Need some help from MKV owners

[jamesfarrell]

I have my amp at the shop. Mesa is saying there's nothing wrong with it.

When I use Channel 3, with the gain up all the way, bright switch on, reverb 50% I get this squealing that gets progressively louder. Reverb off, problem goes away. Channel 2, gan maxxed, no issues with reverb @ 50-100%

Mesa is telling me you can't use channel 3 with the gain all the way up, bright switch on and reverb on without squealing. Even though, they tried this experiment with gain up, bright switch on, and reverb on and did not have the issue.

I had a guy on rig talk try this with his. He doesn't have the issue either.

I'm wondering if someone on here would try this for me and report back the results. This thing is 2 months old.

Thanks

 

[Hypnotoad696]

pretty basic, but have you tried retubing it?

 

[jamesfarrell]

Retubed it was the first thing I did. Shop tried new tubes too, new reverb tank. Mesa said they'd sent out another tank, but it's not the **** tank, it doesn't do this on channel 1 or 2.

 

[Archlute75]

Why would you be surprised? The manual even talks about tube squeal if the gain and treble are pushed to high together, so why be surprised if you're using the settings you gave?

 

[jamesfarrell]

Well then why am I the only one having this issue? You can't run the gain high and have reverb on?

Tried it on channel 2, gain maxxed, tried reverb on 50% and even 100%, no issues.

I mean if it's user error, I would fully take responsibility. But my last MKV I had a couple years back did not have this issue and others state it's not an issue for them.

 

[John BNY]

I have several high gain amps, and if I crank the gain and reverb on any of them, they all will squeal. Hasn't been a problem with me, because I think amps sound like crap if you dime the gain.

 

[ryjan]

If I may ask, why would you turn the gain up to max on channel 3?
I liken this to taking your car back to the dealership because it spins out when you attempt a hairpin turn at 180 mph.

 

[Monstercastle]

If I may ask, why would you turn the gain up to max on channel 3?

My question as well. I have the V:25 and on channel 2 I'm dripping with gain with it at noon on the IV or Xtrem voicing.

 

[jamesfarrell]

When I have channel 3 at noon, there's not much Gain. 3:00, a little more. Channel 2 has more gain it seems.
Maybe I'm just use to tube amps that have a lot of saturation. This one doesn't seem to unless I dime the gain. I got the thing back today and there's nothing wrong with it I'm told.

The reverb on channel 2 is far more prominent also. The tech at MB said this was normal. So I guess this is all user error. I wish I had a buddy with a MKV so I could check his out and compare.

 

[jamesfarrell]

I do hear everyone that is saying my problems are by turning up the gain all the way on channel 3. I guess I don't know what gain is. To me, the amp at 12:00 for channel 3 gain is not nearly enough for metal I think. But I'm using this primarily by myself at bedroom levels. I realize in a live situation, you can't have the mids scooped and the gain dimed and use it like that.

I just don't have enough experience with tube amps. I've only owned a handful of them and years apart and one of them was a mark V as well a couple years ago that I had to sell.
So I'm still experimenting. I do see a fair amount of bashing though, even got a PM from one guy who said it's an over glorified bedroom amp.

I just want to know that I spent good money on something nice is all. I figured I would go boogie because of my perception that it's the best **** out there, if not close to it. That's why I chose boogie.

I just don't have anyone to go ask that plays Thrash and Metal "hey, what is considered enough gain?" I have nobody to ask and youtube clips don't do much.

 

[4406cuda]

Where is the channel volume set on channel 3?

 

[ryjan]

Pickups, instrument cable, household wiring, lights, etc.....
There are many, many things at play which all could potentially cause a high gain tube amp to be noisy.
Not to be rude but it sounds like user error to me. Or at least a problem that only exists when operating the amp outside of it's normal gain ranges.
Take a picture or give us the values of every knob and switch on the amp and I'll bet we can find something amiss with settings causing your perceived lack of saturation. Everything in your signal chain too.
Mark amps have a really stiff and dry feel to them and you do have to alter your playing style to get certain tones. If you are new to tube amps then this is simply your learning curve and if you stick it out and really get to know your amp and how it interacts with your playing it WILL make you a better player.

 

[ryjan]

I do see a fair amount of bashing though, even got a PM from one guy who said it's an over glorified bedroom amp.

I'll go on record stating that whoever said that is an imbecile. No slander, just stated fact.

 

[Archlute75]

Maybe I'm just use to tube amps that have a lot of saturation. This one doesn't seem to unless I dime the gain. I got the thing back today and there's nothing wrong with it I'm told.

I find that the best way to get saturation on the MkV is to boost ch2/3 with a dimed Tubescreamer or something like the Suhr a Koko boost. That's kind of standard for most tube amps, although it helps the Mark a little more, as folk have mentioned it can feel like a dry/stiff amp. Using the Variac power mode helps the feel, as well.

I usually use channels 2/3 on 45w with tube rectification and triode set respectively, and boost with a Tubescreamer. Gain set about 1-2 o'clock, channel vols around noon and master around 10-11 o'clock, but that's less important for me as I pipe my goods through a Torpedo Live to the PA.

 

[elvis]

One of the issues with running amps at bedroom levels is that you lose the speaker effects and the effects of high pressure sound in your ears. These come out as a lot of compression, which makes the amp sound way more saturated than it really is.

Trying to recreate that at low volume by diming the gain isn't going to work particularly well, especially since the tone balance will be skewed as well. Probably you will want to push a bit with a Tubescreamer/OD808/OCD/whatever, and partly you will want to work on your playing. Don't use gain as a crutch.

People moving from solid state amps to tube amps often have the same complaint because many of the SS amps (Like the Line 6 stuff) is way over the top saturated and they get lazy.

 

[John BNY]

If you haven't already, download the manual for the Mark V from the official site. It has very good suggestions for dialing in different tones. As for the person who thinks Mark Vs aren't any good, to each his/her own. I own a Marshall JVM 210 and a Blackstar Series One 200, and I think the Mark V is the best among them, and it is my go to amp when gigging out.

 

[jamesfarrell]

I do see a fair amount of bashing though, even got a PM from one guy who said it's an over glorified bedroom amp.

I'll go on record stating that whoever said that is an imbecile. No slander, just stated fact.

I left out the LOL he included. Here's my typical settings. This amp is kind of too much for what I need it for. I don't play cleans through it. I just need one tone, all out balls to the wall metal / thrash. But I figured it was pretty much the best thing in the price range, plus it just looks bad ***. People see it and bow to it. Run it in pentode mode usually. Unless the guys at the shop changed it. Can't recall what I had it at.

I also have this, but it's a little too sparkly I think. It's got a mod I did that allows 3 variations of the TS circuitry.

 

[jamesfarrell]

One of the issues with running amps at bedroom levels is that you lose the speaker effects and the effects of high pressure sound in your ears. These come out as a lot of compression, which makes the amp sound way more saturated than it really is.

Trying to recreate that at low volume by diming the gain isn't going to work particularly well, especially since the tone balance will be skewed as well. Probably you will want to push a bit with a Tubescreamer/OD808/OCD/whatever, and partly you will want to work on your playing. Don't use gain as a crutch.

People moving from solid state amps to tube amps often have the same complaint because many of the SS amps (Like the Line 6 stuff) is way over the top saturated and they get lazy.

Good post man. I think I have a wrong impression about gain, since I come from the world you just described. Modeling and whatnot. So I'm use to that fizzy type of saturation. Also, I'm not using the amp to the potential it was designed for. I do use it in 10W mode so I can turn it up a bit and I have my own soundproofed pretty good studio where I can crank it if I want, but I have to take care of my ears too at 43.

 

[elvis]

In my current band I made a commitment to myself to run as low a gain setting as I could stand. It was a pain, but after a couple years of it I am a WAY better player. Much stronger and cleaner. So when we play live, the volume adds some sustain and I feel like it's just smokin', but you can still hear me, no mush. My tone is better this way, too.

 

[SteveO]

I see from the picture that you have it set on Extreme mode. This mode has more gain than the other two, but it's also fatter and a bit smoother, and as such doesn't sound as distorted as IV and IIC+ modes (great for smooth, "singing" leads, but not so great for in your face 'chugga-chugga'). Also, I noticed that the channel master is dimed-that's not necessary at all. "Everything on ten, every man for himself" works for Marshalls, but it doesn't translate over to Boogies in the same way.

Try one of the other two modes, bring the channel master down, and bring the output master up if you need more volume. These amps take a little bit of time to really figure out and you haven't had yours for long, so spend a little more time playing with the controls and get a better feel for where the different sounds come from.

Oh-one other thing... You have it set to ten watts. Bringing it up to 45 or 90 will give you a much fatter sound, even at low volumes (the output master and effects loop send work together well to tame the beast for low-volume playing). Boogies get most of their sound from the preamp, so the whole concept of pushing the power section hard isn't really necessary, either.