[Leon]

So, I hit a GC in Cleveland this weekend, where they had a few Mesa's for me to drool over.

Mark V: I'm kinda glad I didn't get this :lol:. It's very nice and all, and a lot of options (figured about 112 combinations), but only three channels? Man, I found a TON of hot sounds on the clean channel, and quite a few in the second channel. I'd want to switch between them so badly, I'd probably have ended up selling it for a TriAxis.

Heartbreaker: One or two decent sounds. Terrible channel/option switching. And no Presence control? No thanks. Not even enough in the Treble to compensate. Definitely a Mark-style preamp, though.

5:25 Express: Pretty fun little guy. Had quite a few options for classic rock guys (my dad would probably like this). The high-gain metal wasn't there, but I doubt they built this for that purpose.

Electradyne: I was the most impressed with this. The channel/option switching was pretty un-engineered, but once dialed in, I liked it. The overdrive was very clear and present, but not too trebly. I can kinda hear the "Brit"-ness of it, as it's a bit more raw and less smooth than the Mark tone.



I suck at reviewing amps, so that's about all I've got :lol:. If I had a choice between the four, I'd get an Electradyne head without a second thought.

 

[Josh]

The Electradyne controls and is voiced somewhat similar to my Budda, although with a different flavor overall. I felt very "at home" on that amp.

 

[Leon]

I didn't like the footswitch at all. I'd prefer a separate button for each mode, rather than having to hit both to switch to the other side.

 

[Drew]

I had the same problem with the Mark-V. A lot of great sounds to be had, but the ones I'd have liked all happened to be on the same channel. Put the Mark-IV mode on Channel 2 and leave me IIC+ and Extreme on three, and I'd have been sorely tempted, but even then I don't know if it'd have gotten me away from my Roadster.

 

[Josh]

I didn't like the footswitch at all. I'd prefer a separate button for each mode, rather than having to hit both to switch to the other side.

The one I played didn't have the footswitch, so I can't comment :lol:

 

[Vince]

Mark V: I'm kinda glad I didn't get this :lol:. It's very nice and all, and a lot of options (figured about 112 combinations), but only three channels? Man, I found a TON of hot sounds on the clean channel, and quite a few in the second channel. I'd want to switch between them so badly, I'd probably have ended up selling it for a TriAxis.

Heartbreaker: One or two decent sounds. Terrible channel/option switching. And no Presence control? No thanks. Not even enough in the Treble to compensate. Definitely a Mark-style preamp, though.

The heartbreaker was a disappointing amp for me. I could never get it to sound good and I love a challenging amplifier.

I had a chance to really mess around with a Mark V 1x12 wide combo about a year, year and a half ago, right after they came out. I liked it, but I thought I'd gotten better tones out of a Mark IV, plus it looked like it was set up like a head version of a Triaxis the way it grouped it's tones together. Since I already had a Triaxis (now yours) and I found it infinitely easier to dial in, I'd never have bought the V. BUt I definitely see how someone who loves Mark sounds and wants a combo would've loved it.

 

[Drew]

The heartbreaker was a disappointing amp for me. I could never get it to sound good and I love a challenging amplifier.

I had a chance to really mess around with a Mark V 1x12 wide combo about a year, year and a half ago, right after they came out. I liked it, but I thought I'd gotten better tones out of a Mark IV, plus it looked like it was set up like a head version of a Triaxis the way it grouped it's tones together. Since I already had a Triaxis (now yours) and I found it infinitely easier to dial in, I'd never have bought the V. BUt I definitely see how someone who loves Mark sounds and wants a combo would've loved it.

it's not that I couldn;t get it to sound good - I could, but just only for blues rock. The name isn't a misnomer, it'd have been awesome for a Tom Petty cover band, but not much else.

And actually, the Mark-V reminds me way more of a Nomad than anything else, with it's layout. Both visually and functionally...

 

[Reverend 7 Strings of Hate]

i'm really wanting to get a crack at the transatlantic they have.

 

[Leon]

Wirelessly posted (Mjolnir: Opera/9.80 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.2.21992/20.2497; U; en) Presto/2.5.25)

That reminds me, I played one of those too :lol:. Very rock'n roll, but not 'metal' by any stretch.

 

[79]

Wirelessly posted (Mjolnir: Opera/9.80 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.2.21992/20.2497; U; en) Presto/2.5.25)

That reminds me, I played one of those too :lol:. Very rock'n roll, but not 'metal' by any stretch.

It seems like the TA15 would be a great secondary amp.

 

[Mike]

i'm really wanting to get a crack at the transatlantic they have.

The one I played didn't like my 7 string at all, but took to a strat and tele very nicely...

 

[noodles]

The one I played didn't like my 7 string at all, but took to a strat and tele very nicely...

It was really, really good as a low to mid gain rock amp. The cleans were OUTSTANDING.

 

[Professor Squidbeard]

I like the express. I've recorded awesome metal tones with it. i wouldn't use it live for metal but for low volume recording it was surprisingly awesome. I had also owned it for a year or two by that point and could dial it in really well.

 

[79]

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The one I played didn't like my 7 string at all, but took to a strat and tele very nicely...

It was really, really good as a low to mid gain rock amp. The cleans were OUTSTANDING.

Did it do Brian May style Vox? The Night Train does, but I'm hesitant to buy another Chinese piece of shit.

 

[Mike]

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Did it do Brian May style Vox? The Night Train does, but I'm hesitant to buy another Chinese piece of shit.

It was kind of it's own thing, actually - it had some of the Vox-ish feel to it, but the preamp was definitely Mesa.

 

[Drew]

Yeah, Andy Timmons got some shockingly good sounds out of a Transatlantic at the clinic he did at Matt's. I'm really curious to try one out now.

I like the express. I've recorded awesome metal tones with it. i wouldn't use it live for metal but for low volume recording it was surprisingly awesome. I had also owned it for a year or two by that point and could dial it in really well.

...whereas I HATED that amp. Clean channel not as good as a F-30, more flexible gain channel but it didn't really get particularly high gain and didn't hold together very well... I could see it being a good amp for raw bluesier stuff, but for any sound I could see it working, there was always something in Mesa's lineup that did it better.

 

[noodles]

Did it do Brian May style Vox? The Night Train does, but I'm hesitant to buy another Chinese piece of shit.

What Mike said. It was a little Voxish, but only in that it is an EL-84 amp that has that particular tube's midrange character. The preamp is all Mesa.

 

[Drew]

What Mike said. It was a little Voxish, but only in that it is an EL-84 amp that has that particular tube's midrange character. The preamp is all Mesa.

One of the clean modes got in the right ballpark, though, was my impression - granted, Timmons could make anything sound good, but when he broke into "Pinball Wizard" on the more Vox-inspired channel, it sounded pretty damned authentic.

 

[79]

It was kind of it's own thing, actually - it had some of the Vox-ish feel to it, but the preamp was definitely Mesa.

What Mike said. It was a little Voxish, but only in that it is an EL-84 amp that has that particular tube's midrange character. The preamp is all Mesa.

So, I'd probably like it quite a bit, for the same reasons I like the Stiletto: a Mesa-ized Marshall.

One of the clean modes got in the right ballpark, though, was my impression - granted, Timmons could make anything sound good, but when he broke into "Pinball Wizard" on the more Vox-inspired channel, it sounded pretty damned authentic.

Are there videos of Timmons playing the TA?

 

[Drew]

Not that I'm aware of. :/