New boogie

[DC42]

Agreed....have fun with yours as well! Off topic a bit I liked the EL34L's on channels 1 & 2 but not 3. Did not spend a lot of time on that channel so can probably tweak a bit more.

 

[zolimer]

Agreed....have fun with yours as well! Off topic a bit I liked the EL34L's on channels 1 & 2 but not 3. Did not spend a lot of time on that channel so can probably tweak a bit more.

With this amp I am primarily going for channel 2 and channel 3 sounds that I can get from it with the amp. On channel 1 I'll use the effects loop to add in a little bit of delay to sweeten up the sound. Or to throw a fuzz pedal on the front end for some bluesy type stuff.

 

[zolimer]

Agreed....have fun with yours as well! Off topic a bit I liked the EL34L's on channels 1 & 2 but not 3. Did not spend a lot of time on that channel so can probably tweak a bit more.

With this amp I am primarily going for channel 2 and channel 3 sounds that I can get from it with the amp. On channel 1 I'll use the effects loop to add in a little bit of delay to sweeten up the sound. Or to throw a fuzz pedal on the front end for some bluesy type stuff.

As far as switching the power tubes goes, i'm a little bit new to the game with this amp to go there at this point.

 

[DC42]

Yes stick with the stock build for sure. Tubes can be a cool experiment down the road. Keep rockin...\m/

 

[zolimer]

I've been playing the heck out of this Mark five. But tonight I revisited my DC five, and I would like to share a video with you of a nice little off-the-cuff jam that I was inspired to do.

https://youtu.be/kmZDWbZGwnA

 

[DC42]

Nice!

 

[vapul]

I also just picked up a new mark v 35 head, from Sweetwater as well. It's been many years since I've owned a boogie (mark iii head), or even a tube amp. For low practicing volumes the tones sound good if you dial them in (as usual), but I forgot how audible tube amps can be in a quiet room. the fan / analog operating noise isn't really loud but it's always there. My old mark iii wasn't the quietest of amps but that was 100w and really only used in a band rehearsal / gig setting.

Not keen on swapping out the fan on such a new unit. How are you guys finding modern boogies in terms of overall operating noise for low volume practice?

 

[DC42]

The fan is ultra quiet in the Mark V I have. Had a TC-100 and the fan was annoying (at small room levels). Couldn't hear it when playing but when taking a break it drove me nuts. Was going to swap it out but sold the amp.

Was surprised at the quiet level of the fan in the Mark V (90W). Same with noise level on the amp overall. Had a Mark V:25 which I thought was kind of noisy.

DC

 

[vapul]

The fan is ultra quiet in the Mark V I have. Had a TC-100 and the fan was annoying (at small room levels). Couldn't hear it when playing but when taking a break it drove me nuts. Was going to swap it out but sold the amp.

Was surprised at the quiet level of the fan in the Mark V (90W). Same with noise level on the amp overall. Had a Mark V:25 which I thought was kind of noisy.

DC

Thanks for the input. I'm gonna keep an eye (or ear) on it. Like I said I haven't owned a tube amp in quite some time. Nothing sounds "wrong", it's not a tube issue or a rattle / bolt thing. It's probably normal fan / analog component noise that I'll either have to get used to. This thing sounds great so I don't want to nitpick here.

 

[mace]

Mark V fan is quiet, I never notice it, even when playing at home at bedroom volumes.

TC-50 and Rectoverb 25 are fanless, which is nice.

 

[zolimer]

I also just picked up a new mark v 35 head, from Sweetwater as well. It's been many years since I've owned a boogie (mark iii head), or even a tube amp. For low practicing volumes the tones sound good if you dial them in (as usual), but I forgot how audible tube amps can be in a quiet room. the fan / analog operating noise isn't really loud but it's always there. My old mark iii wasn't the quietest of amps but that was 100w and really only used in a band rehearsal / gig setting.

Not keen on swapping out the fan on such a new unit. How are you guys finding modern boogies in terms of overall operating noise for low volume practice?

My fan is quiet as well. It doesn't bother me at all. But I will quote Mesa's advice out of my manual for my mark five.

" The cooling fan is fitted with an on/off switch to allow silent running in the studio or late night practicing and lower wattage settings. We recommend leaving the fan on whenever possible to increase the tone full life of your power tubes. Basically if the sound doesn't bother you.. Leave the cooling fan on all the time"

So it looks like if you want to leave the fan off specially in the lower watt settings the only thing you have to lose is a little bit of tube life. No harm no foul.

 

[zolimer]

The fan is ultra quiet in the Mark V I have. Had a TC-100 and the fan was annoying (at small room levels). Couldn't hear it when playing but when taking a break it drove me nuts. Was going to swap it out but sold the amp.

Was surprised at the quiet level of the fan in the Mark V (90W). Same with noise level on the amp overall. Had a Mark V:25 which I thought was kind of noisy.

DC

Thanks for the input. I'm gonna keep an eye (or ear) on it. Like I said I haven't owned a tube amp in quite some time. Nothing sounds "wrong", it's not a tube issue or a rattle / bolt thing. It's probably normal fan / analog component noise that I'll either have to get used to. This thing sounds great so I don't want to nitpick here.

I will be honest with you, I don't think you can fall in love with this amp unless you try to push it a little bit. Low-volume practice is fine, but you're going to fall in love with this thing if you crank it up

By the way, if you do crank it up turn the fan on. LOL

 

[jb's 52]

The fan can be easily removed and cleaned with compressed air. Might help the noise issues. I never tried Deoxit on a fan, but that might be able to quiet them.

 

[vapul]

The fan is ultra quiet in the Mark V I have. Had a TC-100 and the fan was annoying (at small room levels). Couldn't hear it when playing but when taking a break it drove me nuts. Was going to swap it out but sold the amp.

Was surprised at the quiet level of the fan in the Mark V (90W). Same with noise level on the amp overall. Had a Mark V:25 which I thought was kind of noisy.

DC

Thanks for the input. I'm gonna keep an eye (or ear) on it. Like I said I haven't owned a tube amp in quite some time. Nothing sounds "wrong", it's not a tube issue or a rattle / bolt thing. It's probably normal fan / analog component noise that I'll either have to get used to. This thing sounds great so I don't want to nitpick here.

I will be honest with you, I don't think you can fall in love with this amp unless you try to push it a little bit. Low-volume practice is fine, but you're going to fall in love with this thing if you crank it up

By the way, if you do crank it up turn the fan on. LOL

Today was the first time I had an opportunity to play at some decent volumes through a marshall 2x12 cab, at the 35 watt setting. It was nice to push a little air, haven't really done that since I owned a mark iii head back in the day. That was years ago, and I have to get used to dialing in a mark series amp again. Tried it with both active and passive pickups, mostly playing around with high gain stuff. Dialed in a bunch of cool tones for rhythm work, didn't quite get there with the lead tones I have in my head from the old mark iii days.

I've never used a lot of effects (just used the reverb in the amp today), but those old lead tones are probably boosted in my mind by the nature of good memories, and a lot of time passing. I'll get to a place I'm happy with.

I hope you're enjoying your recent amp as much as I am mine. Good luck and thanks for the feedback.

 

[vapul]

I also just picked up a new mark v 35 head, from Sweetwater as well. It's been many years since I've owned a boogie (mark iii head), or even a tube amp. For low practicing volumes the tones sound good if you dial them in (as usual), but I forgot how audible tube amps can be in a quiet room. the fan / analog operating noise isn't really loud but it's always there. My old mark iii wasn't the quietest of amps but that was 100w and really only used in a band rehearsal / gig setting.

Not keen on swapping out the fan on such a new unit. How are you guys finding modern boogies in terms of overall operating noise for low volume practice?

My fan is quiet as well. It doesn't bother me at all. But I will quote Mesa's advice out of my manual for my mark five.

" The cooling fan is fitted with an on/off switch to allow silent running in the studio or late night practicing and lower wattage settings. We recommend leaving the fan on whenever possible to increase the tone full life of your power tubes. Basically if the sound doesn't bother you.. Leave the cooling fan on all the time"

So it looks like if you want to leave the fan off specially in the lower watt settings the only thing you have to lose is a little bit of tube life. No harm no foul.

On the Mark V 35 head, the back panel doesn't have a fan on/off switch. I saw that switch on the 90w Mark V head. Unless the fan unit itself has a switch on it, I don't think it's an option for me.

It's not really big deal to me, and down the road I may switch out the fan.