Megadeth79
Active member
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2014
- Messages
- 28
- Reaction score
- 0
Oh yes! I use the same in this period; crunch on channel 1 and mkiv on Channel 2! Now i want to try a maxon od 808 to work With the amp!gjohung said:
Mark V:35 Review and thoughts
- Thread starter Dodgion556
- Start date
Help Support The Boogie Board:
I have discovered more with this amazing amp.... I been using the crucnch/Mk IV. setting..
Now. fiddling with the mid EQ on clean channel on Fat Mode, you can get pretty good crunch also. Beyond 12 o'clock on Mid is a gain boost.. And if you put a boost pedal - for me it is EP Boost.. It really gave me real crunch clean like country guitar boost. And my other drive pedal OCD and SL works quite well in this channel. You can get back the clean..but now clean has a bit of an attitude. I love it..
I went back to MKIIc the tone is much smoother. and it does not sound harsh as MK IV mode. Although I knew but I had not used techniques was to pull back bass on dirty channel. Now it is almost none...8 o'clock.. it sounds a bit mid range boostish... but recorded sound makes it cut through the mix..
Gene
Now. fiddling with the mid EQ on clean channel on Fat Mode, you can get pretty good crunch also. Beyond 12 o'clock on Mid is a gain boost.. And if you put a boost pedal - for me it is EP Boost.. It really gave me real crunch clean like country guitar boost. And my other drive pedal OCD and SL works quite well in this channel. You can get back the clean..but now clean has a bit of an attitude. I love it..
I went back to MKIIc the tone is much smoother. and it does not sound harsh as MK IV mode. Although I knew but I had not used techniques was to pull back bass on dirty channel. Now it is almost none...8 o'clock.. it sounds a bit mid range boostish... but recorded sound makes it cut through the mix..
Gene
Wondering if anyone makes a after market 3 party foot switch for MKV 35 for channel switching only... I hardly use EQ... I set it on all the time and boost is kind of useless to me,
It is a DIN type,, I am sure someone hacked to make a DIN to i button food switch...
Also, I wish there was a way to turn off - on the reverb..
ghj
It is a DIN type,, I am sure someone hacked to make a DIN to i button food switch...
Also, I wish there was a way to turn off - on the reverb..
ghj
Coming back to this forum.
Been playing with Humbucker guitar lately. Gibson Les Paul Standard & PRS Custom 22. And I took a big chance on taking all drive related pedal off my pedal board. It's just ... GTR - EB Vol - Vox Wah - into the front of the amp. In the FX loop.. Boss Tremolo - Boss Chorus - Boss Delay.
Clean Channel on still on Fat mode..with mid/overdrive around 9 o'clock... Dirty channel on MK Iic mode. Hum bucker and Mesa is like a match made in heaven.
Been playing with Humbucker guitar lately. Gibson Les Paul Standard & PRS Custom 22. And I took a big chance on taking all drive related pedal off my pedal board. It's just ... GTR - EB Vol - Vox Wah - into the front of the amp. In the FX loop.. Boss Tremolo - Boss Chorus - Boss Delay.
Clean Channel on still on Fat mode..with mid/overdrive around 9 o'clock... Dirty channel on MK Iic mode. Hum bucker and Mesa is like a match made in heaven.
Dreamtheaterrules
Well-known member
Glad you're enjoying the amp. I have the V25 and I love it.
I picked up a Mark V 35. Here are my thoughts after a couple of weeks with it. I've made a few edits since the original post here, just to capture additional thoughts and findings.
I wanted to love it but I don't, at least so far. It's versatile in terms of being able to pull out a lot of different sounds. But seems less versatile in terms of footswitching between those sounds. In other words, it seems like it would be great in the studio but less great on stage. Since I want it for gigging small/medium clubs, not sure it's the "one".
PROs
- Of course, high quality build
- Great power targets 10/25/35. I'd rather see 5/20/35 but ya know...whatever on that.
- Sounds dumb but the style of knobs used on Mark series are MUCH more visible than rectifier knobs because they are easy to see the position of. My favorite amp knobs are still the fender knobs that are numbered. I can set up my fender settings in like 5 seconds at a gig. The mesa line I have to "think about" and the rectifier I can hardly see anyway LOL
- Relatively smaller and lighter than a full size amp
- Nice clean, fat, crunch channel. I like all these voicings a lot.
- Has dual solo boost volume level controls
- Has footswitchable EQ
- CabClone DI is a nice addition that is not on the Mark V. More on that below.
CONs (now in priority order, most disappointing first)
- Clean & Crunch on the same channel (slapping hand against forehead :evil: )
- Really wish this had 3 channels like the Mark V. I get the smaller size was desireable, but I'd rather have a larger amp size & 3rd channel with 10/25/35W power
- Reverb not footswitchable. I could probably live with it but it is bugging me some.
- Two different buttons for the two different solo boosts. Couldn't they have just had 1 switch control the solo boost of whatever channel is selected? I might get used to this but it is weird if you are using both channels on a song and then have to think about which solo button to hit. At least so far it is.
- Effects loop not footswitchable. Probably can correct this with a $50 loop switch but don't think I should need to for an amp in this price range.
- The reverb sounds a bit sterile. I'm used to a Fender Deluxe Reverb, which can be lush. After a couple weeks I'm starting to get used to the Mesa reverb though. It's not terrible. Fender sounds better though. But it's not bad...
- This goes at the bottom because it doesn't affect the sound. It comes with a very cheap canvas cover with no padding, instead of a padded gig bag. There are no pockets for the footswitch, footswitch cable, or power cord, and since it is just a dust cover with no bottom, it provides little to no protection when hauling it to a gig. Even a mini-rectifier has a fully enclosed gig bag that is padded, and 3 pockets for the footswitch and cables. I'm putting this at the bottom of the list because you can always go buy a custom padded gig bag with pockets...it's about $200 for this amp. Or a padded cover only is about $50 retail.
I considered exchanging for an express 5:50+ head, but I don't think I want the 50W power. I like the 2nd channel of the 5:50+ better than the Mark flavored drive channels of the V:35. (yeah I know then why buy the Mark X amp - answer is features/usability.) And it has footswitchable channel, reverb, EQ, Solo. But still lacks a footswitched loop. But after trying my friend's 5:50+, side by side with the V:35, I decided that it's a nice amp but didn't quite do it for me either.
I don't like the 2nd channel of the V:35 much. It's probably great if you're a metal head, but I'm more a blues & classic rock guy. I thought I would like the Mark channels and I probably will for some of my classic rock but as someone else said it seemed like it lacked warmth. To me it was almost too gainy. I got a sound I liked pretty well after back the gain WAY back (to like 8:30) so maybe that is workable. I probably need to just keep working the controls to find the tones, but I just really like the "vintage" channel of a mini-rectifier (and presumably rectifier) better than any of these sounds.
I did try the Cab Clone out a little bit by plugging an XLR directly from the amp to a QSC K12. It was a bit more sterile/less lively than the amp through a C90. It reminded me a little of the was a Boss GT100 took the life out of my signal long ago before I went back to discrete pedals. But I think in a studio they could EQ to get some of it back (actually and so did I with the EQ of the amp and the Bass, Mid, Treble and presence controls. This all sounds negative but in another way, I actually really liked it. It provided a nice way to take the signal down to a much lower level and that was really easy on the ears. It was also midnight when I was messing with this. I didn't notice any difference between 10W and 25W at all in cab clone with guitar speaker off. But I did notice a beefier and slightly louder sound when I switched the channels to 35W, and was playing only through the cabclone. So I think I might actually like the cabclone for low volume practice. Although another option is to play in 10W mode and/or to switch to a smaller (i.e. 10") speaker that pushes less air. (In fact I formerly played my mini rectifier in 10W mode with an 8" eminence 820H...worked ok.
For speakers -- I don't like the V30's and surprisingly really rather disliked the C90 - that surprised me, especially since the C90 is what they put in the combo version. What I liked a lot more was Celestion Creamback 65's, or Eminence GB128's which sounded really good. The GB128 sounded more like what I thought the C90 would, surprisingly. I really like the C90 with the drive channel of a mini rectifier which surprised me on that amp too. Just goes to show that even if you test a boatload of speakers and find what you like, if you change amps, you kind of have to repeat the process. I digress.
I'm tempted to move to the Mark 5, I'm just concerned that I'm going to be always feeling like I can't turn it up enough to "get into the tubes". I don't want to use an attenuator. In fact I just sold 3 of them and some of my other amps before I bought the V:35. The price difference doesn't bother me too much, though I would probably buy used, pretty new, and mint to save some $.
I'm not sure why Mesa and others don't build a 3 channel amp with all the features of the higher end amps, but not as much power. I think that is really what most non-professional, gigging musicians would love, but maybe I'm wrong. There have been so many Mesa amps that I looked at and said...I'd buy it but it's 100 or 120 or 150 watts. Even when they are switchable down to 50, that's still a lot of power in small venues and especially for hours of home practice. For the love of pete give us a 30 or 35 watt mode with the big full featured 3 or 4 channel preamp. The 10W option on the Mark V is, I'm sure pretty good for home, especially if paired with a smaller speaker.
I'm starting to think I'm going to have to commission a custom boutique build to get what I want:
- 3 channels (or 4) (Clean/Fat/Crunch) / (Crunch/Blues/Vintage) / (Modern/Mark-XX/MarkXX) or something along those lines. or even put the vintage on channel 3 so I could do cleans, crunch, and vintage. that would be the bomb. Perhaps a mid size roadking or roadster??
- Power switchable in the 5-10/20-25/35 options.
- Reverb controllable per channel and footswitchable
- Footswitchable effects loop
- Footswitchable EQ
- Clean and Crunch available on two different channels
We can name this dream amp the Marktifier:335 with 3 channels, the lower power of the V:35, the knobs and layout of a Mark V, an 8 button footswitch like the Mark V footswitching, Cabclone, the first two channels of the Mark V, and the Raw/Vintage/Modern voicings of a rectifier on channel 3 instead of the multiple "mark" voicings. (Anybody know a custom builder who can copy the circuits and build this amp? yeah yeah...patent shmatent. Mesa needs a custom build shop.
)
I could actually be pretty happy with a 3 channel rectifier if they made a 3 channel "mini" or medium. Again same issue of power on the full size rectifiers though, and those are also full width heads that don't sit on a vertical 2x12 which is my preferred gigging cab. i don't think I'll ever use a 4x12. What a pain.
OK someone with a Mark V or a Roadking, tell me why that's all I really need. (And as you can see below, a few have!)
That's a long post but hopefully useful to future viewers.
I wanted to love it but I don't, at least so far. It's versatile in terms of being able to pull out a lot of different sounds. But seems less versatile in terms of footswitching between those sounds. In other words, it seems like it would be great in the studio but less great on stage. Since I want it for gigging small/medium clubs, not sure it's the "one".
PROs
- Of course, high quality build
- Great power targets 10/25/35. I'd rather see 5/20/35 but ya know...whatever on that.
- Sounds dumb but the style of knobs used on Mark series are MUCH more visible than rectifier knobs because they are easy to see the position of. My favorite amp knobs are still the fender knobs that are numbered. I can set up my fender settings in like 5 seconds at a gig. The mesa line I have to "think about" and the rectifier I can hardly see anyway LOL
- Relatively smaller and lighter than a full size amp
- Nice clean, fat, crunch channel. I like all these voicings a lot.
- Has dual solo boost volume level controls
- Has footswitchable EQ
- CabClone DI is a nice addition that is not on the Mark V. More on that below.
CONs (now in priority order, most disappointing first)
- Clean & Crunch on the same channel (slapping hand against forehead :evil: )
- Really wish this had 3 channels like the Mark V. I get the smaller size was desireable, but I'd rather have a larger amp size & 3rd channel with 10/25/35W power
- Reverb not footswitchable. I could probably live with it but it is bugging me some.
- Two different buttons for the two different solo boosts. Couldn't they have just had 1 switch control the solo boost of whatever channel is selected? I might get used to this but it is weird if you are using both channels on a song and then have to think about which solo button to hit. At least so far it is.
- Effects loop not footswitchable. Probably can correct this with a $50 loop switch but don't think I should need to for an amp in this price range.
- The reverb sounds a bit sterile. I'm used to a Fender Deluxe Reverb, which can be lush. After a couple weeks I'm starting to get used to the Mesa reverb though. It's not terrible. Fender sounds better though. But it's not bad...
- This goes at the bottom because it doesn't affect the sound. It comes with a very cheap canvas cover with no padding, instead of a padded gig bag. There are no pockets for the footswitch, footswitch cable, or power cord, and since it is just a dust cover with no bottom, it provides little to no protection when hauling it to a gig. Even a mini-rectifier has a fully enclosed gig bag that is padded, and 3 pockets for the footswitch and cables. I'm putting this at the bottom of the list because you can always go buy a custom padded gig bag with pockets...it's about $200 for this amp. Or a padded cover only is about $50 retail.
I considered exchanging for an express 5:50+ head, but I don't think I want the 50W power. I like the 2nd channel of the 5:50+ better than the Mark flavored drive channels of the V:35. (yeah I know then why buy the Mark X amp - answer is features/usability.) And it has footswitchable channel, reverb, EQ, Solo. But still lacks a footswitched loop. But after trying my friend's 5:50+, side by side with the V:35, I decided that it's a nice amp but didn't quite do it for me either.
I don't like the 2nd channel of the V:35 much. It's probably great if you're a metal head, but I'm more a blues & classic rock guy. I thought I would like the Mark channels and I probably will for some of my classic rock but as someone else said it seemed like it lacked warmth. To me it was almost too gainy. I got a sound I liked pretty well after back the gain WAY back (to like 8:30) so maybe that is workable. I probably need to just keep working the controls to find the tones, but I just really like the "vintage" channel of a mini-rectifier (and presumably rectifier) better than any of these sounds.
I did try the Cab Clone out a little bit by plugging an XLR directly from the amp to a QSC K12. It was a bit more sterile/less lively than the amp through a C90. It reminded me a little of the was a Boss GT100 took the life out of my signal long ago before I went back to discrete pedals. But I think in a studio they could EQ to get some of it back (actually and so did I with the EQ of the amp and the Bass, Mid, Treble and presence controls. This all sounds negative but in another way, I actually really liked it. It provided a nice way to take the signal down to a much lower level and that was really easy on the ears. It was also midnight when I was messing with this. I didn't notice any difference between 10W and 25W at all in cab clone with guitar speaker off. But I did notice a beefier and slightly louder sound when I switched the channels to 35W, and was playing only through the cabclone. So I think I might actually like the cabclone for low volume practice. Although another option is to play in 10W mode and/or to switch to a smaller (i.e. 10") speaker that pushes less air. (In fact I formerly played my mini rectifier in 10W mode with an 8" eminence 820H...worked ok.
For speakers -- I don't like the V30's and surprisingly really rather disliked the C90 - that surprised me, especially since the C90 is what they put in the combo version. What I liked a lot more was Celestion Creamback 65's, or Eminence GB128's which sounded really good. The GB128 sounded more like what I thought the C90 would, surprisingly. I really like the C90 with the drive channel of a mini rectifier which surprised me on that amp too. Just goes to show that even if you test a boatload of speakers and find what you like, if you change amps, you kind of have to repeat the process. I digress.
I'm tempted to move to the Mark 5, I'm just concerned that I'm going to be always feeling like I can't turn it up enough to "get into the tubes". I don't want to use an attenuator. In fact I just sold 3 of them and some of my other amps before I bought the V:35. The price difference doesn't bother me too much, though I would probably buy used, pretty new, and mint to save some $.
I'm not sure why Mesa and others don't build a 3 channel amp with all the features of the higher end amps, but not as much power. I think that is really what most non-professional, gigging musicians would love, but maybe I'm wrong. There have been so many Mesa amps that I looked at and said...I'd buy it but it's 100 or 120 or 150 watts. Even when they are switchable down to 50, that's still a lot of power in small venues and especially for hours of home practice. For the love of pete give us a 30 or 35 watt mode with the big full featured 3 or 4 channel preamp. The 10W option on the Mark V is, I'm sure pretty good for home, especially if paired with a smaller speaker.
I'm starting to think I'm going to have to commission a custom boutique build to get what I want:
- 3 channels (or 4) (Clean/Fat/Crunch) / (Crunch/Blues/Vintage) / (Modern/Mark-XX/MarkXX) or something along those lines. or even put the vintage on channel 3 so I could do cleans, crunch, and vintage. that would be the bomb. Perhaps a mid size roadking or roadster??
- Power switchable in the 5-10/20-25/35 options.
- Reverb controllable per channel and footswitchable
- Footswitchable effects loop
- Footswitchable EQ
- Clean and Crunch available on two different channels
We can name this dream amp the Marktifier:335 with 3 channels, the lower power of the V:35, the knobs and layout of a Mark V, an 8 button footswitch like the Mark V footswitching, Cabclone, the first two channels of the Mark V, and the Raw/Vintage/Modern voicings of a rectifier on channel 3 instead of the multiple "mark" voicings. (Anybody know a custom builder who can copy the circuits and build this amp? yeah yeah...patent shmatent. Mesa needs a custom build shop.
)I could actually be pretty happy with a 3 channel rectifier if they made a 3 channel "mini" or medium. Again same issue of power on the full size rectifiers though, and those are also full width heads that don't sit on a vertical 2x12 which is my preferred gigging cab. i don't think I'll ever use a 4x12. What a pain.
OK someone with a Mark V or a Roadking, tell me why that's all I really need. (And as you can see below, a few have!)
That's a long post but hopefully useful to future viewers.
Megadeth79
Active member
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2014
- Messages
- 28
- Reaction score
- 0
i have the combo version from about four months and i love it! i do not know about the head version; in this case there are a lot more contenders! the combo version is a wonderful amps!
BluzCruz said:
I stumbled across your post and thought I would respond.
I played a 5.50+ for a month and though it was a nice amp,I wasn't knocked out.
I got a Mesa Mark V head with a Royal Atlantic 27 1x12 cab with a C90 in it.
Way,way better than the 5.50 in every way.
I run Fat in Channel 1,Crunch in 2 and Extreme in 3.
I run the spring reverb for subtle stuff,but for more wet reverb,run a Wet in the loop with a delay.
It's nice to turn reverb on or off via reverb footswitch or effects loop footswitch.
EQ is footswitchable and solo boost is also a nice touch
Go try a Mark V.
I think you'll be impressed.
I'm old and I'm jaded,but this amp really astounded me with what it could do.
It really starts breathing when you get to wind it out,but it still sounds good at lower home levels.
Thanks so much for the feedback. Very helpful. I borrowed my friend's 5:50+ and have been playing it a couple days alongside the V:35 but had the exact same thoughts -- nice amp, but not knocking me out.
So I've been thinking hard about a Mark V - I expect I would run any one of the 3 clean options on 1, crunch on 2, and maybe Mark IV on 3 if it is similar to the sound of the V:35, with the gain pulled back quite a bit. I love the footpedal switching of the Mark V and it's exactly what I want to see there.
I think the only thing holding me back is the power levels. I highly doubt I'll ever run @ 90W. The 45 might be workable, but I currently gig with a 22W deluxe reverb feeding a 2x12 with creambacks, and it is PLENTY of volume. Only once did I feel like I wished I had just a little more volume before it broke up, and that was a fairly large outdoor venue. My fellow guitarist runs a 30W BadCat combo. I don't want to overpower him but want to get the amp to the point it is starting to "open up", and I'm just concerned the 45W is going to be too much to do that.
Curious how the 45 and 90W modes compare and also if you gig, what size venues and what power modes you select for that.
Thanks again!
BluzCruz, like you, I'm a hyphenated-rock, rather than a metal player. I have the V combo and the V:35 head. Love 'em both. They're just different enough with the different power tubes and they play well together. Here's the thing on the 90. When I gig, I use all 3 channels (Fat w/contour-Mark I w/sliders-Extreme) on the 90 watt setting. Increased headroom on the clean channel. And on the gain channels, it rounds out the edges really nicely. It cleans it up just a bit and gets a great classic rock sound. And I get that out of the Extreme channel. I also have a 41-year old Mark I that I bought new back in the day and I've always run that at 100 watts rather than 60 for the same reason. I use a Mesa 1x12 ported widebody as an external with the combo and two of them (a V30 and a C90) with the 35 head. It soes sound like you may be looking for the 90 watter.
jmusolino: Thanks for your note. I'd be very interested in the settings you dial in on the V35 (for gigging or otherwise) and whether you gig with it too. I think I want to be able to do the 3 channels, as you said you do with your V. I tried the V:35 on 35W and a mini-rectifier on 25W at my band practice tonight...guess what...I liked the mini-rectifier better...and so did my bandmates. So another option is to run my Fender for cleans, put the mini rectifier in "pushed" on 1 and "vintage" on 2, and use an amp switcher to get between them. About to return the V35 and save the $, I think. It might just be that I've had the mini a few years and am better at dialing in the tone I'm after, not sure.
I'm concluding the features and usability of the Mark V are probably pretty much what I want, in particular getting clean and crunch on separate channels, and then having better footswitch controls available. The 35 watts of the V35 seemed ideal though. And the V:35 has the cab clone features that the Mark V doesn't. Not certain I'd use it but I think it might. The 90W just seems like a big beast to tame.
Another question to all the Mark V users...when you use the variac to knock the power down, does it drop the volume or just change the characteristic of the tone? Someone suggested I might be able to go into the 45 watt mode, and turn the variac down to get closer to the 35 watt levels. I am guessing that might even sound richer compared to a V35 due to the bigger output transformer in the Mark V. Thoughts/experiences?
I really wish Mesa had kept that 3rd channel and the 8 button footswitch on the V35. But they didn't.
I'm concluding the features and usability of the Mark V are probably pretty much what I want, in particular getting clean and crunch on separate channels, and then having better footswitch controls available. The 35 watts of the V35 seemed ideal though. And the V:35 has the cab clone features that the Mark V doesn't. Not certain I'd use it but I think it might. The 90W just seems like a big beast to tame.
Another question to all the Mark V users...when you use the variac to knock the power down, does it drop the volume or just change the characteristic of the tone? Someone suggested I might be able to go into the 45 watt mode, and turn the variac down to get closer to the 35 watt levels. I am guessing that might even sound richer compared to a V35 due to the bigger output transformer in the Mark V. Thoughts/experiences?
I really wish Mesa had kept that 3rd channel and the 8 button footswitch on the V35. But they didn't.
You don't have to use all 90 watts if you don't want to. The amp sounds good at bedroom volumes in 90 watts. Unless you're talking about power tube distortion you will be able to get "into the tubes" at gigging volume no problem. The difference between the V and the 35 at full volume isn't but a few decibels. I think you're worried about nothing.
The variac softens the attack and the feel, you loose a bit of volume, but there is a volume control on the amp. That's how you tame this beast. So many of us use 90 watts, even at low volume, because it sounds bolder and punchier, just more guts. And the feel of the amp varies greatly depending on the wattage selected.
The power section is made to run clean on the lead channels. In my opinion, the amp opens up at about drummer volume. But it does great at any volume.
The variac softens the attack and the feel, you loose a bit of volume, but there is a volume control on the amp. That's how you tame this beast. So many of us use 90 watts, even at low volume, because it sounds bolder and punchier, just more guts. And the feel of the amp varies greatly depending on the wattage selected.
The power section is made to run clean on the lead channels. In my opinion, the amp opens up at about drummer volume. But it does great at any volume.
BluzCruz said:
10 watt mode is super yummy, fwiw. Or you could do 45 with variac power.
dlpasco said:
Please pardon my technical jargon ;P
Thanks to all for the insights.
I have to go try out a Mark V somewhere.
Also the Royal Atlantic 27 1x12 cab doesn't appear to be available any more and I don't even see used ones out there. Or can you order it still?
I've got several Mesa 2x12s (rectifier Horiz, rectifier Vert, Roadking 2x12) as well as a couple other 2x12 cabs. I need more 1x12's and to have a sale on 2x12s! (funds the amp price difference I guess.)
I have to go try out a Mark V somewhere.
Also the Royal Atlantic 27 1x12 cab doesn't appear to be available any more and I don't even see used ones out there. Or can you order it still?
I've got several Mesa 2x12s (rectifier Horiz, rectifier Vert, Roadking 2x12) as well as a couple other 2x12 cabs. I need more 1x12's and to have a sale on 2x12s! (funds the amp price difference I guess.)
Thundersteel
Active member
I'm glad most like the V:35. I recently returned mine. Channel One was great (Crunch mode was killer!). Channel Two left me disappointed. The Mark IIC+ mode sounded good. The Mark IV mode sounded similar, but more "open." But when I switched to Xtreme mode, it seemed to lose its intensity. The manual said it's the highest gain of all the modes, but to me it sounded like a diluted Crunch mode.
Also, the Headphone output didn't impress me at all. It sounded OK with the Master set up to noon, but anything over that, the volume didn't increase, and the sound seemed to get cleaner.
Perhaps I'll find what I'm looking for with a Mark V.
Also, the Headphone output didn't impress me at all. It sounded OK with the Master set up to noon, but anything over that, the volume didn't increase, and the sound seemed to get cleaner.
Perhaps I'll find what I'm looking for with a Mark V.
I felt the same way, although with more tweaking, I started getting a better sound out of the 2nd channel.
Still, the fact that the clean and crunch are on the same channel was kind of a showstopper for me once I was able to hear all the modes.
I'm returning the V:35 and I just bought a used mint 6 month old Mark V head for not that much more money, and a lot less than new. I am really hoping it will be the last amp I ever need to buy. I was pretty tempted to go with a roadster or roadking though. Most of what swayed me was ergonomic, and functionality. (visible knobs being a big element). I wish the 3rd channel of the Mark V was a rectifier channel instead! Raw/Vintage/Modern sounds are pretty awesome. Not that excited about the Mark voicings on channel 3 (or 2 of the Mark V:35) but I really like everything else about the Mark V...footswitch options, usability, inclusion of EQ, boosts, etc. I will probably live on channels 1 and 2 most of the time.
I don't mean to bash on the V:35, it's good if you only need two channels, play modern distortion or metal sounds a lot, and want a smaller package. I tend more toward cleans, fat cleans, pushed cleans, overdrives, and vintage rock overdrive sounds.
Even on the Mark V I know I'm going to be wishing the tweed voicing was on channel 2 and crunch was on channel 3.
Still, the fact that the clean and crunch are on the same channel was kind of a showstopper for me once I was able to hear all the modes.
I'm returning the V:35 and I just bought a used mint 6 month old Mark V head for not that much more money, and a lot less than new. I am really hoping it will be the last amp I ever need to buy. I was pretty tempted to go with a roadster or roadking though. Most of what swayed me was ergonomic, and functionality. (visible knobs being a big element). I wish the 3rd channel of the Mark V was a rectifier channel instead! Raw/Vintage/Modern sounds are pretty awesome. Not that excited about the Mark voicings on channel 3 (or 2 of the Mark V:35) but I really like everything else about the Mark V...footswitch options, usability, inclusion of EQ, boosts, etc. I will probably live on channels 1 and 2 most of the time.
I don't mean to bash on the V:35, it's good if you only need two channels, play modern distortion or metal sounds a lot, and want a smaller package. I tend more toward cleans, fat cleans, pushed cleans, overdrives, and vintage rock overdrive sounds.
Even on the Mark V I know I'm going to be wishing the tweed voicing was on channel 2 and crunch was on channel 3.
Congrats on getting the V.
Glad you got a good deal on a used one.
I like Fat for Channel 1
Crunch for Channel 2
Extreme for Channel 3.
With the gain down on Channel 3 and the Master up, I get a really,clean,liquid sound using a Telecaster.
I like Extreme the best on Channel 3.
Play around a bit.
You may be surprised at what you finally end up liking.
Glad you got a good deal on a used one.
I like Fat for Channel 1
Crunch for Channel 2
Extreme for Channel 3.
With the gain down on Channel 3 and the Master up, I get a really,clean,liquid sound using a Telecaster.
I like Extreme the best on Channel 3.
Play around a bit.
You may be surprised at what you finally end up liking.
I believe I had the V:35 for almost 5 month. With anything - I had to go through what I had to go through. Cabclone didn't work for me. I had 2 engineers try to dial in and what I got through my IEM sounded like crap. Over drive was buzzy and clean were just clean - no character.. I am stuck with SM 57.
