Mark V/DC-5 Chassis/Shell Swap, will it work?

[BrownieD2W]

Before I go unscrewing everything and actually attempt to swap the Chassis of both my Mark V and DC-5 I would like a little reassurance that it should work, at least on paper.

I have a Mark V 90w Combo that would like to convert into a head and the easiest apparent option would be to swap the Mark V chassis for the DC-5 Head, thus converting my Mark V into a Head and my DC-5 into a Combo in one shot.

From my measurements so far the only issue I am really seeing is the placement of the chassis retention bar on top. It's off by about a half inch or so. Aside from that I'm not finding any measurements to be significantly off.

Has anyone attempted this before? Should I just give it a shot to find out or can anyone definitely say it won't work?

 

[bandit2013]

First off, I would check to see if the chassis would even fit regardless of the hanger placement. Also would you be willing to drill into the top of each do accomplish this? You can always drive any cabinet with the Mark V combo but I can understand if you need something more portable for transport than the combo. I had thought of doing the same thing with my Mark V but I went the opposite direction. Going from head to combo with the V. I had a Mark IV combo at the time and the Mark V head. It was an easy fit for the Mark IV chassis to fit into the Mark V head shell but I could not get the Mark V chassis into the Mark IV combo (wide body) as the Mark V chassis is formed differently and would have required cutting the baffle board a half inch. It was easier to find a Mark V combo shell on Ebay. I sold the Mark V head shell as well as the Mark IV combo. I could have kept the head shell and used it with the Mark IV or could have gone back to the Mark V head format. Oh well.

You may be able to find a head shell for sale or you can buy one from Mesa, may even include the reverb tank as it is mounted differently on the head vs the combo. There may be a few cabinet builders that will make you a shell. I would personally keep looking for another option, vs modifying original to fit a chassis that was not intended to be there in the first place.

 

[BrownieD2W]

Thanks for the input Bandit, I have several options, I'm just trying to judge what would be the simplest/affordable.

Like I mentioned in the initial post the only measurement that is off is the placement of the retention bar, and it's only off by about 1/2 inch. The rest of the measurements appear to check out.

I could build a head-shell myself, but if it turned out that the Mark V and DC-5 would be able to swap shells with a minor adjustment, that seems like the simplest approach.

I honestly would be willing to swap with someone who wanted the Combo-shell in exchange for their Head-shell, but I'm sure they would be extremely difficult to find, let alone find someone within my area so that neither of us needs to deal with shipping or insurance.

I'm obviously interested in making the Mark V easier to move, it's not as big of a deal as people make out but it's beastly no matter who you are. When I set out with my Mark V all I really needed was the 1x12, but as time has gone by I've developed a childish obsession with volume, it's purely the band's fault of course. Both of us are effectively running 6x12's at this point. :lol:

 

[elpingua]

Yeah I'm stuck in the same boat. I got the combo wish I had bought the head. I called Mesa and they want $350 for the head shell.

 

[bandit2013]

What is the retention bar exactly? Perhaps I miss-understood. I though you were referring to the top metal straps that are used with the long screw hangers to hold the chassis to the shell. If they are the same, no reason not to try it. If the fitment is in the front behind the faceplate I can see that as I had an issue trying to fit the V chassis into the Mark IV combo shell. The mushroom post for the transformer is not really necessary if the DC-5 shell is missing it. You may have to remove the faceplate on the head to see if there is room for the V chassis. The back board may be in the way but that can always be modified. If the DC-5 chassis fits the Mark V combo shell without issue, the Mark V should fit the head shell but again the chassis of the V has an angled section bottom in the front that may extend a bit more than the DC-5 Chassis. The face plate should fit but the back board behind it may not. If that makes any sense.

 

[bandit2013]

For those looking for a head shell, I watched a video from another member in the JP-2C forum, GJgo, in his video he mentioned he has a resource for cabinets. I said in his video he would be willing to share the contact if you were interested. That may be something worth while checking out...here is the link for the thread, I think the video is on the second page.

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=72451&start=15

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I did this years ago with my first Mark V, but I went the opposite direction. Not sure why I like combos, but they seem to work the best for me.
The chassis will definitely fit, but there are a couple of issues that you will run into.

1. The V's chassis is a little bit deeper and the knobs will stick out of the back of the head cab.
Not a huge problem, but.....if you hit the knobs on something, they will most likely break off.

2. The kick-stand for the transformer is necessary.
In order for Mesa to use the exact same chassis width and height, they had to alter the bottom of the chassis. This allows them to have the bottom knobs/potentiometers in the place that they are.
This also means that the chassis is not as strong in this location, thus the need for the transformer kick-stand.
You will have to use a block of wood or something similar to be able to support the transformer.

3. If you use a wooden block for the transformer kick-stand, then you may not be able to install the Reverb Tank.
Look inside the combo cabinet and you will see that the wooden plate for the transformer support is rabbit jointed into the side and speaker baffle of the cab.


It may be a much better idea to find a real V head. It was a lot of work to install my old V head chassis into a DC-5's combo shell. Not sure I would do it again!