MT-15 tone question

[Chris Osborne]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to know if anyone can tell me if this amp is capable of approximating a Petrucci style, smooth lead tone? I've found a few videos that indicate to me that it's possible but it's hard to tell anything definitive from a youtube video, lol. If it can then I think this is what I've been looking for.

Chris

 

[Deleted member 5962]

I'm going to answer based on owning it's big brother. Other's will chip in who own the MT-15. I think it can get very close to that lead tone. Depending on which specific tone you want, very close. You may need an EQ pedal if you want to really nail it, but then your guitar, pickups, etc. will all matter as much as the amp.

You might just find out like I did though, that you like the tones you get with the MT better than those you'd get with most Mesa amps. I haven't tried the JP amp, but have had Mark V and Mark V25 and sold both after getting the Archon.

 

[Chris Osborne]

Thanks so much! That definitely helps. I do use the eq in my effects unit through the loop to pull down the 16k frequencies a good bit on my dc-5 so I'll probably do the same with the mt-15.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Thanks so much! That definitely helps. I do use the eq in my effects unit through the loop to pull down the 16k frequencies a good bit on my dc-5 so I'll probably do the same with the mt-15.

16K? Yeah, I'd probably pull that down a little. LOL

I know the MT15 is based on the same platform, but not voiced exactly the same as the Archon. I think that guys who've had both said the MT is a little brighter and with less mids. The amp John uses has a metric crap ton of mids, but he uses the GEQ to scoop TONS of them out. The 720hz slide is BARELY off the bottom line. I will also say that the JP tone I hear on record, and the JP tone that I heard when standing 20 feet from and directly in front of his amp, is not matched with his EQ settings, even with his guitar. The treble when duplicating his exact settings has too much ice pick. On record I believe this is EQ'd out. In person, I definitely heard the rawness. (I have gotten close to stage on Gigantour when he played the Recto based amps (was it Roadster? or the other one) and when he was using Mark II C+ and now 3 times with the JP amps). Now standing from 10 - 20 feet from the amps, I could definitely hear differences in the unprocessed real "amp tone." Once he changed to the Mark amps, is what I'm talking about, with his GEQ settings. The top setting on the built in EQ needs to be lower than what he has it, to get his tone. That 6600 control can't be up quite as high, IMO, as you see on his. So I don't know what EQ you're using but any controls above that range should be somewhere between perhaps close to that could be up a little, but otherwise flat and lowered, as this is a guitar signal. Ain't much up there with a high gain amp, and if there is it may not be something you want to hear. But what I'm saying is, I believe some top end is shaved elsewhere in his rig for his EQ settings to sound the way they do. And, he uses high gain pickups, so they have less bottom and top end... so using more full range pickups would definitely require you to pull down the bottom and top a bit as well. When I would switch from my JP12BRF, to my Custom 24, I'd have to pull down the top an bottom, even though the PRS had better pickups, the extended top and bottom of the pickups needed to be toned down in the amp.

Sorry for the long post.

What EQ are you using?

 

[Chris Osborne]

Whoops, I meant 6.4hz, haha. I have a boss gt-1 in my loop. The DC combo lacks a bit in the bottom end at low volume so I boost the 100hz on the ten band eq in the unit and bring the 6.4hz down -12. On the amp my sliders are not boosted as much in the highs as he runs his on the mark. On my old mark v I had the 6600 nearly all the way down for playing at home to get that tone. Thanks for the response man! That's interesting to hear that perspective about John's live tone vs the way it sounds on the albums.

16K? Yeah, I'd probably pull that down a little. LOL

I know the MT15 is based on the same platform, but not voiced exactly the same as the Archon. I think that guys who've had both said the MT is a little brighter and with less mids. The amp John uses has a metric crap ton of mids, but he uses the GEQ to scoop TONS of them out. The 720hz slide is BARELY off the bottom line. I will also say that the JP tone I hear on record, and the JP tone that I heard when standing 20 feet from and directly in front of his amp, is not matched with his EQ settings, even with his guitar. The treble when duplicating his exact settings has too much ice pick. On record I believe this is EQ'd out. In person, I definitely heard the rawness. (I have gotten close to stage on Gigantour when he played the Recto based amps (was it Roadster? or the other one) and when he was using Mark II C+ and now 3 times with the JP amps). Now standing from 10 - 20 feet from the amps, I could definitely hear differences in the unprocessed real "amp tone." Once he changed to the Mark amps, is what I'm talking about, with his GEQ settings. The top setting on the built in EQ needs to be lower than what he has it, to get his tone. That 6600 control can't be up quite as high, IMO, as you see on his. So I don't know what EQ you're using but any controls above that range should be somewhere between perhaps close to that could be up a little, but otherwise flat and lowered, as this is a guitar signal. Ain't much up there with a high gain amp, and if there is it may not be something you want to hear. But what I'm saying is, I believe some top end is shaved elsewhere in his rig for his EQ settings to sound the way they do. And, he uses high gain pickups, so they have less bottom and top end... so using more full range pickups would definitely require you to pull down the bottom and top a bit as well. When I would switch from my JP12BRF, to my Custom 24, I'd have to pull down the top an bottom, even though the PRS had better pickups, the extended top and bottom of the pickups needed to be toned down in the amp.

Sorry for the long post.

What EQ are you using?

 

[Chris Osborne]

I also have an eminence hemp dog speaker in the dc-5 so that gets rid of some of the harsher frequencies as well.

 

[MjS]

I'd say a MT15 definitely gets you in the ballpark, especially if you use an EQ in the loop. Out of the box, I'd say the MT15 is more in the ballpark of JP's tone when he was using Recto's, but with an EQ you should be able to get close to the Mark tone. Of course the guitar and speakers used contribute a lot too.

 

[Chris Osborne]

My plan is to set it on top of my DC-5 and just plug the combo speaker(hemp dog) into the head. It's a wide-body combo so should sound pretty decent. I really love the tone of my DC-5 but even with a boost it's a bit loose in the bottom end at low volume, which is the majority of my playing these days. Find myself really wanting that tighter tone with more thump to it at low volume.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

My plan is to set it on top of my DC-5 and just plug the combo speaker(hemp dog) into the head. It's a wide-body combo so should sound pretty decent. I really love the tone of my DC-5 but even with a boost it's a bit loose in the bottom end at low volume, which is the majority of my playing these days. Find myself really wanting that tighter tone with more thump to it at low volume.

Hope you can get what you want out of it. If not, what you're describing is a closed back cab...

 

[Chris Osborne]

Hope you can get what you want out of it. If not, what you're describing is a closed back cab...

I thought so too. I took the DC to guitar center and played it through several 4x12 cabs and it wasn't a lot different, lol. I guess like most Mesa amps it was just designed primarily for live use at volume. My wife just ordered me the MT-15 a few minutes ago so I'm super excited!

 

[Deleted member 5962]

I thought so too. I took the DC to guitar center and played it through several 4x12 cabs and it wasn't a lot different, lol. I guess like most Mesa amps it was just designed primarily for live use at volume. My wife just ordered me the MT-15 a few minutes ago so I'm super excited!

Sweet! (The amp and the wife!)

 

[Em7]

If the MT follows most of the other PRS amps topology-wise, you are not going to achieve Mark IIC+ tones from it. When it comes to most modern tube amps, there are really only two basic topologies; namely, the Fender AB763 and the Fender 5F6-A Bassman, everything else is pretty much a derivation from one of these two topologies, including most Marshall amps. In the case of Mesa amps, the Mark series descend from the AB763 circuit whereas the Dual Rectos descend from the 5F6-A circuit. An important distinction between these two topologies is that the basic AB763 preamp has a gain stage followed by a tone stack followed by a gain stage whereas the 5F6-A has a gain stage followed by a gain stage followed by a cathode follower followed by a tone stack. In hotrodded versions of the AB763, the extra gain stages are appear after the tone stack whereas they appear before the cathode follower in hotrodded versions of the 5F6-A. This difference results in the tone stack in hotrodded AB763 amps playing a much more significant role in the final tone of the amp. Mesa also cuts bass before going into the two-stage "lead" overdrive circuit and cuts treble after it leaves this circuit. That is what gives a Mark-series amp its characteristic mid-range hump. It is also the reason why the "V" graphic eq configuration was so big in 80s tone, as it helps to tame the hump.

 

[Ascension]

Can the MT pull off a smooth singing solo tone? ABSOLUTELY IT CAN! Will it sound like a MK II C? Nope but it has a really smooth singing solo voice that's for sure!! I own a pair of Boogies, an old one year only 1991 Carvin X50B Hot Rod Mod Head a Zinky Blue Velvet and a pair of PRS heads a MT 15 and a Archon 50. The PRS heads are the smoothest in the solo tones of the lot by far.
Couple of clips with my MT 15 from my Church recordings ( yep running the PRS pair as a modern worship player!).
This one should give you a little hint at the solo tones of the MT 15 and am running only a little delay and verb in the loop nothing else. 2017 Kiesel DC with a Duncan Perpetual Burn in the bridge into a little miced 1/12 in the back room loaded with a WGS ET 90. Listen to the outro solo at the end in particular.

This is also with the MT 15 and playing my PRS Custom 24 for a livestream service but running into a little Ax Track iso cab.

Here is a little noodle clip with my Carvin ST 300 with a Dimarzio Gravity Storm in the bridge with the MT 15. No effects at all here at a low volume gain at around 11 OClock just noodling to a track with some solo lines through my Blackstar 1/12 cab loaded with a WGS Retro 30.
https://app.box.com/s/9ue7yybuq5kfek8h5d5xrui3ccnperr6.

 

[Em7]

While all of the Mark series amps will do the classic Mark singing tone, I suspect that the OP is looking for the unique crunch of Mark IIC+. The Mark III has a slightly different crunch than the Mark IIC+. The crunch of the Mark III can be heard in the parts that John Sykes recorded on the album Whitesnake ‘87. If one listens to the song “Crying in the Rain” from that album, one will hear the unique crunch of the Mark III. The tone is powerful and crunchy, but is missing the hard edge/top-end sizzle one hears with an amp that descends from the Fender 5F6-A circuit (i.e., most Marshalls and Marshall derivatives). That is because the Mark preamp does not have a cathode follower. It is a softer, fatter, and uniquely different crunch.

 

[Ascension]

Thanks so much! That definitely helps. I do use the eq in my effects unit through the loop to pull down the 16k frequencies a good bit on my dc-5 so I'll probably do the same with the mt-15.

I also have a DC 5 head and prefer the lead tones with both my MT 15 and Archon 50 to it.

 

[Chris Osborne]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone! And those are some great tones Ascension! Good news is that my MT-15 showed up Saturday and I was able to get exactly the kind of tones from it that I wanted. Treble and mid around eleven o'clock and presence around two o'clock gives an extremely smooth lead tone that isn't too dark but has none of the "sizzle" that I dislike in a lead tone. Rhythm tones are crushing with a little 100hz bump on the eq and my SD-1. So happy I got this amp!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HsRqQY5mMshzXmoO1fz4bJMHC-BHO4pX/view?usp=sharing

Chris

 

[Kris Saint]

Which tube needs to be replaced to change the sound of the clean channel ?