Questioon on Mark V lead tone.

[fatbagg]

I DO NOT play metal...I play instrumental guitar music, and spend 80% of the time in my band playing lead styles. Ive always been a MASSIVE fan of the mark IV lead channel, with mids boosted, and treble rolled off...

Can the Mark V do the super midrange heavy (kinda honky), dark smooth lead tones, without being fizzy or buzzy or bright?

 

[phyrexia]

Nope.

 

[lesterpaul]

Nope.

:lol:
...hey, Phy..that was post 1776...i feel all patriotic!now, question is,will i be able to come see you guys before the 4th??!! :evil:

 

[fatbagg]

so whats the tonal difference in the mark IV and mark V in IV mode? Gain structure? feel, harmonics? whas is it? I far from a boogie dealer, and work alot. I will go try if I can, but am just wondering.

 

[Gizzorge]

It's boogie, and it's all good!!!

 

[nicoroy123]

so whats the tonal difference in the mark IV and mark V in IV mode? Gain structure? feel, harmonics? whas is it? I far from a boogie dealer, and work alot. I will go try if I can, but am just wondering.

May I suggest to take the time to read the manual, graciously provided by one of our fellow member:
http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=36010
Everything is explained in it, the history, differences, tonal possibilities etc...

Regards

 

[fatbagg]

Yea, the manual says it can do the mark IV sound to a T...but alot of users are popping up saying it doesnt, and that it fizzes QUICK!

 

[jimmyree]

If Mesa says it will do the Mark IV I think it will. There are a ton of neysayers on this forum and most of them dont even have the **** amp. I think there's a whole lot of people who are pissed because they spent a ton of money on another Mesa amp and now something better has come out (the whole "my amp is the only bestest amp in the world because I bought it" thing seems to run deep on this forum. I am new to this forum because I wanted to see what some other mark v owners are doing with their amps (I have a head on order), but I am probably done coming here because their are as many jackasses here as on harmony central.

 

[lesterpaul]

because, Jimmy, you have been perusing the MK V forum primarily-the old vintage forum and modern forum is where you will find the more tech aspects/less assholian aspects of this messageboard-there are volumes of info found here that you won't get anywhere else-whenevere my V arrives, my posts/comparisons/etc will be in the vintage area for sure
..I have been on the mk v forum for one reason primarily...to see who/when/where etc is getting the V..I want my V

 

[Shang Chi 66]

If Mesa says it will do the Mark IV I think it will. There are a ton of neysayers on this forum and most of them dont even have the **** amp. I think there's a whole lot of people who are pissed because they spent a ton of money on another Mesa amp and now something better has come out (the whole "my amp is the only bestest amp in the world because I bought it" thing seems to run deep on this forum. I am new to this forum because I wanted to see what some other mark v owners are doing with their amps (I have a head on order), but I am probably done coming here because their are as many jackasses here as on harmony central.

Thats why I joined, because I have one on order as well, and I thought, (still do) that this would have to be the place to share ideas, clips, etc., with fellow Mark 5 owners. And it seems like lots of other folks have come aboard since the announcement and release of the Mark 5...I thought that was pretty cool.

I would,nt say it,s as bad as HC yet. I,m not a member there (hells no!) I,ll lurk from time to time to glean any useful info that I can. There are some individuals there that are helpful, civil, and know there stuff, so I shall not generalize.

For the most part however, that place runs rampant with disrepect, racism, insults, folks calling each other out to set up fights, etc...it,s beyond childish & laughable, it,s ridiculous. Supposed to be adults on an internet forum about some music equipment...arguing, bitching, name calling...with other folks that in most cases, don,t even actually know you, and that you,ve never even met...what for? I don,t get it for aminute!

I,m here for the thrill and enjoyment of owning a Mesa, and fun & help with fellow Boogie owners...if it starts to degenerate all the way into the non-sense of HC believe me Jimmy, I,d be joining ya in leaving. I,m hoping that this board can stay above that level of foolishness though.

By the way, do you have a delivery date for your head, and what part of the country are ya in? Peace.

 

[Uncle Muscles]

I DO NOT play metal...I play instrumental guitar music, and spend 80% of the time in my band playing lead styles. Ive always been a MASSIVE fan of the mark IV lead channel, with mids boosted, and treble rolled off...

Can the Mark V do the super midrange heavy (kinda honky), dark smooth lead tones, without being fizzy or buzzy or bright?

I think you will be surprised at the Mark V's versatility. It sounds to me like you will really like the Mark 1 settings in channel 2. It is very smooth and has lots of midrange with a very full sound and as much gain on tap as channel 3 has (taken right out of the manual). There is nothing fizzy or buzzy about any channels on my V amp. Though it is possible that the real metal disciples are psyching themselves out a bit. There are so many variables - I really only trust myself when it comes to what works for me.

A few people here are somewhat intolerant of any tone that is NOT their own or similar to their own - and you will find that they post on multiple forums under the same - or similar - user names - with the same childish vitriol. Ignore it. There are bullies and douche-bags everywhere you go. It is a byproduct of insecurity.

 

[DaveDaveDave]

Well, there's a LOT of "depends" in there.

I spent about 2 hours A/Bing the IV and the V this morning, with the guidance provided in the manual (page 16) on how to set a Mark V and IV identically. Verdict to follow after a few notes.
Granted, the tubes in my Mark IV are a mixed up lot - I didn't even check but I've had every tube under the sun in there and the ones that I left it with were basically the most open sounding tones I could get out of it.
Another consideration is that I have a short head Mark IV with 2 EV cabs, 1 open and one Theile. I wound up using the open back and went back and forth cross wiring the Mark IV into the V's combo C90 and the V into the EV 1x12. I switched back and forth about 3 times. I was playing with a Morley A/B/Y pedal with a mogami cable into it, and two george L 1/4 cables out to each amp of approximately equal length.
Also, keep in mind that the V has the gain set at 7.5, according to the manual, and that the V's "gain" pot is the equivalent of the IV's drive pot (which I was really happy about). This alone could explain a lot of the buzzyness that a lot of people describe - I think that's way too high a setting on a Mark IV for anyone to play the super hot active EMGs that so many headbangers are in love with. That said, I was playing with a '76 Yamaha SG2000 with Bill Lawrence L500L (not the XL so favoured by the late Dimebag Darell)
The final consideration is that now I can't hear.

The verdict - it's a Mark IV if you want it to be. I'm sure that you'd hear just as much variation between any two Mark IVs. I had them dialed in so close that I heard more difference based on my head position than anything else.
I *could* tell that my Mark IV wasn't quite as open sounding. It had a hair more nasal tone than the IV. This is a good thing for me. I highly doubt that anyone could really tell the difference in an live situation. This was really really hard to discern what with switching between the EV and the Celestion cabs, but it's there. I'm betting that this probably has more to do with my tubes than the circuit design.

Other things that I discovered is that so far I really like the C90 better than the EVs - but keep in mind that I'm not a metal player. The C90 seems to have a lot more detail in the mids, which really surprised me - it's more 3d. This could also be a factor of the wider body that it's in... but I liked my Mark IV much better into the C90.

Finally, the ONE thing that sounds WAY better than either of these amps - BOTH OF THEM TOGETHER! WOW - talk about THREE DEE!

Great - now I have to go back to work - I'm not going to hear anything on this con call except my tinnitus.

Dave

P.S. - I'll see if I can manage a recording of these two amps together. I would have rigged up the mics and taped my A/B, but I'm sufferingly some mighty hurtin pain with a tweaked out shoulder muscle. The number of trolls and A-holes on this board is another detraction...

Yea, the manual says it can do the mark IV sound to a T...but alot of users are popping up saying it doesnt, and that it fizzes QUICK!

 

[rispsira]

Well, there's a LOT of "depends" in there.

I spent about 2 hours A/Bing the IV and the V this morning, with the guidance provided in the manual (page 16) on how to set a Mark V and IV identically. Verdict to follow after a few notes.
Granted, the tubes in my Mark IV are a mixed up lot - I didn't even check but I've had every tube under the sun in there and the ones that I left it with were basically the most open sounding tones I could get out of it.
Another consideration is that I have a short head Mark IV with 2 EV cabs, 1 open and one Theile. I wound up using the open back and went back and forth cross wiring the Mark IV into the V's combo C90 and the V into the EV 1x12. I switched back and forth about 3 times. I was playing with a Morley A/B/Y pedal with a mogami cable into it, and two george L 1/4 cables out to each amp of approximately equal length.
Also, keep in mind that the V has the gain set at 7.5, according to the manual, and that the V's "gain" pot is the equivalent of the IV's drive pot (which I was really happy about). This alone could explain a lot of the buzzyness that a lot of people describe - I think that's way too high a setting on a Mark IV for anyone to play the super hot active EMGs that so many headbangers are in love with. That said, I was playing with a '76 Yamaha SG2000 with Bill Lawrence L500L (not the XL so favoured by the late Dimebag Darell)
The final consideration is that now I can't hear.

The verdict - it's a Mark IV if you want it to be. I'm sure that you'd hear just as much variation between any two Mark IVs. I had them dialed in so close that I heard more difference based on my head position than anything else.
I *could* tell that my Mark IV wasn't quite as open sounding. It had a hair more nasal tone than the IV. This is a good thing for me. I highly doubt that anyone could really tell the difference in an live situation. This was really really hard to discern what with switching between the EV and the Celestion cabs, but it's there. I'm betting that this probably has more to do with my tubes than the circuit design.

Other things that I discovered is that so far I really like the C90 better than the EVs - but keep in mind that I'm not a metal player. The C90 seems to have a lot more detail in the mids, which really surprised me - it's more 3d. This could also be a factor of the wider body that it's in... but I liked my Mark IV much better into the C90.

Finally, the ONE thing that sounds WAY better than either of these amps - BOTH OF THEM TOGETHER! WOW - talk about THREE DEE!

Great - now I have to go back to work - I'm not going to hear anything on this con call except my tinnitus.

Dave

P.S. - I'll see if I can manage a recording of these two amps together. I would have rigged up the mics and taped my A/B, but I'm sufferingly some mighty hurtin pain with a tweaked out shoulder muscle. The number of trolls and A-holes on this board is another detraction...

Yea, the manual says it can do the mark IV sound to a T...but alot of users are popping up saying it doesnt, and that it fizzes QUICK!

Thank you Dave for the review! to be honest what worried me a tiny bit was this from the manual:

NOTE: These comparisons are as close as possible regarding the setting and configuration of the circuits. When doing these types of tests it is important to take into account that the power tubes, preamp tubes, transformers and even the caps and resistors may be different depending on availability at the time of construction.

The reason it did is because i kept hearing from other people that the main reason why the 2C+ sounded so good and why they stopped making them was amongst other things the transformers etc which made a huge difference. (as for the tubes thats not a problem of course)

But thats just what i heard. However i see great potential in that head from the clips i heard. The truth is that i have found that the mark series are the most difficult amps to tweak and get a good sound of because they dont react like other amps. So you have to read and understand many things like pre/post eq etc. And many times i was going to give up on my triaxis but got to understand it more and more and was releived that the mark really stands better in a mix than anything else imo. This paragraph is just things to consider for people who are not accostumed to the mark. be patient my friends! so many variables, interractions and tones hidden within increments of eq.

Dave thanks again for the interesting post and interesting what u pointed out about active pickups and the setting of 7.5. thats a lot.

 

[jimmyree]

By the way, do you have a delivery date for your head, and what part of the country are ya in? Peace.

Im actually military stationed overseas right now, I am headed back to the US for some vacation on the way to my next base at the end of this month. I ordered my head through GC (my mistake) in Vegas and hope to hell it will get there while I am spending my leave there in June, then its off to northern California for a couple of years. And no GC hasnt been able to give me anything resembling a delivery date yet.

 

[Shang Chi 66]

Firstly, thank you for your service to our country...and I hope that you get your amp in a timely manner.

I would have to believe that even GC should have their first run heads by june.

 

[jimmyree]

Firstly, thank you for your service to our country...and I hope that you get your amp in a timely manner.

I would have to believe that even GC should have their first run heads by june.

Thank you very much! It sure would be nice to pick it up on vacation, but I know there are some here who have been waiting alot longer then I have. I hope everyone gets theirs soon, then maybe some of the negativity will go away and people will start discussing all the cool stuff they are doing with their new amps.