I finally understand why I always see the "V" GEQ

I was really shocked when I plugged into my first Mark this week (Mark V). I was expecting this really scooped, low-end, dark sounding monster.... But I was pleasantly surprised to hear a nice vintage-y mid-range! It was at that point that 20 years of seeing the famous "V" EQ on Mark amps all made sense!

I tried it, but I like me some mids. I have more of this shape " \ " since I play single coil telecasters. I bump the bass, leave the mids about in the middle and tame the top end. I'm sure if, and when, I get a humbucker guitar again......I'll probably try the "V" again.

I honestly thought all these people were just into REALLY scooped tones, but that's not the case. This is an amazing sounding amp, not just a metal amp!

The V works really well with Teles, I actually prefer it with mine over any of my humbucker guitars.

I actually liked this (see pic) on channel 3 and the first 2 channels without the GEQ set. It gives me a pretty hi-gain setting for ch3 by allowing me to turn up the treble more on that channel and then compensating by bringing it down on the GEQ.

That's a pretty extreme cut on the top end, I just roll the tone knob back a bit on the guitar. I don't run the gain that high either, though, so I'm obviously going for a different sound.

This is a pretty even transition from one channel to the next without having to adjust anything on my guitar. I mean, what's the point in having a Boogie if you can't melt some faces off? Lol

That is a very high gain setting on CH3 extreme, even for 45W mode. I could not even run the channel volume at that level either... My favorite guitars are strat type SSS and the other is HSS. I am using Lace Sensor Hot Golds which sound great. However when compared to my friends Fender Strat, the output on my guitars are at least twice that of the Fender. I can understand your settings considering the output levels of most Fenders are not as high as other guitars. So that may work well for your instrument. I may have to try it out for myself, thanks for the picture. First I will look for my ear plugs as I may need them.

The way I approach the dials is
gain: mid heavy OD
Treble: high mid sizzle/grit
mid: tightness and stiffness "feel" on the hands
Bass: low end presence-flub
Mid geq slider: honk in/out

Therefore dialing more gain dials in more honk and also makes TMB less effective.
honk then needs to be removed from GEQ mid slider, hence the V.

With gain around noon the mid and high-mid geq slider can be boosted alternatively giving a more sizzling mid-presence. I did this when I used ch3 for rhythm too and hit geq as a solo boost when I needed mids to cut through.

I find that the geq V works well at higher volumes as it makes the sound more hifi in a pleasant "pro" way.
at lower home volumes higher bass and treble geq make the sound a bit sterile.
I generally prefer boosting highs from the geq rather than the presence dial.

Catthan said:

Treble: high mid sizzle/grit
mid: tightness and stiffness "feel" on the hands
Bass: low end presence-flub

Click to expand...

There's also a different aspect to the TMB controls worth mentioning. While they work as tone controls, they seem to operate in the pre-gain part of the circuit (unlike the GEQ), meaning that they will have an effect on the overall preamp gain of your amp. In other words, the Treble pot is not simply a Treble tone control, it is like a built-in Treble boost. Likewise, think of the other two as Middle boost and Bass boost.

Novice V users occasionally complain that the amp doesn't have enough gain. Their common mistake is that they simply dime the Gain pot and are disappointed.
To get the most and, more importantly, the best Gain from your V, you need to use the Gain pot in conjunction with the Treble pot.

I normally leave the gain and treble low on the CH3 setting as it has ample amount of gain available. I did try the settings used in the photo above, I almost expected to have an ice pick but no, it actually sounded great. Nice trick with the EQ. Believe it or not, sounded the same to me with what I normally use.

Yep, the tone controls are pre gain and are pulled right off of the first gain stage (with the exception of CH2, tone controls are after 2nd gain stage). Gain for CH1 is off the first gain stage, CH2 is off the 2nd gain stage, however, CH3 gain control is much farther down the chain of tube stages (V5a) which is the third preamp tube in the CH3 gain stack [V1a, V1b, V5a, V4b, V3a, V6a and then to the EQ circuit].