I played my first Mark V this week

[Barry del Ive]

I have been in a year long search for my 'Cadillac' amp. Although I had never really considered Mesa in the past, my tastes have changed over the years such that they are more appealing. I liked the Triple/Dual Rectifier well enough for the gainier tones but, although decent, I just didn't get anything out of the cleaner ones. I moved on to the TransAtlantic and I really LOVED the cleans and, at lower volumes, liked the gain. When I really drove the amp, though, I liked it less. Wasn't bad, just personal tastes thing. Same with the Rectifier.

I moved over to the Express 5:25/50 Plus and, again, LOVED the cleans but the gains left me feeling a bit flat for what I wanted.

I decided to give a Mark V a try after hearing a WONDERFUL jazz clip on it. I popped it on the Channel 1/Fat setting and there was that nice jazz tone. Tweed allowed me to pull out some Setzer. Channel 2 on the Mark I setting and I was getting a kick out of some old AC/DC and Rush. For higher gain, the money was found in the Mark V settings for me. I eventually ended up leaving it plugged into a Rectifier 4x12.

Anyways, I am going to continue looking for the right amp for me, but the Mark V has SIGNIFICANTLY narrowed the choices at the top to pretty much itself. I am hoping that over the next year, I will have played all the amps I want to try. That number is getting less for sure and I will spend that time revisiting the Mark V to make sure that my enjoyment wasn't a momentary thing. That'd be a lot of money for a whim!

 

[iceman]

If you liked the rectifier high gain tones, but not the cleans. You should try a RoadKing(talk about cadillac)/Roadster those have great cleans and are in the recto family. The new multi-watt reborn rectos have recently had their clean channels revised. Sounds like you are having fun in your search though. As long as you are trying things, give the Royal Atlantic at try, great cleans and the gain is a cross between recto and mark. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles as the mark or roadking though, but the tone is there.

 

[Barry del Ive]

If you liked the rectifier high gain tones, but not the cleans. You should try a RoadKing(talk about cadillac)/Roadster those have great cleans and are in the recto family. The new multi-watt reborn rectos have recently had their clean channels revised. Sounds like you are having fun in your search though. As long as you are trying things, give the Royal Atlantic at try, great cleans and the gain is a cross between recto and mark. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles as the mark or roadking though, but the tone is there.

I did play a roadster... and it was fine on the cleans but I wasn't wow'ed. Understand, I am not saying it is bad. Just wasn't me.

All around, I preferred the gain of the Mark V over the Rectifier as well as the cleans.

I did try the RA100 and I did very much like the gain on it. I plan on spending a bit of time on it soon to work on the cleans.

 

[Adambomb]

Yea the Mark V is a gigging cover band mans amp. You can get not just about any tone, but very professional smooth tube amp tone out of the V. I like mine with EL34s. Takes a bit from the clean, but the difference in Ch 2 & 3 are way better with 34's. Just my opinion. The RA100 is a stellar amp too. Ive played once and loved the cleans and OD sounds. For modern Amercian production amps, Mesa is where it's at. Great warranty too.