Bought a Mark VII!

danielpasco said:

Hi - this is dlpasco. I lost access to my old email address and apparently needed to create a new account.

I still have the VII, and it's great. I ran into one issue while playing live, but it was extremely situational. I'm used to playing with amps with a volume control that governs the entire amp, not just the volume on an individual channel. Our drummer got really loud during rehearsals and I ended up dialing in all of the channels high so that I could hear over him, and when we finally got to the venue, he suddenly got much lighter on the sticks and I needed to redial all three channels, on stage, to try and come up with something more suitable to the space we were in.

In the future, I could keep a volume pedal in the fx loop to dial things in quickly. Otherwise, I'd look to something like my V:90 so that I could hit a level that would keep all of the channels consistent with the new volume needs.

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Welcome back

Elliot Twist said:

This is why I'm so glad I got my Mark Five not long ago right about the same time they came out with the Mark VII.
I glad everyone likes the missing Master Volume. I wouldn't like not have a Master Volume. for playing live.
The other Guitarist in our band used an EVH 5150III with no Master Volume and turning the amp up or down a little required balancing the 3 channels all over again.
For sure that's not happening during a show.
So over the course of several songs your battling with your guitar amp.

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Yea for sure, no time to mess around with that during a show. Always relied on having a vol pedal in the loop even though the primary gigging amp currently is a V:90. Other Mesas I gigged with have Master Vols so vol pedal usage scenario was the same. But picked up a Badlander, haven't gigged it yet but while it's two chans I do find there's an added level of vol balancing. With 3 chans that'd be worse for sure.

Yeah, I do miss that master volume when playing live or even at practice. But, I know an Ernie Ball volume pedal in the LOOP works just fine for controlling the VII volume.

rarebitusa said:

Yea for sure, no time to mess around with that during a show. Always relied on having a vol pedal in the loop even though the primary gigging amp currently is a V:90. Other Mesas I gigged with have Master Vols so vol pedal usage scenario was the same. But picked up a Badlander, haven't gigged it yet but while it's two chans I do find there's an added level of vol balancing. With 3 chans that'd be worse for sure.

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It's been longer than I can remember since I've bee using a Line 6 POD HD500 or a DigiTech RP360Xp in the FX Loop of ALL my amps. I'm one of those awful Marshall guys and I've never run anything in front of my amps.
Not even to "tighten" up the sound. LoL I run EL34 tubes and the Variac mode on my Mark Five.
I don't want it tightened up.
I always set the master volume on the processor units to unity gain, but just in case, that master volume is a quick fix for live shows.
Especially on an amp with no master volume.
When I got my EVH 5150III I got the 1X12 combo, and it has an incredible reverb as well as a power level knob that serves as a master volume.
For many years I ran a Marshall DSL100H, and there's no master volume there.
But I'd long already been running a Line 6 POD HD500 in the FX Loop, so I had that for a quick master volume.
I read on here and other places that the amp might sound better without a master volume and that it's not necessary.
I run a Marshall DSL100HR with two master volume and some folks say they hate 'em and to pretend they're not there and to put 'em on 10.

mace said:

Yeah, I do miss that master volume when playing live or even at practice. But, I know an Ernie Ball volume pedal in the LOOP works just fine for controlling the VII volume.

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Good to know.

It has been a year since I purchased this amp and I could not be happier. The graphic EQ really helps to get the sound you want. For clean, deep jazz, and country, it is fantastic. The over drive offers good crunch, and the Mrk III C IV, and VII distortion sounds great. All have a different sound, and they all sound great. Highly recommend this amp. With one 12 inch over two 12's, it has a more open top end and low end is not as full or big. But I found this preferable many times. When I want a fuller sound, I go to my Fender Twin with my Mesa Boogie pedals. The DI output in the back offers different sounds which are decent, but like most digital pedal boards, its a little flatter sounding. They sound ok when combined with using the mic on the amp as well.