Buying a Mark Five tomorrow, just one question...

[JayFon1]

Hey guys,

So I'm finally getting the Mark Five! After the many years I've owned rectifiers, my Road King, etc., I'm ready to get down and get myself quite possibly the best amp Mesa has in production today.

I played it for over an hour yesterday at a Guitar Center and instantly fell in love. There's only one caveat.... They only have one, and may not have any in the warehouse, so I'm worried about taking the floor model.

I've never bought an amp that wasn't brand new, in an unopened box, so I'm not familiar what damage a floor amp in a GC can encounter. My concern is that people have come into the loud room, turned it on, then plugged in the guitar, possibly with the master high up, causing a huge load on the amp itself, along with any other possible situation an amateur can cause.

Should they not have one in the warehouse, I'll have to wait a 60 day minimum for the next batch to come in. I would go somewhere else, but I have a $3000 store credit at GC, as I bought a guitar, had it shipped to my house, and it got stolen, lost, or who knows what. It never reached my house.

IF you guys could shed some light on this situation, I'd truly appreciate it. From what I was told, the only that can can really be ruined are the tubes.

Thanks guys,

Jay

 

[RocknRory]

Well at Guitar Center sometimes the employee's are stupid and don't check to see if the speaker cable is plugged in to the cab. I'm pretty sure if you turn on the amp and flip standby when there is no speaker load, you can potentially fry the transformer and whatnot. If it plays fine at GC after you play it for a little while you should be fine, besides you are covered under some great warranties. The tubes might have more ware on them but people don't usually crank amps that hard from what I've seen. I'd say its a safe bet if it plays good in person. Use your credit up!

 

[JayFon1]

Thanks Rock,

I can probably bet that no one has played that amp in 90w mode, because I tried, and I would say that at the first, what would be "notch", that F***ing amp DROWNED my road king lol! It may have only been on for a few seconds, but my god, I found that clean, crisp crunch I always wanted. I always found the Rectifiers to be a little too biting, aggressive, and fully saturated for my usual tone.

I'll mostly be playing this in my house, and I was wondering which wattage you guys use at home for Ch.3. From the brief time I spent with the amp, 10w is out of the question for ch.3. 45 is decent, but, its like owning a Ferrari, and never really opening it up or "letting it breath".

On a side note, the store manager in GC said that the Five's are usually 120days out, if not in stock. Are they really producing that many less Five's than say a Dual Rect?

 

[MrMarkIII]

You have to ask yourself:
What would GC rather do, sell you the floor model for $2000, or sell you the one in the unopened box for $2000?
Hmmmmm?

 

[Jim Ed Love]

I don't think the MKVs have been sitting on the floor for too long. Those things go pretty quickly. If you can wait 2-3 months order one. If the one on the floor looks mint and you don't want to wait, buy it now!

 

[Barry]

Order a new one . You will survive the 60 days

 

[SBG200]

Get a new unopened amp. You can guess all you want but you really have no idea who's been doing what through that floor model. Sure you have the warranty, but even so, it's a hassle to have to go and get the thing fixed, whether it's covered or not. If you're going to have the amp for years and years, another month or two won't make a difference in the end. If you insist on taking the floor model, don't pay full price for it--have 'em knock off at least 10-15%.

 

[eudaimonia02912]

I guess I would get it, provided it had only been on the floor for a short amount of time (as it most likely has, since these amps get purchased quickly.)

Yes, GC employees are idiots, and some morons may have done something bad to the amp. However, you get a 5-year-warranty. They aren't likely to do something to it that would case it to break more than 5 years from now. So, think of it this way.

Choice 1: Buy it and have it now. Play it right away. Have some risk of having to have it out of your hands for a few weeks for a repair.
Choice 2: Wait 2 months to get it. Have a lower risk of having to send it for repair.

Choice 1 is likely to maximize your time with the amp.

 

[Rkorn]

I would buy it!!! but with some kind of discount!!! If it's the floor model than it should be cheaper!

 

[JayFon1]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I'm going to wait for a new one. Like many of you said, who knows what happened with it, and who cares about 2months (worst case) when I'll likely keep it forever.

What wattage do you guys run ch3 in your home when playing at a decent level?

 

[phyrexia]

it still has a warranty. if it works fine i wouldnt worry about it.

 

[JayFon1]

This is true, but who wants to deal with the hassle of sending it out, waiting however many weeks it may take to fix, which would probably be the same amount of time I would spend waiting for a new one, if it is 60 days, which is worse case scenario. Not to mention, the cost of shipping it from NYC to California.

 

[JayFon1]

This is true, but who wants to deal with the hassle of sending it out, waiting however many weeks it may take to fix, which would probably be the same amount of time I would spend waiting for a new one, if it is 60 days, which is worse case scenario. Not to mention, the cost of shipping it from NYC to California.

 

[MrMarkIII]

Amps should have odometers. :lol:

 

[boogieman60]

That would be noteometers.... :lol:

 

[SteveO]

I bought a floor model G-System from Guitar Center, it was just the unit-no box, cables, or manual. I played with it for a week, decided I liked it, then took the receipt back to GC and told the assistant manager that I would prefer a brand new one (the floor model had the old software version and was old enough that it did not have the upgraded buffer circuit). He issued me a credit ticket for the new one for when it arrived, and I kept the floor model until the brand new one showed up. Then I just went down and traded in the floor model (plus paying the difference from the discount I was given for the floor model).

 

[litesnsirens]

I would just buy it. In fact I did just that... my amp was the one sitting on the floor, that was a year ago and it's just as good as if it had been in the box. Let's face it no one's been driving the thing around town, it hasn't been in a collision. The only thing that has happened to it is that people have plugged guitars into it and played it. Now if you're the kind of guy that would die if you found out yuour wife wasn't a virgin when you married her then I would say wait, it won't kill you, you're used to waiting already. In general musicians are going to honour a piece of art like the MarkV. My bet would be that the floor model is in just as good condition as the one youre waiting 120 days for.