Mark V25 went head to head vs Friedman Pink Taco today

[primal]

So today I had the privilege of being able to play a Friedman Pink Taco and the Mark V25.

I had an appointment at one of the local boutique shops to try out the Mark V25. And my buddy owns a pink taco. Wanted a light weight gig ready amp and had narrowed it down to these two.

Spent the morning at the house with the pink taco. This is a KILLER amp. Modified Marshall tone for days. Really enjoyed it. One trick pony, but does that trick exceptionally well.

Then headed out to the store to try out the Mark V25. My expectations were that it would be VERY good.

It blew me away. First we went through the clean channel. Chimey cleans for days. Reverb sounded incredible. Not sure how if it is enough headroom with a hard hitting drummer, but it will be close. If not that isn't a deal breaker for me anyway.

Next played the crunch channel.

^%$#!!!

Could not believe how Brit it sounded. This channel easily handles all the old school classic rock I would play.

When we went to the second channel I though all three settings sounded simply awesome. And it was so loud. Could easily hang with even the hardest hitting drummers.

When stacked up head to head against the Pink Taco...
Features
Mark V25 -
two channels
three modes per channel
built in EQ
headphone out
cab sim out
Open and closed back sim.
built in dummy load
footswitchable channels
footswitchable eq
Switchable 25 watts or 10 watts
effects loop

Pink Taco
Effects loop

Clean Channel
Mark V25
Beautiful clean channel with clean and fat cleans along with a crunch

Pink Taco
No clean

Drive
Both amp drive channels sound amazing. I will give a slight edge to the mark V because it is slightly fatter with the EQ engaged, however the pink taco drive is NO JOKE!

So easy to carry and sounds so amazing with the recto slant cab.

In the end I put money down on a new Mark V25. Put it on layaway. Will be picking it up in a month. I am SO impressed with this amp this will be a long month.
Can not wait to pick it up!

 

[ryjan]

It's just plain silly that the Mark V:25 can sound that good. I call mine "Baby Jesus".

 

[primal]

It's just plain silly that the Mark V:25 can sound that good. I call mine "Baby Jesus".

LOL

Too funny.

It is going to be the longest month ever waiting to pick this amp up!

 

[FlamencoD]

Yes, that little Mark V 25 is a very, very good amp. My Dad bought his in Dallas in November and I had the chance to play it for a few hours through a custom 1x12 cab that he built with a Celestion Greenback. I was used to and still prefer the piano bass and cleans of my Express plus 5:50 head and 2x12 cab, but the little V:25 was pretty great in every mode. The IIc+ mode was killer with humbuckers.

My only gripe was the volume knob was too touchy. Not a deal breaker by any means, though.

The burning question - would I trade my setup for his? No, I'd rather have my amp and cab. The Express plus 5:50 with my Avatar 2x12 cab, IMO, is nearly perfect. It is amazingly versatile, and it spans from 5 to 25 to 50 watts (all wired differently). I can get every mode as thick or thin as I want, at every level of gain. The Mark V 25 is right there, though, and probably just as versatile (maybe even more so due to the extra modes?). I really like the contour knob on the 5:50+, too.

Congrats on your new amp, you'll really, really enjoy it!

 

[Maury]

So today I had the privilege of being able to play a Friedman Pink Taco and the Mark V25.

I had an appointment at one of the local boutique shops to try out the Mark V25. And my buddy owns a pink taco. Wanted a light weight gig ready amp and had narrowed it down to these two.

Spent the morning at the house with the pink taco. This is a KILLER amp. Modified Marshall tone for days. Really enjoyed it. One trick pony, but does that trick exceptionally well.

Then headed out to the store to try out the Mark V25. My expectations were that it would be VERY good.

It blew me away. First we went through the clean channel. Chimey cleans for days. Reverb sounded incredible. Not sure how if it is enough headroom with a hard hitting drummer, but it will be close. If not that isn't a deal breaker for me anyway.

Next played the crunch channel.

^%$#!!!

Could not believe how Brit it sounded. This channel easily handles all the old school classic rock I would play.

When we went to the second channel I though all three settings sounded simply awesome. And it was so loud. Could easily hang with even the hardest hitting drummers.

When stacked up head to head against the Pink Taco...
Features
Mark V25 -
two channels
three modes per channel
built in EQ
headphone out
cab sim out
Open and closed back sim.
built in dummy load
footswitchable channels
footswitchable eq
Switchable 25 watts or 10 watts
effects loop

Pink Taco
Effects loop

Clean Channel
Mark V25
Beautiful clean channel with clean and fat cleans along with a crunch

Pink Taco
No clean

Drive
Both amp drive channels sound amazing. I will give a slight edge to the mark V because it is slightly fatter with the EQ engaged, however the pink taco drive is NO JOKE!

So easy to carry and sounds so amazing with the recto slant cab.

In the end I put money down on a new Mark V25. Put it on layaway. Will be picking it up in a month. I am SO impressed with this amp this will be a long month.
Can not wait to pick it up!

For what its worth my Mark Five:25 keeps up just fine with a drummer of average stage volume. I'll have to check out the pink taco - sounds neat!

 

[primal]

For what its worth my Mark Five:25 keeps up just fine with a drummer of average stage volume. I'll have to check out the pink taco - sounds neat!

Pink Taco is a great amp!

Feature wise though, it doesn't hold up to the Mark V25.

In a few weeks I'll get to play both these amps side by side so I will get a better feel, but after playing the pink taco at home, then going to the music store and playing the mark V25 there, I felt even the drive on the Mark V25 was better (to my ears). Just a bit thicker. Also felt the Mark V25 was a touch louder.