Markedman
Well-known member
First of all, I’d like to preface this review that I have owned every mark that has been made.
To sum up this amp, it’s basically a two channel amp with six separate pre amplifiers altogether. It was not made to switch modes without having to change the volume and EQ settings. This amp is a modeler killer, as it has just about any amp that was ever made available inside it, it is very loud and has tremendous thump to it.
As with the vintage models, this amp has an abundance of gain available. But, unlike vintage models, this amp warms up within minutes not 20 minutes to a half hour before it sounds warm. Also, it sounds exactly like the amplifier I was playing the day before unlike vintage marks which sound somewhat different every time I play them.
It is similar to the mark five in lay out, but it has more gain on tap and is simpler to use. I thought that the Mark four was the Chamaeleon of all amps, but this amp has an even a wider range of tones to it. There are plenty of guitar forums which list tone settings for black face fenders, dumbles, and Marshall Tones.
Although I prefer the 35 watt setting playing at low volume at home, when I go to open mics, the 10 watt setting keeps the volume from peeking, and I’ve gotten many compliments on the tone and the volume level when I play out.
Personally, I play along with Slayer, Pantera, and Metallica and I can nail the tone of these three bands exactly like they are. When I play with my band which is classic rock and at open mics or filling in for guitar players, this amp really shines through and excels with beefy classic tones.
The key to getting great tones is knowing how the graphic equalizer works. There are also other great functions such as the gain boost on channel one. When the mid gain knob is turned up to full, it cuts off the treble and bass knobs, which gives you a very Marshall like tone which is shaped by the graphic equalizer.
I am known as a Gainiac, in other words I love a lot of gain. I rarely have the gain turned up past 2 o’clock on this amp, turning the gain up to 10 does not turn it into mush. It’s just too much for me as I prefer a little more Crispness.
A real highlight of this amp is both the cab clone and the solo function. The solo function is a complete separate master volume. What I mean by that is it doesn’t start where the other master volume leaves off. It’s independent of the other master volume so that if it’s set lower than the first master volume, when you kick in the solo it will be lower volume. The cab clone is an incredibly great line out. The closed cabinet sounds a little more boxy than the open cabinet voicing. It sounds good enough that you don’t even need to have a speaker coming off the amp, you can just play through the house speakers and monitors and get that same great tone.
To sum up this review, I have found nothing I don’t like about this amp. Some people complain about the volume jump between modes but as I said, this was not meant to be two separate amplifiers, but three amplifiers on two channels that are snapshots of previous mark amplifiers. if you know what tone you need for a certain song, it’s very easy to set up two different channels with those tones.
I imagine it has more JP2C & Mark VII DNA in it than Mark V.
Mesa Boogie Mark V35 & Boogie EVM12L Thiele designed cabinet by John Bazzano, on Flickr
To sum up this amp, it’s basically a two channel amp with six separate pre amplifiers altogether. It was not made to switch modes without having to change the volume and EQ settings. This amp is a modeler killer, as it has just about any amp that was ever made available inside it, it is very loud and has tremendous thump to it.
As with the vintage models, this amp has an abundance of gain available. But, unlike vintage models, this amp warms up within minutes not 20 minutes to a half hour before it sounds warm. Also, it sounds exactly like the amplifier I was playing the day before unlike vintage marks which sound somewhat different every time I play them.
It is similar to the mark five in lay out, but it has more gain on tap and is simpler to use. I thought that the Mark four was the Chamaeleon of all amps, but this amp has an even a wider range of tones to it. There are plenty of guitar forums which list tone settings for black face fenders, dumbles, and Marshall Tones.
Although I prefer the 35 watt setting playing at low volume at home, when I go to open mics, the 10 watt setting keeps the volume from peeking, and I’ve gotten many compliments on the tone and the volume level when I play out.
Personally, I play along with Slayer, Pantera, and Metallica and I can nail the tone of these three bands exactly like they are. When I play with my band which is classic rock and at open mics or filling in for guitar players, this amp really shines through and excels with beefy classic tones.
The key to getting great tones is knowing how the graphic equalizer works. There are also other great functions such as the gain boost on channel one. When the mid gain knob is turned up to full, it cuts off the treble and bass knobs, which gives you a very Marshall like tone which is shaped by the graphic equalizer.
I am known as a Gainiac, in other words I love a lot of gain. I rarely have the gain turned up past 2 o’clock on this amp, turning the gain up to 10 does not turn it into mush. It’s just too much for me as I prefer a little more Crispness.
A real highlight of this amp is both the cab clone and the solo function. The solo function is a complete separate master volume. What I mean by that is it doesn’t start where the other master volume leaves off. It’s independent of the other master volume so that if it’s set lower than the first master volume, when you kick in the solo it will be lower volume. The cab clone is an incredibly great line out. The closed cabinet sounds a little more boxy than the open cabinet voicing. It sounds good enough that you don’t even need to have a speaker coming off the amp, you can just play through the house speakers and monitors and get that same great tone.
To sum up this review, I have found nothing I don’t like about this amp. Some people complain about the volume jump between modes but as I said, this was not meant to be two separate amplifiers, but three amplifiers on two channels that are snapshots of previous mark amplifiers. if you know what tone you need for a certain song, it’s very easy to set up two different channels with those tones.
I imagine it has more JP2C & Mark VII DNA in it than Mark V.
Mesa Boogie Mark V35 & Boogie EVM12L Thiele designed cabinet by John Bazzano, on Flickr
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