My first MV yesterday! Few questions...

[trippedover]

Hi all! I'm new to the board. Just received my new MV via fedex yesterday afternoon and was up till around 2am playing with it (so about 12 hours!) I have a few questions about it.

1. What do you guys use for your main lead? I am a Petrucci fan and am going for a similar type of sound, so I set up Ch2 for the MkI for one type of lead (more of an Eric Johnson tone) and then Ch3 MkIIC+ with a different type of lead (more of the Petrucci type tone) What are your thoughts on this. I've read that alot of people use the Ch2 for their rhythm and Ch3 only for their leads...but I'm getting good stuff out of both!

2. I'm using an ART SGX Nitro through the effects loop with a Voodoo Labs GCP and GCX. When I am running just the amp dry, it is super quiet, but as soon as I kick the ART on, I can hear a ton of ambient background noise. I read through the forums and found some stuff on Noisegates, but nothing that really answered the question I had...Does everyone use a noisegate when using their effects loop? Where do you place it in the effects chain? What type do you use?

3. I've been reading about using a Boss SD-1 as a boost. I bought one used and am going to do the Keeley mod on it myself this weekend. Thought it'd be a project to do... So, what exactly do you use this for? Simply to boost the distortion, or volume? To add sustain?

4. Ch1. Looks like Petrucci is using the 'Tweed' at 45 watts for his clean stuff. I've tried that and it just seems to break up...it's not pristine at all. I'm using an EBMM6 Petrucci, and have tried with and without the ART in the effects loop. I switched to 'Clean' and it seems to be much cleaner. I thought that the Fender Tweed's had some pretty clean settings on them?

Keep in mind, I've been playing through a Vox VT30 amp with the built in effects, for quite some time, so some of this stuff is new to me.

 

[eudaimonia02912]

Here are my personal answers to all of your questions. (Note that I also have an EBMM Petrucci.)

1. I use channel 3, Mark IV mode, pentode, 90 watts, EQ preset on for both metal rhythms and leads. I have SED Winged C EL34s (rated 29 from Tube Depot) for power amp tubes (which improved the tone considerably). For rhythms, I use my bridge pickup and the channel with no effects. For leads, I switch to my neck pickup, and turn on my loop, in which I have a subtle analog chorus (MXR stereo chorus), a delay (TC Electronic Nova Delay), and subtle reverb (TC electronic Nova Reverb). If I need extra sustain, I use a boost (Fulltone OCD, HP mode, volume max, gain nearly off, tone just past noon). This works excellently for me. I use channel 2 on crunch mode for Marshall-style sounds, for when I play stuff like Van Halen, AC/DC, Extreme, early Vai, etc. The upshot is that by using overdrives, the loop, and my pickups, the amp functions more like a 5-channel amp for me.

2. My Mark V seems pretty noisy on channel 3. I use a ISP Decimator as the last effect in front of the loop, at about -40dB. It's always on. It has no obvious effect on tone, and never cuts off notes.

3. I don't like Boss pedals, and I dislike the SD-1 especially. Right now I have three overdrives (a Fulltone OCD v.4, Ibanez TS808, and Ibanez TS7), but only one stays on my pedalboard--the Fulltone. I use it for leads on channel 3 as mentioned above. For channel 2, crunch mode, I use it to push the channel over the edge for leads or to get Marshall-style metal. I sometimes put the TS808 on for blues on channel 1.

4. I like the Tweed sound, but yes, it breaks up easily. Petrucci tends to use the middle position (splitting both humbuckers into single coils) for cleans, and that stays pretty clean on Tweed. Personally, I tend to use either clean or fat mode. For some fun with tweed, try this: Run it at 10 watts, crank the master, crank the gain, and EQ to taste. It can sound like a fuzz pedal if you EQ it just right.

My channel 3 settings:
Gain: 2:30
Master: 10:00
Presence: 10:00
Treble: 3:00
Mid: 1:00
Bass: 9:00
bright
The louder I play it, the lower I turn the gain, typically. Also, note that these settings might not sound so good on the stock Mesa power tubes.

 

[Heritage Softail]

MKV is a great amp.

I have EL34's (JJ's) and SED =C= 6L6 power tubes and Tung Sols across the front end. There is a pretty big 'center of tone' shift from the two sets of power tubes. Very much a personal taste thing. If I am feeling classic rock/metal for playing leads, the EL's are monster. I like CH2 and 3 a little more with the EL's. Edge mode was a POS to my ears with the 6L6 tubes, too harsh in the high end, the EL's took the edge off and now it is one of the best. The Tweed mode changed the most negatively from EL's to 6L6 for me. It lost the bite and got a little too soft when the gain was up. But then again when running clean, Tweed is great. Give and take....

I have been working with an Xotic AC Booster a bit more this week. It has great tone controls on it that actually work. I have been using it to put some cut back in the EL34 Tweed to get it back to where I want it. This pedal also can punch in some uncolored boost. Another mode added from the pedal board it seems.

Bottom line: If you can spend a few bucks on some good EL's, they give you another amp almost. Volume has a big effect on overall tone as well. Each channel has it's own interactive factors, lots of tweaking. They 'seem' simple....

Owning a MKV is probably the musical equivalent to being a polygamist. It looks like fun, but it's complicated :lol: :lol:

 

[Mork]

SD-1 is set to drive the amp a little harder when I need that "insane" overdive sound- the sort that makes your guitar feedback as soon as you unmute the strings.... I keep the drive down low otherwise it introduces hiss.

 

[ryjan]

Owning a MKV is probably the musical equivalent to being a polygamist. It looks like fun, but it's complicated :lol: :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[trippedover]

Thanks for the help guys...I'm understanding the overdrive pedal and it's place now.

I did manage to figure out how to get rid of the humongously loud ambient noise coming from the effects loop....I was running my guitar mag p/u's into a dunlop wah and then into an EB JR Volume pedal, then plugging that back to my GCX Switcher. I changed it so that the wah and volume are now before the ART SGX Nitro processor and I cannot believe how quiet it has become! I also had my noisegate on the ART set to almost 90 percent and it didn't do anything....now I had to turn it way down! I guess I just had to think about my signal flow a little more!

I think I have found the most perfect Eric Johnson tone on Ch2! I will have to post the settings when I get home this evening. I was jamming with my vocalist last night (who also plays bass), and he stopped and was just in awe at the tone I was getting...unbelievable!

I'm a little hesitant to swap tubes out at this point...my first all tube amp, and I'm seeming to find my sound out of it as a stock amp...unless someone can sway me with some audio clips that compare stock to the exchanged tubes?

Does anyone here have their MK V mounted in a road case? I am currently building a road case for mine, with a 6-space rack on top. I'm wondering if I should secure the amp down with a strap of some sort, or just use the foam that I will be installing to hold it in?