How to dial in the Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+

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Looking to learn how to set your Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ guitar amp gain and achieve a killer metal tone? Check out our video featuring John Connearn as he demonstrates how to adjust the settings to get the perfect metal tone for your amp.
John shows you how to tweak the settings on both the Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ and IIC++ heads, which have been used by legends such as John Petrucci, Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield. You'll learn how to adjust your amp's setting to get the exact sound you're looking for.
With John's expert guidance, you'll be able to create a heavy, aggressive tone that's perfect for riffing and shredding. So grab your guitar, plug in, and get ready to take your sound to the next level.
Watch the video now to learn how to adjust your guitar amp and get a good distortion tone!
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[@Papo_Bostero]

John, that sounded amazing!!, well done, after watching that video there’s no way you can say no I have to get it. Thank you.

[@yeserguitar]

I loved the amp sooo much! And it's clearly explained here so I can dial tones with a clear mindset, thanks John!

[@johnconnearnmusic]

Beast of an amp! Hope you’re all enjoying dialling it in 🤘🏻

[@StrudlePie]

Nicely done Johnny Boy!! 😉🤘

[@rodrody533]

John Great playing and review, I got a question, while you were playing in this video, which studio speakers you were using ?

[@Super-id7bq]

Dude I LOVE that you did this with an Epiphone Custom. Its great seeing a demo with a budget setup and hearing it sound great.

[@AleArzMusic]

As a fellow lover of plugins, I have to say that your guitar tone is absolutely amazing in this video! And your playing is so skilled, I could listen to you all day.

[@StephenRybacki]

Nice vid -- if you love metal music and ONLY metal music. What I also like about this plugin is the more ethereal tones you can get. The cleans are excellent, and when you use the delay and reverb in concert with one another it is just superb. It will be either this or the Petrucci Archtype I'll be getting as my one, go to standalone practice and recording solution.

[@bwiley_band]

Really looking forward to try this one. Always happy with the sound we get from the Nolly and Plini plugins, and it looks like these new one could open news sonic possibilities and suits to the sound we're looking for.

[@AndGuitar]

Great video! The new plugin really nails the entire tones of that magnificent amp!

[@ThorJeppesen]

Awesome video 🙌🏻 So nice and clear, good way to learn how it works, fantastic tones 🔥

[@rolfhartley1323]

Classic Boogie goodness and a demo very nicely done. It’s a ‘no-brainer’ choice for great tone.

[@1355Anthony]

Just got it, can't wait to get home from work and download it! I know what I'm doing all weekend!

[@TudorAdrian]

This is a real value offering: 2 properly licensed iconic amps, transpose/doubler, pedals, post-effects, 3 cabs with speaker variations but I just don't jive with the Mark series.. Hoping for a Badlander and a Dual/Tri Rec to make it in someday

[@GabiLotcu]

Yep, this is how you do a demo of this ,,beast". Thank's @Neural!

[@anthonyjmunoz]

Awesome. I love it! Only thing is that I was these amps had a room setting. I know they have reverb, but I'd love to add in a room sound, similar to what the UA OX does.

[@rywk4225]

they do.. in the mic section

[@DrProgNerd]

Great tutorial. Thank you.

[@GTruck0]

DIGITAL JOHN!

[@kaivalentine9664]

🤖

[@johnconnearnmusic]

affirmative ❤

[@simonwalkersoundtechnique]

great video dude!

[@grim..sentinel9500]

This video is super necessary lol. Doing my 14-day trial right now!

[@Stinger_1995]

I could see this video coming. People who aren't familiar with the Mark series would have a hard time dialing in their tone without a proper explanation. Thanks, Digital John!

[@romusromulus]

Oh come on who added iic++ here. Now I have to buy this.

[@JoshFryer]

This might be my favorite DSP plug by the sounds of it! 🤔

[@mclovin_69_]

hi, can you use those plugins for different sounds, not guitars, drones in ambient music production for example ?

[@Thomas-jj1ev]

Good video. Next please: How to dial in the Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ in Quad Cortex

[@Classic_DionysuS]

Any chance of updating the Petrucci plugin updated to get even closer to his JP2C ? This amp sounds closer to the 2C+ than his plugin which shouldn't be a thing since it's the same amp.

[@Dawdo-wf1xs]

this is the gnarliest plugin for metal from dsp yet

[@lucarav]

nice tutorial!

[@the_shadow_realm5110]

How does this compare with the Neural DSP Plini plug-in?

[@endtimeguitarist]

So…I guess for anyone who owns a mesa we’ve all learned more about dialing in good tones more than any other video on KZbin through a plug in video 😅

[@miserychannel666]

How about a video to demonstrate how to install this plug in into a Quad Cortex? Have you tried to dial in a sound with a plug-in - and 'capture' it? As you would with an amplifier? Is this possible?

[@1badsteed]

Nice demo! Anyone else having issues turning noise gate off? Even when it is off, notes don't ring out. It seems like they are still gated. Thanks

[@JohnLloydDavis]

This is a great tutorial. Is that a Chinese made Epi too? It sounds awesome through this setup, just shows how good those Epiphones are :)

[@JohnPArgueta]

Yeah, I have a newer Epi Custom in Black and it really kicks ass. However, it's still a bit hit or miss with their QC so if you get a dud, send it back until you get a proper one and then it's killer.

[@leegold6744]

I downloaded this plugin, I’m new to amp sims, I’m using a focusrite 2i2, going to some studio monitors, have a tele, with a EMG 81 in the bridge, I’m getting a lot of feedback, is that normal? I have the gate set over half and still getting feedback, anyway to eliminate this? Any feedback would help

[@jonartan4754]

Can this be used with the quad cortex?

[@kahlrhoam6769]

In *stereo*, nonetheless! A age of wonders, indeed. THX DigiJohn!

[@MetaITurtle]

Can I use distortion pedals from another DSP amp and add it to this one??

[@mehrdadbehrad6001]

Yes. You should turn off all other panels except the pedals section and if you run it in DAW put the pedals before the amp

[@JobForAMaxboy]

I installed the demo version, but I couldn't open it in cubase because it stated it is a 32 bit plugin, but I can't believe that's true. There's no link on the website to download a 64 bit version, so I gave up. Anyone know what happened?

[@hyperbolekid]

Anyone see Mesa just released the Mark 7 tube amp today?? Interesting timing

[@JuddOakes]

Yay Digital John

[@plotonisradd]

Digital John !!!

[@red240red2]

Sweet. Glad there not focusing on the quad cortex to much. Mainly focusing on putting out more plugins!

[@MaschinenKopf1998]

I don't know what's wrong with my setup, I play my guitar directly into an audient id4 interface and then into protools. Every time I enable an amp sim everything sounds horrible and muddy, not in a bad setting kind of way but in a "wow something's broken here" way. When I play clean, or sing through the same chain everything is crystal clear. What could the issue be? :(

[@julianmindel1494]

Hey, you maybe need to turn down the input gain of your interface to almost 0 and use the instrument setting. I hope this helps you, have a nice day!

[@66fitton]

Are you adding distortion or overdrive before going to your interface or are you recording clean guitar tracks? If you send an already overdriven track into a sim. they don't work well. They are meant to accept clean signal and add all amp and pedal sims after in the box. Your track should be just your actual guitar by itself. If that's what you do already, then I'm not sure what the problem is.... Cheers

[@berndkiltz]

Morgan AC20 and Friedman HBE/Samallbox next, please

[@allendean9807]

I want it, because it’s shiny and new. Yet, of all the great plugins, i still rely upon the Omega Granohpyre for rhythms. It just works so damned well….

[@Topan_Conspiracy]

best way to demo amp using midrange guitar

[@joaoguilhermenextlevel302]

forgot about the presence knob, but great vid overall

[@66fitton]

Should have showed what happens when you turn all 3 eq knobs all the way off. You lose all signal. Those knobs aren't modifying an existing tone so to speak. They allow you to choose completely which part of the spectrum gets sent for distortion. The 5 band is for adding freqs you want but don't want distorted. Like the very bottom if you want tight. Add it after. Still full, but not flubby.

[@AmplifyChris]

This makes dialing in a mesa so complicated. I lioved the sound from bands who play boogies and was always disappointed when trying one by myself. Sounds always shit… till the moment someone explained to me, that it’s not a Marshall, where the knobs don’t do much.. you really have to understand the signal flow… that every knob interact with the other.. 10 years ago I finally bought my rectoverb and cured gas with it.

[@1badsteed]

7:57 MEGADETH!!!! Great sounding model. Never forget that John Sykes is also a MESA Mk II C++ user! I'd like to know requirements for using this plugin. Will it work within my Presonus Studio One 5 or 6 DAW? If so, I have a new toy to play with. Can't afford the real deal so this will suffice!

[@Reaper_681]

studio one doesnt allow vst third parties unless you've paid for it but if you have paid then this plugin does work

[@BigMuff75]

Great video. Maybe it is too premature but apparently it takes a lot of effort to dial in "that" sound.

[@JohnPArgueta]

Well, it's a Mesa Boogie and not a Marshall. Every knob on 6 won't work.

[@artrecordings9679]

Takes a ton of effort. I’ve still not dialed in anything worth a shit. And for the previous comment, I own the Randall 667/so I know something about dialing in an amp.

[@brandonproctor3639]

Hell yeah, I’ll have to check this out

[@FirelandOfficial]

The Gojira plugin has a multitude of awesome usable tones, but after playing with this one for a few days, I found it a real pain to get a single usable sound. Lots of dialling stuff in, but always "not quite there". Goes from flubby to shrill very quickly, and sometimes it's both somehow. (Not hating, just saying!)

[@artrecordings9679]

I highly agree with you, nothing I’ve dialed in sounds good with this plug-in. It sounds like it’s just there, but can’t quite lock in something satisfying.

[@mikepeace2112]

Gorgeous Custom! Did you swap out all the gawdy gold hardware yourself or luck out and find one without it?

[@arpeggioblues5924]

Try demo'ing this using a guitar with active pickups. Maybe the Majesty.

[@donny7290]

Majesty doesn’t have active pickups

[@2550marshall]

I never could understand the fascination with amps that are so finicky to dial in. Then when you get it dialed in, you sound like everyone else.

[@theriffroom]

Metallica tones video ? 🤘🔥

[@ensabinha]

Why not make a how-to dial for each plugin? It is like a manual, it should be mandatory! It would be great to see this for Archetype Petrucci too.

[@francisamolieulieu]

Digital John

[@gizemkayhan9245]

omg this thing awesome

[@mohitrahaman]

wheres steven

[@Ollrick]

If you own the Petrucci Plug in you dont need it. It's a nice to have.

[@JayTheLane]

Digital John. I feel these different amps from Neural are essentially exactly the same engine with tweaks. If any thing these skins and sound should just be presets with skins for one unified amp rather than charging full price for a new Archetype. From this unified application you could have all these sounds in one place rather than separate Archetype's. Of course I'm not a dev so I don't know how much additional code needs to be added but feels a bit like a cash cow for Neural. How hard would it be to get this tone with the other Archetype's?

[@JohnPArgueta]

I only have the Soldano and this Amp but I can tell you they are nowhere near being the "same".

[@Timewalker13]

yeah idk, the fortin cali suite and the John Petrucci suite are vastly different

[@JayTheLane]

@@JohnPArgueta Thanks for the heads up. What I mean is that essentially they use the same engine but with changes. A bit like Amplitube presets, the engine is the same but the tones different. It wouldn't be viable to code each Archetype from the ground up.

[@middle_pickup]

The length of this video reminds me how much I hate tweaking Mesa amps. Such a chore.

[@Yourweakminds]

He’s wearing a head band! NEXT.

[@lowyaw]

Needs moar controls tho

[@StrumVogel]

What’s with the headband?

[@marcelmiagi4579]

This was the same amp that Metallica used on the Black album

[@sephiroth762]

If you've owned a Mark IIC+ (mine is an '83 DRGX), you know this amp is almost impossible to model. This amp is so complicated, has so many options, and so many sounds. Each amp also sounds a little different because a lot of them were modded one-by-one by Mike Bernadelli. Not trying to hate, just saying this is an impossible task. I think you guys did a fair job, but this isn't a JCM 800 or something that's easy to model; this amp is unlike any other out there. I've never found a model that compared to the real thing.

[@FedericoMK]

it's Bendinelli ;)

[@djrenault]

I've got a Mark III and when I had a Kemper, I could never *quite* get the same tone with it. the mark iii was always just better. i bought this plugin because it's closer than i had with the kemper. it's pretty solid

[@sephiroth762]

@@FedericoMK Haha thanks man!

[@sephiroth762]

@@djrenault I feel like they'll get better and better with time. I love both real amps and modelers. I don't believe they're mutually exclusive. I have an Axe FX III Mk II Turbo that I absolutely love. I play it every day. But the Mark IIC+ models in that sound NOTHING like my real IIC+ either. I just don't use those models. But the Marshall and Fender models are great!

[@FedericoMK]

@@sephiroth762 anyway, I have two mark IIC+ head in my studio and IMHO this is the best plugin there is. the feel is there, and and all the pull / push respond like the real thing. And the '03 V30 cab section is pure gold. :)

[@connorbaker1716]

DIGITAL John

[@metriffs]

Has a 2C+ plug in. Plays a Epiphone and "rock".

[@chuckyinges]

Digital John demoing digital amp, only fitting.

[@jamesraub3985]

Well...will definetely pass on this one. Sure it's accurate to the IIC..but tone doesn't stand up well these days. Nameless is the standard for what I do. Respect as always to Neural "plugging" away!

[@Alexander_Tronstad]

They started with the best one for sure! Nameless is fantastic!

[@wolfgangcordsen3430]

Yeah, but what about some CLEAN tones????

[@1badsteed]

Get the Fender plugin!

[@rodrigosallesguitar]

Damn!! I'm trying really hard not to buy this one!! Arrghhhhhhhh!!! 😂

[@MarcAndreLevesque]

Stellar job on modelling an impossible amp to model. Not like the real thing per say, but it is very close and sound good for what it is. A Mesa MkIIC+ and ++ sound how they sound ... you don't get these amps to be original and reinvent the wheel, those like me just like the sound you get out of them, and Master of Puppets is pretty much what you sound like with these amps no matter how you tweak and fiddle with them lol A Mesa MkIIC dialed in sounds like a Mesa MkIIC, so the haters can stop. If this is not what they want then move a long and get the Nameless or Granophyre and be happy.

[@llgms]

Not the best example how good this plugin can sound.. but it is a hard amp to dial in for sure.

[@eshmekov]

you simply cannot avoid mop riffs due testing mark2c higain 😂

[@Sep45]

Step one: Get a Mesa Mark IIc

[@wheresallthezombies]

When I think of mark series amps I think of Prince, Best Coast, and Weezer.

[@robertrogers7939]

A guy with a epiphone could never afford a Mark 2c+.

[@headbangerministries]

Hmmm! Not for 100bucks!

[@maxyemets8233]

This is a little like watching a wine guy talk about “notes of oak and blueberry with just a hint of earth”. I was able to get these tones 10 years ago with all free plugins - TSE808, LePou amps, and Kefir cab sim with free impulses. I tried Guitar Rig, Mercuriall, STL, Neural, Ignite, Archetype. I really think it’s all smoke and mirrors - there are only so many ways you digitally chop the top off a sine wave and in the end it’s all the same. Matter of fact, I keep coming back to the freeware because it’s lighter and simpler.

[@RyvenProductions]

Why don't you throw together a couple mixes would love to have a listen? Thanks, in advance.

[@adam2178]

Feel

[@Rao6505]

Are you deaf? Like, there is no way you think that LePou is anywhere close to Nueral.

[@RyvenProductions]

@@adam2178 I Imagine that's probably one of the hardest parts about making an amp sim. Getting feel right for the player.

[@fastfrankblack]

I don’t think Tone King sounds like anything available before. At all.

[@NickArcolla]

doesn't sound that good, not for the price.

[@broccoliking6668]

Not enough hair. More hair.

[@victorbicudo1374]

This is very underwhelming.

[@MatthiasBuesing]

Don't like that tones either. But the plugin is badass, dial it in your own way. IRs are excellent as well!

[@prognosis77]

A young Keith Richards

[@ConstantineM]

The problem with Neural DSP plugins for me is you stuck with the same tone and can't make some different ones. I mean, in real world or even in the Line 6 Helix, you can make every amp sound really terrible, neutral or badass. And it adds flexibility. You have much more versatility within the same amp model. But with Neural DSP you can't make a shitty tone. Why do I need shitty tone? Well, I like authenticity. I love choices. But with Neural I just stuck with one tone and that's all. I can't make unique setup. But in real world with real amps I CAN.

[@ConstantineM]

So Neural DSP is for people, who doesn't care much about tweaking. People just wanted to plug in with premade setting and go. But what about us, tweaking nerds?

[@matejcevnik7362]

That is absolutely not correct, ive gotten many shitty tones. If you're using a dumble its gonna sound amazing on any setting, thats why the dumble in cory wong sounds amazing on any setting.

[@ConstantineM]

@@matejcevnik7362 thanks. Got it

[@Timewalker13]

I don't think I've seen someone purposely want a shitty tone. Go buy a 50$ fender champion 20 at your local music store and save your money

[@us3r11]

I can make a shitty tone with neural DSP. I happen to do that with the Gojira plug-in. I believe it was with the clean amp 😊

[@KUM0]

Sounds meh, at least through that Epi LP

[@mattwalsh9413]

whats with the fucking bandana

[@averyfilms1432]

😂😂

[@romusromulus]

Metallica but not quite? There are lots of options, pedals, overdrive and a giant eq. No EMGs but a nasty epiphone? No metalhead but a guy rarely palm mutes and hits all strings many many many times? Most of the video spent on iic+ ,but most rare and an industry first iic++ is just another more gainy mode? Are you guys trying to sabotage yourselves or something. What a horrid demo. This was an instant buy for me, and now I've seen this making me wait for another right headed demo. Not a show to gather more people for such a unique equipment software. I'm lost for words. Even no ir changes ? Dude.

[@m.thephilosopher]

Man, you should try to playing a REAL Tube Amp instead !

[@user-yk4gd1fl4z]

I don’t know. The thing just sounds buzzy and harsh to me. Maybe it’s the Amps signature.

[@mikebaker698]

D I G I T A L J O H N

[@raynardmame4600]

DIGITAL JOHN!