I FOUND IT AFTER ALL THESE YEARS OF SEARCHING!! My Mark V 90W Settings.

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Ascendance

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Honestly I just got my amp a on monday. But today I did it. Im im between 36-42 years old been chasing tone for over 27 years.

Thanks to the help from this post on reddit and the wounderfull people on these forums.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MesaBoogie/s/fUFA7SMOmu

https://boogieforum.com/threads/help-with-mark-v-90-tone.87596/post-540770

I have achived getting the closest to the tone in my head I have been searching for my whole life. At the current moment I am completely satisfied. It still needs some fine tuning but to get this close feels like im in heaven.

I have achvied my main rock/metal/chuging/etc tone.

The bestvway to discribe the tone im looking for is a cross between the metalica garage inc sound/S&M sound and the van halen og brown sound.

Here is what im using.

Mesa boogie Mark V 90w the tag says. 2.MVM.BB MK5-01479* (left last digit out dont wana give out my whole serial). From what I understand it was made in 2020.

Has the stock preamp tubes and the mesa STR-441 6L6.

Custom Epiphone Les Paul Silverburst Custom Pro, loaded with Seymour Duncan Distortion nickle cover on bride and Seth lover Nickle cover in neck. Pots are all CTS 500k push pull for coil taping for volume and 500k cts normal for tone with .022uf NOS bumble bee caps. (Paid 80$ just for the caps they are huge lol)

I tried a bunch of gibsons and frankly I could of bought them but the price diffrence did not seem right. Honestly this epiphone looked the way I wanted it to and felt right in the neck I was going to replace all th puckups as well. Finding a acutal gibson silver burst or getting a custom shop yeah sorry just aint worth it. My epiphone plays and sounds better than most gibsons.

Also I cant forget a Huge part of my sound in my opinon is my strings. I found that using Ernie Ball Rock and Roll regular slinkys helps tame the harsh highs on any amp. Make the sound more round and smooth. Been using them since my orange rocker amp days. These are full nickel wrap instead of nickel plated steel wrap.

At first I had the James Hetfield set in it and I hated it. 81/60 sounds way better imo. But yeah emgs i found out were a good part of my tone issues. Swaping to the seymours has been amazing.

Anyways enough about my guitar back to my setup.

Mesa Boogie Dual Rectfier Cab 4x12 Slant.

South creek audio cables. Honestly these are the best cables you can buy in my opinion. Lava cables are a rip off infact these sound better and beat almost any cable manufacters price. South creek audio is the bomb.

https://southcreekaudio.com/guitar-cables/

So Guitar> polytune>echoplex>amp

Efects loop active with Boss DD-3T Digital Delay to slighly thicken the sound.

Below ill just post pictures of the rest.

The echoplex is just there its not active.

90w Pentode Mark 4 mode bright switch on full power.

I tested with my kirk hammet ghoul screamer on variac mode for a clean boost it gave it more of that van halen feal as well. I recomend trying this too.

Also sitting down in level with the amp sounds diffrent than standing up. I hear the exact sound sitting level to the amp not standing up. If someone could explain why and how i could fix that please let me know. Im sure micing the amp would fix that but thats not possible at home right now.

Anyways thanks for you help everyone on my journy and im gonna be looking to fine polish that sound now.

The sound is not 100% perfect yet but I have the holy grail in my hands just need to polish it up and do some fine adjustments.

PS The Mark V:35 and Mark V 90w are like completly diffrent amps in my opinon.

Im also posting a picture i found on reddit that helps ALOT.

I had issues taking pictures of the EQ bit the 240 slider is higher than the 2200. Also those sliders are sensative. A hair of a push dramaticly alters the tone more than most relise.
 

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It is a nice thing to finally get closer to the tones one is searching for 😁

Similar story with my Mark V: it’s not perfect but close enough to not bother about it anymore. My dream guitar/s helped also a lot to get to the point that more gear would be a bonus - not necessity. The tones I get have a little bit of this and that which are not perfect but those vary in different rooms and volume levels - and feelings. Good enough is good enough.

1723278655905.jpeg
 
Ascendance said:
Honestly I just got my amp a on monday. But today I did it. Im im between 36-42 years old been chasing tone for over 27 years.

Thanks to the help from this post on reddit and the wounderfull people on these forums.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MesaBoogie/s/fUFA7SMOmu

https://boogieforum.com/threads/help-with-mark-v-90-tone.87596/post-540770

I have achived getting the closest to the tone in my head I have been searching for my whole life. At the current moment I am completely satisfied. It still needs some fine tuning but to get this close feels like im in heaven.

I have achvied my main rock/metal/chuging/etc tone.

The bestvway to discribe the tone im looking for is a cross between the metalica garage inc sound/S&M sound and the van halen og brown sound.

Here is what im using.

Mesa boogie Mark V 90w the tag says. 2.MVM.BB MK5-01479* (left last digit out dont wana give out my whole serial). From what I understand it was made in 2020.

Has the stock preamp tubes and the mesa STR-441 6L6.

Custom Epiphone Les Paul Silverburst Custom Pro, loaded with Seymour Duncan Distortion nickle cover on bride and Seth lover Nickle cover in neck. Pots are all CTS 500k push pull for coil taping for volume and 500k cts normal for tone with .022uf NOS bumble bee caps. (Paid 80$ just for the caps they are huge lol)

I tried a bunch of gibsons and frankly I could of bought them but the price diffrence did not seem right. Honestly this epiphone looked the way I wanted it to and felt right in the neck I was going to replace all th puckups as well. Finding a acutal gibson silver burst or getting a custom shop yeah sorry just aint worth it. My epiphone plays and sounds better than most gibsons.

Also I cant forget a Huge part of my sound in my opinon is my strings. I found that using Ernie Ball Rock and Roll regular slinkys helps tame the harsh highs on any amp. Make the sound more round and smooth. Been using them since my orange rocker amp days. These are full nickel wrap instead of nickel plated steel wrap.

At first I had the James Hetfield set in it and I hated it. 81/60 sounds way better imo. But yeah emgs i found out were a good part of my tone issues. Swaping to the seymours has been amazing.

Anyways enough about my guitar back to my setup.

Mesa Boogie Dual Rectfier Cab 4x12 Slant.

South creek audio cables. Honestly these are the best cables you can buy in my opinion. Lava cables are a rip off infact these sound better and beat almost any cable manufacters price. South creek audio is the bomb.

https://southcreekaudio.com/guitar-cables/

So Guitar> polytune>echoplex>amp

Efects loop active with Boss DD-3T Digital Delay to slighly thicken the sound.

Below ill just post pictures of the rest.

The echoplex is just there its not active.

90w Pentode Mark 4 mode bright switch on full power.

I tested with my kirk hammet ghoul screamer on variac mode for a clean boost it gave it more of that van halen feal as well. I recomend trying this too.

Also sitting down in level with the amp sounds diffrent than standing up. I hear the exact sound sitting level to the amp not standing up. If someone could explain why and how i could fix that please let me know. Im sure micing the amp would fix that but thats not possible at home right now.

Anyways thanks for you help everyone on my journy and im gonna be looking to fine polish that sound now.

The sound is not 100% perfect yet but I have the holy grail in my hands just need to polish it up and do some fine adjustments.

PS The Mark V:35 and Mark V 90w are like completly diffrent amps in my opinon.

Im also posting a picture i found on reddit that helps ALOT.

I had issues taking pictures of the EQ bit the 240 slider is higher than the 2200. Also those sliders are sensative. A hair of a push dramaticly alters the tone more than most relise.
Click to expand...
Put a compressor in front and turn the bright off and you have a winner (the bright switch KILLS upper mids in this amp)(also you will have better luck bring up the treble and down the bass and mids)
 
If those cables are good, thats a great price. I think the key in your settings is keeping the high end sliders down a bit. I've noticed that keeps things tighter without too much sizzle from a full "V" so to speak. Post some sound clips if you can, always interested to hear what people come up with and congrats on finding your tone.
 
Sinner's Swing! said:
If those cables are good, thats a great price. I think the key in your settings is keeping the high end sliders down a bit. I've noticed that keeps things tighter without too much sizzle from a full "V" so to speak. Post some sound clips if you can, always interested to hear what people come up with and congrats on finding your tone.
Click to expand...
Exactly. I’ve come up with the same conclusions: in the Mark V, the best tone is achieved by having the 2200 and 6600 sliders just a little above the middle line and not in a full V pattern. You can find a lot of pictures of previous models, or also videos, where those sliders are set way higher but the tone isn’t harsh. This is not the case with the Mark V. I believe the taper of the sliders has changed a little in the years, this could explain this observation. It would be interesting to be able to measure the exact dialed value of resistance in say a Mark IIC or a Mark IV, and a Mark V. Nevertheless, the Mark V is fully capable of delivering that gorgeous liquid and smooth high gain Mesa Mark tone, just use your ears and not your eyes when dialing it!

Giulio
 
That is really great! I hope you have a blast with it.

I did a talking points video comparing a number of different Boogies, comparing my IIIs, V, and JP-2C. It was prior to owning a IIC+, but now that I have one, I really feel like doubling down on the sentiment that these are all great amps, and in a mix, few people would really be able to tell the difference.

It's here if you're interested. I come back to it from time to time, still resonates with me
 
danielpasco said:
I really feel like doubling down on the sentiment that these are all great amps, and in a mix, few people would really be able to tell the difference.
Click to expand...
Yea I concur especially with the live points made. I've learned the hard way getting lost in the live mix. Still use the EQ on the V but it is setup differently if I'm recording vs live with the band. The point about presence and 6k slider is also a good one.
 
danielpasco said:
That is really great! I hope you have a blast with it.

I did a talking points video comparing a number of different Boogies, comparing my IIIs, V, and JP-2C. It was prior to owning a IIC+, but now that I have one, I really feel like doubling down on the sentiment that these are all great amps, and in a mix, few people would really be able to tell the difference.

It's here if you're interested. I come back to it from time to time, still resonates with me
Click to expand...

Nice insight, I agree the core of electric guitar tone is in the mids.

Once I read somewhere that if you listen to the isolated tracks of some apparently great sounding guitar tones, you’d be surprised how awkward they actually are, because equalization favored the mix and not the isolated guitar tones.

But I must say I’ve often listened to live and recorded guitar tones which where gorgeous both in isolation (ex. solo parts or solo riffs) and in the mix… so you probably can get the best of both worlds!

Now, being able to read schematics and to mod/build a tube amp, I have to tell you that the Mark lead circuit really looks like it “wants” a graphic eq in the end. They really discovered the now largely implemented concept that a great high gain tone is best achieved by overdriving the mid frequencies mostly, than recover the previously cut bass and treble frequencies later (with a resonance and presence control, in most modern amps).

In a Mark amp, even if you dial the mid pot very low (as common practice with these amps), you get a very middy sounding tone as soon as you disengage the graphic eq… you really need that mid cut with the 750hz slider… probably you’re right that in a live situation you might want to be more cautious and not cut too deep, but I still believe it is essential and that it was in the minds/ears of who developed that circuit. Even coming from playing my Marshall JCM800 derivative and having fun with 80s glam rock tunes, the mids in my Mark V channel 3 are really excessive without the help of the graphic eq!

Maybe some music genres where a low to mid gain tone is adequate can get along without the graphic eq… but that’s not what the Mark lead channel is supposed to play! 😜

Giulio
 
shredgd said:
you really need that mid cut with the 750hz slider… probably you’re right that in a live situation you might want to be more cautious and not cut too deep,
Click to expand...
Yea I find 750hz is really sensitive and there's this point like 2/3 down where it really can drop out.
 
Also sitting down in level with the amp sounds diffrent than standing up. I hear the exact sound sitting level to the amp not standing up. If someone could explain why and how i could fix that please let me know. Im sure micing the amp would fix that but thats not possible at home right now.
Click to expand...
I don't know how tall you are, but that could make a difference. Also, the cone (prism? space) that the sound projects out in grows as you get further from the amp. It's possible that your head is getting immersed in audio greatness when you're parked in a chair right in front of your 4x12, but you might need to get further back for it to get to the level your head is at when you're standing up.

I've definitely had to do things like put my combos on a stand so that I could hear them better, as I don't have ears in my shins (I checked). I realized that I had a problem when our drummer said that the volume level was killing him - he was further away and it was blasting him out of his seat. Once I started using a stand I was able to turn the amp down and still hear it, and we were good.
 
danielpasco said:
It's here if you're interested. I come back to it from time to time, still resonates with me
Click to expand...
Excellent tips in that vid for the Marks and live application. Too many times I've dialed in excellent sounding settings in studio isolation only to see, well hear them "disappear" in a band mix. Yea it is a balance with the Marks especially that 750Hz slider, which is really sensitive in the V. In fact the combination of Gain, Treb, Pres and the GEQ is a bit of a dance that can change depending on the room or setting also. Then your sound guy says "turn up", well yea the mids come up but so does all of the other freqs and that may not be the best solution for that moment.

I've also found the Badlander sits noticeably differently in the live mix, which I'm digging at the moment.
 

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