Mesa Roadster vs Mesa Mark V.. Upgrade?

[Purist]

Hey guys, I was thinking about trading in my Roadster for a Mark V.. I've had trouble in the past with my roadster, and have been itching to shop for something new. Anybody have any suggestions about how these amps compare? I play progressive metal.. high gains, clear cleans and use the fx loop for my leads.

This is kind of a broad question, I guess. Just wondering if there's any thoughts out there! :wink:

 

[droptrd]

The V has more features and options. Thats an upgrade there. But tone wise, Thats individual taste. I would think the V would get you closer to what the roaster does but not vice versa. So yeah. IMO it would be an upgrade. Go for it!

 

[screamingdaisy]

I wouldn't say it's an upgrade so much as a swap between equals. I like both Marks and Rectos, and there's almost no crossover in terms of tone between the two series.

As for playing progressive metal, if you're the lead guitarist I'd suggest checking a Mark out. Mark's have a sweet *** lead tone... smokes the Recto in that regard.

 

[Purist]

That's some good insight. Thanks guys! I'm also looking at getting one of these Mills Acoustics cabs. A mark V would look pretty epic sitting on top of this thing! Leads me to another question.. If I got the Black Label 1200 watt Mills cab, maybe 2 of em even.. would the V have any trouble pushing them? Seems unlikely, but I'm not clear on what a minimum power rating would be for speakers like that, and the V is a 90w head.

 

[Jackie]

I don't know what you mean by "have trouble pushing them". My dad's Marshall Class5 is a 5W single-end class A amp and it has no trouble roaring through my 240W cab!

If you're concerned that you'll blow the speakers, to determine the wattage of the cab, you take the power of the lowest-rated speaker and multiply that by 4 - so a cab loaded with 2x60W speakers and 2x25W speakers has a power handling of 100W. So 90W into 100W is safe enough, unless you intend to run the amp at full tilt, then you're risking it a little.
There's sort of a rule of thumb that your cab should be at least 100% the wattage of your head, but that's just playing it safe. I know guys pumping 100W into their 1x12" 25W cab and they're fine if they keep the Master down.

The lowest rated guitar speaker I've seen so far is the Celestion Greenback, which is 25W, a cab of those is 100W. Mills Acoustics use V30s though, which are 4x60W=240W, so you're safe. If you intend to run a full stack, don't even worry about it, just make sure you get the impendances right and start rockin' 8)

I'm no expert, that's just how I understand things, so if I'm wrong at some point, please correct me.

 

[Purist]

That sounds right on time, except that the particular Mills cab I want has the Black Label custom speakers in it.. The cab is rated at 1200 watts, if the stories be true haha. Look at this link and you'll see what I'm looking at. http://millsacoustics.com/412Bevm.html

 

[screamingdaisy]

Honestly, I'd do some research before committing to a custom cab for an amp you don't yet own. I don't like speaking negatively about a piece of gear I haven't personally tried (usually because it pisses people off and generally turns around to bite me in the ***), but if you do some background research you can find different opinions around the net...


Unfortunately the audio clips have been deleted from this thread, but you can follow the text and use what you read as the basis for further research.

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/equipment/545285-mills-afterburner-cab-vs-mesa-recto-cab.html

Note that the thread is over a year old and that the threadstarter no longer lists the Mills cab as part of his gear collection, despite initially stating that the Afterburner was the better cab. People rarely start threads to proclaim that they were wrong about the piece of gear they were raving about last month, so sometimes you have to read between the lines.

Also, the 300w Black Label EVM-12L isn't as highly regarded as the 200w EVM-12L. Not sure why though...

 

[b0nkersx]

Honestly, I'd do some research before committing to a custom cab for an amp you don't yet own.

+1

Although I will say the Mills cab smokes the rectocab IMO. I have both a rectocab and a Mills 412B and I can't say enough good things about the Mills. It's loud, full, tight, and it doesn't high-beam you if you stand in front of it (one of my favorite things about it). The recto cab is still great, though.

Also, my Mills uses Celestion V30s/K100s in an X pattern. I love the way it sounds. I'm going to order another one eventually in the same configuration.

 

[droptrd]

You could still blow that 1200w cab with a 5 watt amp. And IMO, and I own a Mark III and have owned a Mark IV, the Marks sound best with V30s. YMMV

 

[goneloco]

I have been eye ballin one of those cabs too.....I think the mark v head would push one 4x12 cab,but two cabs ???

 

[gonzald1]

Well I have both the Mark V and the Roadster. My take on this:

1. Roadster - If you want darker sounds solid metal like in your face.

2. Mark V - If you like the 80's sound with mean soloing and/or you like Dream Theater sound.

 

[SteveO]

I have been eye ballin one of those cabs too.....I think the mark v head would push one 4x12 cab,but two cabs ???

It will do the job with no problem.

A cab that is rated for 1200 watts doesn't NEED a ton of power to drive it, it is simply capable of handling that much power.