First time Boogie owner. Mark V 35 Combo

[thomasfxlt]

First new amp in a long time and my first Boogie. When I needed one years ago, I couldn’t afford them. Just received my Mark V 35 Combo yesterday so not much time with it yet. What I do know after a few hours is that it’s got incredible versatility. I knew I was going to buy a 2nd 1x12 cab to sit under it so I’ve been scouring YouTube for sample clips. I was torn between the Thiele and the Rectifier 1x12. I opted on the Rectifier standard 1x12 with the V30 after listening to this Tom Quayle clip a few times. I think this cabinet will add some complexity to the Combo’s C90 tone without much tradeoff so I pulled the trigger and ordered one. I can always use one or the other as needed. Can’t wait to get some more time in.

Quayle Clip where Tom compares the Rectifier 1x12, 2x12 and 4x12 with a Mark 25

https://youtu.be/GzPgK2cH7bs

 

[dalep]

Welcome to the club! Great amp and amazing versatility to me.

 

[thomasfxlt]

Welcome to the club! Great amp and amazing versatility to me.

Thanks! Reworked my pedal board last night and separated the OD’s from the delay/reverb pedals. Now I’m using the effects loop with the latter. Sounds really good. I’ve had to use the headphone option the last few days. I’ve got a busy household right now. I’m not disappointed in the cab clone at all.

I will say that my Wampler Faux Tape Echo may be replaced. It’s just not sounding great. Any suggestions on a delay are welcome. I’ve tried it at the beginning of the loop and after my reverb. It’s better up front but still not as distinct as it should be. Maybe it’s not playing nice with the Flint. I’ll keep tweaking. Has anyone tried the Eventide H9 with theirs?

The clean channel is taking pedals amazingly well. I’ve tried a variety of drive pedals and they all sound awesome. I’ve got a Ryra Klone, Dual Fusion and a Plexitone. The Dual Fusion Vintage mode is giving me the Stevie Ray tones I want for now. The Ryra is really pleasing and the Plexitone is just awesome but channel 2 gets me in that territory. These are all options for that “missing” crunch channel. It will be nice to take advantage of channel 1.

Loving the MkII preamp on channel 2. The settings in the manual are very helpful and lots of the YouTube videos give you a glimpse of the amp’s front panel.

I think the burden is on me to get this amp to sound the way it should. My only regret is that I didn’t bite the bullet and buy a Mark 25 years ago.

 

[dalep]

I have not used the loop on my big V much but did use my V25 loop a far bit this summer, primarily with delay. I run a DD7 or DD6 generally as I like what they do and the feature sets. They worked well for me.

The Cab Clone, to me, though maligned by some folks, has been pretty usable for me. It has been more useful as a silent recording and practice tool than as a combined live sound in place of micing a cab. For me the eq that works great for my cabs live and what then comes from the CC are different enough that it is not a personal preference. I am no Clapton but I am good with it. I have not really tried it with the big V though.

I did a little clip of silent recording direct to a video setup. I don't know if it helps or not. I am not sure about how to display a YouTube here and I am on a phone not able to look it up. Here is my best off the cuff paste.

https://youtu.be/DhfxMzPWHsQ
https://youtu.be/DhfxMzPWHsQ

 

[thomasfxlt]

I have not used the loop on my big V much but did use my V25 loop a far bit this summer, primarily with delay. I run a DD7 or DD6 generally as I like what they do and the feature sets. They worked well for me.

The Cab Clone, to me, though maligned by some folks, has been pretty usable for me. It has been more useful as a silent recording and practice tool than as a combined live sound in place of micing a cab. For me the eq that works great for my cabs live and what then comes from the CC are different enough that it is not a personal preference. I am no Clapton but I am good with it. I have not really tried it with the big V though.

I did a little clip of silent recording direct to a video setup. I don't know if it helps or not. I am not sure about how to display a YouTube here and I am on a phone not able to look it up. Here is my best off the cuff paste.

https://youtu.be/DhfxMzPWHsQ
https://youtu.be/DhfxMzPWHsQ

Thanks for that! Nice to hear real samples of things. I’m turning 60 in March and I’m putting my birthday band together. Super excited. Pedal board is basically done but need to tweak that delay.

 

[dalep]

Happy birthday early. I am 57 so I guess things come to those who wait!

 

[thomasfxlt]

My Combo stack...

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0dG4VTwGGYqdwj;9FADDDCB-751A-4162-86B0-6E6267BC7C87

 

[mace]

My Combo stack...

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0dG4VTwGGYqdwj;9FADDDCB-751A-4162-86B0-6E6267BC7C87

Nice set up!

Question (sorry for the off topic-ness): Which VIP Jr. is that? 25k? 250k? And where do you put it in the chain? I am looking for new volume pedal for use first in the line for swells (directly after guitar, so it controls the entire signal) and, of course, things aren’t as simple as they seem when buying something simple like a volume pedal. haha

 

[thomasfxlt]

My Combo stack...

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0dG4VTwGGYqdwj;9FADDDCB-751A-4162-86B0-6E6267BC7C87

Nice set up!

Question (sorry for the off topic-ness): Which VIP Jr. is that? 25k? 250k? And where do you put it in the chain? I am looking for new volume pedal for use first in the line for swells (directly after guitar, so it controls the entire signal) and, of course, things aren’t as simple as they seem when buying something simple like a volume pedal. haha

Thanks! The EB JR is the PO6180 passive version (250k). It’s the first time I’ve used a volume pedal so still experimenting. I’ll try it at the end of the pedal chain and before the amp to see how it behaves. Seems based on threads elsewhere it should be fine.

 

[thomasfxlt]

Finally some quality time in with the MV:35 with volume up and both speakers connected. As noted in the manual, as you increase gain, you have to pull the bass back to keep it tight. The V curve on the EQ sounds right to my ears with the 6600hz slider at or pulled just below the level of the 2200hz control (just north of neutral). I really like the FAT section of channel 1. I boost gain just to the point of break up and can roll the volume back on the guitar a touch for clean. On this channel, I’ll use pedals for a variety of OD tones (and that’s working really well with a Ryra Klone, Dual Fusion Vintage settings and a CM Plexitone for classic Marshall if I want). Channel 2 I’m using the MKII c+. I love that channel with this speaker combination. I’m getting that punch out of the C90 with a nice layer of classic Marshall cabinet out of the Recitifier 1x12 with the v30. The combo and cabinet are really nice together. You just have to control the bass. With the gain up on either channel north of 10, you just roll that bass back below 10 (I like 9). The Combo’s reverb sounds fine but I’ll likely use a pedal to change things up dynamically. I ordered and Eventide H9 to replace my delay (and to add a crazy amount of other stuff). I guess we’ll see how that goes. Crazy versatility if you can get your head around it for live use.

No question this is the most versatile amp I’ve ever owned. If you could buy a configurable pedal that would give you unlimited access to the channels preamps, I don’t know if there’d be anything better on the market. As is, it’s fine. You just have to use Channel 1 and augment with your pedal board for crunch and other OD tones. Not much downside from what I’m experiencing.

Big thumbs up to the 1x12 Rectifier cabinet as an independent speaker or speaker in combination with the combo. It might not be what the modern hi-gain guys want. I can’t really judge that because I don’t chase it.

 

[thomasfxlt]

So, this is a little crazy but wth. I’m totally rebuilding my pedal board. I just ordered a MusicomLab MK V. I’ve got an Eventide Max and decided to buy a core for dedicated reverb. RJM makes a cable for the Mesa Mark V:35 that will work with the EFX MK v to handle channel switching plus the other functions of the dedicated Mesa pedal. So, the board will be the EFX, 2 H9’s (handling all reverb, delay, chorus, flange plus other stuff) a few OD pedals plus a volume and expression pedal. The EFX can be programmed to turn pedals on/off. Send midi signals to the H9’s, select channels on the Mesa plus turn the EQ on/off and use the solo options. You can store a crazy amount of presets and then make set lists and songs.

I’ll have total midi control of the H9’s, customizable selection of pedals and pedal order plus all the function of the Mesa Mark V 35 foot switch.

It’s going to be a great rig. Luv the MK V combo and the Recit 1x12.

 

[thomasfxlt]

Really enjoying MKV 35. I’ve got everything now to redo my board except the cable that will function-switch the Boogie channels, eq and solo sel.

I’ve tried a number of my guitars through the amp, just trying to see which pairing has the magic. My old Les Paul with some compression into the MkII c+ channel is to die for. I’ve got a few G&L Tele’s that sound great too. I’ve got an older Strat that’s coming out of the case next. I love that I can switch this amp down to 10W and get some awesome saturated tones at pretty low volume. So versatile.

Thanks for indulging my experience here. If anyone’s interested, I’ll share pics of the board and switcher as I work through getting it setup. The midi stuff is a little daunting but I’ll figure it out.

 

[thomasfxlt]

Updated 2/25/2018....work in process. All new cabling installed. Wire management to do yet.

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0dG4VTwGGYqdwj

 

[thomasfxlt]

Love the new cables for the switcher. Final phase is getting the cable that runs from the EFX to the Boogie working to replace the footswitch. Shouldn’t be a big deal then on to cable management underneath.

Replaced V1 in the Mark V:35 with a SPAX7 today. The 12AX7 was getting noisy and definitely going bad. The new tube is very quiet on the clean channel.

Learning a lot about Midi control. Took me a few weeks but I get it now. I’ve got the EFX controlling 2 H9’s simultaneously plus an expression pedal that can run either H9 from the EFX.

I was experiment stacking drives tonite and using the switcher to change the loop order. I found a great tone setting the Dual Fusion up 2 into 1, smooth with both channels engaged. Then I moved the Ryra Klone before it in the loop. Sounded really great with some delay. For that preset, I programmed the expression pedal to control mix between the effects loop and the amp loop on the H9. Feathers the delay in.

Overall I’m very impressed with how the Mark V:35 takes pedals.

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0dG4VTwGGYqdwj

 

[jmusolino]

I use the 35 head with one or two Mesa 1x12 ported closed back cabs. Or with my 50-year old Marshall cab with those old 25-watt greenbacks. Using Eventide pedals in the loop, either a combination of Pitchfactor, ModFactor and TimeFactor or a couple of H9 Max pedals. Incredibly versatile amp that makes me want to just play. I've been lucky enough to use nothing but Boogies since the mid-1970s, so...Welcome to the club!!

 

[thomasfxlt]

I use the 35 head with one or two Mesa 1x12 ported closed back cabs. Or with my 50-year old Marshall cab with those old 25-watt greenbacks. Using Eventide pedals in the loop, either a combination of Pitchfactor, ModFactor and TimeFactor or a couple of H9 Max pedals. Incredibly versatile amp that makes me want to just play. I've been lucky enough to use nothing but Boogies since the mid-1970s, so...Welcome to the club!!

Glad to be here! 2 things I really like about the Boogie; first is the clean tone. Sounds just awesome with a Tele or Strat. Add a little compression and it’s that much better. 2nd is the basic rhythm grind you get out the MKIIC+.

Hopefully what I’ve got on my board can be used to build off those 2 basics to pretty much handle anything. Something I started experimenting with last night was trying to get a smooth, sustaining lead tone with a low attack and a little dark. Had some success at bedroom volume but need to open it up to really hear how it works.

I love the H9’s. Plan is to use the Core for verbs and the other for everything else. I was really surprised to hear how good a few of the drives are in CrushStation. With the Musiccom I can move those to the amp input side and out of the effects loop. Makes a huge difference and some of the OD’s are impressive with the Boogie. Lot’s to learn about the H9’s but almost infinitely tweekable.

I’ve got an early 80’s Marshal 4x12 cabinet I’ll have to try. Not sure what speakers are in that. I’ve got an openback Dr Z cab 2x12 with a Blue and Gold alnico combo too. Anything sounds good through it.

Thank for commenting!

 

[doublescale1]

I put a Neo Creamback in my MV:35 combo, and it sounds like I never replaced the stock speaker, but the combo is lighter. For outdoor gigs I also use my 27" wide Mesa 1X12 open back cab - a nice complimentary pairing. Welcome to the MV club.

 

[jnoel64]

I've read some conflicting viewpoints on that particular speaker, yet the online samples I've heard really peak my interest. The weight of the Neo speakers adds to my GAS. Eminence now has a Legend EM12N as well. Nice to hear another viewpoint on the Neo Creamback