OFFICIAL MARK V TONE SETTINGS THREAD

[IronSean]

Hi, as a new owner of a brand new Mark V, I was hoping that my endless quest for that Metallica MOP tone was nearly over, and I think it might be. I found these settings after a bit of research on the internet. The eq's are inspired by flemming rasmussen's notes, more so from the song "Battery"

Playing through 81/60 emg pickups
Chan. 3
Mark IIC+ Setting
CH 3 NORMAL
Gain 3.30 oclock
Master 10 oclock
Presence 10.45 oclock
Treble 2.15-2.30 oclock
Mid 9.45 oclock
Bass 8.30 oclock
Triode

EQ V
80hz bottom of the slider sits on the middle line
240hz 0 boost
750hz scooped equal to bottom line
2200hz top of the slider sits on the middle line
6600hz bottom of the slider sits on the middle line

now I tried these settings, and I thought gee... theres still quite a bit of mids here, but if i try to scoop out more with my MXR 10 ban eq, i'm gonna lose all my sound. Thats were I was wrong. By looking at Rasmussen's notes i tried it with the second eq and wow i was blown away. Here are the settings for the 10 band eq in the fx loop

125Hz about 4.5db boost
1KHz minus 6 to 8db, adjust to taste
4KHz about 6 to 9db boost

Still fiddling with the 1KHz and the 4KHz. They're really the key of the sound here
Every thing else sits at 0, including volume and gain.

With those settings the sound is actually more present even tho more mids are scooped out, pretty surprising.
Now keep in mind, I am not playing in a big room so my amp isn't set up ridiculously loud, but still. Might need a bit of knob tweaking if cranking it up big time. Anyway, tell me what you think if you wanna try these out. i think i'm on the right track here but any help or suggestion is appreciated.

Cheers

An addendum to these Master of Puppets settings, the EQs they used in the studio were actually three band parametric, not graphic. And they had the highs set to a shelving instead of a single point frequency, so to best duplicate it with an MXR 10 band you would actually do this:

31/62 Hz: +/-0 dB (or a cut, if you want to emulate the low pass on the Mics)
125 HZ: +4.5 dB
250/500 Hz: +/-0 dB
1 KHz: -6 dB
2 KHz: -1.5 dB (because they scooped 1.2 KHz, this might simulate that a bit, plus not sure what the Q is on that control).
4/8/16 KHz: +6-9 dB (Varied by song).

...then there's the speakers, cabinet, mics (6 by my reading?), mic positions, Mic EQs... but those extra highs do add a bit more fire.

 

[skoora]

Hot Rod Plexi/800

EL34's
CH 1 Tite Clean
Gain maxed
volume somewhere over halfway. Gives the extra sauce when up.
Treble 3 O'Clock
Mid's and Bass 10-11 O/Clock. More mids gives a little more girth or grunt but less will give more clarity.
Presence 1-3 O'Clock
I've been using 10 and 45 watt settings. Varian or high power.
Master at 10/11 O'Clock at least. (I use an attenuator)

 

[rekster]

Recently picked up a Mark V head. Having some troubles dialing in tones, everything seems to lack bottom end.. Especially channel 3 - seems nothing sounds good unless I activate the graphic EQ. Should I be able to get good tones without this EQ engaged? I will go over everyones settings on this board and see if I can get somewhere with it.

I've read there's an editable PSD file for keeping track of settings. All the links are dead. Could someone please email it to me? [email protected]

Thanks so much!

 

[skoora]

you'll need to use the graphic for channel 3 but shouldn't need it for 1 and 2.

 

[skoora]

I feel I got a great approximation of the Social D tone from the self titled album from 1990. With my LP Junior, So Far Away sounded spot on with these settings on CH 2 (I'm running EL34's)

 

[RollysGuitars]

Hey Guys, I've recorded a new video about my Mark V settings. I went for a nice low gain bluesy sound! Hope you like it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyCAP1q3Nz0

 

[Thaymz]

Hi All

Having recently discovered my love for tweed, thought I would put a very short video of how it sounds. Exact settings are in the description.

https://youtu.be/Kx1Oi4CO6Qk

Hope you enjoy these settings as much as I do!

 

[RLW.70]

Hello lovely people ... just picked up a Mark V 90W head and was lazily hoping someone would have posted a photo or settings for Jerry Garcia type tone - aka Twin mod into a McIntosh type thing - which this amp should be able to more or less model. Really just trying to save myself hours and find a nice base from which to start. I've done the obvious - EQ inverted V, Treble & Base at 9 oclock, Mid at 3 oclock - cleanish settings on various spots - reverb at noon ... If anyone has ideas of advice, other than gratuitous comments, please post. Thanks in advance ....

OH, not 60s Jerry, mid 70s onward where he used Irwin custom guitars into twins and a mesa at one point as well. Also, if anyone has a bog standard Trey base settings that would be nice as well .... I know, demanding bugger I am.

And please again, can I appeal to the better nature of people on the board and ask that if your comment includes - dude, take acid ... dude, they suck ... dude, it's all in the fingers man ... just please try a small amount of trolling self control and don't clog up the works with gratuitous comments, please Thanks.

 

[RMosack]

I started another thread, but maybe this should be here.

1) Which of the three clean modes on channel one would be the best starting point for dialing in a Hiwatt type clean tone on the Mark V? For example, I know that I'd use the Tweed mode if I wanted to use channel 1 for Fender Tweed type tones. I would probably play with Clean or Fat to decide which is the best starting point for a Blackface Fender tone. But since I don't know enough about the inherent tone/EQ of Hiwatts, I'm not sure.

2) Anybody have any suggested settings?


Reason I'm asking is that I have a dedicated pedalboard inspired by Gilmour type tones. For these, the amp itself is basically a clean pedal platform. But not just any amp. Gilmour uses Hiwatts for a reason, and it's not only headroom. I'd love to be able to develop a "faux Hiwatt" on channel one of the Mark V.

 

[lcwoods529]

Guys,

I'm REALLY struggling finding a recorded modern-ish metal tone from my Mark V 90w. Coming from the amp and cab, itself..great. Recorded, not so much. It always sounds boxy or honky. Or, it's great solo but, with the whole mix it doesn't cut thru at all. I can get close to an old school Puppets/Justice era tone, which is great, but..not what I'm looking for on my recordings.

Mic position is an SM-57 center cone, 1". Stiletto cab, V30s.

Help?

 

[mace]

From another thread (saturation mod):

That being said, I love the rhythm sound of Appetite for Destruction. The combination of Izzy's Mark iii and Slash's Marshall is great in my opinion, neither of which are bottom heavy at all.

My current band does a lot of Appetite and I am the “Izzy”. I ended up dialing in Mark V channel 2 with gain at 11-12:00, treble 2:00, mid 2-3:00, bass 9-10:00, presence 12-1:00. It was a nice counter to the lead guy’s very fizzy distorted solid state Blackstar tones. The Mark V is on the rhythm part.

Here is a video from halloween (Izzy Spock) and I think I was in 45W mode with the diodes rectify-ing. vertical 2x12 mesa cabinet. Recording was a mix of the little Zoom 4HN and some direct channels.

Anyhoo, enjoy some local hacks out having fun. This video gives the best idea for the tone because the ryhthm part is somewhat alone, especially at the beggining.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8fs-4Whus7A

Slash was not in costume, that is that guy’s real hair!

For searchers: guns and roses tone gnr Izzy Slash

 

[Wayno]

Looks like great fun had by all. Nice crunch to your tone too. Compounds the valve verses solid state opinion for me. I like it, great tune too, love that song, really aggressive song. What guitar you using?

 

[mace]

It was a PRS Mark Holcomb model, the cheaper model (although still not real cheap). It plays really nice.

 

[Wayno]

Nice, would love me a PRS one day. Passive pups yeah?

 

[mace]

yep! But pretty “hot” and geared more for the high gain stuff when volume pot is on 10. The tone cleans up really nice, though, when the volume is rolled back.

 

[kurko1992]

hi guys, can you help me to get (more or less) the foo fighters tone with my MESA/Boogie Mark Five:35 Head?

thanks

 

[_AJ_]

I know the amp has been around for a while, but I got mine (90W) about five months ago, and I'm still learning it. I think I've figured out some key elements that others might want to know about:

- Sit as much as possible with the speaker pointed directly at you when you adjust the settings. You have to be careful with volumes while doing it, to not damage your ears. But the sound is very directional - especially high frequencies, and especially with a single speaker. What you often find when you do that, if you've been standing above it while adjusting, is that you've been setting the Treble and Presence controls too high. And sometimes mids, depending on the mode.

- The Treble and Presence controls on the channels are very sensitive, and very small adjustments can make a big difference.

- There is always a balance between Pre- and Post- EQ. Generally, the higher the gain, the lower you should set EQ controls on the channel, and instead boost them at the end with the Slider or Preset EQ. Especially the high frequencies.

- A last tip, which applies to most master volume amps, is that you often want to ease back on the gain from where you thought you wanted it, and instead turn up the volume. That reduces the compression of preamp gain, which gives you a bigger, more open sound, while still getting the gain you want.

I found that all of this is how you avoid the "ice pick" harshness that a lot of people have complained about. Hope it helps others.

 

[mace]

Hi there,

You are spot on about the Output volume or master volume and gain. That has by my experience as well.

I found that at home, at low volumes, channel 2 "CRUNCH" with gain at noon was just too weak, no sustain, no ooomph. But, when I'd gig, the amp just opens up and gives that narly classic rock punchy gritty tone on channel 2. So, yeah, maybe add gain for the bedroom low volume silkyness but back it off, like to noon or maybe 1-2 o'clock when at gig volumes (like 110 dB type levels) to get a grind with some great body and punch in crunch mode of channel 2.

Your other comments are good, too. Speaker placement/orientation is so important to overall high frequency cut. I mentioned this in the infamous "AT7 mod" thread, that the speaker placement has a huge influence on the agressiveness of the tone. The dB level does also, because human hearing is not linear over the audible dB range. Hence, the bedroom level high gain scoop, and gig more med gain flat settings.

 

[misterwiggles]

Hi everyone -

I was browsing through all the settings suggestions. A lot of heavy, high-gain type of stuff - and I know this amp is amazing with that - but

What about some more subtle jazz settings? Anyone mess around with looking for these?

Any ideas are appreciated!

 

[primeholy]

I'm looking for Jake E Lee and Randy Randy Rhoads era Ozzy tone. I am covering "Shot in the Dark" and "Crazy Train".