Mark V coming tomorrow, but if its not "heavy" enough...

[RocknRory]

Yup, So i ordered a Mark V head monday and it should come Friday. As of now I have a Line 6 Spider Valve HD100 head. Yeah, big upgrade guys! Worst part is that shipping amps over here(to hawaii) costs 160bucks one way...damn. So i ordered from a music store in North Dakota and it was, yeah, 160 to ship here and they have a 15day return policy, but I would have to pay shipping back. I'm wondering what you guys think of the Mark V. I think the cleans and crunch are great, and its totally in a different ballpark then the rectifier series. The roadster has more low end and chug for metalcore and stuff etc. My Spider valve can get pretty heavy on the "Dual rec" modeled tone but I love versatility, that why I ordered the Mark V. Do you think the Mark V could still get heavy and if not, do you think I should bother sending it back for 160..... and ordering a Roadster and paying ANOTHER 160 to get it shipped here? Man, Hawaii is a bitch for shipping. John Petrucci uses a variety of amps, I know he used to use the road king and Mark IV, but now he tours with 3 Mark V's using all his effects like overdrives, racks, all that cool stuff. He can get a pretty heavy tone out of it, and his leads kill. I don't want to copy people entirely, I just want to have a large palate that can get bluesy, metal, hard rock, and alternative all with 1 amp.
Is it worth it? or should I just keep it longer and give it more of a chance. I even have a new set of preamp tubes from dougstubes.com on the way. Also, can I get a decent heavy sound at lower volumes, to suit different gigs and potential home practice(trust me im not buying an amp like this just as a bedroom player, so dont tell me I shouldnt !)

Boy am I confused, help!
Thanks a lot guys

 

[Spewnz]

what i found ( and this is just my opinion) is the Mark V has a really aggressive top end, things like string rack and palms mutes are much more up front so to speak but its not nearly as "mean" sounding as my roadster. their basically inverse of each other the V is Aggressive on top and the Roadster is Mean as hell on the bottom and they meet nicely in the middle. once again my opinion. so if you play in a band that's not over the top chunka chunka the V will do you fine you wont miss the low end chug with a solid bass player in the mix.

 

[RocknRory]

wow I never thought about having the bass player cover it more so, haha. Thanks for helping me think that way mate. I think i'll just eventually get a roadster in the FAR FAR future to complete the tonal variation, but the Mark V should pwn, thanks. The other guitarist will probably fill in the low chug better than me with his Bugera 6505 copy, I'll experiment with overdrives and what not. Any other posts are welcomed, thanks!

 

[Heritage Softail]

Hey Rory,

I think you are on the right track. In a real band setting you will have a bass player and a kick drum in the mix to bang away. IMO a guitar is usually a mid voiced instrument that can be adjusted to personal taste to shift the spectrum up or down a tad. The EQ on the MKV is great for adjustign tone, the speakers you select have a big swing on your sound, the guitar of course, and then you can put a boost (I use an ACBoost by Xotic) in the front, a 10 band EQ pedal gves you more adjustment on that.

I never found a REC sound in my MKV. Ended up buying a used Single Rec head. The MKV and REC together actually cover a Roadster pretty well to my ears. Good luck with your tone quest. Hate that 160 per way shipping.. :shock:

If that gets you too down, you can always go to the beach and look at all them ugly little Hawaian bikini girls. 8)

 

[RocknRory]

hahaha! I actually went to the beach today with my buds, didn't bring the girlfriend :lol: Oh really? How much are used single rec heads, and do they sound that much different then the dual rec or roadster? I can't be too greedy! The 160 per shipping kills the fact that I would get a roadster sent here. If I was on the mainland it would be no problem, I would just roadtrip it or get it sent for CHEAP!

I have a Line 6 Spider Valve like I said, and I modded it slightly so I could potentially sell it for 600-650 on ebay or something like that, good hunk of cash! I'd probably sooner buy a new guitar or cabinet then the rectifier though. The Mills acoustic 4x12 looks amazing, and I could use a guitar thats not as heavy as EMGs for other stuff
I have a Menatone red snapper OD and i love it to death, great for a solo boost or just more grind to rhythm (but id rather just use the amp for a rhythm tone) I'm not worried about cleans and crunchs, I just want to be able to play more modern stuff rather then trying to sound only like the 80s, because I live NOW. Not that i dont love music back then, i LOVE it for sure, i just like to be able to play stuff like the foo fighters and muse and what not!

 

[Heritage Softail]

hahaha! I actually went to the beach today with my buds, didn't bring the girlfriend :lol: Oh really? How much are used single rec heads, and do they sound that much different then the dual rec or roadster? I can't be too greedy! The 160 per shipping kills the fact that I would get a roadster sent here. If I was on the mainland it would be no problem, I would just roadtrip it or get it sent for CHEAP!

$700 for the Single Rec Series 2 with the additional mode. At 50 watts it is 90% as loud as the Dual Rec. I only bought it to add that Vintage mode grind for new metal/Metallica. Think of the Day of Fire - 'Lately' sound. The stereo sound of one brighter and one lower grind amp is really close to a CD type of layered sound. Well, it is layered when one amp has delay and the other is up front no reverb. I am learning how to punch in and out the solo switch on the amps to shift the sound for super heavy, normal riffs, then leads. I got this old Ibanez Flying Pan/Phaser that does stereo slow sweep deep phasing and/or a stereo pan. It is a crazy awesome effect.

To your post b4 I got carried away by the tone fest vibe. The Single Rec idea was given to me here. It is a great amp. It also has a good clean tone with my Strat and compressor. I also tried the mid boost tone on it, not scooped, and it wails on that too. Probably the best $700 I have spent in a long time. It is still extremely loud.