Problems with your Mark V...it's you.

[OldTelecasterMan]

I thought this again should be brought up. I just reread it and I got a good laugh.

 

[Wayno]

If only there was more time for practice! Maybe the week should go like this, work monday, tuesday wednesday thursday practice, gig friday and saturday, rest sunday? Id be happy with that.

 

[Rick_Sanchez]

I have to confess I am not a tinker, my personality doesn't lend itself to details too well. This translates to guitar playing where I naturally started with basic stuff and took on progressively harder songs. I kind of got good but not great. I been playing 23 years. i don't know the notes on the fretboard by heart and I barely know any scales. That said, I can do you a Fade To Black solo or Comfortably Numb from the Pulse DVD with my eyes closed. To go in and learn a song note by note, bar by bar is very very tough for me.

Knowing this I had reservations about getting a Mark V. But Hetfield and Petrucci tone are just what I want. So knowing this I had to tackle it in a different way. I will one day find time to sit with every channel on the amp and learn it but that day is yet to come.

So to get around the learning curve and my own personality I did what all good IT workers do....I created a spreadsheet.

I now have a spreadsheet that contains all of the settings from the 20+ page tone thread, i've put settings in from youtube, petrucci setting, settings from other forums. Settings from the Mesa Boogie videos of the dudes playing 7 strings. i continue to add to it.

Now rather than muck about with the amp I just try all the different settings and mark the ones i like. Then i turn knobs to taste. it's my solution and I'm sticking to it

 

[skoora]

What I like about the V, having had one for 10 years now, is it can be whatever amp you want it to be. It also makes a killer power amp for my Quad pre. The power section changes re: Presence and negative feedback etc that each channel has when switching wattage and voicing are still are in affect when using It as power. If you’re a fan of vintage higher gain then getting the channel masters on CH1 and CH 2 up is a must. This amp loves an attenuator because the Mater volume higher is awesome. I much prefer 34’s in it as I like what they do for all the overdrive tones. You lose the bigger clean tones from 6L6’s but the cleans are still very good. FWIW I have run boogie 34’s in it regularly using full power, turned up fairly loud into an attenuator and the amp is still going strong. The current 34’s in it are the first ones I put in 9 years ago. It doesn’t get the steady playtime it would get if I was in a a band and it was my main amp but it has been played a lot in those years, always at volume.

 

[Markageddon]

I refer back to the manual's high speed race car analogy.
Not in the spinning out if you're not careful on corners aspect, but also in that they perform differently with different fuel (tubes).
Its a total high grade speed machine capable of speeds unthinkable, along long straights but sometimes its not that kind of track (The player's taste/stylistic requirement) and you might wanna fine tune and adapt it to the task's requirement if theres more bends, tighter corners.

The AT7 swap mod is perfect for that more vintage thing if you want that, or the modern thing with all its highs and voicing with the stock tubes. (But you have to dial it differently with the swap).
After that its all up to the player with their dialling and getting to know the amp.
(And how it treats pickups. This amp really lets the instrument speak. And sometimes different guitars/p'ups or indeed speakers make that difference you've been looking for. But the the preamp tube effect was undeniable. Especially the double mod of V4/V7.
It affects the 25s and 35s positively too, and they never had issues to start with, so there is definitely something to it!)

 

[rarebitusa]

What I like about the V, having had one for 10 years now, is it can be whatever amp you want it to be. It also makes a killer power amp for my Quad pre.

yea no kidding, love the V and only recently slaved it's power section to my IIC+... wow now that really expanded the tonal options. However, I do not recommend it for those wanting to make progress on any sort of a personal task list... cause you won't want to do anything else but noodle and explore

 

[skoora]

What I like about the V, having had one for 10 years now, is it can be whatever amp you want it to be. It also makes a killer power amp for my Quad pre.

yea no kidding, love the V and only recently slaved it's power section to my IIC+... wow now that really expanded the tonal options. However, I do not recommend it for those wanting to make progress on any sort of a personal task list... cause you won't want to do anything else but noodle and explore

Check out setting the V on ch 3, extreme when using as power. It’s huge for the source preamp.

 

[rarebitusa]

Check out setting the V on ch 3, extreme when using as power. It’s huge for the source preamp.

you know I typically don't run extreme mode on ch 3 and didn't checked it out with the C+ as the preamp, but will.... thanks!

 

[Thaymz]

Check out setting the V on ch 3, extreme when using as power. It’s huge for the source preamp.

you know I typically don't run extreme mode on ch 3 and didn't checked it out with the C+ as the preamp, but will.... thanks!

+1 on this. Extreme sounds huge as a power amp.

 

[dsky17]

I believe my particular amp has some issues. I have tried newer one's and they sound way better than my Mark V. Unfortunately when I bought it I should have taken the dusty one I played though (same one everyone else has played through as it appeared). I asked for the super clean one in the corner stacked on top of other amps. I should have played through it first before buying it. Oh well. At least I have something to experiment with.... :|

Definitely have to agree with you on that. I had the opportunity to play another Mk V recently and it truly sounded and felt quite different than mine. They’re complicated machines for sure, but these seem to have more variation from amp to amp than any other modern production amp out there.

The more time I play my Mk V though the better I understand the complex beast. It’s not an easy amp to play. And I’d agree with the comments about high end gear like this. While they have the ability to bring incredible tone to the table, they also will bring out imperfections in playing. To reap the rewards, gotta be practiced and on your game. But gear like this can help one up their game. That’s the harsh reality yet beauty of it.

 

[Newysurfer]

Here is my rant about the rants.

I continuously see the “Ice Pick” or “I just can’t get the tone” on and on. I’m going to be stinky here for a bit. The tone you want is probably in there. Dial with your ears not your eyes. Using a specific channel or setting because so and so told you it is what he uses is kinda, not smart. Trying to get your amp to sound like somebody else is completely fruitless. The Mark V or any amp for that mater broadcasts what your hands make it sound like. If your favorite guitarist played your rig it would sound like them, not you.

When I first got my Mark V I cannot decide if I was disappointed or frustrated, maybe a mixture. But with over 40 years on the fretboard all of the sudden I sucked. I sounded sloppy. Had the “Ice Picky” crappy sounding, no smooth tone everything I had was suddenly gone. So my immediate reaction was it’s the amp. So, I adjusted my pickups, tried different strings, I adjusted string height I did everything from talking to the guys at Mesa Boogie to posting here on this forum. After all that what I found out was, it was me. I was sloppy, I was not precise, my picking was not consistent in velocity. Having just parted with the cash to buy a Mark V head and two 2x12 vertical cabinets with 40 years of playing I humbled myself. I began to practice scales and really listening to the amp, listening to what my hands were making the amp do. Working chords so my picking velocity of each string was consistent. Word of advice, use a heavy pick. I use Mesa Boogie picks .88 you have feel exactly what you are doing to the string to get the string to sound how you want it to.

It’s not the amp. I play Telecasters, a Les Paul, a Warmoth that I put together with Tom Anderson single coil pickups all on the same amp settings night after night. I switch guitars with no amp adjustments and each one sings. No “Ice Pick” no overbearing lows, no shrill ear-piercing garbage. I get over the top sustain that continues as long as I want and I can back off the guitar volume and get a beautiful sparkly clean all with the amp, no pedals in front of the amp. I use lots of gain on the amp almost all of it. I control it with the guitar volume. Lows are not your friend and there is a tone control on your guitar that does stuff, use it.

Parctice, practice, practice, don’t play songs. Dust off the metronome, practice and listen, pay attention to detail. The amp is making what you do louder. Weather it is “Ice Pick” a wrong note or a miss fingered chord, you did it. It’s all the same.

About the amp settings, turn down the channel volume to about 9am or a little less and turn up the output. The Mark V output is not just a master volume. If you have the channel volume up too high you are shoving a big signal onto the power section and your tone will suck. Let the amp breath. I have played some very small clubs on the 90 watt setting and I get asked to turn up.

END RANT....

Totally agree - good post imo :mrgreen:

 

[JKD]

Interesting thread but not sure why we just can’t admit the IIc channel on this amp needs work...

The JP2C is just instant tone, the MkIV too...this just doesn’t have the balls of that base tone... it’s weak in the mode on Ch3 and just a bit odd one the Extreme mode.

I spent a lot of time dialing today and found acceptable settings but the lack of saturation is an issue...it struggles to get that signature Metallica sound.

Just my 0.02

 

[bandit2013]

It boils down to personal preference. There are many amps that are very forward, more so than the Mark V90W. I feel the V is a bit more relaxed but aggressive. It does seem to have a specific tonal spectrum that can be either rewarding or not. CH2 on the Mark V 90W (excluding the edge voice) seems to have more rewarding tones at gig level. CH3 I found useless, brittle and shrill even with the presence and treble dialed out and the bright switch turned off. Typically at full power. The 45W setting with Variac power was more appealing to me. I will have to say one thing, the Mark V is almost the perfect amp for extended range guitars. Not too long ago I got a baritone 7 string and was impressed with the Mark V 90W performance on all voices of CH2 and CH3 with stock tubes installed. Did not get into the clean channel though. The amps that are more forward and less forgiving would include the Royal Atlantic, Triple Crown, JP-2C and EVH 5150 IIIs EL34 100W (made by Fender and not a Mesa related amp but listed for reference). Roadster sit back in relax mode and the Multi-watt Dual Rec falls into many characteristics so hard to say more or less forward. I still have my Mark V 90 so that would say something about it. I may not use it all that much but once in a great while I get the urge to fire it up. Not trying to distract from the topic on the Mark V90, it is just not one of my favorite Mesa amp (new or old) either because it was a step in a different direction of characteristics to the actual amps it intended to mimic. I doubt that was the overall intent and should not be expected to replicate the actual label of the voice switch. As it seems, the Mark V 90W is one of those amps I have a love/hate thing going on. There is reason I have other amps in my collection since there is not one tube amp that can do it all to appeal to all. I will have to explore the 7 string more with the V90W to see if it fits the ideal character and tone I am after. Still it is good to keep around as it does have a use. Running that amp in parallel with a different amp is a worth while experience to explore.

 

[iceman]

The amps that are more forward and less forgiving would include the Royal Atlantic..

Ain't that the truth, I feel like the RA is a few millseconds ahead of my playing :lol: Especially the clean channel.

 

[CoG]

The amps that are more forward and less forgiving would include the Royal Atlantic..

Ain't that the truth, I feel like the RA is a few millseconds ahead of my playing :lol: Especially the clean channel.

I remember someone saying "The Royal Atlantic isn't just unforgiving, it will walk offstage into the audience and tell your girlfriend that you suck." The green and blue channels, man, playing my Tremoverb feels like a vacation after that...

sorry for the non-Mark V content :lol:

 

[mace]

Bandit: Glad to see you’re still around!

 

[neozeed_vs_shinobi]

OP’s message is very true, but I’d like to expand on it particularly regarding Metal / Rock tones.

The thing with dry/tight amps is they are very revealing. Not just in how clean you play, but how your rhythm hand is manipulating the output dynamics you are feeding the amp. If you limp-wrist your pick attack, the amp will sound limp. My previous amp was a VHT Deliverance 120, which is similar to the Mark V in how revealing it is of your picking dynamics.

I am primarily a tech death / thrash metal player and have owned a handful of amps in my day, but never a Mesa. Last year I traded my Kemper for the Mark V out of mere curiosity and my love for James Hetfield. I remember setting it up like the little cheat sheet card on the top of the amp said to, and a couple minutes later with some fine adjustments... BOOM massive complex saturation while somehow simultaneously being incredibly articulate and tight. Why was it so easy? Why had I read so many horror stories of this archaic mysterious puzzle of an amp just to have it instantly be this beast?

Well, all I can say is, my years and years of playing my Deliverance 120 had conditioned me to play with a heavy and aggressive rhythm hand. It turns out the Mark series is the perfect amp for people that play and enjoy tight, dry, unforgiving amps... because it’s the ULTIMATE statement of such an amp.

So if you are having trouble with metal / hard rock tones on your Mark V do this: read the manual, watch Petrucci’s settings videos on youtube, he knows these amps intimately and his suggestions are good ones (Not a huge DT fan but the guy knows how to set up a Mark) and most importantly:

PLAY LIKE YOU MEAN IT. If you want to play aggressive music, dig in, play with conviction, use high output pickups, and get those strings MOVING. Next time you want to play Metallica riffs through a mark and you’re thinking to yourself “why does my Mark V not sound like the IIC+ on Master of Puppets?” it means you need to go watch live videos of James violently pummeling his Explorer with his picking hand — force feeding his ludicrously high-output EMGs that are, in turn, pushing the input stage of his amp to the brink of oblivion. That is why some people think Ch. 3 on a Mark V “sucks”. Because there are some people out there who daintily strum their vintage Les Pauls loaded with PAFs and blame their amps on the lack of rock tones coming out of their speakers. You can’t make chili without some spice.

 

[psihiatros]

PLAY LIKE YOU MEAN IT. If you want to play aggressive music, dig in, play with conviction, use high output pickups, and get those strings MOVING. Next time you want to play Metallica riffs through a mark and you’re thinking to yourself “why does my Mark V not sound like the IIC+ on Master of Puppets?” it means you need to go watch live videos of James violently pummeling his Explorer with his picking hand — force feeding his ludicrously high-output EMGs that are, in turn, pushing the input stage of his amp to the brink of oblivion. That is why some people think Ch. 3 on a Mark V “sucks”. Because there are some people out there who daintily strum their vintage Les Pauls loaded with PAFs and blame their amps on the lack of rock tones coming out of their speakers. You can’t make chili without some spice.

Although this is very true for the most part (ask me how I know - i was recording a death/thrash album and discussed that very topic with the sound engineer extensively), I can't forget how easy it was, to play the same riffs with a Peavey 5150, EVH 5153, Engl, even my mark IV and Quad preamp i had over the years. Same thing with a JP2C it seems.

My point is that you don't have to **** your guitar in order to track riffs that require to be tight and when quad-track them can give that wall of sound.
There is something about "the liquid feel under your fingers" some amps will give you, that make playing guitar and tracking riffs, a breeze.

 

[mace]

In a Thomann interview with Petrucci the interviewer comments to Jon that "wow, I never noticed but you really dig in when you pick". So, yes, he knows his Marks and he knows how to get great tone from his guitar and he is a heavy picker.

Slash, also, if I'm not mistaken. Miles said in an interview once that he learned some things from Slash and I think one of those things was to pick the strings like you mean it (if I remember correctly).

 

[psihiatros]

So, yes, he knows his Marks and he knows how to get great tone from his guitar and he is a heavy picker. Miles learned some things from Slash, pick the strings like you mean it (if I remember correctly).

Στον πουτσο μου ρε βλακα. Και τι μου το λες? Θιχτηκες? :lol:

Hey man, whatever works for you. There are no rules.
I've done both ways in recording sessions and for me, with the plethora of amps that are out there today, there's no need.
There's not much of a difference in the overall result either.
But hey, to each their own.