Here are some things I've noticed about this amp after having it one week. First from one guitar player to another, this amp feels like a living breathing thing. It is pure joy to crank it up and be surrounded with such great tone. It makes you want to sit there and just stare at it in aw. Most of the time I get just as much joy out of simply being in the same room as it even when its not on. Ok, now onto the actual sounds.
I have another post up about using an OD with this amp here at http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=45662 It seems that the community is split almost dead even on whether or not to use a boost with this amp. I can tell you that I have used an OD in front of all my (mesas) amps for years and liked it very much but I've never owned a Mark series amplifier before. The OD does not compliment this amp and IMO takes away from the note clarity and rawness of tone the Mark V produces by itself. I've spent the whole week playing it with no OD just a noise gate and have produced a tone that is the best I've ever heard. I tried my OD again this morning with the amp and noticed that it stings the harmonics to sharply (with or with out EQ'in the pedal) and robs the sweetness and smoothness of the tone. Both the attack and natural sound of the strings are lessened when boosting.
10w mode on each channel sounds incredible at bedroom volume and gives you a distinct natural tube saturation with out the OD. I also used to run different EQs for live playing and home playing but not anymore with this amp. Switching the wattage solves that and takes away one more step when moving to band practice or shows from home. A killer feature. I've been using the Fat mode on Ch. 1 and think that it sounds the best when paired with reverb. The Tweed mode sounds good to and is much louder than the other two modes on Ch. 1 but the reverb is almost non existent when in this mode so it will be fat or clean for sure with the band. I haven't played around with Ch. 2 yet much but its almost like a gift to have it there when I'm already content with the other two channels. Also, I love having the tuner out on the back of the head. This was one of those "its not that big of a deal features" when I was using my dual but the more shows I played were I was having to comprise my set up to get around this was wearing thin on me.
I'm out this afternoon to play with my band with this amp for the first time. My other guitarist uses a dual so its going to be an interesting wall of sound for sure. Now back to enjoying my new amp!
I have another post up about using an OD with this amp here at http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=45662 It seems that the community is split almost dead even on whether or not to use a boost with this amp. I can tell you that I have used an OD in front of all my (mesas) amps for years and liked it very much but I've never owned a Mark series amplifier before. The OD does not compliment this amp and IMO takes away from the note clarity and rawness of tone the Mark V produces by itself. I've spent the whole week playing it with no OD just a noise gate and have produced a tone that is the best I've ever heard. I tried my OD again this morning with the amp and noticed that it stings the harmonics to sharply (with or with out EQ'in the pedal) and robs the sweetness and smoothness of the tone. Both the attack and natural sound of the strings are lessened when boosting.
10w mode on each channel sounds incredible at bedroom volume and gives you a distinct natural tube saturation with out the OD. I also used to run different EQs for live playing and home playing but not anymore with this amp. Switching the wattage solves that and takes away one more step when moving to band practice or shows from home. A killer feature. I've been using the Fat mode on Ch. 1 and think that it sounds the best when paired with reverb. The Tweed mode sounds good to and is much louder than the other two modes on Ch. 1 but the reverb is almost non existent when in this mode so it will be fat or clean for sure with the band. I haven't played around with Ch. 2 yet much but its almost like a gift to have it there when I'm already content with the other two channels. Also, I love having the tuner out on the back of the head. This was one of those "its not that big of a deal features" when I was using my dual but the more shows I played were I was having to comprise my set up to get around this was wearing thin on me.
I'm out this afternoon to play with my band with this amp for the first time. My other guitarist uses a dual so its going to be an interesting wall of sound for sure. Now back to enjoying my new amp!
