Mk V tone.

[andyp13]

I have been using my MK V combo with a Strat (EMG's) and effects board using Chan 1 only. Although I get a great sound, I couldn't help feeling I was not using my amp to it's full potential (not using chan 2 & 3.
I recently purchased a beautiful CS 356 guitar and decided to rectify this. So I used my boogie pedal board (along with a chorus / deley / reverb and Vol pedal via the send/return.

I was hoping to get a kind of a larry Carlton (ish) sound from chan 2 and a similar sound from 3 with a little extra drive etc....
What I got from chan 2 and 3 was a mess. I found both channels to be so trebly (and fizzy) that the Presence controls are off and the treble is right down, the resulting song is a non-discript mush that sounds compressed. I hate chan 2 & 3 and will probably need to go back to using overdrive pedals in chan 1. I would really like to use the amp but.........

What (if anything) am I doing wrong? The 356 has 57 Humbuckers and they do not seem to drive the amp well (ok in the clean chan) please help me someone with some suggesting etc....

 

[screamingdaisy]

Try turning down the tone knobs on your guitar and/or running a longer cable to bleed off some top end. I don't listen to Larry Carlton, but after a quick listen to a few songs on Youtube I wouldn't be surprised if his guitar's tone was turned down to 2 or 3.

Some other dudes (Santana, Warren Haynes) are known for using longer cables (50ft and 40ft respectively) for smoothing their sound out.

Also, maybe experiment with some pure nickel strings. They produce more fundamental and less harmonic overtones, which translates into a smoother lead tone through the Mark V.

 

[ifailedshapes]

Have you played a Lone Star? Might be more up your alley.

I have been using my MK V combo with a Strat (EMG's) and effects board using Chan 1 only. Although I get a great sound, I couldn't help feeling I was not using my amp to it's full potential (not using chan 2 & 3.
I recently purchased a beautiful CS 356 guitar and decided to rectify this. So I used my boogie pedal board (along with a chorus / deley / reverb and Vol pedal via the send/return.

I was hoping to get a kind of a larry Carlton (ish) sound from chan 2 and a similar sound from 3 with a little extra drive etc....
What I got from chan 2 and 3 was a mess. I found both channels to be so trebly (and fizzy) that the Presence controls are off and the treble is right down, the resulting song is a non-discript mush that sounds compressed. I hate chan 2 & 3 and will probably need to go back to using overdrive pedals in chan 1. I would really like to use the amp but.........

What (if anything) am I doing wrong? The 356 has 57 Humbuckers and they do not seem to drive the amp well (ok in the clean chan) please help me someone with some suggesting etc....

 

[ixoye777]

What I got from chan 2 and 3 was a mess. I found both channels to be so trebly (and fizzy) ... please help me someone with some suggesting etc....

I had the exact same experience when I first got my V. The first thing I did was to change out the stock 6L6's, I found them to be very shrill and jagged on the top end.

Although many here seem to disagree with me I find the V to be a very bright amp with plenty of mids and highs. To counter that I tossed in a couple of darker speakers in my cab (Eminence C. Rex's). Viola! Problem solved for me. My tone was immediately much closer to where I wanted it and only got better as the speakers broke in.

The third thing was to swap out the V1 preamp tube. I have no idea if the stock one was contributing to the problem but I wanted a higher gain tube anyway and I love the Tung Sol in V1.

Now my high gain tones are smooth yet very tight without that nasty bitting fizz on the top end.

 

[screamingdaisy]

Although many here seem to disagree with me I find the V to be a very bright amp with plenty of mids and highs.

I agree. The MC90 that comes stock in the combo also doesn't roll off the top end, which adds to it.

 

[andyp13]

I have the Mk V Combo with the Celestion speaker.
If I rolled back the guitar Vol I would get no drive at all, the 57's would be way too weak (they seem a bit weak anyway).
I am desperate to find a usable sound and justify my purchase (I live in the U.K. And paid $5,490 -the U.K. Is a rip off come the revolution and it will).

I can always go back to pedals and chan 1 only - but surely there's a sound in there somewhere in ch 2 & 3 ? I have put EL 34's in and it has helped a little ( I think).

 

[screamingdaisy]

I have the Mk V Combo with the Celestion speaker.
If I rolled back the guitar Vol I would get no drive at all, the 57's would be way too weak (they seem a bit weak anyway).

I said tone knob....

If they're particularly weak they may be adjusted a bit too low. I have 57s in my SG and I use them for everything up to and including thrash metal with zero issues.... although I do have to roll the tone knob off to clean up the sizzle as 57s are a brighter sounding pickup.

 

[Bill11]

+1 on the tubes changes: change out the stock 6L6's and swap out and/or experiment with the preamp tubes and their placement. For me, if a Mesa doesn't sound right, it's almost always one or more tubes.

MKV = best amp ever.

 

[andyp13]

Sorry, volume - what was I thinking about?
I'm going to have a mess around with my combo tomorrow, another problem is that in the house at low volume it sounds completely different, I got a decent lead sound at home and it sounded really bad on stage etc........ Ohhh I think I have wasted a great deal of money ooohhhhhh. But I will not give up just yet.

 

[ixoye777]

Another thing to keep in mind is that your speaker is brand new and needs 40 hours + of loud playing to start loosening up. Any new and tight speaker will sound kind of harsh. Other then playing I break in all of my speakers by hooking my ipod up to the amp and cranking it all day while I'm at work. After a week of that they are darn near broken in.

 

[lesterpaul]

hmmm..L Carlton....a 335 thru a Fender ..makes me think chan.1.....on chan. 3, I can get close,but the gain is pulled way back and turn that mutha' up!....seems like manual talks about utilizing the blues aspect of chan. 3-low gain stuff...it may have some sample settings
..the 57's...Alnico II low output?-pups like this can have a lot of bite/ice pickiness to them....Carlton is known for his 335's, but he has played a lot of Valley Arts axes with emg's as well...how does your emg equipped axe sound on chan 2 and 3??a good comparison of your two guitars with their differences is a good starting place for some good ol' patience testing troubleshooting!

 

[mark5mesa]

Hello guys, My first post. I've had my MV for 3 weeks now. I haven't owned a Mesa in over 10 years. I've been using Bogner Amps exclusively. The only mesa I owned was the Trixi's and 2/90/2. I'm really lovin this Mark V best purchase in years for tone. I've been playing and recording for 25 years. My advice for the person who started this thread is you really have to think out of the box with this amp and many new amps with Parallel distortion, passive and active tone controls.

Dont be afraid to turn the presence knob from top to bottom to hear what it can do along with the tone and many others. At the end of these endless tone controls you have a EQ w/sliders. I have a few Larry Carlton Cd's and you can get his tone all day on this amp channel 1, 2 or 3

 

[andyp13]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I will have a play with it tomorrow and report back..... Anymore help in meantime etc............. :?

 

[lesterpaul]

Hello guys, My first post. I've had my MV for 3 weeks now. I haven't owned a Mesa in over 10 years. I've been using Bogner Amps exclusively. The only mesa I owned was the Trixi's and 2/90/2. I'm really lovin this Mark V best purchase in years for tone. I've been playing and recording for 25 years. My advice for the person who started this thread is you really have to think out of the box with this amp and many new amps with Parallel distortion, passive and active tone controls.

Dont be afraid to turn the presence knob from top to bottom to hear what it can do along with the tone and many others. At the end of these endless tone controls you have a EQ w/sliders. I have a few Larry Carlton Cd's and you can get his tone all day on this amp channel 1, 2 or 3

+1...I was a "dime it" dude when I got my first Mesa...all of those yrs with Marshalls...outside the box is fun,when you warm up to it-you really have to grab the live wire and hold on....!

 

[Chester]

Mesa = tweak and experimemtation. Your tone is in there if you think out of the box and use your ears

MKV's are complex tone machines that you have to learn how to use properly, and time with an open mind will reap rewards

 

[golfnguitarz]

As the others have said, hang in there. I experienced much the same thing when I first got the amp. Especially with my Strat. The high end was just killing me. I swapped preamps around a bit but it didn't really make that much of a change for me. Swapping in a broken in Scumback into the top of my 2x12 instantly cured things. I had never broken in a new speaker because I always bought used, so I never experienced how shrill a new speaker can sound. As you mentioned, EL34s will also have a nice effect and roll off some of that top end.

The info on this forum is great, there are a lot of people with great info. I have learned a bunch from them and now love my Mark V. I think the bottom V30 has now broken in as well and the amp just gets sounding better and better.

 

[andyp13]

Things are looking good on the MK V front.
I had a play today and did the'out of the box' approach. I got a nice warm sound out of chan 2 with the Crunch setting. (I found the MK 1 setting to saturated & compressed sounding), I need to work on chan 3 now. I have a Juicer compressor on my board and found that setting in to an increase of volume pushes chan 2 a little more etc....
Oh by the way, I put the pre-set geq on chan 1, and no geq on ch 2/3.
My faith has been restored, I would be very interested in some sound setup suggestions anyone may have, including clean sound.

 

[ixoye777]

Here are a couple resources for you:

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i24e8icZG1o&feature=related

2. http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=37145

3. http://www.mesaboogie.com/manuals/MkV_101005.pdf Start at page 44

Those three things ought to keep you busy for a while

 

[Neptical]

I have been using my MK V combo with a Strat (EMG's) and effects board using Chan 1 only. Although I get a great sound, I couldn't help feeling I was not using my amp to it's full potential (not using chan 2 & 3.
I recently purchased a beautiful CS 356 guitar and decided to rectify this. So I used my boogie pedal board (along with a chorus / deley / reverb and Vol pedal via the send/return.

I was hoping to get a kind of a larry Carlton (ish) sound from chan 2 and a similar sound from 3 with a little extra drive etc....
What I got from chan 2 and 3 was a mess. I found both channels to be so trebly (and fizzy) that the Presence controls are off and the treble is right down, the resulting song is a non-discript mush that sounds compressed. I hate chan 2 & 3 and will probably need to go back to using overdrive pedals in chan 1. I would really like to use the amp but.........

What (if anything) am I doing wrong? The 356 has 57 Humbuckers and they do not seem to drive the amp well (ok in the clean chan) please help me someone with some suggesting etc....

Andy-- As far as the Larry Carlton tones, your definitely on the right track in regards to the amp. The old Carlton tones are definitely that super smooth Mark series sound, which both of my Mark III's capture pretty spot on. So far, the tones I've heard from the Mark V do not disappoint in any way--although, it has a whole different feeling to me then the older Marks do. There's so much versatility that it's easy to understand that you haven't found 'that sound' just yet. I've found in order to take out some of the brightness/harshness in any of these amps, introducing some good NOS tubes ( both pre and power sections or maybe some SED Winged =C= in the power section and a few good NOS tubes in V1/V3) smooths it out alot and gives it that nice fat power tube sound with tons of sustain. I also use high output pickups and roll back the volume for those type of tones as well. I honestly believe your on the right track and with some experimenting the amp will give you everything your looking for.

~Nep~

 

[andyp13]

Thanks for all the feedback (no phun) guys.... Much appreciated.
Had another play today and took out the geq except for the preset on chan 1. I should now be able to use the geq to help shape the sound etc....