Mesa Mark V - Metallica Tone

This probably doesnt deserve its own thread but i just got my Mark V today in Nashville and havnt stopped smiling since. I just wanted to say that if you have been searching for that "Metallica tone" as long as I have, then look no further than the Mark V. I started playing at age 12 (I'm 34 now) and over the years went through a JCM 800, a Mesa DC-2, a 6505+, a Dual Rec Trem-O-Verb and more pedals than I care to remember but never quite got that Hetfield sound in my head. So for all the kids who may be on the same tone search as I was, maybe this thread will pop up in a google search one day and offer someone, somewhere some advice. Get a Mark V, a Tube Screamer and a guitar with EMGs and your search is complete. I have no idea why it took me so long to figure this out.

Well, you know, since Hetfield used Mark series amps, that would be the route I'd go if I was copping a particular tone.

Funny how people think every great tone is a Marshall. Even way back, people thought that huge John Sykes tone was a modded Marshall, but it was a Mark IIC.

Well being a teenager in the 90's I was buying equipment to sound like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and later Tool, but always trying to get a Hetfield tone out of the equipment I had in my spare time. Never could have afforded a Mark Series amp back then anyhow.

I know what you're talking about. My experiment with SED =C= EL34s turned channel 3 (esp. Mark IIc+ and Mark IV modes, with the proper EQ settings) essentially into "Hetfield in a box", even without the need for a stompbox or EMG pickups. Although I normally live on channels 1 and 2, it's kind of fun to kick in a Justice for All guitar sound in the middle of a song. My guilty pleasure. :twisted:

Well thats good to hear man. Congrats on the purchase.

You should post your settings, I am always interested to see peoples settings.

I can cop a good Master of Puppets tone, but I am always trying to get it a little bit closer. I can also get a pretty good Justice, Black Album, and even Load tones. But its hard to get right there without the double and triple tracking and all that business. And if you want any of my settings I would be happy to post them as well.

Have fun with your new "baby".

I don't have any recommended settings yet. I'm still on cloud 9 regardless of settings right now. What I don't understand is all the people saying this amp requires tweaking and tweaking to get a usable tone. Is this just an exageration? Im not what I would consider a tweaker and I haven't had trouble getting awesome tones at all. I mean, it's got more knobs than an 800 but hell...

You can dial a Metallica tone easily out of this amp at any volume. But, beware that when you change that volume you'll have to adjust your settings to compensate. Great settings at a very low volume could get boxy turned up. You may have to play with a bit more volume to get the best sounds, of course.. but there are certain points that you can hear the tone die or come alive. Keep an eye out and get that signal lively.

The FX loop (if used) should be at least at 12 o'clock to get a good tone out to the power amp. It's easy to overload your FX unit and you'll have to decide what the right compromise is there. Noon minimum for my tastes.

It's good that you're happy with the tones you're getting without much tweaking. I've had one since they launched and i'm still in the honeymoon phase. It's that good.

Jedro said:

Well, you know, since Hetfield used Mark series amps, that would be the route I'd go if I was copping a particular tone.

Funny how people think every great tone is a Marshall. Even way back, people thought that huge John Sykes tone was a modded Marshall, but it was a Mark IIC.

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+1 on the Sykes tone. He got a great sound out of the IIC+ an III that often get overlooked. Obviously Hetfield and Petrucci are the most popular tones from these amps but the most popular Whitesnake tracks mere all Boogie Mark Series tone!

SonVolt said:

Well being a teenager in the 90's I was buying equipment to sound like Nirvana....

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Just FYI Nirvana used the Mark studio pre, basically a rack version of the IIc+. Granted they mixed several amps on the albums but that was the core tone. Plugin a strat to your V and you'll hear the Nirvana tone you were chasing as well

iceman said:

SonVolt said:

Well being a teenager in the 90's I was buying equipment to sound like Nirvana....

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Just FYI Nirvana used the Mark studio pre, basically a rack version of the IIc+. Granted they mixed several amps on the albums but that was the core tone. Plugin a strat to your V and you'll hear the Nirvana tone you were chasing as well

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Mark Studio preamp on clean though, with a Boss DS-1. Any good tube amp with high headroom will achieve that sound. I could nail that tone with my JCM 800... Throw a Big Muff in there an even Billy Corgan would smile.

This will definitely show my age but I learned who John Sykes was from That Metal Show on VH1... he got all crazy eyed at the blond chick who does the top 5. Whitesnake was anything but "cool" during my childhood, quite embarrassing actually... But now that im older and less judgemental, John Sykes had some pretty **** cool riffs and tones. I've been playing the Still of the Night riffs the last fee days, wow. Good stuff.

The diversity of artists who use Mark series amps is really what attracted me to the Mark V. I always knew about James Hetfield using mark amps, and when I found out that Carlos Santana, The Rolling Stones, and The Grateful Dead had all used them at some point I was sold. I'm not a deadhead or a big Santana fan, but they had great tones and I was really amazed that an amp could go from a Dead sound to a Hetfield sound.

Rivers Cuomo of Weezer recorded their first self-titled album with a Mark 1, and I always loved the big fat crunch of the guitar on that album. Mark series amps are on a lot more records than people realize, and I have to agree that people always tend to think they're hearing a Marshall.

iceman said:

Just FYI Nirvana used the Mark studio pre, basically a rack version of the IIc+. Granted they mixed several amps on the albums but that was the core tone. Plugin a strat to your V and you'll hear the Nirvana tone you were chasing as well

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Bleach, In Utero and Unplugged were Fender Twin Reverbs. Nevermind was the Studio Pre/Crown power amp rig for the most part, but about 1/4 of the album was done using a Bassman and there was an AC30 used for some of the clean sounds. I don't think they blended amps as Cobain had a thing about being able to sound the same live as in the studio, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, I agree with the above statement about EL34s making the Mark V sound even more like Metallica. It brings a crunch to the sound that really seems to nail it. The trade off is that the clean channel looses depth and the lead channel sounds a little flatter (but more focused). I normally use 6L6s myself, but it is nice to be able to swap tubes/bias within a minute or two when I want to change things up.

I'm another dude who went Mesa after doing a lot of research into my favourite bands and realizing that they shared a lot in common... although in my case is was Metallica, Alice in Chains (I don't think it's accurate, but back then I thought they'd used a Recto on Dirt), Soundgarden and Nirvana.

screamingdaisy said:

Bleach, In Utero and Unplugged were Fender Twin Reverbs. Nevermind was the Studio Pre/Crown power amp rig for the most part, but about 1/4 of the album was done using a Bassman and there was an AC30 used for some of the clean sounds. I don't think they blended amps as Cobain had a thing about being able to sound the same live as in the studio, but I could be wrong.

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I could be mistaken, but awhile back when I was doing some research on Mesa's and artists that use them, I came across some pictures of Kurt Cobain touring with a Mark III. I never got to see them live of course, but the guy that posted the photo's said Kurt tried out all kinds of Mesa's and was inspired to try out the Mark III when he found out Metallica used Mark Series Amps, being the Metallica fan that he was.

What are your settings on the Mark V to get the JCM 800 (or Mesa Stiletto) tone?

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH1Q5_HLFtA

I'm the one who starts this thread. I picked up a Mark IV a few months back and the V has been collecting dust. I just can't get over how much better Channel 3 is in the IV.