Anyone try the Mark V with a Power Brake?

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OldTelecasterMan

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I used Power Brake years ago with my DC-5 half stack. It worked very nicely allowing me to crank it up and turn the volume down. Has anyone ever tried a Power Brake on a Mark V?

Also, any other Telecaster players out there?
 
I've been running mine through a Hot Plate for a while and I dig it. Where the channel masters and overall master are set can have big impacts on the overdrive and overall EQ tone of the amp. I mainly hooked it up so I could really hear the difference between 6L's and 34's but I leave it in place now. It only adds greatly to the flexibility of the amp.
 
I occasionally use a Rivera Rockcrusher with mine. The master volume works very well, but using the attenuator and cranking up the master on the amp (or hard bypassing it) gives it a completely different character.

As for the Tele thang, one of my favorite guitars is an American Special with a Nocaster in the bridge, a four-way switch, and Wilkinson compensated saddles. It works great with the Mark V, especially with the gain turned down on channel three.
 
The thing about the amp is I love the sound when it’s up past acceptable club volume. When I had a Power Brake it was actually recommended by the guys at the Mesa store. As in, if you are going to use one use a power brake. At the time in the early 90s I was very new to the getting tone from an amp approach, having just come from the “Dark Side” (all digital rack effects, guitar synth and solid state). So I am thinking about the attenuator again but I don’t want to screw up my amp. I have heard bad things can happen if it’s not a quality piece. I would be very sad if I had to replace my Mark V cause I smoked it. I get emotionally attached to amps and guitars. It looks like they don’t make the Hot Plate anymore does the Rock Crusher color the tone or just let the amp breath? I use the effects loop for a chorus and delay. Then up front I use a Cry Baby and a couple of Teles. A 52 reissue that’s been hot rodded and a three puckup that has an awesome bell tone when running clean. I feel I need to open up the amp more to get my sound more consistent. Use an attenuator to work the volume level. Does that sound correct?
 
OldTelecasterMan said:
The thing about the amp is I love the sound when it’s up past acceptable club volume. When I had a Power Brake it was actually recommended by the guys at the Mesa store. As in, if you are going to use one use a power brake. At the time in the early 90s I was very new to the getting tone from an amp approach, having just come from the “Dark Side” (all digital rack effects, guitar synth and solid state). So I am thinking about the attenuator again but I don’t want to screw up my amp. I have heard bad things can happen if it’s not a quality piece. I would be very sad if I had to replace my Mark V cause I smoked it. I get emotionally attached to amps and guitars. It looks like they don’t make the Hot Plate anymore does the Rock Crusher color the tone or just let the amp breath? I use the effects loop for a chorus and delay. Then up front I use a Cry Baby and a couple of Teles. A 52 reissue that’s been hot rodded and a three puckup that has an awesome bell tone when running clean. I feel I need to open up the amp more to get my sound more consistent. Use an attenuator to work the volume level. Does that sound correct?

Hate to be obvious but if it's what you want/need, then it is correct. There's no rules on how to set an amp (not counting wall voltage and impedance settings of course). You set it where it works for you and if you need an external gadget or two to make it happen, go for it.

Any reputable attenuator will sound great unless you're getting down to low bedroom volumes.
 
OldTelecasterMan said:
The thing about the amp is I love the sound when it’s up past acceptable club volume. When I had a Power Brake it was actually recommended by the guys at the Mesa store. As in, if you are going to use one use a power brake. At the time in the early 90s I was very new to the getting tone from an amp approach, having just come from the “Dark Side” (all digital rack effects, guitar synth and solid state). So I am thinking about the attenuator again but I don’t want to screw up my amp. I have heard bad things can happen if it’s not a quality piece. I would be very sad if I had to replace my Mark V cause I smoked it. I get emotionally attached to amps and guitars. It looks like they don’t make the Hot Plate anymore does the Rock Crusher color the tone or just let the amp breath? I use the effects loop for a chorus and delay. Then up front I use a Cry Baby and a couple of Teles. A 52 reissue that’s been hot rodded and a three puckup that has an awesome bell tone when running clean. I feel I need to open up the amp more to get my sound more consistent. Use an attenuator to work the volume level. Does that sound correct?

Hot Plates are fairly "old technology" these days, as they are purely resistive. I've got one, and it works great up to -8dB, then it starts really altering the sound of the amp. The Rockcrusher is of the latest generation of attenuators, which are resistive and inductive, which means that they react to the input signal in a way that is similar to how a speaker does. I torture-tested mine by hard bypassing the loop and master volume on the V, then brought the individual channel masters up to about 1:00. Uncorked, the amp is painfully loud at that level, but the Rockcrusher was able to suck it all the way down to television level without really screwing with the sound.
 

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