Spent some quality time with the Mark V today and I have to say, I am starting to become a believer.
The guys at GC in Raleigh are great. They let me take my Mark IV in with me today and A/B it against a Mark V. They had a Recto slant cab, and I just went back and forth between the two amps.
Some observations
I was actually able to get an almost identical tone out of the Mark V in extreme as my main setting for the Mark IV on the lead channel. I say almost identical, to the point that I probably got them as close as I could get any two Mark IV's to sound like each other.
First times I had tried the Mark V I had felt it was thin in comparison to the Mark IV and lacked low end. I think I know why now.
It seems the bass knob on the mark V is tappered considerably different then the bass knob on the Mark IV. I was actually able to set the preamp bass on the V much higher then I would ever dare set the preamp on the Mark IV. Once I turned the preamp bass up, I was able to get some great tones out of the Mark V.
I was there for a full hour A/B ing them. What has held me back from going ahead and getting the V was that I love the lead channel of the Mark IV, and I would have to part with it to pick up a V. And regardless of how great channels 1 and 2 are on the V, if the lead channel was a step back, I just couldn't do it. But today I felt that I was able to get an equal tone (to my ears anyway) out of both.
I haven't made my mind up yet. I still felt that the Mark IV lead channel at the very least matched the Mark V lead channel. But the first two channels on the V are much better on the first two on th IV. And having a usable channel 2 on a Mark series amp really has me thinking.
I do think there is something to that bass knob taper. I had been running it farely low earlier times I had tried it because that is how low I ran it on my IV and also how low I have run it when testing out a Mark III.
Now I am all stressed out trying to figure out what I should do. I'm just scared when ever I sell high end gear to pick up other high end gear that I will regret it later.
The guys at GC in Raleigh are great. They let me take my Mark IV in with me today and A/B it against a Mark V. They had a Recto slant cab, and I just went back and forth between the two amps.
Some observations
I was actually able to get an almost identical tone out of the Mark V in extreme as my main setting for the Mark IV on the lead channel. I say almost identical, to the point that I probably got them as close as I could get any two Mark IV's to sound like each other.
First times I had tried the Mark V I had felt it was thin in comparison to the Mark IV and lacked low end. I think I know why now.
It seems the bass knob on the mark V is tappered considerably different then the bass knob on the Mark IV. I was actually able to set the preamp bass on the V much higher then I would ever dare set the preamp on the Mark IV. Once I turned the preamp bass up, I was able to get some great tones out of the Mark V.
I was there for a full hour A/B ing them. What has held me back from going ahead and getting the V was that I love the lead channel of the Mark IV, and I would have to part with it to pick up a V. And regardless of how great channels 1 and 2 are on the V, if the lead channel was a step back, I just couldn't do it. But today I felt that I was able to get an equal tone (to my ears anyway) out of both.
I haven't made my mind up yet. I still felt that the Mark IV lead channel at the very least matched the Mark V lead channel. But the first two channels on the V are much better on the first two on th IV. And having a usable channel 2 on a Mark series amp really has me thinking.
I do think there is something to that bass knob taper. I had been running it farely low earlier times I had tried it because that is how low I ran it on my IV and also how low I have run it when testing out a Mark III.
Now I am all stressed out trying to figure out what I should do. I'm just scared when ever I sell high end gear to pick up other high end gear that I will regret it later.