TONES @ The Guitar Rack #3
PRS Custom 24 30th Anniversary
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Mesa Boogie Mark III Blue Stripe!
TONES @ TGR #3 already? Time flies when you’re having fun!
If you’re new to this series, please see the link below for the introductory blog post:
What is 'TONES @ The Guitar Rack'?
The Guitar
My ‘poor attempt at comedy’ was even worse this week. Good news, the guitar DOES NOT fall flat like my ‘jokes’. :)
What you see here is a one-off PRS 30th Anniversary Custom 24. While the guitar is ‘standard’ for this year’s spec, it if finished in a custom (and absolutely stunning) chameleon/shifting metallic color. The guitar changes shade from blue to purple to green depending on lighting and angle, which is absolutely STUNNING against the PRS contours. Add the special bird inlays, fretboard purfling, and headstock overlay that came on the 30th, and you’ve got a very special guitar.
Specs are otherwise standard to the Custom 24 - 25” scale, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fretboard, 10” radius, 5-way blade, and USA PRS hardware (tremolo and Phase III locking tuners). The 30th anniversary came with a unique bird inlay pattern, the fretboard purfling, and a very nice rosewood headstock overlay. The pickups are the 85/15s, which utilize a ‘medium’ output to bring out some fantastic dynamics and clarify in high gain application.
I won’t bother wooing over the playability - to me, PRS has always been one of the most consistent in guitars made to PLAY. The guitar sets up super low, making it almost effortless to play. Even with the lower action, it retains appropriate tone/response without choking out. What more can you ask for?
I’ll get pictures of this one added to the gallery soon - stay tuned!
The Amp
The legendary Mesa Mark III Blue stripe - WHAT AN AMP! I have (and continue to be) a huge fan of the Boogie Mark series - very special amplifiers that have an often unmatched ‘rawness’ and ‘aggression’ in their overall character. The Blue stripe is one of the later iterations, which brought the power amp to a configuration much closer to the IIC+. Overall, the Blue Stripe is known to be one of the most aggressive Mark iterations, and I think that comes through in the video. I’m a big fan of the Mark IV, and this Mark III brings a slightly more open and raw character that I REALLY enjoy - almost like sprinkling in just enough IIC+ mojo into everything I love about my trusty Mark IV. More to come on this page regarding the Mark series and all of my experiences! :)
My settings for this tone are in the picture below. The Presence knob on the back was set to ‘0’ (further speakers to the ‘aggressive’ tonal structure of this amp, huh?). You’ll see I’m utilizing the typical ‘Mark series tricks’, keeping the preamp bass low (for clarity), treble higher (for saturation), middle for ‘feel’, and finally using the GEQ to dial in the final tone. This approach is key to getting the most out of a Mark. You’ll notice I’m a little less aggressive on the GEQ than many - I think the overall character of the amp stays a little more natural this way, compared to the deeper scoop many go for.
Also important to note - this is the 60 watt non-Simulclass version. So - not only do I love the tone, but it’s less hassle to retube. WIN!
The combo versions look so cute - but there’s a MEAN amp under the hood!
Cabinet, Speaker, & Recording
The tone you’re hearing is again using my Suhr Reactive Load into my Axe FX 2 as an external IR loader. For the time being, I’m keeping this part of the chain as a consistent reference point, so same Mesa V30 cabinet IR as well. I may consider swapping the IR at some point in the future if it’s an amp that I WOULD NOT pair a V30 Mesa cab with in real life, but we’ll see how it goes. More details on that setup can be found in the Tones @ TGR #1 blog post.
Final Thoughts on the Tone
Doing this combination put me right at home - my favorite guitar and amplifier brand together to make a KILLER high gain tone! The overall string clarity was INSANE with this matching, and it made playing the big chords very addictive. Oh, you like riffing? No problem - the amp punches like no other. I’ve always felt like I can just plug into a Mark series, dial in the channel, and PLAY without any additional tweaking, effects, etc - I believe that excitement and connection came through in the video!
I hope you enjoyed ‘Tones @ The Guitar Rack #3’ - looking forward to your thoughts and feedback on the YouTube channel.
— Eric, The Guitar Rack