Mark VII owners - how’s it going?

[Throttlegtr]

I have the VII combo. To me, the Black Shadow speaker in the VII sounds way better than it did in the V combo and my VII speaker isn't even broken in yet. I got a V head and a 2X12" Vintage 30 cabinet about 4 years ago (which I sold to get the VII) and I thought that sounded best, but the VII combo sounds good and loud on it's own! I'm in my 6th decade of playing now and the thought of hauling all that heavier extra gear is not appealing-especially with arthritis creeping in. Good thing I don't have to! In other news, the VII is easier to dial in tones than the V was and if you play in a cover band, the crowd at the bars will be fine with the tones - they're all highly usable. Best thing I did was get an Xotic Super clean buffer/booster pedal and put it after the tuner, wah, pitch/harmonizer, compressor and noise gate pedals in the signal chain and it buffered it all and boosted treble from long cable runs. I don't use or need overdrives or distortion with this amp - I have an MXR booster I use to compensate for the lack of the solo feature that my V had. This mesa has a buffered FX loop. so all is quiet now when not playing. I'm very happy.

Just something to add to my initial review above that may help some forum members that I discovered after owning the VII for a while… In my opinion (yours may vary as tone is a subjective thing) …. To get a really excellent clean sound, consider picking up a (brand name) “Super Clean” boost pedal and use it in conjunction with a good compressor. Run your MK VII channel 1 in fat mode, 90 watts. It really does amazing things to the clean tone; bass sounds full, but not boomy and treble cuts through without a hit of being ice picky! What is really amazing (if you adjust the compressor right) is you can get sustain for days and if you physically approach your speaker(s) with the pickups of your guitar, you can get controlled sustain on the verge of sweet sounding feedback. Just my two cents as to how to improve the clean channel. It does some nice stuff in crunch mode too with some minor adjustments. Try it - you’ll like it! Let me know what you think here if you do.

 

[Appleridge]

Morn! I just purchased a used VII...still on the fence. When I bought it had EL34's in it. I put some 420's in it and like those so far. One thing I noticed is when running a loop pedal (pigtronix) thought the loop, the volume is inconsistent when switching between channels (lets say I record a riff on channel 1and switch to channel 2 or 3 to solo, the volume drops out significantly). Haven't figured that out yet. I like the distortion for the most part, definitely more than the V and the clean is fantastic. Ill give it some more time...I have a 2X12 recto, a 4X12 4YB (EVMs and V30's) and a small half back 1X12 with a C90 that I test with. I have a Mark IIB (getting the loop mod), III+ Green, IVB and a V. My goal is to drop to 2 heads so my wife and children don’t abandon me lol. Which 2?? I don't know...tough competition! The VII may stand a chance, but haven't settled on it yet.

 

[bandit2013]

Hmm, I actually liked the Mark VII with the EL34. I just tried the STR447 in the grey bias color. Played through all modes and power settings. I felt the EL34 added more definition to the amp. It still sounded much the same as it did with the STR445 tubes. No EL34 honky sounds. To me it was great. I would say the Mark VII with the EL34 tubes had more detail than the JP2C with the STR415 tubes. Did not lose anything with the change. Was it more headroom? Not sure how to describe it. The grind remained the same as it did with the 6L6. Low end was more bold and punchy. At gig level the amp remain confident to provide the goods. I was having issues with the 6L6 tubes getting too foggy at gig level. Foggy meaning swamped in some way. Perhaps it was a flood of midrange. Dropping in bias color did help to correct that. EL34 on the other hand did not fog up the tone or get swamped, it was just a louder version of what I dialed in at lower volume levels. If I did not install the tubes myself and never looked at the back to see what was in the amp, I would not be able to tell if it was EL34 or 6L6. No change in volume either, actually I thought it was a tad bit louder. I only ran it for a short while so perhaps my perspective would change after time spent. Had to try it at least once and liked it.

 

[Appleridge]

Hmm, I actually liked the Mark VII with the EL34. I just tried the STR447 in the grey bias color. Played through all modes and power settings. I felt the EL34 added more definition to the amp. It still sounded much the same as it did with the STR445 tubes. No EL34 honky sounds. To me it was great. I would say the Mark VII with the EL34 tubes had more detail than the JP2C with the STR415 tubes. Did not lose anything with the change. Was it more headroom? Not sure how to describe it. The grind remained the same as it did with the 6L6. Low end was more bold and punchy. At gig level the amp remain confident to provide the goods. I was having issues with the 6L6 tubes getting too foggy at gig level. Foggy meaning swamped in some way. Perhaps it was a flood of midrange. Dropping in bias color did help to correct that. EL34 on the other hand did not fog up the tone or get swamped, it was just a louder version of what I dialed in at lower volume levels. If I did not install the tubes myself and never looked at the back to see what was in the amp, I would not be able to tell if it was EL34 or 6L6. No change in volume either, actually I thought it was a tad bit louder. I only ran it for a short while so perhaps my perspective would change after time spent. Had to try it at least once and liked it.

Bandit, totally agree. I was messing with different 6l6’s for a while. 415’s all the way up to 448’s. I couldn’t quite get it dialed in with any of them, so I went back to the str450’s. It’s a better sound to my ears with these el34’s. I think this is where it will stay.

 

[bandit2013]

I guess I was under the assumption that the STR450 NOS Siemens EL34, aka RFT EL34 tubes had limits on the screen voltage of 425V. Perhaps this is just a myth or rumor that was not correct. May just be a Mullard/Phillips issue and not associated with RFT/Siemens/Telefunken/Haltron or Trigon.

The only experience with the STR450 tubes that left me believing the myth is after I killed the TC50 while using those tubes. Amp was dead after replacing the fuse and swapping the STR447 tubes back in. Strobe mute circuit took a hit, so it had to go to Petaluma for repair. TC50 runs a plate voltage of 450VDC. At least the RA100 is lower at 400VDC. I basically have the full quad for use in that amp once I run out of the STR442 (SED=C= EL34/6CA7) tubes. I will not try the STR442 tubes in the Mark VII. They were too saturated in the TC amp, I already red plated a pair in the Badlander 100 (they were at EOL so it was bound to happen).

Yeah, I experimented with the STR440 (Shuguang), STR441 (TungSol GE copies), STR448 (TAD red-base, PSVANE), STR415 (NOS Sylvania made for Mesa) and a quad of the STR454 tubes (SED =C= 6L6GC). I do not remember trying out the STR443 tubes though. I have them but never tried them. Sure, even combined the STR445 tubes with the STR448 keeping the STR445 in the center pair which seems to be the defining tube spots and the outer pair is just for support at 90W.

What sounded boxy in the Mark VII: STR440, STR448, STR415. If you want that Mark V90 sound use any of these and you will gain that boxy tone if that is your thing.

What sounded actually good: STR441, STR454 Not boxy, a bit more headroom. I liked the STR454 the most.

Then the stocker tube STR445, tried different bias colors and preferred the yellows over the greens which were the original tubes in the amp.

Mixed quad with the STR445 in the center pair, with the STR448 red bias color or yellow bias color sort of helped with the detail at gig level. I am back to running the full quad of the STR445 yellows.

However, I thought the STR447 EL34 really sounded good. Similar tonal pallet of the STR445 tube but more note details. I did not seek out using other variants of the EL34 tubes as most of what I have in inventory are not Mesa branded tubes except for the STR450 or the STR446. Could have run the STR446 (TAD red-base EL34 made by PSVANE). Generally when the manual claims "known to be unreliable" as the boiler plate stuff, makes me skeptical on using them. If this is true, the STR447 costs far less than the STR450 or even the STR442 if you can find them.

No variac or spongy power mode to reduce plate voltage like the dual Rectifier amp, or Mark V90. How are they getting buy with the EL34 in the Badlander and TC amps? No mention of "keep a stock of fuses and lots of EL34 tubes on hand as they have been found to be unreliable for use". No schematics either. Makes having a bias probe something to consider. I do have some amps that have an adjustable bias (EVH and Marshall) so it would make the job easier to get a proper balance and bias since they both have a left and right bias adjustment.

 

[SonVolt]

So I think my Mark IV is finally dying. I sold my V b/c the lead channel felt like a Fractal Model of the IV. Way too compressed and didn't have near the aggression or thump of the real IV. Did the VII finally nail it?

 

[kmanick]

So I think my Mark IV is finally dying. I sold my V b/c the lead channel felt like a Fractal Model of the IV. Way too compressed and didn't have near the aggression or thump of the real IV. Did the VII finally nail it?

Dying? get it out to mesa , the Mark IV stands on it's own

 

[SonVolt]

Dying? get it out to mesa , the Mark IV stands on it's own

Mesa said to take it to a local tech. I'm afraid the local techs in my area (Nashville) won't know how to do it properly. Nashville is a Fender town.

 

[mace]

I would say the VII has more thump than the V. But these types of things are subjective! I’ve never owned or played a IV so can’t comment as to how the new ones compare to the original.

 

[Sinner's Swing!]

Mesa said to take it to a local tech. I'm afraid the local techs in my area (Nashville) won't know how to do it properly. Nashville is a Fender town.

Did they give you a reason why they wouldn't look at it or work on it? Too old?

 

[bandit2013]

I believe the issue with Mesa is they have not caught back up to orders and such (assumed). Also have to consider they are not part of Gibson now. Wonder if that has anything to do with amp service and repair. Did you look up if any local places are certified Mesa repair places or is that not a thing anymore? The finder thing is still on the Mesa support pages. See if that helps.


https://www.mesaboogie.com/en-US/dealer-locations

 

[CoG]

Certified repair places are definitely still a thing. My experience is that this is a case where if you have a choice between certified repair places, go with the "bigger" one, especially if it's actually a music store who has to maintain their relationship with Mesa. "Local amp guru" 8 times out of 10 = lazy old dude who doesn't want to work on anything designed after 1977.

 

[domct203]

Definitely see if there is a Mesa certified tech within driving distance. I was lucky that there is one within a 45 min drive away, well worth the trip. I found him when I needed warranty work on my Roadster, came recommended by Mesa. He is now working a full time job as an electronics engineer, but has kept a few clients on as a side gig. He’s meticulous, organized, and persistent to find root cause. I don’t think I would have found such a quality tech on my own, and have returned twice since.

I’ve heard horror stories from friends that have gone thru the big chain stores like Guitar Center and Sam Ash, it seems like it’s tech de jour with those places, at least in my area.

Dom