Members Casey Posted January 13, 2011 Members Share Posted January 13, 2011 Recently scored an Acoustic Corp model 165 in an amp trade. Holy {censored} this thing is awesome. Supposedly a Mesa Mark clone. There seems to be nothing that it can't do. Until I have the footswitch for it though, the graphic EQ is always on. And that's cool, I don't really have a problem with it, but I'm coming to understand that it's not just some post EQ knob. {censored}ing Graphic Equalizers, how do they work?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Markdude Posted January 13, 2011 Members Share Posted January 13, 2011 What's hard to understand about them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metalhobo Posted January 13, 2011 Members Share Posted January 13, 2011 For starters, the GEQ is active while in general most post-EQ knobs on amps are passive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Casey Posted January 13, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 13, 2011 What's hard to understand about them? seems like unless you make a nice pretty curve, {censored} gets a bit weird. Want to understand why, to have an altogether better understanding of the amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eudaimonia02912 Posted January 13, 2011 Members Share Posted January 13, 2011 seems like unless you make a nice pretty curve, {censored} gets a bit weird. Want to understand why, to have an altogether better understanding of the amp. The tone knobs on a Mesa Mark amp aren't like those you see on a Marshall, Peavey, or nearly any other amp. What I'm about to say is a bit of a simplification, but here goes: On most amps, the signal first goes through the gain stages, and then goes through the tone controls. So, the tone controls are post-gain. On a Mark (any of the Marks), the tone controls occur before or between the gain stages. So, while the treble knob on a Marshall cuts treble after gain is introduced, the treble knob on a Mark I controls the shape of the signal as it hits the gain stages. So, don't think of the tone knobs on the Mark as being equivalent to the tone knobs on a Marshall. Instead, the graphic EQ on the Mark is more analogous to the tone knobs on the Marshall. (Though the GEQ is active--it can boost frequencies--while the typical Marshall is passive and can only cut frequencies.) The graphic EQ is post-gain, just like the tone knobs on a Marshall amp. In short, on a Mark:The "tone" knobs control the intensity, feel, and response of the gain.The graphic EQ controls the tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eudaimonia02912 Posted January 13, 2011 Members Share Posted January 13, 2011 Final point: Marks have a huge amount of midrange coming out of the gain, so, yeah, it's pretty common to make some sort of V with them. Mark Is, however, tend to have a lot of bass when the gain is cranked, and so many people make an upward sloping line on those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Casey Posted January 13, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 13, 2011 wow. internets to you. if this is indeed a mark I clone, everything you just said makes perfect sense. turning down the highs and mids (just {censored}ing around with the amp) took my modern metal tone down to clean, and if you run the bass any kind of high at all, it turns into Sunshine of Your Love really fast (there's even a seemingly completely useless Bass boost feature from pulling the knob). thanks much good sir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eudaimonia02912 Posted January 13, 2011 Members Share Posted January 13, 2011 No problem, man. I have a Mark V, which has the Mark I circuit as one of its modes on channel 2. It's a neat circuit. You can do classic rock, jazz tones, fat leads, pseudo-fuzz tones, and (with a boost) metal, all by changing some switches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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