I finally got it! Picked one up from a nice store about an hour away from my house, it was the only combo they had and the guy said it had been sitting there for about a week, and that was the longest a Mark V had been sitting on the floor there! I am continuing to be amazed by it. Although i've got a few questions.
The clean channel is absolutely phenomenal! Literally not a bad sound in there, although I haven't played around with tweed that much, but clean and fat are just STELLAR. Better than a Fender Twin imo. The reverb is just so lush and it takes pedals so well. I'm wondering if anyone uses any EQ on the clean channel for a clean clean sound? I have it bypassed completely and it sounds perfect.
I've found the 2nd channel the hardest to approach. Crunch is where I've stayed mostly, and I can get a nice, semi-saturated thick Alex Lifeson/Petrucci esque rhythm sound, that also sounds great for spanky stuff with single coils. Although I'm sort of dissapointed in MK 1 mode. I had read alot before hand on how to eq that, with tons of treble and presence, very little bass, etc to get rid of that "blanket." But with that, I just get a really harsh, almost solid state sounding tone. As a matter of fact, I have all my settings with zero presence, anymore just adds so much harshness to the tone. But with normal settings on MK1 mode, or less treble, no presence is just that "blanketed" tone. How can I get that lush, smooth, saturated lead tone that the MK1 is famous for? I'm talking Larry Carlton, Eric Johnson, Allan Holdsworth, etc. I can cop a pretty good EJ tone with a BB preamp and Pork Loin together on the clean channel, but how can I get close to that on the MK1 mode?
Channel 3 had a pretty steep learning curve, at first I was dissapointed, but I found some really nice settings and generally use MKIIc+ or MKIV to get a really really nice Petrucci tone. If it's MKIIc+ its on triode, and MIV on pentode. I've noticed without changing the knobs and changing between the two that MKIV has a bit more gain, and MKIIc+ is much smoother and liquidesque.
Overall, all the general features of the amp, IE solo control, reverb and footswitch is incredible. I've stayed mainly in 90 watt mode on all the channels. Not because the others sound bad, its just 90 sounds perfect the way it is!
I'm really impressed with the volume too, It sounds great at low volumes, but really opens up at a nice balance of loudness and practicality. Much nicer volume curve than my old DC5.
The clean channel is absolutely phenomenal! Literally not a bad sound in there, although I haven't played around with tweed that much, but clean and fat are just STELLAR. Better than a Fender Twin imo. The reverb is just so lush and it takes pedals so well. I'm wondering if anyone uses any EQ on the clean channel for a clean clean sound? I have it bypassed completely and it sounds perfect.
I've found the 2nd channel the hardest to approach. Crunch is where I've stayed mostly, and I can get a nice, semi-saturated thick Alex Lifeson/Petrucci esque rhythm sound, that also sounds great for spanky stuff with single coils. Although I'm sort of dissapointed in MK 1 mode. I had read alot before hand on how to eq that, with tons of treble and presence, very little bass, etc to get rid of that "blanket." But with that, I just get a really harsh, almost solid state sounding tone. As a matter of fact, I have all my settings with zero presence, anymore just adds so much harshness to the tone. But with normal settings on MK1 mode, or less treble, no presence is just that "blanketed" tone. How can I get that lush, smooth, saturated lead tone that the MK1 is famous for? I'm talking Larry Carlton, Eric Johnson, Allan Holdsworth, etc. I can cop a pretty good EJ tone with a BB preamp and Pork Loin together on the clean channel, but how can I get close to that on the MK1 mode?
Channel 3 had a pretty steep learning curve, at first I was dissapointed, but I found some really nice settings and generally use MKIIc+ or MKIV to get a really really nice Petrucci tone. If it's MKIIc+ its on triode, and MIV on pentode. I've noticed without changing the knobs and changing between the two that MKIV has a bit more gain, and MKIIc+ is much smoother and liquidesque.
Overall, all the general features of the amp, IE solo control, reverb and footswitch is incredible. I've stayed mainly in 90 watt mode on all the channels. Not because the others sound bad, its just 90 sounds perfect the way it is!
I'm really impressed with the volume too, It sounds great at low volumes, but really opens up at a nice balance of loudness and practicality. Much nicer volume curve than my old DC5.
