was seriously the absolute best that amp has ever sounded for me. I had 5 different boosts at the time and 4 different cabs/guitars.

It was pretty hard to sell the amp after hearing that but for personal reasons it is gone. Try the Buxom boost with it, maybe you will get the same results.


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## Flick (Jul 28, 2018)

I spent some time trying different combinations of tone stack settings. I found that running the mids near 11 o’clock, backing the treble off to 10 o’clock have the low end a better response. This also allowed me to run the gain knob a little higher. Just put a Fortin Zuul in the chain. Now I found the tone I was after. No boost needed.


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## bhakan (Jul 28, 2018)

I don't like TS-style boosts in front of Mark series stuff. The tend to make them sound kinda "nasal" since they're so mid-rangey already. Honestly my favorite boost for my .50 Caliber (similar enough to a Mark) is a Black Arts Toneworks Black Forest. Definitely an unconventional option but with the depth knob and two band eq you can give it a little more tightness while keeping is super mean. It definitely works better for more "angry" tones though than the modern metal thing. I'd just see if you can find a place to try out a couple different overdrives with 2 or 3 band EQs and see if one does the trick.


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## lurè (Aug 16, 2018)

Resurrecting this thread for a question: Klon type overdrive with Mark amps (expecially JP2C) yay or nay? 
I'm thinking that a TS style boost is not necessary so is a klon type OD a better alternative as a clean boost?


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## DudeManBrother (Aug 16, 2018)

lurè said:


> Resurrecting this thread for a question: Klon type overdrive with Mark amps (expecially JP2C) yay or nay?
> I'm thinking that a TS style boost is not necessary so is a klon type OD a better alternative as a clean boost?


I don’t like the sound of the TS808 or 9 in front of the JP2C or Mark IV (never tried it with the Mark III) I think the Klon would work well, also maybe an oddball, but I think the Port City Salem is a sick little transparent clean boost. It doesn’t boost as high as a lot of other pedals; but it does a great job of keeping the amp tone. You can drive it into saturation, or a nice solo boost, depending on the knob setting. I like the Salem on R2 of my Mark IV. Menacing tone with that thing up front.


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## KnightBrolaire (Aug 16, 2018)

lurè said:


> Resurrecting this thread for a question: Klon type overdrive with Mark amps (expecially JP2C) yay or nay?
> I'm thinking that a TS style boost is not necessary so is a klon type OD a better alternative as a clean boost?


try the ehx soul food or the j rockett archer, they're both great klon esque boosts. 
I like my abominable hate stomper in front of R2, but it's more of a jfet boost/distortion, so it gets pretty squishy if I crank the knob past noon. If i keep it cranked down it's a good clean boost though.
I'd stay away from any mid voiced boosts like TS or their offshoots, the marks are super mid heavy and can get nasally with extra mids.


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## lurè (Aug 16, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> try the ehx soul food or the j rockett archer, they're both great klon esque boosts.



I was thinking about those two pedal and also the wampler tumnus.
Are there any non-aesthetic differences between the silver and the gold one?



DudeManBrother said:


> I think the Klon would work well, also maybe an oddball, but I think the Port City Salem is a sick little transparent clean boost. It doesn’t boost as high as a lot of other pedals; but it does a great job of keeping the amp tone



I need to check this out but I may have seen it in a BTBAM rig roudown where Dustie was using it as a volume boost.


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## KnightBrolaire (Aug 16, 2018)

lurè said:


> I was thinking about those two pedal and also the wampler tumnus.
> Are there any non-aesthetic differences between the silver and the gold one?
> .


no audible difference


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## Bentaycanada (Aug 16, 2018)

I’ve owned the Mk V 25/35, I mainly used them for Metallica thrash and Lamb of God modern metal tones. The amp does both of these without a boost.

I tried 5 boosts with this amp (Digitech Bad Monkey, BBE Green Screamer, Maxon OD808X, MXR ZW-44, Fortin Grind) and honestly felt that they weren’t needed. I just don’t think the Mesa Mark is made for boosting. The unboosted tone is much better.

I find the most important aspects of the amp is learning how to EQ it. Try this setting (in o’clock format):

Gain 3
Treble 3
Middle 9
Bass 9
Presence 12
EQ engaged - V Shape

That’s instant high gain metal. I think it’s even tighter than a VHT/Fryette.


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## B.M.F. (Aug 16, 2018)

Mesa Grid Slammer and Radial Regency are two boosts that work great in front of these amps. The Regency is not that well known but it’s a fantastic pre-drive amp booster that doesn’t add mids/roll off bass like a TS.


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## TheWarAgainstTime (Aug 16, 2018)

I've got a JHS modded Soul Food that I like as either a clean boost or for adding some nice saturation. I mostly use it on the clean channel of my Mark V, but it's killer for high gain too


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## LiveOVErdrive (Aug 16, 2018)

Bentaycanada said:


> I’ve owned the Mk V 25/35, I mainly used them for Metallica thrash and Lamb of God modern metal tones. The amp does both of these without a boost.
> 
> I tried 5 boosts with this amp (Digitech Bad Monkey, BBE Green Screamer, Maxon OD808X, MXR ZW-44, Fortin Grind) and honestly felt that they weren’t needed. I just don’t think the Mesa Mark is made for boosting. The unboosted tone is much better.
> 
> ...



I always do:
Gain 2-3
Treble noon
Middle 2-3
Bass 8
Presence 2-3
EQ engaged - V Shape, but drop highest band down to counter the high presence.

The mid boost keeps things crunchy and tight. Bass is your enemy on the tone controls. Treat the channel eq as your boost eq and you'll have a good time. (it is an input eq after all. Not a post eq like on most amps)


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## lurè (Aug 17, 2018)

Lots of great suggestions, currently I'm leaning towards the Archer.
The Friedman Boxom looks pretty neat but it may be a bit of an overkill for just the crunch and lead channel.


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## Nick (Aug 17, 2018)

This may already have been covered but I have a Mk v head and find that a boost just makes it reaaaaaly mid rangey (surprise surprise) I run Mk IV mode with the mid knob at 9 oclock and the middle graphic slider close to the bottom - I am using mid rangey guitars into it though with SD JB or Nazgul pickups so bear that in mind.

I dont think they really need a boost. Maybe if you are trying to get a super aggresive sound at low volumes it would help but if your playing at any decent amount of volume then you should be able to just get a boost from your second master volume control which I assume the JP2C has?


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