Couple of questions about the Mark V

Hi!

I'm totally GASing for a Mark V combo for quite a few weeks now. I've got to sell all my other stuff to get the money for buying it, so it will take some time. However, I'm already curious about a few things and some of these questions might have never been asked before. I'd be really thankful if you could help me out with these.

1. I currently own a Peavey JSX head with a Triple XXX 412 cab and I use an Ibanez JS1000 guitar. I'm totally into Joe Satriani's tone and feel. However, the JSX is not giving me those tones at all, I feel that a huge amount of punch is missing from the head, my setup sounds way too loose and spongy. Is the Mark V good for those punchier kinds of lead tones? I'd mainly use the Mark V for different kinds of creamy, sustaining high gain lead tones, not for metal riffing or any kinds of heavier music.

2. I'm also one who is really concerned about versatility. I used to love my Marshall JVM410H for its four channels, and also loved my Diezel VH4 for the same reason. Is the V as versatile as the amps mentioned above? I know that the sound quality of the Mark V surpasses the JVM's and maybe even the VH4's by a mile, I'm only concerned about the variety of tones that I could get from it.

3. I've been hearing bad things about the stock C90 speaker in the combo. I don't think I'd like replacing it with anything else, though. I'd rather get an extension cab. Will the combo ever sound the same as the head version, plugging it into a 412 cab? This way I'd have the versatility of using the C90 in some situations and using maybe a Recto V30 412 for other situations. Is there any difference between the combo and the head other than the built-in speaker and the box?

4. One thing I'm curious about - the Mark V has tons of different switches like 90/45/10 watts, pentode/triode switches, etc. Can these switches be toggled on the fly while the power amp is on, or should the Standby switch be set to Standby position before messing around with the switches on the amp?

5. Does Mesa make a European version of the Mark V? I live in Hungary, and we've got 230 volts here. If not, what is the best solution for transforming the voltage down to 110 volts for the amp?

These questions keep me stumped for now. I'd be really glad and thankful if you could help me out with them.

Thanks in advance!

1. IMO, it's easier to get a nice singing lead tone out of a Mark V than a JSX. That said, the JSX is a very nice amp with the right tubes. If I found a JSX going for cheap enough around here, I'd pick on up for fun. The XXX cab is pretty bad, IMO.

2. The Mark V gets a wide range of tones, from funky clean, fat jazz clean, gritty clean, imitation fuzz pedal, Marshallesque crunch (with more of an ADA MP1 feel than a true Marshall feel), smooth Carvin Legacy tones, thrash metal, smooth high gain leads, etc.

3. The combo amp is the exact same as the head. It's not like the 5150 combo, where the combo has different circuitry from the head. If you plug it into a 4x12 cab and bypass the combo speaker, it sounds the same as a head. The combo is literally just the same amp built into a different cab.

4. You can toggle on the fly. Some of them make a pop, so it's better for your ears to have it on stand-by.

5. Yes, there's a European version.

richaxes said:

Hi!

I'm totally GASing for a Mark V combo for quite a few weeks now. I've got to sell all my other stuff to get the money for buying it, so it will take some time. However, I'm already curious about a few things and some of these questions might have never been asked before. I'd be really thankful if you could help me out with these.

1. I currently own a Peavey JSX head with a Triple XXX 412 cab and I use an Ibanez JS1000 guitar. I'm totally into Joe Satriani's tone and feel. However, the JSX is not giving me those tones at all, I feel that a huge amount of punch is missing from the head, my setup sounds way too loose and spongy. Is the Mark V good for those punchier kinds of lead tones? I'd mainly use the Mark V for different kinds of creamy, sustaining high gain lead tones, not for metal riffing or any kinds of heavier music.

2. I'm also one who is really concerned about versatility. I used to love my Marshall JVM410H for its four channels, and also loved my Diezel VH4 for the same reason. Is the V as versatile as the amps mentioned above? I know that the sound quality of the Mark V surpasses the JVM's and maybe even the VH4's by a mile, I'm only concerned about the variety of tones that I could get from it.

3. I've been hearing bad things about the stock C90 speaker in the combo. I don't think I'd like replacing it with anything else, though. I'd rather get an extension cab. Will the combo ever sound the same as the head version, plugging it into a 412 cab? This way I'd have the versatility of using the C90 in some situations and using maybe a Recto V30 412 for other situations. Is there any difference between the combo and the head other than the built-in speaker and the box?

4. One thing I'm curious about - the Mark V has tons of different switches like 90/45/10 watts, pentode/triode switches, etc. Can these switches be toggled on the fly while the power amp is on, or should the Standby switch be set to Standby position before messing around with the switches on the amp?

5. Does Mesa make a European version of the Mark V? I live in Hungary, and we've got 230 volts here. If not, what is the best solution for transforming the voltage down to 110 volts for the amp?

These questions keep me stumped for now. I'd be really glad and thankful if you could help me out with them.

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Hi,

The Mark V is definitely a great amp but not my first choice for Joe Satriani tones.

1. When Joe came to Australia my friend was the manager of a big music store in Sydney and had to supply him with basic Boss overdrive pedals and Marshall amps, I think it was DSL or something anyone else could buy. He could've used any Marshall amp. Or probably any other amp in the store! We all thought "Joe sounds like Joe, it's all in his fingers."


2. Versatility, not sure what you mean by that. Lots of channels or very different kinds of sounds? Well I love the 410H but it's Marshall, more Marshall and more Marshall. Whereas the Boogie can do an (almost) Fender clean, the classic fat boogie lead and various big time rhythm/crunch sounds, like:- Metallica, Nirvana, etc etc (but certainly different to Marshall).

I think the 410H has more modes or something but I would still say the Mark V (3 channels) is more versatile - mainly because Boogie do clean and lead better than Marshall every did (and Marshall do crunch really well).

I have a Mark IIC+ Boogie which "only" has 2 channels and EQ but with guitar volume riding I can go from a brilliant clean, to grinding/broken clean to boogie lead to Tallica crunch.

AFAIC it isn't about channels, the Boogie's can do a pretty decent clean, country, jazz, fusion, rock, pop, metal, etc etc... whereas Marshall is rock, rock, or more rock, oh yeah some metal.


3. The 1x12 C90 is a good work horse but pretty well every amp will sound better through a good 4x12, right?

All the Mesa/Boogie heads and combos I know are electronically the same. If you plug a 1x12 combo into a 4x12 cab it'll sound exactly the same as the head would.

I think a combo is the cheapest format. And it has the "grab and run" appeal (well in the case of Mesa it's "grab and limp along pretty slowly" appeal because this thing is heavy...)

I think format (combo, head, 1x12, 4x12) is a very big decision - but only you can make that call because you're the one lugging this stuff ...



4. Switching 90/45/10 watts on the fly? I would call Mesa Engineering in the USA and ask them that question, it won't cost too much and I wouldn't trust anyone else. I'd call MB a couple of times, could depend on who you get, secretary or one of the real amp guys.



5. 240V - Don't know about Europe. I know the Australian importer gets the amps and changes the transformers to 230-240V, so yes I know it can be done, but no I don't know who will do it for you. I just know it can be done.


* * * Good luck and once again. Mark V = great amp. But for Satriani I won't say it's the first choice. I'm surprised you let the 410H go?

Cheers.

Thank you for your answers guys!

While most of the times I loved the tone I was getting from my 410H with a 4*12 Greenback cab, I couldn't actually get what I really wanted. To me, the JVM was a bit like a handyman who can fix everything but the results are kinda varying, if you know what I mean.
The one thing I was missing from EVERY amp I've ever owned (ok, maybe except for the VH4) was that real punchiness. I don't know how could I explain it, it's like almost all amps I've ever used were too spongy, like they were tired or something.
The Satch tone I love is his tone from the songs If I Could Fly, or Crowd Chant, and his tone on G3 2003. While they are a little bit different, the thing they all have in common is some kind of saturated, but still kinda hollow character, that's still being somewhat fizzy. Again, hard to explain or describe, if you give these songs (or even more G3 2003) a listen, you'll immediately understand what I mean. That tone is just unreal to me, sounds even more like a solid state amp rather than a tube amp in a sense.
I've heard a cover of one of these Satch songs in a simple home recording on a Mark IV tho... and I just dropped my jaw right there. The tone I was looking for for years now was simply there, without any special kinds of pedals or anything. The guy didn't even use an Ibanez JS.
So, mostly, that's why I'm looking into the Mark V. I feel like it has something to it that other amps don't really. Who knows what has Satch actually used in the studio in the past years? It might have been a Dual Rec head (which he admittedly uses sometimes) or even a Mark IV... the one thing I'm sure about is that there is something special about that tone, and the closest I've ever heard was a Mark IV.

Satch tones on the Mark V is doable. It has alot more to do with the feel and the technique.

Here's an older YouTube clip of a gentleman getting there using an old Boogie Studio Pre.

http://youtu.be/HpCc7_0Cmuc - skip to 2:28 ( or watch the whole thing for Boogie entertainment :wink: )

Play around enough with the IIC+ mode and it should be cake.

Good luck! 8)

Neptical said:

Satch tones on the Mark V is doable. It has alot more to do with the feel and the technique.

Here's an older YouTube clip of a gentleman getting there using an old Boogie Studio Pre.

http://youtu.be/HpCc7_0Cmuc - skip to 2:28 ( or watch the whole thing for Boogie entertainment :wink: )

Play around enough with the IIC+ mode and it should be cake.

Good luck! 8)

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Stop it - your gonna make me cry. I had a Studio Preamp (paid $300 bucks) - why why why did I sell it ....

Euro 220V versions available here:
I got one! :mrgreen:

http://www.projectmusic.net/mesa-boogie-mark-5-512-c.asp

A_Ryder said:

Neptical said:

Satch tones on the Mark V is doable. It has alot more to do with the feel and the technique.

Here's an older YouTube clip of a gentleman getting there using an old Boogie Studio Pre.

http://youtu.be/HpCc7_0Cmuc - skip to 2:28 ( or watch the whole thing for Boogie entertainment :wink: )

Play around enough with the IIC+ mode and it should be cake.

Good luck! 8)

Click to expand...

Stop it - your gonna make me cry. I had a Studio Preamp (paid $300 bucks) - why why why did I sell it ....

Click to expand...

Bad move!