Mark V tidbits

[lesterpaul]

If what people are saying about the V is true, its gonna be one badass amp, but one thing's for sure, I won't be one of those people putting my IIC+ up for sale after it comes out.

so true.....and if 2 channels arent enough, buy more C+...

sorry, but I don't need much of an excuse to post this pic, esp. since JB sold the MK I.....

 

[danyeo1]

My main problem with the IV was R2. It's pretty much useless unless it's cranked with a pedal boosting it. I hope the Mark V can give a really great tone on that middle channel. If i were in charge of the design i would have put a IIC+ mode on channel 2 and a IV mode on channel 3. Doesn't that make more sense? That way the high gain guys can switch between a killer crunch and a lead whichever way. I really won't have much use for a Mark I tone on channel 2.

 

[mule#1]

The great thing about the mark series amps that seperates them from the rest is they are really insturments! Metallica and Night Ranger both used a IIC+ while Lamb of God and Larry Carlton both used a IV with dramatically different results. That is the real beauty of these amps! You would be hard pressed to find a Marshall in a jazz trio or a Fender blackface at Ozzfest for a distorted tone. I hope the V stays true to what the Mark series is all about, creamy midrange high gain sweetness.

 

[pixy]

I hope the V stays true to what the Mark series is all about, creamy midrange high gain sweetness.

Amin to that!

 

[MrMarkIII]

would love to blab about it. cannot. it's over $2000 after tax.

You ARE blabbing about it, you tease! :lol:
How much is it, and where do I send the check? Boogie Hollyweird is gonna want 8.5 % tax, what's yours?

 

[Xqzdust]

phyrexia wrote:
would love to blab about it. cannot. it's over $2000 after tax.

You ARE blabbing about it, you tease!
How much is it, and where do I send the check? Boogie Hollyweird is gonna want 8.5 % tax, what's yours?

More than that! I lived in Birmingham all my life but moved out to get away from the high cost of local government corruption!

 

[Whoopysnorp]

My main problem with the IV was R2. It's pretty much useless unless it's cranked with a pedal boosting it. I hope the Mark V can give a really great tone on that middle channel. If i were in charge of the design i would have put a IIC+ mode on channel 2 and a IV mode on channel 3. Doesn't that make more sense? That way the high gain guys can switch between a killer crunch and a lead whichever way. I really won't have much use for a Mark I tone on channel 2.

I don't know how different the final product will be from what I played, but I really liked the middle channel. It had some nice bold sounds in it. Sounded better to me than R2 on the Mark IV that I played.

 

[Barry]

Well, the wait is almost over . It will be realeased on the web and at NAMM on Thursday .

 

[phyrexia]

would love to blab about it. cannot. it's over $2000 after tax.

You ARE blabbing about it, you tease! :lol:
How much is it, and where do I send the check? Boogie Hollyweird is gonna want 8.5 % tax, what's yours?

Heh I can't help it! Mesa has my money already...

it is priced similarly to the one of those rectifier things... :mrgreen:

 

[newfinator]

One thing I haven’t seen posted about the Mark V, assuming the preview specs turn out to be accurate, is that it doesn’t seem to be offering anything new. Despite being a very desirable package that likely addresses the requests of Mark fans everywhere it sounds like a fantastic packaging of things already existing as opposed to introducing its own signature tone. It comes across as a Mark greatest hits instead of an evolutionary step in the series. I guess once it’s revealed and tested we’ll know if it has its own sound. I mean this as an observation not a complaint.

 

[Whoopysnorp]

Don't forget the new 'extreme' voicing on the lead channel. That was a tone I've never really heard before. And it's not simply ultra-high gain; it's got its own thing going on. I backed off on the gain in that mode and got some really cool tones.

 

[newfinator]

Don't forget the new 'extreme' voicing on the lead channel. That was a tone I've never really heard before. And it's not simply ultra-high gain; it's got its own thing going on. I backed off on the gain in that mode and got some really cool tones.

I thought that, essentially, represented the rare but existing Mark IIC++.

 

[Elpelotero]

One thing I haven’t seen posted about the Mark V, assuming the preview specs turn out to be accurate, is that it doesn’t seem to be offering anything new. Despite being a very desirable package that likely addresses the requests of Mark fans everywhere it sounds like a fantastic packaging of things already existing as opposed to introducing its own signature tone. It comes across as a Mark greatest hits instead of an evolutionary step in the series. I guess once it’s revealed and tested we’ll know if it has its own sound. I mean this as an observation not a complaint.

+1. I noticed this also, but you said it first. I'm pretty disappointed about that. I was hoping for a brand new tone people had never heard before. A C+ and a IV? I already have a C+ and my singer has a IV.

 

[Silverwulf]

that may be true but it's also true that it's way cheaper than buying a C+ and IV separately (and lighter too!)

think of it as a C+ reissue with extra features...

Holy crap, I'm going to agree with rabies... :lol:

It's not like this is a IIC+/IV reissue type deal. This thing does a lot more and has a lot more versatility than those amps.

And it does have a lot new to offer. A few different clean modes that are supposed to rival or be better than the Lonestar cleans. You have Boogie haters that only typically only like one channel Fenders saying they were blown away by it (like Petrucci's tech). You have an independent crunch mode with options. And then you have its lead channel, with "Extreme" basically being the "Mark V" lead mode. They were just cool enough to stick the IIC+/IV modes in there for you too.

They could have easily made it just have one clean mode, one crunch mode, and then the "Extreme" mode which is it's own lead voice, but they didn't. They gave you a lot more options, all the way down to EQ/Contour type controls, tube rectifiers, better wattage selections, etc.

They're giving us a Mark V with "new" sounds...they just happened to give us another 2 cleans, 2 crunch, and the IIC+/IV sounds to go along with it.

 

[Sixstringpsycho]

I agree it seems like a "Mark greatest hits" amp. but before i judge anything I wanna play it, hear it, and experiment with it. overall we know its gonna be a great amp.

 

[siggy14]

You also have to understand, in the great scheme of things, how much more can really be offered, more gain? How much different of tone? the guitar spectrum is only so big before you really start stomping on the bass player (recto's are about as low as you can go there) or the highs of cymbals and singers.

As to actuall tone there are so many amps out there that have tweaked what little freq we actually have that you just cant do anything majorly new that hasnt been done besides going to more of a solid state or HiFi sounding type gain. Maybe like in Waynes World someday that is the type of music we will have, hopefully not!

We are just at the point in guitar amp evolution where the only thing we can really majorly improve on is technology of amps, adding more midi ability or adding built in effects ect... I think everything with tubes that can be done has been done, between simu, mono blocks so you can use more then one type, pent/tri etc...

I think in general the next major guitar change will be alot better modeling, Axe FX from I have heard has come a long way from the old line 6 days, I just think it will take time for musicians to embrace it and get away from the old tube snob mentallity.

personaly I plan to get an Axe FX for studio/home work, but if i ever go back on the road I will keep it a simple 1 or 2 amp setup, I do not need to recreate every recorded tone perfectly while playing live.

I agree it seems like a "Mark greatest hits" amp. but before i judge anything I wanna play it, hear it, and experiment with it. overall we know its gonna be a great amp.

 

[kiff]

Don't forget the new 'extreme' voicing on the lead channel. That was a tone I've never really heard before. And it's not simply ultra-high gain; it's got its own thing going on. I backed off on the gain in that mode and got some really cool tones.

I thought that, essentially, represented the rare but existing Mark IIC++.

I would think if that's the case, they just would have made the IIC+ mode a IIC+/C++ sound. Isn't a c++ exactly like a c+ w/ more gain? If so, then they could just say keep the gain under 5 (or whatever) and it's a c+, over 5 is a c++

 

[Silverwulf]

You also have to understand, in the great scheme of things, how much more can really be offered, more gain? How much different of tone? the guitar spectrum is only so big before you really start stomping on the bass player (recto's are about as low as you can go there) or the highs of cymbals and singers.

+1, and when people say "I wish they'd offer something new in it/new sounds in it..." It's a Mark amp. It's supposed to be in that vein. How much different truly has any Mark amp been in the last 25+ years? The general tonality of the IIC+/III/IV are not that different, but I didn't see everyone complaining saying "The Mark IV doesn't offer anything new over the III!" It's a Mark amp, it is what it is, just with more modes and options in it. If it was something new or offered new tones completely, it wouldn't be a "Mark V"...it would be something else entirely.

Then you'd have people complaining "It doesn't sound like a Mark!" It's the next step in the evolution of an existing amp series, so it is what it is. It's not supposed to be some radically new tone or deviate far from what it has been in the last 25+ years. Same with Roadster/Road Kings versus traditional Rectos. It is what it is.

 

[siggy14]

I agree with silver, but i know why people are disappointed, because they want both the recto and mark tones in an amp, which they will never do. Think about it why would they do that? Why would they take money out of there own pockets? If someone really wants both tones they are gonna buy both amps, but if it is all in one amp they will only sell one amp.

This is obvious in the roadking heads and the fact that someone discovered by changing a few pots you can make the britt channel close to the stiletto. There is a reason mesa dummied down the Britt channel on the roadkings, they knew if they made it to much like the stiletto they would just sell less stilettos.

Cost of a stiletto + Rectifier $3398 + Tax

If the RK had the stiletto channel $2699 +tax, hell yeah I wouldnt mind saving $700 by buying the roadking to have both amps in one.

You also have to understand, in the great scheme of things, how much more can really be offered, more gain? How much different of tone? the guitar spectrum is only so big before you really start stomping on the bass player (recto's are about as low as you can go there) or the highs of cymbals and singers.

+1, and when people say "I wish they'd offer something new in it/new sounds in it..." It's a Mark amp. It's supposed to be in that vein. How much different truly has any Mark amp been in the last 25+ years? The general tonality of the IIC+/III/IV are not that different, but I didn't see everyone complaining saying "The Mark IV doesn't offer anything new over the III!" It's a Mark amp, it is what it is, just with more modes and options in it. If it was something new or offered new tones completely, it wouldn't be a "Mark V"...it would be something else entirely.

Then you'd have people complaining "It doesn't sound like a Mark!" It's the next step in the evolution of an existing amp series, so it is what it is. It's not supposed to be some radically new tone or deviate far from what it has been in the last 25+ years. Same with Roadster/Road Kings versus traditional Rectos. It is what it is.

 

[CoG]

I have to admit I am really looking forward to the clips on the Mesa site and the inevitable youtubes of this bad boy.

If the lead sounds aren't all as "compressed" as the MkIV (the thing that sells me on the III over the IV is the "aggressiveness") I could see myself doing this.... after all, it's not like my III's are even really THAT valuable. It's not like I'd have to justify, like, selling both of them to buy a Mark V... as I have mentioned before, I can always pretty much just point at my wife's Steinway and say "Free. Gear. Pass. Forever."