chipaudette said:
Primal,
What do you think of that Electradyne compared to the IV and V? How long have you had it? Will it stand the test of time?
Chip
The ED is a very different beast then the Mark IV.
Mark series amps have an overdrive that is recognizably mark series. Just like Rectos have a distortion that is recognizably Recto.
With the ElectraDyne. think JCM800 with more gain and recto low end. I say JCM 800 because that is the "style" of overdrive it has, but it is still different. And while I say it has the recto low end, if you want that Recto nastiness you would probably need a pedal for that. It won't do the recto growl on it's own. But never the less even with all that low end it is VERY tight. Not quite mark IV tight but oh so close. The Mark IV is also has a more compressed tone then the ED. I don't say compressed in a bad way, just different.
Between the Mark IV and the ED I can't say I like one more then the other. But in all honesty, I actually play the ED a little more then I do the Mark IV. For the style of music I play I gravitate a little more to the ED.
But trust me. Neither amp is collecting dust. I jam on my Mark IV almost every day.
As far as compared to the Mark V, it is kind of funny because at my Guitar Center I had the oportunity to A/B an ED combo sitting right next to a Mark V combo. Versatility, no contest the Mark V kills it (as does the Mark IV). Tone wise though the mark V sounded thin next to the ED. The Mark V EQ doesn't seem to have as much of an impact on the tone the way the Mark IV EQ does.
As far as will it stand the test of time. If your asking do I think it will become the classic that the mark series and recto series amps have, I would say no. But not because of the tone. It kills!
First off typically (yes there are definitely exceptions), your classic amps have at least somewhat cool sounding names
Dual rectifier
Mark (anything)
JCM
JMP
Plexi
Mesa would have had to work really hard to come up with a name lamer then the Electra Dyne.
Secondly, in this day and age, single channel amps are very rare. And while the ED is not a single channel amp in the same way the JCM 800 was (you actually have 3 modes on the ED where the JCM 800 2203 and 2204 was one channel period) you still have the shared controls. This will undoubtedly turn a lot of people away.
Lastly it was released the same time as the Mark V. Nothing else Mesa was ever going to release the same time as the Mark V had a shot in hell at getting out of the Mark V's shadow unless it had the word Rectifier in it's title. Even then maybe not.
But for me, I love it. Put it to you this way. I gave up a Road King combo and 200$ to get the it and still say I got the better end of that deal.
