New Amp Day! + short review

5473 Views 46 Replies 15 Participants Last post by noodles, Mar 29, 2011

Nick

Discussion Starter · Mar 23, 2011 (Edited)

what have we here?

looks interesting

could it be?

IT COULD!

A Mesa Boogie Mark V

I've really only just touched the surface of what this beast can do having had it for a few days now. I have to admit i was a bit worried to begin with as i have just had bareknuckle blackdogs put in my RG1527 and i thought their medium output had pussified this amp a bit. However... i have now had a chance to crank the volume a bit and stick my MXR GT OD in front and near crushed my ribcage this afternoon :yesway:

channel one is the 'clean' channel although set it to tweed and youl get some really nice overdrive or 'spankyness'. I prefer the cleans to be be very clean and not break up and using the clean or fat mode im able to achieve this nicley and get a really rounded full clean sound. I engaged the bold switch as i thought it pushed the sound out a bit more.

the second channel i havent really done a huge amount with but one thing i would note is that the lows on the Mark I setting are INSANE:scream: i had the bass set to about 9 oclock and it was still huge. i imagine this channel would be nice for leads once i get it dialed in right.

Channel 3 has the option of the mark II C+ mark IV or Extreme.

I prefer the mark IV and mark II C+ modes but im not ruling extreme out yet as i've not had a chance to play with it much yet.

great sustain and depth in the distortion which really growls which is what i was after when i bought this amp.

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5

Reactions: 5

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Leon

· #2 · Mar 23, 2011

:metal:

Max

· #3 · Mar 23, 2011

Slick :yesway:

Nick

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 23, 2011

Im interested in other owners observations of the levels of gain available though.

Im using mid gain pickups and im pretty much in need of my boost to get to thrash/death metal territory.

im pretty happy with the tone i get once i boost it though.

Max

· #5 · Mar 23, 2011

Somethings up. I was able to get OBNOXIOUS gain out of the ones in the shop. Unusuable/Chris levels, really.

Joel

· #6 · Mar 23, 2011

Yeah I'm with Max. When I (briefly) tried one, I was using a Carvin H2 with the low output pickups and I was still able to get tons of gain, I didn't need to go past 1 o'clock in any circumstances.

1

· #7 · Mar 23, 2011

"Satisfaction" :lol:

Score, sir! :metal:

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Soopahmahn

· #8 · Mar 23, 2011

For the record, Extreme is a Mark IV with the presence knob pulled. It shifts the presence band and ends up giving a bit more gain. The low end is pretty crushing in that setting.

Mark V's are fucking win. :yesway:

Nick

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 23, 2011

hmm seems strange maybe i'll take it back into the shop at the weekend and have it checked out.

Leon

· #10 · Mar 23, 2011

Post your settings?

Soopahmahn

· #11 · Mar 23, 2011

I don't know how familiar you are with Mark amps, but if you don't have the treble set to at least 7-8 and the drive and gain knobs up a fair amount, you're not going to get much crunch out. Keep the bass knob to 3 or below (I'd often run at 0).

It's ok to set it "too bright" to get it to scream the way you want, and then to use the 5-band to pull the treble back a touch, or at least adding back in some bass to compensate for the brightness.

Blankplank

· #12 · Mar 23, 2011

I'd quite like to try the Mark V at some point. Trying a Mesa in Cumbria though is like trying to beat Usain Bolt to the bus stop.

Daniel

· #13 · Mar 23, 2011

nice snag, making me want to try it out now.

Joey

· #14 · Mar 23, 2011

Soopstradamus said:
I don't know how familiar you are with Mark amps, but if you don't have the treble set to at least 7-8 and the drive and gain knobs up a fair amount, you're not going to get much crunch out. Keep the bass knob to 3 or below (I'd often run at 0).

It's ok to set it "too bright" to get it to scream the way you want, and then to use the 5-band to pull the treble back a touch, or at least adding back in some bass to compensate for the brightness.

Good call. I know with every Mesa I've played, you may as well just take the numbers off the pre-EQ knobs. Just tweak them until they sound good, regardless of what common EQ knowledge might tell you. Then, as you said, you can always tame or boost things with the post EQ

Nick

Discussion Starter · #15 · Mar 23, 2011 (Edited)

Soopstradamus said:
I don't know how familiar you are with Mark amps, but if you don't have the treble set to at least 7-8 and the drive and gain knobs up a fair amount, you're not going to get much crunch out. Keep the bass knob to 3 or below (I'd often run at 0).

It's ok to set it "too bright" to get it to scream the way you want, and then to use the 5-band to pull the treble back a touch, or at least adding back in some bass to compensate for the brightness.

cheers

the manual actually says that for ultra high gain stuff you should invest in some high output pickups. I like the voicing of the blackdogs so i can probably just run it with the boost when need be.

I doubt there is anything wrong with it. I'll try boosting the treble like you said.

Nick

Discussion Starter · #16 · Mar 23, 2011

As far as my settings go I was using presance about 10:30 master 12 gain 2:00 treble 11:00 middle 10:00 and bass 9:00 without the boost it was a mild crunch at best. I also matched the Petruicci settings he put up in his vids and got nowhere close to the saturation he achieved. I'm thinking its the blackdog pickups.

Josh

· #17 · Mar 23, 2011

Low output pickups sound better anyways, generally. Kick in a Tubescreamer boost or a clean boost pedal if you like the Blackdogs but need more heat.

noodles

· #18 · Mar 24, 2011

Why has no one mentioned the ONLY way to dial in a Mark: crank the mids, scoop the GEQ. :lol:

Marks love to have the midrange opened up, which is what gives you that thick crunch, and the EQ is where you add the aggression. Plus, the GEQ in makes the signal a lot hotter. In Mark IV mode, don't be afraid to crank the fuck out of the gain knob. In IIc+ mode, you have to boost it. Don't forget that they're dark amps, so be more liberal with the treble and presence knobs. And seriously, put the midrange on at least eight, then several glorious weeks finding how the GEQ needs to be set for you.

Vince

· #19 · Mar 24, 2011

noodles said:
Why has no one mentioned the ONLY way to dial in a Mark: crank the mids, scoop the GEQ. :lol:

Marks love to have the midrange opened up, which is what gives you that thick crunch, and the EQ is where you add the aggression. Plus, the GEQ in makes the signal a lot hotter. In Mark IV mode, don't be afraid to crank the fuck out of the gain knob. In IIc+ mode, you have to boost it. Don't forget that they're dark amps, so be more liberal with the treble and presence knobs. And seriously, put the midrange on at least eight, then several glorious weeks finding how the GEQ needs to be set for you.

This :agreed:

Dave is dead on. V that graphic eq after boosting the core channel mids.

Daniel

· #20 · Mar 24, 2011

noodles said:
Why has no one mentioned the ONLY way to dial in a Mark: crank the mids, scoop the GEQ. :lol:

Marks love to have the midrange opened up, which is what gives you that thick crunch, and the EQ is where you add the aggression. Plus, the GEQ in makes the signal a lot hotter. In Mark IV mode, don't be afraid to crank the fuck out of the gain knob. In IIc+ mode, you have to boost it. Don't forget that they're dark amps, so be more liberal with the treble and presence knobs. And seriously, put the midrange on at least eight, then several glorious weeks finding how the GEQ needs to be set for you.

Possibly cause you're the Mesa/Boobies guru....

you're still short....

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