Finally happy with my V

[AndyLewis]

I’ve had my Mark V 90W combo for almost a year and while I’ve always been happy with it at bedroom volumes, I did a gig a couple of months ago and hated the sound at high volume. It sounded thin, harsh and honky. I actually put it up for sale.

In the meantime though I did a lot of research on this site, made some tweaks and last night I had a rehearsal with a band again, and am very pleased to say I’m finally happy with it! It mainly boiled down to 2 things-

1- swap all preamp tubes to Russian ones, apart from Jan Philips 12AT7 in V4
2- combo on the floor, no castors, against the wall.

The results were amazing! It now sounds exactly how I’d hoped when I first got it. Here are the rest of the settings etc-

Power tubes stock Mesa 6L6
90 watts full power (10 watts variac also sounded great, but 90 cuts through better with 2 guitars)
Channel 2 crunch, graphic off
Gain maxed
Treble 3 o clock
Mids 2 o clock
Bass pretty much off
Channel vol 10:30
Presence 11 o clock
Master volume 10 o clock

We were playing Wildhearts songs (admittedly a lot of you won’t have heard of them) but it sounded just right, thick and meaty, but with plenty of cut.

Despite those settings it wasn’t bright at all- I’m playing with my old band tomorrow which is classic punk covers so I’ll probably engage the GEQ and crank the high mids.

I’m glad I took the time to tweak, and spend many hours reading the posts on this board. Many thanks to everyone whose advice I followed! It’s a keeper now, and officially off sale!

 

[Wayno]

Great to hear. It is a great amp, not for everyone, but a great amp still. AT7 and direct to the floor are the two key factors with this amp. Enjoy it mate. The wildhearts are an awesome band!

 

[AndyLewis]

Cheers man, and good to hear from another Wildhearts fan!

 

[Wayno]

8)

 

[Markageddon]

I swear on some days that I can actually hear the beginning of Also Spoke Zarathrusta playing when the amp is set like that an the 1st chord of the day is played..

 

[Wayno]

Quality

 

[BMW-KTM]

Glad you're happy with your rig again.
I have deal with others having that problem all the time.
I have friends who don't understand the importance of volume (SPL) in tone shaping.
They're so proud of their gear at home until it's time to go to a jam or a rehearsal and then they hate the sound of their rig.
I try to tell them to adjust their setup for gig volume and then live with the compromise at lower levels at home but nobody wants to listen to that nonsense.
LOL

Happy gigging!

 

[_AJ_]

hated the sound at high volume. It sounded thin, harsh and honky.

I fought that problem for a year, the "ice pick" sound that many have noted, before I realized what the problem is. It's the C90 speaker. I have the head and a 1x12 cabinet, and had the chance to plug into a 2x12 with V30s. Problem solved. I tried an EVH 4x12 that also solved the problems. It's a completely different amp with different cabinets, and frankly, I think they're doing a misdeed by putting the C90 in the combo instead of 2x12 V30s. I think it's a decision based on price and weight, and the tradition of Boogie starting with small Fenders. But that speaker sounds like garbage in my opinion.

 

[Markageddon]

If that was cured by the speaker it wasn't the same problem others were experiencing.
It was a thing on the varieties of speakers in the combined collection of the various posters in the thread. many types of 1x12, 2x12, 4x12 and different combinations of all/any.

 

[Giz-Tone]

I had the same problem, until I turned the mids all the way up on the channel, and dialed it back with the graphic eq. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but as a metal player, it works for me.

 

[Markageddon]

Adds chunk and warmth to the chuggage for sure.

 

[_AJ_]

If that was cured by the speaker it wasn't the same problem others were experiencing.
It was a thing on the varieties of speakers in the combined collection of the various posters in the thread. many types of 1x12, 2x12, 4x12 and different combinations of all/any.

I had the same problem, until I turned the mids all the way up on the channel, and dialed it back with the graphic eq. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but as a metal player, it works for me.

The speaker(s) are definitely part of the solution, and also settings. My primary guitar is a Les Paul, and I also find that cranking the channel mids is the way to go for a lot of sounds, especially higher gain, while running treble and presence low. Then you can scoop the EQ on the back end and it all works out. It doesn’t just sound better, it feels better, and more like typical amps people are used to. The really scratchy, harsh, “pointy” stuff mainly comes from the channel treble control. “Boxiness” is reduced by scooping the mids with the post-EQ.

When it comes to preamp tubes, I replaced mine with Mesa SPAX7s (didn’t want to void the warranty by using anything else), and it made a significant difference in the tone, but the main effect it had was to improve and tighten the distortion. The kind of fizzy, “angry bees” sound was greatly reduced, and the tone doesn’t disintegrate into a sea of mushy fuzz as quickly. It really tightens things up and gives the sound better definition. I definitely recommend it.

So that’s the combination I found that really perfected it for me. Vintage 30s, pushing the channel mids, and SPAX7. With those things, it’s finally fully what I expected it to be.

 

[Authorized Boogie]

Interesting, as the SPAX7 is exactly the same tube as our 12AX7 - it simply tests for slightly lower background noise and has the wrap to help prevent microphonics.

 

[_AJ_]

Interesting, as the SPAX7 is exactly the same tube as our 12AX7 - it simply tests for slightly lower background noise and has the wrap to help prevent microphonics.

I don't know exactly how to describe the difference, but it was noticeable. I can only call it tightness and clarity, and less fuzzy distortion. It was also after a year of use for the stock tubes, so maybe some of it was just the freshness of new tubes. Maybe the old ones had gotten slightly worn out. The SPs didn't totally remove the microphonic feedback issues of gain above 12:00 on Channel 3 Extreme Mode, but they did change the tone for the better.

Maybe you could tell me something I'm not 100% sure about, even after reading the manual - is it true that on every channel, in every mode, the signal flow goes like this?:

Input -> Bold/Thick/Bright switch -> Channel Treble/Mid/Bass -> Gain -> Presence -> Master -> Graphic/Preset EQ -> Output/FX

 

[danyeo1]

There are days I love my Mark V and days I hate it. I have to admit I never had this love/hate relationship with my Mark IV, only R2 on the IV bugged me.