New Mark V owner, effects loop question

[Nazgul666]

Well I bought one over the weekend and aothough I can see waht the excitement is about, I haven't gotten it just the way I want it yet. Coming from a JVM and DSL series Marshalls, which took me all of about 5 minutes to get sounding great, this is definitely an adjustment.

Anyway, one of the things is I noticed was that at one point I had the channel volume on about 2 o'clock AND the Master at about 2 O'Clock and although it was piercing, it certainly wasn't knocking pictures off the wall.

I'm at work now but what can I check to make sure I'm not missing something.

I'm on full power and 90 watt mode. Is there anything about the effects loop setting that could effect this?

 

[DaveP]

One thing I noticed with the effects loop is the level control with line level effects. I put a Nova Repeater in the loop and used the
FX loop line level jack on the Nova. I had to have the FX level completely counter-clockwise. If I put it in the middle notch it was
to much gain. I believe the control is there to adjust for non line level pedals.

 

[Nazgul666]

I guess what I'm asking is, if the loop is NOT hard bypassed on the back. Does the Send knob have any effect on the volume?

 

[screamingdaisy]

Yes.

 

[Nazgul666]

SO should I crank the send knob? Will that add gain too or just volume? I don't notice this in any of the posted suggested settings.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[fjk1138]

SO should I crank the send knob? Will that add gain too or just volume? I don't notice this in any of the posted suggested settings.

Thanks,

Mike

Set your pedal's FX level to about mid. Start with the FX knob on the back of the MkV off and slowly raise it until you can hear the FX repeats of the Nova Delay (you may hear the delays even with the FX knob off).

FWIW, I have a Digitech Digidelay. The FX send on the Mrk V is pointing just above the arrow that points to the left "Send" jack. Now, I know delay/repeat depth is open to personal taste, but I prefer a light depth level that accents one's playing rather than drowning in it. The effect level on the Digidelay is about 9 o'clock, and I have plenty of room to increase that amount if I want the sound to be totally washed out.

Hope this helps.

 

[screamingdaisy]

SO should I crank the send knob? Will that add gain too or just volume? I don't notice this in any of the posted suggested settings.

Thanks,

Mike

There's a centre detent that you'll feel as you rotate the knob. That's where you should leave it unless you're running FX in the loop.

 

[boogieman60]

Yep. set the knob at 12:00 and start from there. I run mine at about 1:00 for my digitech which I only use for a delay works great..saving up for a nova system. But the knob affects the levels acrooss the board.

 

[stevegit]

Hi Nazgul666
The FX knob should be kept in the centre as say's in manual (centre Dent NO PEDALS INSERTED) I find my Mark V too quiet at gig (90Watt) levels so I crank the FX knob flat out and even then it only just keeps up with my little Mesa Single Rec. I have replaced all 6L6 valves no difference. Mesa Reverb and fx loop over engineered, maybe I just got a bad one bought s/h £1700 uk. Always trust a Marshall.

 

[Chester]

Hi Nazgul666
The FX knob should be kept in the centre as say's in manual (centre Dent NO PEDALS INSERTED) I find my Mark V too quiet at gig (90Watt) levels so I crank the FX knob flat out and even then it only just keeps up with my little Mesa Single Rec. I have replaced all 6L6 valves no difference. Mesa Reverb and fx loop over engineered, maybe I just got a bad one bought s/h £1700 uk. Always trust a Marshall.

Interesting

I have owned a few, but did a total migration to Mesa from Marshall because they were under-engineered - couldn't stand the rattle 'n hum and lack of finesse. Loved the sound sig though, but now have all those bases covered with the Mesas

 

[Authorized Boogie]

Hi Nazgul666
The FX knob should be kept in the centre as say's in manual (centre Dent NO PEDALS INSERTED) I find my Mark V too quiet at gig (90Watt) levels so I crank the FX knob flat out and even then it only just keeps up with my little Mesa Single Rec. I have replaced all 6L6 valves no difference. Mesa Reverb and fx loop over engineered, maybe I just got a bad one bought s/h £1700 uk. Always trust a Marshall.

Clearly you're having an issue either with a preamp tube not sending enough signal, or the settings on the amp are not correct. The Mark V has no trouble keeping up with a Single Rec. Where do you have your settings at - specifically gain, channel master, and output? Have you tried swapping a 12AX7 throughout each preamp position to trobleshoot preamp tubes? Sounds like something relatively easy to sort out of you're able to provide a little more detail

 

[stevegit]

Hi, Thanks for your reply... on channel 3 my settings are Gain 3 o clock....master 10 o clock....pres 11 o clock...Treb 1 o clock...Mid 10 o clock..Bass 9 o clock
EQ normal V shape... all channels 90 watt mode (mark 4 mode) output 4 o clock.
One email I got from another mark v owner said his amp is blasting with output at 11 o clock. This amp is definitely down on power, I've even turned the efx send to max giving me a little more volume. Maybe the rectifier valve is down, your suggestion of preamp failure seems a likely one I guess. I bought amp 10 months ago s/h and I did change 2 preamp valves then, it might be worth me just changing all preamp valves. My mesa single rec 50 has never skipped a beat and is as loud as pigs... Thanks.

 

[Authorized Boogie]

Amp is on Full Power? Same issue on all 3 channels?

Do you have anything in the fx loop? Anything in front of the amp or just instrument? Any difference with the fx loop bypassed, or a simple patch cord from the send to the return with the fx loop engaged?

You don't necessarily need to change all the preamp tubes - but simply take one new/known good tube and run it through EACH position, one position at a time.

Did you replace the power tubes with MESA tubes? If not, did you use a power tube with a mid-draw current rating? You can test power tubes by keeping the amp on 45 watts and swapping the inner pair with the outer pair. If there is any difference, it could point to a bad tube.

Thanks! I'm confident we can get this sorted...

 

[stevegit]

Hello Mark2..I'm guessing you work for mesa as you seem to really know your stuff.
I had a amp expert check my amp out when I only had it a few weeks, the amp kept going dead and i was replacing same preamp tube myself V1 i think.
He said at that time all preamp valves are fine and just needed all 4 output valves replacing which he did. Everything seemed fine after that and is still working it's just my overall amp volume is low. He did replace with Mesa 6L6s. I sometimes use a TC Electronics Flashback pedal in fx loop but on the last gig I took the pedal out and cranked fx send to MAX to give me more volume. I have compared Mesa Mark V and Mesa singe Rec 50 at full blast whilst muting guitar strings and the single rec 50 is at least 50% louder. I emailed him last night and he's going to check it out for me next week. I have to drive 70 miles to see him but I think he's my best bet. He does all Jeff Beck's amp Brian Mays AC30, Angus Young's Marshalls his name is Mike Hill amp repairs Milton Keynes UK. Please google him. I did have another idea and that on my way to amp man stop off at coda music en route as they have a mesa mark v combo s/h, they said I could compare my mark v head against there combo now thats cool yeh? I don't mind if he changes all the preamp valves, this is my last stab at the Mesa Mark V and if this doesn't fix it I will never buy another. I do have a big gig coming up this Fri 4,000 people indoors, supplied 40k PA I'll use the Single Rec it's reliable and LOUD. The Mark V amp was built Oct 2010..Its very kind of you and I do appreciate your help... Steve

 

[bdubbs]

Steve send your map to Mesa or open a ticket with them to get it reapaired. You should still have your 5 year warranty.

I have a 100 watt JVM and a Mark V and my Mark V is a VERY loud amp. on channel 3 in extreme, to blast away my band i have channel volume at 10 and master at like 10. With a lot more in the tank running at 90 watt. I run channel 2 at 45 watt with tube rectifier with channel at 2 oclock and master at 10.

 

[Authorized Boogie]

Where are you located? If in the US contact us - if outside the US, contact your distributor! We are here to help. Thanks!

 

[stevegit]

Hi,
I,m in Uk and took my mesa mark v to Mike Hill (amp repairs service) in Milton Keynes. He fixes stuff for Jeff Beck, Brian May and many others. Top man.
The amp is pushing out 105 watts RMS we checked it. He looked over everything (he say's it's fine) and although I'm generally happy with the amp, still my mesa single rec 50 is louder than mark v bizarre!!!. This seems to be a gain problem not volume as gain is often confused with volume. To the human ear my mark v is definitely quieter than my single rec 50. I have compared my mark v head with a mark v combo and the combo is louder approx 20%.
Any Boogie experts advice would be much appreciated. Wish I could find another mark v head to compare.