Mesa Mark V

[EL-CeeDee]

Hi there,

I currently have a mark V for testing purposes. I noticed the combo sounded nasal and small, even with the bass cranked. I do not have the option of cranking the amp fully, but experimented with the 10,45 and 90 watt settings.
Is it possible that the speaker needs to be broken in ?
(on 4x12 greenbacks, it had more thump )

[SonicProvocateur]

Here are some suggestions from my dear friends at the Boogie Boards:

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=37145

Hope this helps.

[6fingers]

You have to crank tube amps fully no matter which wattage you're using.The more you do the better they sound.
Mesas are mid rangy amps.
If it's too nasal for you ,adding bass won't fix it,you have to cut out those frequencies you're complaining about.
It has a graphic equalizer and everybody cut its mids there.
When you're at the stage Bass do the bass frequencies that's why mesa amps are nasal ,to sing like a voice.
In your bedroom you'll miss the bass frequencies which a bass player should be doing,that's why probably it's sounding to nasal for you.

[EL-CeeDee]

Thanks, the last sounds very plausible, thought about that too.
More info will follow

( thanks for the boogie board thread, I found it already, but thanks ! )

[EL-CeeDee]

Another question..

On the clean channel, it is very hard to dial in a sound that does not distort on the lower 2 strings of my guitar. Is that usually the case ?
settings are:
Clean
gain 8:30
rest at about 12
90 watts
full power

and I get an ugly sort of " clip" on lower sounds...
Unit busted a tube in transit?

[smooth55]

I can't see a reason for you getting distortion on the clean channel with that gain and wattage settings. I suspect you might have a damage issue.

[EL-CeeDee]

same here,... might be a "feature" that's why I asked...

It would explain the lack of low end too ( since the lows get distorted and have less volume )

One of the first preamp tubes would be my guess,... Unit came like this from the box.

Any suggestions welcome

[Manticore]

sell it and buy a Mk III
best suggestion I can make

[SonicProvocateur]

I personally found the Mark V to be very dry and unsaturated. To me, I couldn't really enjoy many of the heavier tones it was capable of, in comparison to my Mark III, which is capable of doing any IIC+ and IV tones depending on my settings and guitar.

As for distortions on the clean channel, this could be the guitar pickups. Mesa's are incredible amps. If the pickups are "grittier" like a Gibson 500T or perhaps a higher output pickup, you might very well get breakup with harder pick attacks and full force playing without rolling the volume off a touch. These sensativies are for players who want a full spectrum of dirt on two channels like setting a clean to Fat and channel 2 to Edge with medium gain and using the volume knob to roll off until its clean, then using channel 3 for the kill. Dunno about the tube thing; Mesa's have gorgeous cleans, it would be very obvious if it had some issues; your settings seem kosher. Might have an issue with your unit...

Mesa's are also meant to be cranked at least a little to get their tones. Not like Marshall cranked, but until you hit the beef. Try hooking up your favorite cab and giving it another test. This might also rule out a damaged speaker versus damaged tubes.

Lastly, go with the classic "V" scoop in your GEQ; Boogie actually designed the Mark V circuitry around metal players who scoop the mids. As 6fingers said, Mesa's are very midrangey (which is also where all their unique tone is) and by going with the "V" scoop you can get the classic Mesa "oomph" and make it more vocal like, which is what these amps excel at.

[EL-CeeDee]

Thanks for your elaborate answer!

The pickups I used were tone zone, air norton and PAF pro. And the distortion ( on the clean channel, the unintended one ) sounds "farty"

What exactly do you mean by "unsaturated" ? Little gain/distortion or something else?

[SonicProvocateur]

The only thing that ever sounded "farty" or "spanky" to me was my maple fretboard equipped PGM301 which lacked in the balls department. It topped out at like a Van Halen crunch with piercing highs, where my PRS and Gibson just reigned domination.

The TZ and AN should by comparison sound really clean and pretty, even with a maple fretboard, and even darker with rosewood.

As for unsaturated, the Boogie Mark's have a very "wet" tone, and the Mark V to me sounded very dry even with the presence set to proper levels. Just didnt do it for me and my tastes. I like Petrucci tones, and my Mark III is dialed in for Lamb of God heaviness, so you can imagine my displeasure when all I could find was some dry and crass (something along the lines of Carcass). To me it lacked in the vocal qualities that make a Mark series really sing out.

Have you tested any more guitars on it. Mesa's are very responsive to different axes.

[EL-CeeDee]

Yes, I have. My suspicion is still that the amp is not functioning properly somewhere. I do get nice tones out of it, just took some twiddling ( only to arrive at settings very near to the demo card that was on top ).
I did notice that the combo itself just doesn't sound "big". I've heard open back cabs with way more authority, might be the speaker. It did get better ( think it was tight and un-broken in before ), but it still remains practically bassless. It has it's benefits, I think for recording it might sound fine, I'm trying that today.
On a 4x12 greenbacks cab, it was almost ovwhelmingly bassy when some volume was applied.

I think I am pretty sold on the unit, but the head/combo question remains. The prices are so damned close ( in euro's, they cost more than in dollars :S 3099,= for the combo )

secondly I need to figure out a way to get the rhythm tone and lead tone from the same channel. It seems when I like the rhythm, the lead sounds scrawny and when I like the lead, the rhythm sounds muffled.
How do Mark users solve this ?

[SonicProvocateur]

The good thing about the Mark V is that its setup like the Mark IV with even more options; you can setup the footswitch to control the GEQ to be on all the time or footwitchable; so you can setup channel 3 for IIC+ or Mark IV for leads and pop the EQ for a rhythm boost. Personally, my Mark III is non EQ so mine is in the loop and on all time; I just switch to the neck pickup for my rhythm sounds. Pretty easy compromise - Mesa's always take tweaking and some compromise to get used to, but the tones are just so killer.

Speakers; my buddy has a Mark V combo and it didn't do it for me either - but he also has it running to a Mesa 1x12 Theile loaded with a 200 watt EV! Mad power! To me, a Mesa needs at least a 2 speakers to give it the gumption. 4x12's for maximum impact as you found out. That combo probably just hasnt been broken in yet. 1 speaker just isnt enough unless its the infamous EV, which the new Mark V's dont have. I'd go with the head personally, that way you have cab choice - you can always preamp out to record (thats what most professional studios are going to do anyway, if they dont mic the cab.)

[6fingers]

Send it to me.
I'd get the best clean,crunch and lead sounds than I'd....................never send it back!
bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[EL-CeeDee]

Well,.. Tomorrow it's going back. This was just a demo unit that I received brand new. I'll be ordering and let the prices dictate whether it's head or combo.
My pref is combo, I can hook it up to anything else if I ever need. Dragging a 2x12 and head into my car is just as complicated as lifting the 1352Kg the combo weighs.
( And I'd only be content with a recto std 4x12 cab, which is huuuuuuge )
The combo needed some time to "run in" as I figured out. It did NOT sound this good when I got it ( OMG, what happens when you play this thing for a few years !! )

I definately got the Mark Virus !