Should I get rid of my Maz for a Mark V

[guitarchris76]

I have kind of always wanted to get a Mesa Mark and have been hearing great things about the Mark V and it's versatility currently have a Maz 18 Jr. (reverb version) and the following pedals: Fulltone OCD, BK Butler Tube Driver, Timmy, Suhr Riot Re-loaded, Chadderbox Effects Loud/Louder and a few others as well as a Line 6 M13 that I run in the loop. My thought is to get rid of all of this for the Mark V and am thinking it will cover all of the territory the Maz and these pedals cover. Am I wrong? I play anything from Jazz and Blues to Rock and Metal including some instrumental stuff. I did have a Mesa Stiletto before I got the Maz and honestly hated it. I thought it was very fizzy sounding unless it was really cranked. This is not the case with the Maz an don't think it will be the case with the Mark V. Any thoughts would be welcomed.

 

[LesPaul70]

Never played a Maz so I don't know how it compares. But anyways, a word of warning. Or should I say reality check?

Yes, Mark V is an awesome amp. But - it is not be-all-end-all. You can get lots of awesome tones from it that cover a lot of ground. But it doesn't do everything imaginable. Take distortions, for example. It can give you selection of different distortions, raning from medium gain to extreme high gain. But: all of them will sound Mesaish. No matter how much you tweak it, you will never mistake it for a Marshall. Or even a different Mesa like Dual Rectifier. Even the different Mark preamp circuits do not sound exactly the same as the original amps due to differences in the power amp stage.

Still, it is an incredibly versatile amp. It can give you suitable tone for virtually any occasion and any style of music. What I'm trying to say, just don't get your hopes too high. Or you will be disappointed. At the end of the day, it is just an amp (although a darn good one). Not the Holy Grail or the Philosopher's stone.

So should you get rid of your pedals to get a Mark V? That really depends. How much do you rely on your effects? Mark V will give you Reverb, and a solo boost, plus built-in graphic EQ and of course more than enough distortion for most purposes - but that's about it. If you need a chorus, a flanger or a delay, you should stick to your M13 at least. As for pedals that change the amp's distortion character or maybe completely replace its preamp distortion with pedal distortion, opinions differ. I would suggest that you don't really need an overdrive or a distortion box with a Mark V - but if you're like me, they can still be fun to have around. For example, I love to emulate (sort of) the "overdriven Marshall" sound with the Edge or Crunch mode, EL34 power tubes an a TS808 clone pedal. Or kick in a Wampler Triple Wreck on the clean channel to take me instantly into the 'faux Recto' territory. Not that you really need them with a Mark V but I for one love having more sonic options at my toetips.

 

[knotts]

LesPaul70 is right. You need to play one before you make that call. I've plugged into a MarkV on two separate occasions and walked away both times knowing that I will not bond with that amp no matter how hard I try. It was made for me, but as you can tell serves others quite well. I think any Mesa amp will cover a lot of different playing styles, but you need to find the one that works for you.

 

[MarkV]

Have you played a Mark V? When I played it with a Celestion 90, I hated it. When I played it with a Vintage 30, I could not dial it in for 5 minutes. I turned all the channel knobs to unity and put the Master EQ to a V and was hooked!

Since buying the Mark V, I have sold 12 of my pedals and have lucky 13 posted on Craigslist now. I have forgotten what the tops of my shoes look like.

 

[MarkV]

Have you played a Mark V? When I played it with a Celestion 90, I hated it. When I played it with a Vintage 30, I could not dial it in for 5 minutes. I turned all the channel knobs to unity and put the Master EQ to a V and was hooked!

Since buying the Mark V, I have sold 12 of my pedals and have lucky 13 posted on Craigslist now. I have forgotten what the tops of my shoes look like.

 

[thunder100]

All what LesPaul70 said

Plus one more

Speaker make 50 % of your sound

Usually the combo's come with C90 .But you can have V30 too.Still the Amp gets really HUGE with the Rectifier 4 x 12.

And I play it through an old EVM12L which again is VERY different

In a Nutshell-you have to try it out

Roland

And take a bit of time in audition-dont turn the knobs radically-they work very strong

And a personal habit

I use the knobs to get the feel and use the EQ to get the tone