Mark V Problem

I recently noticed a drop in volume and clarity in channel one. It isn't noisy, just not as clear. In the 90 watt mode, I could have all my channel masters set the same and the volume would be balanced across all the channels. Now I have to crank ch one quiet a lot to balance them. I'm guessing a tube but not sure if it is pre-amp or a power tube. Did the tap test but didn't hear any noise. Any suggestions?

A side note, I have a 1962 Fender Pro amp that my father bought new. It has never had anything replaced including the tubes! Still has the 2-prong power cord. Makes me wonder why the newer amps seem to go through tubes so much faster.

My guess is a preamp tube. As for your second question, tubes, just like everything else aren't made like they used to be.

Old school Fenders are also a lot easier on their tubes than modern high gain amps that drive the piss out of them.

Well I went through all the pre-amp tubes with one that I know is good. Replacing V1 is a b!tch!. My problem didn't change. Now I'm guessing it's a power tube. Can these be replaced in pairs or do I need to replace all four?

They can be replaced one at a time provided the replacement is of the same colour code.

Otherwise, replace them in pairs.

I've always had to crank my channel 1 master a bit higher than the other channels, except when I had 2 and 3 on lower wattage settings.

primeholy said:

I've always had to crank my channel 1 master a bit higher than the other channels, except when I had 2 and 3 on lower wattage settings.

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I can live with that. The main thing I'm trying to get rid of in ch. 1 is the slight static/distortion that wasn't there before.

I get noise in my clean channel on my widebody front ported cab.(kind of a distorted sound). I would suggest what I am gonna do, check your speakers.

tjjmon said:

I recently noticed a drop in volume and clarity in channel one. It isn't noisy, just not as clear. In the 90 watt mode, I could have all my channel masters set the same and the volume would be balanced across all the channels. Now I have to crank ch one quiet a lot to balance them. I'm guessing a tube but not sure if it is pre-amp or a power tube. Did the tap test but didn't hear any noise. Any suggestions?

A side note, I have a 1962 Fender Pro amp that my father bought new. It has never had anything replaced including the tubes! Still has the 2-prong power cord. Makes me wonder why the newer amps seem to go through tubes so much faster.

Click to expand...

My uncle has a Music Man amp that still has the original tubes in it! It's never been serviced. You are absolutely correct.

Tried my cab with a different head. It checked out fine. I noticed a flash today when I turned the amp on. It looked like it came from the rectifier tube. If this tube was bad, would it show it self in the 90 watt mode? I'm waiting for some new power tubes to arrive. Hopefully they will fix it.

Not to steal OP's thread, but I figured that the title applied to my issue also...

My Mark V Combo arrived last week and the couriers roughed it up quite a bit - smashed rectifier tube and tube sockets needed replaced.

However, I collected the amp from the tech yesterday and I am still not sure that the amp is working 100%. Although not sounding as it did when I first played it (Typical thin, fuzzy, broken preamp sound), the amp does not sound quite as rich nor as full as I had come to expect. The tech said that the reverb would only work with the pedal but upon bringing the amp home and testing this out, the reverb still isn't working.

I looked at John Petrucci's videos on how he sets his Mark V and I copied his EQ settings to see if my amp would sound similar but I am certain that despite the different guitar, the sound I am getting is not quite in the ball-park.

Sorry for the long post but I am eager to hear this amp play its full potential - any other information you need, I'll be happy to post.

Thanks any responses.

A common refrain with new Mark owners. Couple tips: give it time to learn the amp. If you havent had a boogie before...erase all notions of previous guitar amps you'be had from your mind. This beast is a completely new experience and distinct sound.

What you'll have to get used to is the mid range of the combo and the tone and gain controls dont have the same response as middle grade transistor amps. They work differently and often in tandem with each other.

Take your time is all i can say. I've had mine over a year and i'm still learning

Rich and full is how it'll sound through a closed back Recto cab (2x12 or 4x12).

The combo tends to be thinner and really mid heavy. It sounds awesome in a band but will take some getting used to when played alone at home.

That said, the reverb should work with or without the pedal (without the pedal it's always on). If possible I'd try playing through another Mark V to see how your amp compares tonally.

Thanks for the responses guys.

I understand that it's a completely different amp regarding the EQ, and I didn't want to sound like I hadn't given it a chance. I have a V30 speaker that I'll put in the combo shortly to see how the tone compares.

Regarding the reverb - I can hear it on Channel 1, Clean, but I'm not sure if that's just due to the volume of the amp because it doesn't appear to be very present and not present at all on any other Channel. I have read in other forums that it isn't very noticeable apart from on the aforementioned Channel.

Once again, thanks for the replies.

The tone certainly improves with the V30, but I've come to the conclusion that the 1st Pre-Amp tube section must be the cause. There doesn't appear to be nearly as much gain as there should be and lead notes won't sustain nor will the sound sound clear

I have changed the tube yet I don't believe that it is the tube itself that's the issue, but perhaps the tube socket? When the amp is on and I move the tube a little there is a lot of crackling, and this is also true of the 5th pre-amp tube (the 'Reverb Receive'), however the crackling is not as severe, possible due to being further down the chain so it won't be amplified as much.

Looks like it'll have to go back to the tech.