MARK FIVE 25 TONE SETTINGS THREAD

[Dreamtheaterrules]

Cool! And welcome to the board.

 

[homesick345]

Cool! And welcome to the board.

Thanks - I got many ideas about this beautiful little amp

 

[homesick345]

FYI, those settings are VERY nice! But (maybe because it's a Tele forum) I needed a bit more treble or presence. The pic posted was low volume. Turning the master up really opens the amp up and fills out the lows so some more treble or presence was needed when I tried it with my PRS NF3.

This is great though. A little more gain and/or a switch to MIV and it REALLY sings. As mentioned in the linked thread, Santana tones are a few minor tweaks. This IS pretty cool. Thanks for posting it.

Most welcome. I added a sound clip

 

[Dreamtheaterrules]

Couple more days of experimenting from this base. There are some great tones of the D style just a tweak or two from the base settings listed. Some really cool stuff! Switch to Mark IV and add a little gain... add just a bit of treble and/or presence... WOW! Back to Xtreme, and more open/less compressed. Killer, and so far, I've only tried it with a Mini Rec 1x12/v30 over Thiele/C90 stack.

I'm thinking this would kill for these type tones with my Red Fang Alnico.... hmmm, why did that just now occur to me? IT's way too late to try it now. :roll:

 

[Rob9874]

New member here. Just bought a Mark V 25 last night, first time owning a Boogie. Won't gush about how great the amp sounds, as you already know. So excited to spend the weekend getting to know it. Read through this thread and already have my Mesa 12AX7 on order to put in the V2 position. Looking forward to being an active member of this forum.

 

[Dreamtheaterrules]

Welcome to the board. Hope that was a typo and you ordered a 12AT7. It already has a 12AX7 in it, so that would only be a spare.

If you did order an AT7, I strongly urge you to play the amp a LOT before doing the swap. Get to know it inside out. There's an amazing amount of tonal and gain variation in that amp. The AT7 changes only the Crunch mode on C1, and then all three modes on C2. I always say don't change anything until you know it intimately, and Mesa amps are a bit harder to get to know intimately than most. Then, when you try it, you'll know what is changed. And don't just try your favorite settings, swap the tube and think that is an accurate comparison. Some of the sweet spots on the knobs change, and some have a bigger range. Dial around.

 

[Rob9874]

Yes, that was a typo. I had to check my order email from Sweetwater to confirm. Definitely 12AT7.

Thanks for the advice. I'll get to know the amp for a while before swapping. I'm enjoying it so much as is, I'm in no rush to make improvements. Just heard everyone here gush about the swap, I figured it was worth trying.

I'm coming from a Line 6 Bogner Spider Valve 112. Could never dial in anything close to the tone I had in my head. I tried the Amplitube suite on my laptop. That sounded better, but still not what I wanted, plus it's a hassle to have to get the laptop out in addition to my amp when I wanted to play (got the iPad version too). More recently, I got the Line 6 Amplifi FX100 pedal board, thinking I could have more control over the effects than the ones on board on my amp. Nope, sucked too. Then my buddy told me to check out the Mark V 25. Kinda pricey, but not outrageous. I'm so glad he did. Just from my limited exposure I've had with it, the tone is already leaps and bounds better than all the other contraptions I've been trying to fool myself would sound similar. Just spend the money, and get the real thing. I still have to pinch myself when I remember I'm a Mesa Boogie owner. I'm looking forward to how much more I'm going to enjoy it when I get to know it better and start dialing it in.

 

[homesick345]

Couple more days of experimenting from this base. There are some great tones of the D style just a tweak or two from the base settings listed. Some really cool stuff! Switch to Mark IV and add a little gain... add just a bit of treble and/or presence... WOW! Back to Xtreme, and more open/less compressed. Killer, and so far, I've only tried it with a Mini Rec 1x12/v30 over Thiele/C90 stack.

I'm thinking this would kill for these type tones with my Red Fang Alnico.... hmmm, why did that just now occur to me? IT's way too late to try it now. :roll:

The Red Fang is a fantastic speaker - but D Tones require a neutralish kind of speaker. Red Fang has TOO effin much personality

No harm in trying - but don't be surprised if things are too edgy

You want a warm, almost dark, tight middy speaker

GOOD LUCK MATE

 

[Copper]

Also a new Mark V 25 user and board member. I tried out everything I could for lower wattage amps and I really liked this the most. Also tried out the JVM and others since it was in the price range but enjoyed the features more on here.

Honeymoon really does involve some ocd (not the pedal) tinkering. Really love the sounds and pretty much coming close or nailing anything I want.

 

[Copper]

My first tone setting for Metallica's Ride the Lightning:

Mark IIC+
Gain dimed
Treble 2 o clock
Mid 10:30
Bass 12:30
Presence 8:30

V eq with 750 slightly scooped.

Hitting Creeping Death on my SG gave me chills. Can't say enough how cool it is how close this amp can dial in sounds you want. I am slowly beating the one channel plug and play out of myself. I really need a chorus pedal and the mxr 10 to go with it now.

 

[31220]

Hi, all. I'm new to the forum. I just bought a Mark Five: 25 about 2 weeks ago and was looking all over the web for settings. I ran across the V2 swap to a 12AT7 on this thread and all I can say is: WOW! I've only been messing with this for a couple hours thus far, so more to come.

The amp sounded great out of the box, but I find the 12AT7 to be a more pleasant overall tone. The swap let's me get more use out of all channel 2 settings too. Plus, I get to keep the channel 1 tones intact on the Fat setting. Channel 1 Crunch is now even better.

For the record, I'm using a JJ 12AT7 in V2 since it's all I had on hand. Not sure if others have tried different non-Mesa 12AT7s or not. All other tubes are stock.

I just sold my Friedman Runt 20 to fund the Mark Five: 25 purchase and I have no regrets thus far. It's more to my liking for blues, R&B, classic rock, and metal.

 

[Rob9874]

I swapped out the V2 today. I hope I swapped the correct one. Check out the photo below. The diagram from my manual doesn't match my amp layout. I have the amp facing the same direction of the diagram, with the front of the chassis at the top, and the 2 power amp tubes at the bottom. Based on that, I swapped the middle pre-amp tube at the top, which the diagram denotes as V2.

However, the large transformers (??) in my amp are opposite of the diagram. Can anyone confirm that V2 is the middle tube, closest to the front of the chassis?

 

[Rob9874]

On a separate topic, on Channel 2, my low strings palm-muted sound real muddy. To fix it, I have to turn the bass knob all the way down. I can use the bass on the EQ and it sounds good, but wonder why I have to have the bass knob all the way down. I'm using gain around 2:00-3:00. Wonder if it's my pickup, pickup height, or if something could be wrong with the speaker. I'm playing it through a slanted 1x12 Mesa cab. Anyone else have issues with using the bass knob on Channel 2?

 

[31220]

I swapped out the V2 today. I hope I swapped the correct one. Check out the photo below. The diagram from my manual doesn't match my amp layout. I have the amp facing the same direction of the diagram, with the front of the chassis at the top, and the 2 power amp tubes at the bottom. Based on that, I swapped the middle pre-amp tube at the top, which the diagram denotes as V2.

However, the large transformers (??) in my amp are opposite of the diagram. Can anyone confirm that V2 is the middle tube, closest to the front of the chassis?

Rob9874, yes you swapped the correct tube. The diagram in the manual shows the orientation of the amp as it sits when in the amp's cabinet--not when removed and upside down. Hope that makes sense. I too was confused by the diagram. It would have been nice if Mesa had a diagram for the amp upside down (like you and I had it when removed.)

As for your issues with channel 2 bass, I haven't experienced what you are talking about, but that may be down to different equipment.

 

[orionz06]

On a separate topic, on Channel 2, my low strings palm-muted sound real muddy. To fix it, I have to turn the bass knob all the way down. I can use the bass on the EQ and it sounds good, but wonder why I have to have the bass knob all the way down. I'm using gain around 2:00-3:00. Wonder if it's my pickup, pickup height, or if something could be wrong with the speaker. I'm playing it through a slanted 1x12 Mesa cab. Anyone else have issues with using the bass knob on Channel 2?

That doesn't sound outrageous.

 

[31220]

On a separate topic, on Channel 2, my low strings palm-muted sound real muddy. To fix it, I have to turn the bass knob all the way down. I can use the bass on the EQ and it sounds good, but wonder why I have to have the bass knob all the way down. I'm using gain around 2:00-3:00. Wonder if it's my pickup, pickup height, or if something could be wrong with the speaker. I'm playing it through a slanted 1x12 Mesa cab. Anyone else have issues with using the bass knob on Channel 2?

I realized I didn't quite read your post properly on my first reply. What you're experiencing sounds normal. If you watch Mesa's video with Andy Timmons you'll notice that Doug West specifies to reduce the bass knob when you increase gain on channel 2. Your gain setting at 2 or 3 o'clock is a lot of gain, so your ears have steered you correctly to drop the bass. You can get away with adding a tad more bass at lower volumes, but I am guessing you are playing at higher volumes?

Do you turn the bass knob down completely to reign things in regardless of volume?

 

[Rob9874]

On a separate topic, on Channel 2, my low strings palm-muted sound real muddy. To fix it, I have to turn the bass knob all the way down. I can use the bass on the EQ and it sounds good, but wonder why I have to have the bass knob all the way down. I'm using gain around 2:00-3:00. Wonder if it's my pickup, pickup height, or if something could be wrong with the speaker. I'm playing it through a slanted 1x12 Mesa cab. Anyone else have issues with using the bass knob on Channel 2?

I realized I didn't quite read your post properly on my first reply. What you're experiencing sounds normal. If you watch Mesa's video with Andy Timmons you'll notice that Doug West specifies to reduce the bass knob when you increase gain on channel 2. Your gain setting at 2 or 3 o'clock is a lot of gain, so your ears have steered you correctly to drop the bass. You can get away with adding a tad more bass at lower volumes, but I am guessing you are playing at higher volumes?

Do you turn the bass knob down completely to reign things in regardless of volume?

I've been experimenting with it all the way down and up to maybe 9 o'clock. Doesn't make much difference between the two. I get better bass response from the first 2 sliders on the EQ. Spoke with a buddy of mine who's had a Mesa for years, and he said that's common for Mesa's and that he plays with his bass down as well. You're right, I am driving quite a bit of gain. Not looking for a muddy modern metal sound, but a high gain 80's metal. Getting real close to the sound I want.

PS - Apologies for the Photobucket thing. First time that's happened to me.

 

[FlyingBlue]

I’m late to this thread, and I’m also a first time poster/long time lurker. I’m also a metal head, but more old school (early Metallica, Maiden, etc), but while metal is my love, I’m into all kinds of music.

I got my Mark V25 back in April and I have been playing it a lot in it’s completely stock state. I absolutely love the amp, and have been floored by the clean tones I get in Fat mode from my RG752 with a Crunch Lab in split coil. Add a little TC tri chorus and it’s gorgeous.

But I’m drifting from what I wanted to say. I wonder if people that are having a hard time with taming treble or having to dial back the bass while looking for higher gain sounds aren missing a couple of key points. As it pertains to 80’s metal, particularly early to mid 80’s metal, the gain available, let alone used by some of the best of the day (I’m thinking Maiden) was lower than the levels available today. If you want to dial in that tone dialing back the gain is in order. In fact, even by today’s standards Petrucci himself keeps the gain modest and bass way down in every amp setting video I’ve seen of his. At least for his rhythm work. (For the record, I used his Mark V settings videos as the starting point in my exploration of this amp) You’re not going to sound huge like Angus if you dial up the gain, it’s the fact he dials in just enough to get the job done while cranking his amp that gives his lead tone such size and presence. It’s simply less compressed.

Also I think the guitar your playing and especially the pickups matter, probably more than anything when building your sound. My main guitars are Ibanez RG752, Ibanez JS2450, Gibson Les Paul Standard, Gibson ES-335 and a Gibson J45. They all sound great through my V25, but they are all very different and the amp responds accordingly. My RG752 is king for my clean tone, but it doesn’t do every gain tone I want. The JS does what the RG doesn’t do for me, and thus the two guitars have settled in as my go to guitars. The RG has higher output pickups in it, so it behaves differently than the JS at the same amp settings. Pickup height matters too.

In the seven months or so that I’ve had this amp the only thing I’d like to play with is putting an SPAX7 in V1 just to see if the noise floor drops. Other than that, I’ve been completely happy with the stock tubes. Oh, and I run it through a 1x12 open back wide body compact Mesa cab, but I spend more time with the direct signal to my Interface (Safire Pro40).

I’m sure none of what I’ve said is really new to anyone on this board, but after reading countless posts about people struggling with treble/presence/gain or flubby bass, I couldn’t help but wonder if stepping back and thinking about fundamentals that come before the amp might help some people.

 

[31220]

Hey, does anyone have any suggestions for EVH "brown sound" settings. I'm sure it's in this amp somewhere.

 

[Jfriley]

Check out this video for a kick *** setting on the channel 1 crunch mode.

https://youtu.be/WMXPNSvR_EE

I tried it out the other night and it blew me away. It sounds even better live than in this video. I’ve been playing on the extreme mode up till now, but this made me question that. Give it a shot.