Mungo Zen
Well-known member
Hey I just got my head and ripped through some stuff to try it out. Thought I would share my findings with the folks here since most people are reviewing with more traditional guitars and I know I haven't seen reviews with 2 of the 3 sets I tried.
I used the presets for Gain/More Gain and tweaked a little as I saw fit for the guitar I used. Check the manual for the presets. I am playing through a Peavey 4x12M which has 4 Sheffield 1290's in it. It is a 1986 model in really great shape and the speakers sound like butter when cranked. I am running it in Stereo due to it being a 16 Ohm cab (8 a side in Stereo, from the 4 Ohm jacks on the MV) and didn't run into any issues.
First up I used my Schecter Loomis Signature with EMG 707 Actives in it. They are pretty dark sounding to start with and to be honest, I need to dial in a better tone. None the less it sounded smooth and heavy but after a short while I decided that I was fighting to play with it a bit much. I am going to have to spend some time dialing in something awesome for this guitar, but that is something I ahve had to do with other amps.
Next I went to my little baby Ibanez SA-160 with the 2000 Ibanez stock pick-ups. Yeah they are trash but I love the feel of this guitar and wanted to wreck some stuff comfortably. I was surprised to find that in all 3 positions I could get a well rounded sound from the amp. I played some metal and blues and had a lot of fun with it. Overall, I liked the sounds but you can hear on a good amp how blech sounding the Ibanez pick ups are.
Lastly I tried my Squire which isn't a Squire. It is actually Guild D'Armond Les Paul style guitar (the factory was bought by Squire so only the name changed, and only 1 or 2 years of these were made). It has been rewired and had the Zakk Wylde EMG-ZW Active pickups. It honestly has never been a guitar I liked a lot, but today was a bit different. The thing is built for blues, heavy or soft, and both the bridge and neck positions in all three channels gave me the bulk of my random blues noodling.
It was so easy to make it scream or cry, chug along or dance a little. I was going to sell this guitar, but not now, the Mark V is what a guitar like this needs, and so it stays.
Overall the amp is a total success for myself. I am going to need to spend time dialing in tones for the different guitars but, I am going to be able to dial in some pretty diabolic heavy metal tones, some killer blues, and even on the odd occasion, a little twang. I am probably going to buy an OD pedal this weekend, plus I have to set up the effects loop with the Time and Modfactor, and get my Gate in there. I also didn't get a chance to play my Dean Mustaine Sig or either of my Jacksons since I took them apart to clean them expecting this amp not to arrive for another week. I will post more on those in a day or two.
I used the presets for Gain/More Gain and tweaked a little as I saw fit for the guitar I used. Check the manual for the presets. I am playing through a Peavey 4x12M which has 4 Sheffield 1290's in it. It is a 1986 model in really great shape and the speakers sound like butter when cranked. I am running it in Stereo due to it being a 16 Ohm cab (8 a side in Stereo, from the 4 Ohm jacks on the MV) and didn't run into any issues.
First up I used my Schecter Loomis Signature with EMG 707 Actives in it. They are pretty dark sounding to start with and to be honest, I need to dial in a better tone. None the less it sounded smooth and heavy but after a short while I decided that I was fighting to play with it a bit much. I am going to have to spend some time dialing in something awesome for this guitar, but that is something I ahve had to do with other amps.
Next I went to my little baby Ibanez SA-160 with the 2000 Ibanez stock pick-ups. Yeah they are trash but I love the feel of this guitar and wanted to wreck some stuff comfortably. I was surprised to find that in all 3 positions I could get a well rounded sound from the amp. I played some metal and blues and had a lot of fun with it. Overall, I liked the sounds but you can hear on a good amp how blech sounding the Ibanez pick ups are.
Lastly I tried my Squire which isn't a Squire. It is actually Guild D'Armond Les Paul style guitar (the factory was bought by Squire so only the name changed, and only 1 or 2 years of these were made). It has been rewired and had the Zakk Wylde EMG-ZW Active pickups. It honestly has never been a guitar I liked a lot, but today was a bit different. The thing is built for blues, heavy or soft, and both the bridge and neck positions in all three channels gave me the bulk of my random blues noodling.
It was so easy to make it scream or cry, chug along or dance a little. I was going to sell this guitar, but not now, the Mark V is what a guitar like this needs, and so it stays.
Overall the amp is a total success for myself. I am going to need to spend time dialing in tones for the different guitars but, I am going to be able to dial in some pretty diabolic heavy metal tones, some killer blues, and even on the odd occasion, a little twang. I am probably going to buy an OD pedal this weekend, plus I have to set up the effects loop with the Time and Modfactor, and get my Gate in there. I also didn't get a chance to play my Dean Mustaine Sig or either of my Jacksons since I took them apart to clean them expecting this amp not to arrive for another week. I will post more on those in a day or two.
