I ordered a Mark V!!!

[MBJunkie]

Excellent choice jjboogie! I am sure that you will find many great tones with your MkV.

Barry......would you happen to be Barry Shirley?? If so, this is Keith. We exchanged several emails a few years back about the RK.

 

[jjboogie]

That would be Trent . Got mine back in January , you are going to dig it .

Actually Barry my guy there is Tim Mckee! I am so much looking forward to it!

 

[Barry]

Tim is the artist relations guy , he's a friend of mine as well . Trent is the rep for the South . Hope you enjoy your Mark !

 

[Barry]

Excellent choice jjboogie! I am sure that you will find many great tones with your MkV.

Barry......would you happen to be Barry Shirley?? If so, this is Keith. We exchanged several emails a few years back about the RK.

Tis me ! How are you ?

 

[jjboogie]

Tim is the artist relations guy , he's a friend of mine as well . Trent is the rep for the South . Hope you enjoy your Mark !

You know what now that I think about it I believe I went thru Trent first......a friend of mine who worked at Guitar Center gave me Trent's card then I contacted Trent and he put me in touch with Tim. It's been a few years and my memory isn't as accurate as it used to be! ; )

 

[MBJunkie]

Hey Barry, good to see you on this forum. I have been doing great, and really enjoying my MkV since I bought it about 9 months ago!!

 

[Barry]

Got mine in January . Still have the Stiletto and LS .

 

[MBJunkie]

Barry,

I am down to 3 mesas as well. MkV, ED and MkIV. Gone are the RK, LS, LSS and Express 5:50. All of my mesas have been great in their own right....I just prefer the Mk series. The ED is also a nice sounding amp, but most of my playing is through my V and I couldn't be happier. The only reason I have kept my MkIV is because I have enjoyed it for many years, is cool in its own right, and I didn't have to sell it to by new gear! The V can cover the IV very closely and a whole lot more. The ED offers more of a brit sound even with the stock 6L6's, but doesn't have the flexibility that I love out of the V or even the IV for that matter.

I don't miss my LS or LSS at all because I feel the V can achieve as great of a clean sound in "Fat" mode, but also offers the "Tweed" mode which I love and of course 2 other channels.

I have never owned a Stilleto, but am sure it is excellent....especially for high gain crunch sounds.

Mesa makes great amps....it boils down to personal preferences IMO.

 

[Barry]

I love my mark V but I havent been able to make it achieve the crunch of the Deuce or the clean of my LS , I find it to be a fairly bright amp . Channel 3 is amazing though .

 

[golfnguitarz]

I love my mark V but I havent been able to make it achieve the crunch of the Deuce or the clean of my LS , I find it to be a fairly bright amp . Channel 3 is amazing though .

I have had the same kind of reaction. I have been switching tubes, both preamp and power tubes to try and find a solution and reading every post that I can find. Part of the problem I have imposed myself in that I want Crunch to sound like a Marshall - it isn't - I need to get over that, but still I keep trying. So, I have come to a couple of conclusions, YMMV.
- Preamp tube changes made small differences, they were subtle changes to my ears.
- Power tube change to EL34 tames that brightness, channel 2 blossoms with these where the midrange is more prominent. Channel 1 takes a small step backwards from that sparkling Fender sound. Channel 3 changes to me. Some like it, some don't. It did approach high-gain Marshall territory to my ears. Not saying its bad, just different - still on the fence on this one. So the 6L6's went back in for the time being.
- IMO the V30s (which it looks like you're using) are absolutely great for channel 3 though they still have kind of a high harsh end. To me, I would describe them as scooped in that they emphasize the high end and low end - again a great formula for channel 3.
- IMO the V30s aren't so great for channels 1 and 2 for the same reason they are great for channel 3. Channel 1 can get real boomy on the low end and I felt like they don't do as well in channel 2 because you want that midrange crunch. This became more apparent when I switched some Scumback M75 into the recto cab. Channel 1 and 2 really changed. I didn't feel like I was having to "tame" anything on the high end or low end. In channel 2, I feel like it got really close to that midrangy crunch that I wanted. However, there wasn't nearly as much chunk and balls in channel 3 to me (****). So, I am trading out one of the M75 for an H75 in my 2x12 and we'll see what happens when that gets here.

Part of the allure of this amp is that it covers so much territory and you find yourself wanting it to be exactly like something and you end up chasing it down the rabbit hole instead of accepting what it gives you. End of rant #321456.

 

[Barry]

Very well said . I was nieve thinking the V could cover everything the Deuce and LS can do . In all fairness thats asking alot . My problem is at gigs , I use a humbucker guitar, a strat and a tele . When I was using my Deuce and LS via a head switcher the Deuce crunch channel worked well for any of the guitars mentioned but I dont find that to be true in channel 2 of the Mark V . Didnt care at all for the crunch sounds with the single coils . Im happy with the humbuckers sounds . Long story short the Deuce seems to be much forgiving in that territory . Personally I find the LS to be one of the best amps that Mesa makes . Im not getting rid of my V . Ive got to spend more time with it , it too is an amazing amp .

 

[golfnguitarz]

Yeah, channel 1 is beautiful with single coils, channel 2...still working to like it as much, but have found usable stuff, just have to turn the gain down...I don't even try single coils with channel 3.

If I were to have a wish come true and didn't have to deal with reality, I would want channel 2 dedicated to EL34s and channels 1 and 3 to 6L6's.

 

[Barry]

Im amazed when I see some of the settings that people show on the forum . They have so much treble dialed up . I cant figure out how they do it . Not judging anyone it just baffles me .

 

[golfnguitarz]

Im amazed when I see some of the settings that people show on the forum . They have so much treble dialed up . I cant figure out how they do it . Not judging anyone it just baffles me .

Again, right there with ya. In fact, I think I have said the same thing. IMHO, I think I have figured out where some of that comes from.
<Begin rant #234509>
- if you have the cab sitting on the floor and the speakers are effectively aimed at your ankles or knees or even standing off to the side, you just aren't going to hear as much treble as your would with an angled cab or a slant or whatever where the speaker is aimed at your ear.
- Alot of times people don't mention the guitar or pickups they are using for the settings.
- Speakers. Since I have been messing around with a few speaker changes, I am amazed at the amount of difference they really do make.

I used to be a "turn it on and play" kind of guy, but this amp has forced me to learn alot about all of the different things that go into the equation. The amp settings are just part of it.
</End of rant>
Seriously love the amp, though.

 

[Barry]

Very good point , I have my 1X12 cab on on the road box for the MV head so Im hearing the highs . All three treble controls are at 12:00 or less . My 2X12 recto horizontal certainly helps with that issue as those recto boxes accentuate the low end . Now for instruments . I have 3 Gibsons , one has 57 classics the other two burtsbuckers . I find the burstbuckers very high endy and end up running the tone knob on about 5 for the bridge pups . the 57s match up fairly well . My 2 Prs guitars do pretty well without much tweaking at all . Im not wild about my single guitars with the Mark V but with the LS they really shine . Since Im a gigging player I have to make some final decisions before gig time . Im going to use my Deuce & LS (via a headswitcher) this weekend . Its really an amazing rig that covers a huge territory . I got the mark V thinking I could simplfy things but so far I just cant make it do all the things that the Stiletto and LS does . Having said that I think we all agree that channel 3 on the Mark V takes back seat to no amp . Its off the chains .

 

[mejoshee]

Im amazed when I see some of the settings that people show on the forum . They have so much treble dialed up . I cant figure out how they do it . Not judging anyone it just baffles me .

Again, right there with ya. In fact, I think I have said the same thing. IMHO, I think I have figured out where some of that comes from.
<Begin rant #234509>
- if you have the cab sitting on the floor and the speakers are effectively aimed at your ankles or knees or even standing off to the side, you just aren't going to hear as much treble as your would with an angled cab or a slant or whatever where the speaker is aimed at your ear.
- Alot of times people don't mention the guitar or pickups they are using for the settings.
- Speakers. Since I have been messing around with a few speaker changes, I am amazed at the amount of difference they really do make.

I used to be a "turn it on and play" kind of guy, but this amp has forced me to learn alot about all of the different things that go into the equation. The amp settings are just part of it.
</End of rant>
Seriously love the amp, though.

+1 on rant haha

 

[MBJunkie]

Interesting about some of you not digging the V with single coils. I primarily play a Suhr Pro Series S3 guitar with HSS pickup configuration. 90% of the time I play in the pickup position between the mid single coil and bridge HB, and I obtain incredible cleans out of channel 1, excellent crunch sounds out of channel 2 (crunch mode being my favorite of Ch2) and excellent lead sounds in all modes of channel 3.

The cleans that I obtain out of my MkV in channel 1 are equally good as the LSC and LSS cleans I was able to achieve....which is excellent! In fact, I so much love my clean sound out of my V that I have still not even bothered to put in some EL34's because I am certain channel 1 will take somewhat of a hit. However, I am sure the crunch and lead sounds would sound more "marshally".

I also switch to between neck and mid single coil positions for excellent clean sounds as well (this position is not so good for crunch and lead sounds), and will also use the HB bridge pickup for alternate excellent crunch and lead sounds. I also own an American Strat Deluxe HSS with very similar results.

I am playing a stock MkV combo (Mesa preamp and Mesa 6L6 power amp tubes) and feel the stock cab / speaker combination works well for my applications. I am sure that cab / speaker choices with the head could make drastic sonic changes and some combinations may not be all that pleasing.

 

[Barry]

Glad you are getting that out of yours . I havent gotten to the point yet where I can introduce to my parents though ! :lol:

 

[golfnguitarz]

Interesting about some of you not digging the V with single coils. I primarily play a Suhr Pro Series S3 guitar with HSS pickup configuration. 90% of the time I play in the pickup position between the mid single coil and bridge HB, and I obtain incredible cleans out of channel 1, excellent crunch sounds out of channel 2 (crunch mode being my favorite of Ch2) and excellent lead sounds in all modes of channel 3.

The cleans that I obtain out of my MkV in channel 1 are equally good as the LSC and LSS cleans I was able to achieve....which is excellent! In fact, I so much love my clean sound out of my V that I have still not even bothered to put in some EL34's because I am certain channel 1 will take somewhat of a hit. However, I am sure the crunch and lead sounds would sound more "marshally".

I also switch to between neck and mid single coil positions for excellent clean sounds as well (this position is not so good for crunch and lead sounds), and will also use the HB bridge pickup for alternate excellent crunch and lead sounds. I also own an American Strat Deluxe HSS with very similar results.

I am playing a stock MkV combo (Mesa preamp and Mesa 6L6 power amp tubes) and feel the stock cab / speaker combination works well for my applications. I am sure that cab / speaker choices with the head could make drastic sonic changes and some combinations may not be all that pleasing.

If you are referring to me - I didn't mean to give that impression. I love singles on channel 1. Channel 2, I just haven't spent enough time with it and singles. Channel 3, I have just had too much fun with humbuckers.

 

[MBJunkie]

Too funny Barry!

I understand, especially if you are trying to achieve a Stilleto sound out of Channel 2 of the MkV with 6L6 tubes. I do think that is asking a lot based on sound samples I have heard playing through a Stilleto (Andy Timmons). However, I do feel that Lonestaresque cleans are definitely on the MkV pallette while using single coils or the 4th position of my HSS guitars as mentioned previously. I do not play channel 1 using my bridge HB position as it doesn't sound as good to me.

golfnguitarz, I realize that I posted without remembering what you had said. Sure enough, you dug channel 1 with single coils in your original post!

If you happen to have an HSS strat style guitar or HB guitars with coil taps to achieve single coils sounds, I do recommend that you experiment with these PU selections for channel 2 because some excellent sounds live there! Also, I completely understand you having fun with the HB pickups using channel 2 and 3. I do too, but I also like position 4 of high gain sounds out of channel 2 and 3.

I just finished band practice tonight and had my V in 10W mode in all channels. I was in heaven with my tone, and received many compliments from my band mates. Normally, they don't talk about my tone very much, but tonight.....they even noticed!!!

Best of luck to both of you in your tone quest and Rock On!