Need advice - Mesa Dilemma

[MkVMann]

I went to a local GC and played in their Mesa room for 2.5hrs and went there with the Mark V in mind but i'll be damned if the Triple Rectifier didn't have my attention as well.

So I settled on the Mark V simply because of the tones I've heard people get out of it. I've had it since Monday. I am an old school plug and go type player (played on original 5150) but knew going in this Mark V needs tweaking to achieve what I want out of it. This amp is amazing but I am having a hard time dialing in what I want. I've got my clean almost nailed down, I've not messed with CH2 much and have been going over CH3 for the last few days trying different settings.

I have it set to Petrucci's live rig settings he posted. I feel like i'm getting close. I'm no fan of Lamb of God but the videos of them with their Mark V's are pretty close to what i'm looking for. That raw, rip your head off low end when grinding on E open and palmed. I'm going to go over their settings tonight.

With this said, should I place a TS9 in front of the Mark V? Right now i'm running chorus on clean and a Bad Horsie II. The moral of this story is, that triple rec is still in the back of my mind. It had this tight almost black album feel to it and I hardly tweaked it at the store.

I'm conflicted. I'm going to mess with and tweak this Mark V over the next week and I have 30 days to decide then I can always go back and score the triple rec.

What i'm looking for out of this Mark V is a little more saturation while chugging down, right now it sounds ok but just seems dry to my hand when going for it. I'd appreciate any thoughts on this, it's my first Mesa and it's awesome to see it setup in my house.

 

[SonicProvocateur]

Ill say this: As a Mark III player, I went to test the Mark V (and my friends pre-order Mark V combo) numerous times) and it just didn't have "it" right off the bat. It lacked the huge bottom end I had at low volumes on my Mark III with the pull deep, but I realized the more I thought about it that it's really a fine tuned machine. It sounds really excellent with some more volume behind it, and excels in spades when recorded (I had this query when I tested the Mark IV, I couldn't find "my sound" but every Mark IV i've heard just records great!). It seems like a paradox. I'd say let her rip on some volume, check around on here for some settings, even youtube, and i'm sure you'll find the tones your looking for. I sure didn't have enough time to get the sounds I wanted, but I came close and I still may get one yet...

 

[bluestometal]

If Petrucci and Metallica tones are what you're looking for (or any tight low end chugga with a warmth inside) the any Recto in NOT what you're looking for. Into the Mesa enciclopedya tightness's under the Mark chapter. If you're looking for more nu metal flubby distortions or icy cleans or spongy dirties the, maybe, you can grab a Recto and have some fun to better understand where to move. The Mark V, just like any other Mark series amp, is a fine tuning machine, you've to tweak, tweak and tweak some more before you can barely hear you're on the right track. I assume this head has stock Mesa tubes and they're pretty beaten up, usually Mesa tubes are not too gainy, if you could try JJ's you could hear a more "agressive" creamy sound (but I've heard current Mesa tubes are also JJ's rebranded over Sovtek's, so what you're hearing's already JJ's), also are you running it at a good volume? And are you using the combo or the head? In case you're using the combo... heh... I'm not a big fan of the C90's and if you're using the head what cab are you using with it? Recto's are also very tweakable, specially with eq's in the loop and od's in front. As rule of thumb if you can just try both, try it very hard (specially on volume) and trust your ears.

 

[MkVMann]

I have a new Mark V head sitting on a 4x12 rectifier cab (slant). I messed with it more last night and found something I like on CH3 Mark IV setting, I also switched to pentode and I think that was a sweet spot for me. I have to go back tonight and mess with it more.

I also want to take it over to a buddies house and crank it up and let it rip. I love the Triple Rectifier for it's plug n play value and even the sound is awesome but the Mark V just has that "it" sound. The tightness and quick response not to mention the extreme versatility of it has me hooked. I just need to be more patient with it and become more of a tweaker I guess.

I picked up a TS9 tube screamer yesterday for it but it didn't make anything sound better, I also need to play with it as well otherwise I will take it back.

 

[bluestometal]

I have a new Mark V head sitting on a 4x12 rectifier cab (slant).

Good It also works very well with the 2x12 Recto Std

but the Mark V just has that "it" sound.

Admit it: you're already into the Mark family and wont say it loud to don't hurt the Recto's

 

[MkVMann]

I have a new Mark V head sitting on a 4x12 rectifier cab (slant).

Good It also works very well with the 2x12 Recto Std

but the Mark V just has that "it" sound.

Admit it: you're already into the Mark family and wont say it loud to don't hurt the Recto's

I'm guessing so because like I said the "Mark" sound is just well..Mark. lol

I guess it's the dialing in that is killing me so far, I mean I always used a 5150 so stop and think of the differences i'm dealing with here. So what about this Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer? Keep it and tweak it or take it back?

 

[bluestometal]

So what about this Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer? Keep it and tweak it or take it back?

Keep tweaking it but look out at other od pedals (BB Preamp and similar). My other guitarist've used the ts9 a lot with all his Mesa heads and combos but it also depends by what you're looking for into a pedal, a boost? Add a different flavor/coloration? If it's just for volume/tone boost for solos I suggest you to play wit an eq into the FX loop (and the solo level of the head), if it's for coloration (and add one more sound to the palette)... heh... that's a whole new quest I've messed up a lot with pedals in front of the amp in the past and then gave up 'cause I was spending more time pluggin and unpluggin than playing but, everytime I use a fat clean sound I think "how could it sound like with some saturation in front of it?"

 

[MkVMann]

OK! I took it over to a buddies house and cranked it a little. OMFG! Game the F@#$% over!

I have no further questions on the subject of Mark V vs Triple Rectifier. Holy **** the sound was insane and for some reason it cut straight through the walls of the house and when outside you could hear it perfectly, no muffled sound. Either he has cheap walls or the Mark V was mean to make house walls seem non existent.

I will be taking the TS9 back, it's worthless for me. I will start looking into other options to really get a good rig going. Triaxis? FX etc.

 

[bluestometal]

OMFG! Game the F@#$% over!

Said you

I have no further questions on the subject of Mark V vs Triple Rectifier. Holy sh!t the sound was insane and for some reason it cut straight through the walls of the house and when outside you could hear it perfectly, no muffled sound. Either he has cheap walls or the Mark V was mean to make house walls seem non existent.

I've a soundproof room at my house... and it seems it's not so soundproof since I use Mark based amps

I will be taking the TS9 back, it's worthless for me.

The MKV's versatile enough to use it all alone, specially if you're a grab'n'play guy.

I will start looking into other options to really get a good rig going. Triaxis? FX etc.

Why the Triaxis? Are you going for a bi-amp/stereo rig? Then wich poweramp (2:90 I suppose)? As for the FX I use the T.C. Electronics G-Major and it works very well into my Triaxis rig, you can also take a Voodoo Lab GCX switcher (or similar) and use pedals in a midi based rig (veeery usefull).

I'm really happy you go for the Mark sound, as I said:

Admit it: you're already into the Mark family and wont say it loud to don't hurt the Recto's

 

[jpdennis]

OK! I took it over to a buddies house and cranked it a little. OMFG! Game the F@#$% over! ...

+1. I found the same with my Mark III when I got it back from Mike at mesa. Cuts like a knife on steroids right through - the mix, the house, the sound barrier ... :shock:

Must be a Mark thing :mrgreen:

Dennis

PS; Wait until you can crank it a lot!!

 

[MkVMann]

Oh trust me, it was so loud it had my ears ringing and my ears have heard a lot of jam sessions. I know fark about FX etc. I mentioned Triaxis because i'm clueless but you always see them being used alongside Mesa gear.

I'll start looking around on the FX front, T.C. Electronics G-Major 2 looks cool but I don't know much about it yet. Time to read up on those things.

Mesa Mark Series for life!

 

[bluestometal]

Mesa Mark Series for life!

I'll start looking around on the FX front, T.C. Electronics G-Major 2 looks cool but I don't know much about it yet. Time to read up on those things.

Take your time, learn to know the amp first, all the tones it can reproduce and then start to think to what you may really need as fx (just one delay or programmable delays, a basic chorus or more articulate modulations etc...) and how you need it (tap dancing stomp boxes or midi or both).