Why just limit it to just those two? There are tons of heads that will get you in the face melting zone. If I were you, I'd go with the Mark V not just for the metal tones, but for versatility purposes. I sold a Mark IV, essentially to make room for a Mark V. I've thought about it over and over and played through tons of amps. I like metal, prog rock/metal, jazz, classic rock, you name it (yes I am a big DT fan as well). And I've narrowed it down to a Mark V. I'm also considering the Splawn, maybe I'll have both to cover bases and for quick portability if I grab the Mark V head, and a Splawn street rod combo. Either way, based on my experiences, the cleans of the Mark V, is fantastic, the rhythm channel is stellar! the lead channel is amazing. Great rounded amp. I've played through a bunch of amps, some Hughes and Kettner, some Marshalls, even checked out the new AFD100 slash edition Marshall. Lastly, I own and might be letting it go once the head is here, is the Hughes and Kettner tubeman mkII preamp pedal. I've ran that into a direct board, as well into any tube amp, the sound out of that is crazy! great tones. So, just some food for thought.

 

Why just limit it to just those two? There are tons of heads that will get you in the face melting zone. If I were you, I'd go with the Mark V not just for the metal tones, but for versatility purposes. I sold a Mark IV, essentially to make room for a Mark V. I've thought about it over and over and played through tons of amps. I like metal, prog rock/metal, jazz, classic rock, you name it (yes I am a big DT fan as well). And I've narrowed it down to a Mark V. I'm also considering the Splawn, maybe I'll have both to cover bases and for quick portability if I grab the Mark V head, and a Splawn street rod combo. Either way, based on my experiences, the cleans of the Mark V, is fantastic, the rhythm channel is stellar! the lead channel is amazing. Great rounded amp. I've played through a bunch of amps, some Hughes and Kettner, some Marshalls, even checked out the new AFD100 slash edition Marshall. Lastly, I own and might be letting it go once the head is here, is the Hughes and Kettner tubeman mkII preamp pedal. I've ran that into a direct board, as well into any tube amp, the sound out of that is crazy! great tones. So, just some food for thought.

Just realized that this forum runs on BBCode >.<

Read previous post.

 

From the two, I'd go Mark V. The coreblade is not as versatile as the mark.

 

Do you have one? How heavy does it get on channel 2?

 

Hey everyone, I've been deciding on purchasing my first "pro" head, I've managed to sort out my options down to two choices. I've now got this decision between the Hughes and Kettner CoreBlade, and the Mesa Boogie Mark V. I play usually rock and metal, and sometimes some Red Hot Chili Peppers. I actually picked out the Mark V because I listen to a lot of Dream Theater, and I absolutley love John Petrucci. Rush is also another one of my favourite bands, and Alex Lifeson plays a Hughes and Kettner...

Help me out!

Just wondering, in case you choose the Mark V, will you purchase it from Long & McQuade? Are there any other good music stores in Calgary now?

 

Actually, yes. Long and McQuade has a LOT of guitar stuff now. Everything on their site can be bought, but it can take a while if the stuff is backordered. It's been half a year, and my RG3570Z still isn't here.

And I'm fairly new, Dr Strangenote, I have no idea how to quote two people at once. I think I'm probably not open enough for amp selections... But those are the two I'm quite interested in. I was originally just going to go for the Mark V, but then, it doesn't have MIDI support.. The CoreBlade has quite a few built in effects, and thats what is balancing it out for me. Also, it comes with a MIDI board, so that's another plus. And I find the Mark V a little bit of a pain to dial in, I sat down at a friends place and tried to dial in a tone, couldn't get a solid sound out of it. I'm fairly sure its another one of those things where you have to fiddle with it for a while before you can dial in a tone quickly.

 

I'll answer for Treva--get the Mesa!

Now--like previously mentioned, why just limit the choice to those 2? Carvin V3 or the B-52 AT-100 can get very heavy, yet clean up nice.

 

Only get the Mesa if you are prepared to spend weeks to dial in the right tone , only to have it sound totally different the very next day. I had the MK V and sold it, Channel one was nice, 2 was useless, 3 was nice. One day it sounded great the next like crap. I spent more time re-adjusting than playing. For tube amps i found nothing better than orange amps so far. They sound great at any volume and i have yet to get one bad tone out of an orange. Also one thing not sure if important but the Mesa doesn't have midi switching if thats important to you.

 

Only get the Mesa if you are prepared to spend weeks to dial in the right tone , only to have it sound totally different the very next day.

Maybe the problem is in your ears and not in an awesome expensive well-known amp
Gimme any mesa and in about 10 minutes I'll have an awesome clean, crunch and lead tone for recording or stage.

 

maybe its not a problem at all, as i got rid of it and have a couple orange colored man amps which sound great every day. rain or shine.

 

Yep it's a problem between your ears and mesa tone.
My ears have problems with marshalls, to me they're extremelly thin and weak, till the day I realized it wasn't my ears problem cause everybody who plays or record with marshalls needs pedals, too many pedals.It's impossible to put a mic in front of a marshall and record cool tones, no matter how many pedals people use still engineers have to tweek the hell out of their arses to get a fat rich tone.Some engineers get so desperate that they add too much bass and the whole mix get muddy, it's like a wall of bass frequencies killing whatever is in that mix, others record 4 tracks to each side and there's another mass.

Once you found what sounds perfect to your ears(no problems), you're in heaven.

 

Thank you all for the feedback, I am going to test the living hell out of both of the amps before I make a decision... As of right now, I am quite set on the Hughes and Kettner, as this is my *first* head in 12 years of playing. If I do go down the H&K path, I'll probably end up grabbing a Mesa Mark V in the future anyways. For now, as I don't want to overkill it, my sights are on the CoreBlade.

But anyways, any other great amp suggestions for hard/heavy rock and metal? Preferably something small in terms of wattage, 50 watt would be perfect... I want to get that sick tone by jacking that volume .

Also, is it true that Marshalls require a TON of pedals to get solid tone? What about its counterpart Blackstar? Are they as good as they're advertised to be? And for reference, I'm probably going to run any head I buy through celestion-outfitted 4x12!

 

Also, is it true that Marshalls require a TON of pedals to get solid tone? What about its counterpart Blackstar? Are they as good as they're advertised to be? And for reference, I'm probably going to run any head I buy through celestion-outfitted 4x12!

I believe Marshalls do require a bunch of pedals (unless they're modded) but thats just because I don't prefer their tone. Blackstar on the other hand....

I went in to a local store thinking it was gonna sound just ok...(HT Stage 100)
and dang it blew me away. That amp sounded killer. Too bad some moron blew the OT or I would've bought it a week or so after playing it. Btw, I ran it through an EVH 4x12 and G-flex 2x12, both sounded awesome but the 4x12 sounded a bit better.

If you can try a Blackstar out, do it..

 

And I have to say, there's a lot of debate I've stirred here... It seems to be quite even. I was almost hoping for an easy decision! :lol:

 

Splawn

 

It sucks because Guitarworks, Long & Mcquades, and Axe Music, don't actually have all to much selection in terms of heads and cabs... I'd love to just try everything and decide what I like best. Nobody even has a Mark V up north here. I'm not going to order a three grand head, have it come on order, and not like the tone.

I might just travel down to the US, and find a music store.

 

My Mark V (combo) arrived yesterday and I can't fault it, having played Laneys in the past (GH50L, VC50, TT100). The Mark I and IV modes are brilliant and I love the clean channel (cleans nearly as good as my Little Jimi).

It should absolutely be on your wishlist if you're in the market for a rock/metal amp.

 

Oh my god, I might as well lock this thread. I just listened to John Petrucci play on his Mark V clean channel (channel 1), and I am SOLD. I'm probably still going to test it out extreemely heavily whenever I get the chance, but for now, I am sold on this thing. I'd love to see the Hughes and Kettner beat this (the Mesa look is quite... bland, the Hughes and Kettner Tritone looks like sex).

 

I've played on both. I own the Coreblade. Absolutely love it. I will never part with this amp. The most versatile thing I've owned. To give this up, someone would have to pry it from my lifeless dead hands. Tone to play with for days. Get the HK.

 

id take a TriAmp over a coreblade any day.

but between the mesa and the coreblade; im picking the coreblade. it can do everything the mesa can and more