How would you configure MkV in this kind of a band?

[Jiveman]

Looking for some advice on how to best use my Mark V channels for the following environment. I will likely be joining a classic rock cover band soon. Covering stuff anywhere from Beatles, Stones, Deep Purple, Zeppelin, Clapton, to bit more high gain like GnR, Scorpions, Whitesnake, Van Halen, etc. No metal, but definitely some rock/hard rock, like the ones noted. The overall focus of the band won't be high gain stuff all the time, but I need to be able to deliver that, too, maybe like 60% of the time. I will play rhythm AND lead (exchanging with the other guitarist), and some cleans, too.

Besides Mark V, I'll be using my Digitech GSP1101, most likely in 4CM configuration. That means I can add digital OD and compression in front of the amp, as needed, and reverb, delay, chorus, etc. in the FX loop, as needed.

My past usage of Mark V has been more metal/prog, so it was pretty much the Petrucci approach (CH1 clean with no breakup, CH2 in Crunch with plenty gain, and CH3 in MK IV also with plenty gain.... all channels at 90W for most headroom and openness).

So, how would you use your Mark V for this purpose? Assuming that you would NOT be changing the CH modes and settings in-between songs (except MAYBE on special/rare occasion).

GO!

 

[screamingdaisy]

Channel 1 Fat, 45w, tube, reverb on
Channel 2 Crunch, 45w, tube, reverb off.
Channel 3 IIC+ or IV, 90w triode, reverb off.

Variac on. Master turned up as loud as they'll let me.

I prefer my clean tone to have a bit of dirt on it, hence the low headroom power settings. On channel 2 I'd pull the gain back to around 10:00 and on channel 3 I'd have it around 1:00.

I'd skip the digital dirt pedal and use the amp's solo feature. It's far more impressive than any OD pedal and you can boost any channel as required.

 

[thalweg]

I basically use SD's setup however I set channel 1 to tweed and tweak a balance between a nice juicy thick clean and a smooth breakup from roughly 5 to 10 on my guitar volume control.

That way when I need just a bit more grit where Channel 2 would be a little too much I can get that from Channel 1.

In fact, I setup all channels so that with the use of my guitar volume control I can get a basic linear Pristine clean to full out roar with the combo use of guitar volume control and channel switching.

 

[Jiveman]

Thanks, both.

Screamingdaisy, I wouldn't use OD to push volume for leads. I'd use SOLO on amp for that, like you said. But I'd use OD if I wanted more saturation (regardless of whether quiet or loud). I don't use OD often, actually, but because I'd be limited with 3 channels and whatever amount of gain they're set to, then I thought OD could come in handy, if needed. Of course, volume knob can help with this too, like thalweg suggested. I do use my guitar volume knob quite a bit, but probably not as much as thalweg. Good advice though.

Regarding Reverb... I prefer to turn off Mark V reverb completely on all channels and rely on GSP1101 for reverb. I can setup multiple patches using the same CH on MKV to have as much reverb as I want or not at all. My logic is to let MKV do the "foundation" of tone, while the GSP would do the layering of effects.

SD, what's your reasoning behind Variac? This is one of the things I haven't experimented with much, yet. I read the manual and I "get" all the theory behind, but I just haven't had experience with it, and I have trouble coming up with a more "practical" understanding of it. Can you give me examples of how/when you'd want to use Variac vs regular?

 

[screamingdaisy]

Just give it a shot. Your fingers and ears will tell you more in a few minutes than I could explain in text.

The big thing is that it lowers the headroom, slows the amp down and rolls off some top end. The end result is a less crisp but juicier feel and a cool harmonic swirl once you get the volume going. Van Halen did the same thing using an external variac to lower the headroom on his Marshalls so that he could reduce their volume and get more overdrive out of them.

The trick is to avoid a/b-ing it against full power mode. When you switch back and forth quickly your brain registers louder as better and your judgement will be biased because your amp is likely EQ'd for full power mode. If you stay in variac mode your ear adjusts and gets used to it and you'll tweak your EQ to make it sound optimal.

I've been playing Mesas for 10 years now and for the longest time I avoided using variac... Last year I dedicated myself to using it for awhile just to see what I could get out of it and now I never use them in full power mode. There is a learning curve to getting your amp dialled in with the voltage sagged but that harmonic swirl makes it totally worth the effort.

 

[Jiveman]

Thanks, that's gives me a very good insight into what to expect. The trouble is, I can't really "test" my tones in my apartment... and I likely won't be bringing the amp to the rehearsal space for a while yet. It's on 4th floor with no elevator :!: and there's apparently some sort of an amp there already... so I'll be relying on my GSP1101 to do most of the work in early rehearsals... After that I'll see.

But I wanted to plan ahead, at least somewhat. And this helps.

 

[toneseeker911]

Good point on the variac mode. I usually A/B it within 5 minutes of playing against full power and always preferred full power. I need to give it more time and eq it better on variac to really get the benefits.

Regarding the OP, I usually have Ch1 in Fat 90W, really clean, Ch2 in Crunch 45W for medium gain rhythm, Ch3 in MKIIc 45W with master set higher for lead sounds. I don't use the solo switch as it changes the tone and I want to avoid the tap dance when switching from Ch2. Besides Crunch and MkIIc are close enough in tone and I can just dedicate Ch3 to a solo sound. I also have a BB preamp in front that helps me get a breakup sound on Ch1 and a higher gain rhythm on Ch2. This setup along with pickup selection has given me a good variety of tones that are easily accessible in a live situation.

 

[Jiveman]

Hmm, I didn't know that SOLO changes the tone. How so? Form the little time that I spent with it, I didn't notice anything blatantly obvious (in the past).

 

[thalweg]

Screaming Daisy...hows does the variac power translate in a live, small club, medium bar venue in your opinion?

 

[screamingdaisy]

Screaming Daisy...hows does the variac power translate in a live, small club, medium bar venue in your opinion?

Good. My guess is that variac + tube rectifier probably drops 45w mode down to around 30w, which is plenty of power to fill a small/medium venue with a good cab. If you play around with it you'll notice that it runs of of volume/headroom fairly early, but if you need more power its just a simple switch up to 90w and you're good to go. 90w won't be quite as greasy... But it'll still have plenty of grease compared to switching to full power.

In the end it boils down to what you're looking for in tone. It took me a long time to adjust to not using a clean power amp. There's a certain power and authority that comes from maximum headroom but reducing the headroom makes the amp sing sweeter.

 

[toneseeker911]

Hmm, I didn't know that SOLO changes the tone. How so? Form the little time that I spent with it, I didn't notice anything blatantly obvious (in the past).

This could be because I run Ch.3 in 45W with the master reasonably high. When I engage the SOLO, I am guessing the power section gets driven harder. Its not a "bad" tone, but it undoes my careful EQ to shape that channel. I've had better results by keeping ch.3 as a dedicated solo channel which is already set to a higher level than the other two, EQ'ing it the way I like and just engaging the channel when its time to rip out a solo.