How to use Mark V head in apt., without the main cab?

[Jiveman]

I'm wondering what would be the easiest/cheapest way for me to be able to bring my MKV head home after each band practice (at our drummer's house), so that I can practice on it in my apartment without having to bring the 2x12 cab with me each time... :?:

I would most likely need to use headphones in my apartment, so I was thinking I would use the FX loop SEND for that. I have a small mixer that my computer is hooked up to, so I could probably go from the MKV fx send into the mixer, then headphones out from the mixer. That should work, right? i don't think I'd want to use SLAVE OUT, because that wouldn't sound good, I would guess.

However, I don't have another speaker at home to use for putting a load on MKV, so i don't know what to do about that. Would ANY speaker (with a 1/4 inch connector) do, as long as impedance is ok? For example, I used to have one of these: http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-1270-PA-Monitor?sku=601710&ZYXSEM=0&src=3AGGWXX2. It's supposed to be a passive 10-inch speaker, 200W rating, 8ohms. I might be able to get my hands on one again. Would something like that work with MKV? Is the only important thing the impedance, correct? Or does the size of the speaker and/or wattage matter, too?

Obviously, I wouldn't be pushing much volume through it, if anything at all (if using headphones).

I'm mostly wanting to do this in order to get more familiar with my MKV and to start messing with the external effects and midi switching, and it would be nice to be able to do that at home, in between band practices.

 

[Jiveman]

No thoughts about this? I would imagine most people don't do this, but somebody might still have some advice...

 

[Scary]

Get a pod or a rockman. A FIVE through the headphones isn't going to compete with solid state stuff for that application. Save yourself and your amp from constant moves.

 

[SteveO]

I lived in apartment and used my Mark V all the time at low levels there. However, you are talking about running it without a cab...

First off, it NEEDS a speaker load or load box. No way around this. You can run any speaker you want within reason, as long as the impedance matches up (or falls within the "acceptable mismatch" range) and the power handling is not exceeded.

To make a tube amp sound good through headphones requires a cab simulator, so add that to your shopping list...

Honestly, unless you are really wanting to use your head at home, you would be better off just buying a decent modeler and running it through headphones. It will cost less than what you would need for the amp to run the way you describe, and definitely sound better through headphones.

 

[Jiveman]

OK, so forget about the headphones. And I know I need to have a speaker or load box. That's why I'm wondering what would be an "acceptable" quick way to hook it up like this, when needed.

I already have a Boss GT-6 with amp modeling and cabinet emulators, so that's not the issue. What I'm looking for is to be able to take the amp home, once in a while, probably mostly in the first few months of owning the MKV so I can get used to it. I also want to experiment with midi switching and external effects. So I'd like to be able to do these in-between practices, but I don't want to take the 2x12 with me.

SteveO, can you be more specific about power handling? For example, if you look at the link I included at the top, that little Fender speaker is rated at 200W at 8ohms. Sorry for being a noob about this, but this is exactly why I'm asking these questions, so I don't mess anything up.

 

[MrMarkIII]

That Fender 1270 is a P.A. monitor. It has a coaxially mounted tweeter.
It won't sound as good as a guitar speaker because it reproduces what's known as "FRFR", or Full Range Flat Response.
It might sound good with the GT-6 and a small power amp, but a guitar speaker designed to reproduce the more limited frequencies put out by a guitar amp will probably sound better with your Mark V.
If you absolutely must play silently, you could try an amp attenuator, like a Weber Mass or THD Hotplate. These go between the amp and the speaker, and you can dial them all the way down to zero. Most have a line out, so you can run that to the mixer, then the headphones.
I think I dig where you're coming from.
The GT-6 would work for silent practice, but I just got to have the amp in front of me to tweak.
Hope this helps

 

[Talus]

Something like this is exactly what you're looking for

http://www.jlhproducts.com/axetrak/main.asp

 

[Hendog]

I use a Blackstar 1x10 for the exat same purpose in the exact same situation.

I love it.

 

[Moby1]

Not sure about price/ availability in your area but I'd say this is exactly what you are after:

http://www.palmer-germany.com/86-1-pga04.html

Palmer PGA-04, load box and speaker simulator. So no need for cabs/speakers, listen through headphones.

 

[ryjan]

Cowboy up and buy a house. :lol:

 

[MrMarkIII]

Well, the Palmer is cheaper than a house, but just barely.

 

[domct203]

Something like this is exactly what you're looking for

http://www.jlhproducts.com/axetrak/main.asp

That's the ticket right there.

Dom

 

[Jiveman]

Hahaha, yeah, that palmer unit looks sweet, but for that money, I can just buy another 2x12 and keep it at home (or gig with it too, when needed).

And yeah, having a house would solve a lot of issues! Although, I still wouldn't want to take my regular speaker cab back and forth between practice space and home.

Either way... Thanks for all the responses! You've given me a few options to think about. Some are really cool, but way out of my price range for this purposes. I just need a simplest cheapest solution which would basically provide me with SOME way to practice and tweak the amp at home, while keeping the amp running normally (and not decreasing the tube life). I'll figure something out, already.

 

[SteveO]

For what you're trying to do, you might consider finding a 1x12. The Mark V has a good master volume, I am able to play mine while watching TV and still have a decent sound. Of course, now that I'm in a house the TV volume is higher than it was in my apartment! Still, you can turn it down until the neighbors won't even know you have it.

 

[ixoye777]

Was thinking the same thing. You could even just throw together a quick DIY 1x12 box and you would be all set.

 

[Jiveman]

After doing some more research on this board (and elsewhere), I think I decided to do a DIY dummy load, and use FX send into my BOSS GT-6 which has a built-in amp modeler/cab simulator. The output of the BOSS GT-6 would NOT be plugged back into MKV loop return, but would instead go into my computer mixing board, which is already hooked into some decent desk monitors (also has headphones hooked into it). I think that's the best way I can use what I already have and spend minimum cash to get what I need.

I'm using this thread as a reference:
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...y-load-tutorial-save-money-5.html#post8650348

The start of the discussion has some incorrect information, but the schematics on page 5 are good, and there's even a Mark V owner who was inquiring about the same thing. The recommendations on the thread are to build a 16 ohm dummy load because most guitar amps are that way, but since Mark V manual recommends 8 ohm speaker cab, I might as well just build a 8 ohm dummy load. I'm planning on doing a 8 ohm 200 W dummy load. I anticipate around $30 cost for the project (resistors, plastic enclosure box, 1/4 jack).

 

[John335]

I contacted AnalogMan about building me a "Dummy Load". I'm waiting for him to get back to me about the price.