Mungo Zen
Well-known member
So I have had my Mark V for a while now and I am noticing some sounds that don't sit right, but given my play environment I was hoping to just explain what I am seeing and get some suggestions.
My main rig is currently just my Schecter Loomis (Active EMG 707's on Ash body) direct to my Mark V (4x 6L6). I do have a noise gate and several effect units I swap in and out, but primarily just guitar direct to amp. I have had moments of tonal bliss in all three channels with different guitars, but recently have had some concerns.
I will add right now that if I had my choice I would be using my Peavey cabinet, since it has turned out to sound great, but where my band practices, we end up using studio cabinets which are usually Marshalls. They can be 8 or 16 Ohm, and of varying quality.
My two concerns run around what I am hearing from Channel 1 and Channel 3.
In Channel 1 over the last 2 months I have noticed I am not getting a truly clean tone. No matter what I do it clips. I have used 5 or 6 different cabinets and always get the same issue. I checked the tubes and they all appear to be fine and plugged in properly. I spent a good 45 minutes flipping through settings and was unable to get a clean tone. My other guitarist plugs her Dual Recto in and gets a much cleaner sound than I do from the same cabinet.
In both channels I am also finding I am really bright. I have been dialing back the treble and presence, but if I go to far it sounds...dead I guess. The concern is at higher volumes you can hear the amp buzzing, just waiting to feedback. At a gig recently I was asked to turn the volume up repeatedly and ended up unplayable due to the high end saturation.
I have done some reading but this is new ground for me so I am unsure what applies to me and what doesn't.
So the questions I have to go with this are...
1 - Could this be a tube concern? Is it possible that there is an issue with one or more of them? Could that cause either concern?
2 - Would swapping to EL-34's help pull back the high end? I understand they add some warmth to the tone.
3 - Could the active pickups just be pushing too much? I really like the 707's in other amp/cab combo's I have played, but I am willing to try something else.
I appreciate any help on this. If there is something I haven't thought f, or another direction I could look, please let me know.
My main rig is currently just my Schecter Loomis (Active EMG 707's on Ash body) direct to my Mark V (4x 6L6). I do have a noise gate and several effect units I swap in and out, but primarily just guitar direct to amp. I have had moments of tonal bliss in all three channels with different guitars, but recently have had some concerns.
I will add right now that if I had my choice I would be using my Peavey cabinet, since it has turned out to sound great, but where my band practices, we end up using studio cabinets which are usually Marshalls. They can be 8 or 16 Ohm, and of varying quality.
My two concerns run around what I am hearing from Channel 1 and Channel 3.
In Channel 1 over the last 2 months I have noticed I am not getting a truly clean tone. No matter what I do it clips. I have used 5 or 6 different cabinets and always get the same issue. I checked the tubes and they all appear to be fine and plugged in properly. I spent a good 45 minutes flipping through settings and was unable to get a clean tone. My other guitarist plugs her Dual Recto in and gets a much cleaner sound than I do from the same cabinet.
In both channels I am also finding I am really bright. I have been dialing back the treble and presence, but if I go to far it sounds...dead I guess. The concern is at higher volumes you can hear the amp buzzing, just waiting to feedback. At a gig recently I was asked to turn the volume up repeatedly and ended up unplayable due to the high end saturation.
I have done some reading but this is new ground for me so I am unsure what applies to me and what doesn't.
So the questions I have to go with this are...
1 - Could this be a tube concern? Is it possible that there is an issue with one or more of them? Could that cause either concern?
2 - Would swapping to EL-34's help pull back the high end? I understand they add some warmth to the tone.
3 - Could the active pickups just be pushing too much? I really like the 707's in other amp/cab combo's I have played, but I am willing to try something else.
I appreciate any help on this. If there is something I haven't thought f, or another direction I could look, please let me know.