MARK FIVE 25 TONE SETTINGS THREAD

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Doomeddawn

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Hi to all,

I`m new to the Forum and a fresh Mesa Boogie user. So far I have been in the Marshall and later Blackstar camp and decided to try something new. And since the other guitarist in our band is using JVM Marshall I had to find something a little different. I was aiming for tonal versatility in small package and boy does this thing deliver! I bought the Mark five 25 a month ago and been loving the thing since. This Forum has been very useful source of information to someone who has never played Mesa amp. So thank you very much to the members of this community for the wealth of information! :eek: There has been good amount of discussion about the new mini mark but there isn´t a dedicated tone settings thread for the V:25 yet. So I decided to start one, for that I need to post one of my settings first. I have a lot of sonic exploration ahead and it would be helpfull to share information.

At the moment my chain is: Les Paul (a 1985 Tokai LS80 with BKP Blackdog Bridge, Mule neck),tuner, couple of OD pedals, multiFX, Mesa V:25, mesa thiele 1x12. I decided to post a general purpose setting for a variaty of musical genres (Yes I play in party rock/pop/whatever cover band, shame on me... ). The settings below are aimed for nice fat clean tone which doesn´t break up easily when you spank the thing. The Od is for basic rock overdrive. Eq sliders are used as an independent solo boost for both channels. I use the clean channel also as a platform for OD pedals, I can get a pretty convincing Marshall plexi style crunch tone with Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret III, the clean mode is a little thin for this purpose. OD channel gain is set low enough so that I can clean it with my Guitar vol pot if necessary.

Fat clean/Rock Overdrive/Distortion + Solo boost
Clean CH, Fat mode, Gain 11:00, Treble 12:30, mid 11:00, bass 10:00, presence 12:30, master 8:00, reverb to taste, 25w
OD Channel, IIc+ mode, Gain 11:30, Treble 13:00, mid 12:30, bass 10:30, presence 13:00, master 8:30, reverb to taste, 25w

1st Slider Boost approx. 1/6 (just above line)
2nd Slider Boost approx. 1/5
3rd Slider Boost approx. 2/5
4th Slider Boost approx. 2/5
5th Slider Boost approx. 1/5

That is my 2 cents, looking forward for your settings. 8) Btw if you wonder the low master settings, we are are a 5 piece band (voc, 2 x gtr, bass and drums) practicing in a very small space, so we try to keep moderate volume levels.
 
I think this is a good thread to have. We have been throwing settings up scatter-shot.

I recommend photos, though. Easier than typing...

My settings are variations on clean with a little punch and general-purpose rock overdrive. I play a lot of styles and use an OD808 and a BBPre to get more variety. I use FAT and IIC+, though I switch to IV mode as well with the same settings.

Petrucci has pics of his settings on his web page. He also has a couple vids up on how he sets his tone that I highly recommend. Granted, they are for the 90W V, but HOW he does it is useful for the 25 as well.




 
Here are the settings I used in my demo. I haven't needed to tweak this amp at all compared to how I did when I had a Mark IV. The IV seemed to change every time I played it but my Mini has been very consistent.
(Hard to see the switches. Channel 1 on clean, channel 2 on C+, both at 25watts and EQ on channel 2 only.)

925f0352-090a-45dd-8450-4c69893b5e96.jpg
 
Hi,
So I just wanted to try and get this thread going a little more. I've only had the amp since yesterday, but I am loving this thing! I play mostly metal.
Here are my current settings for Fat mode on Channel 1 and Mark IV mode for channel 2.
I've noticed this amp is a bit more noisy than my Roadster was so keeping the gain and high down below noon is helping with that a little. I also have been using my Boss NS2 hooked up in the X pattern so it works for the loop as well as the amp input. This makes it silent while I'm not playing but I can still barely hear the buzzing while I'm playing. Any ideas on that?
Anyway Here you go.

 
Here's a pretty sweet one for the xtreme mode with my Les Paul. Nice and chewy :D Works really good at low volume. Man I am diggin this amp!
44FE4FC7-7487-44D7-BC18-C51EA18451C8.jpg
 
I was happy with my tone at home, but struggled at rehearsal. Too muddy and saturated. I had been scooping way too much and was running too much gain. Pull up 750Hz a bit, drop the gain a lot, and it worked great with my band.

I had been running IIC mode with gain about 11:00. With gain at 9:00 IIC+ mode was a bit too clean and had too little low end. I switched to IV mode and it got more complex in the mids and added low end. Sounds great!

Helpful hints: a lot of what people hear in a band setting is mids. Adding 750 gets nasal very easily. Bumping up 2200 helps add that presence but without so much honk. Cuts through but lets you keep the low-end tight and the volume down.

The presence control, in addition to shifting the tone focus, adds transient response. Upping presence tightens the lows and adds percussive attack that helps cut through. Gives a satisfying "thwack" when you hit the strings. Mucho punch.

 
Hi again,

Thank you all for sharing your settings. I have been lazy in sharing settings and also had difficulty in uploading images. So here are a couple of settings that Petrucci used in one of my favorite demo videos of the v25. Channel 1, crunch mode. These settings are made by looking at the youtube video and setting my own amp the same way. These are just approximations of what I think I saw in the video... :?: :lol: So sorry if they are not exact, but I think they will put you in the same ballpark. Ignore the settings on the second channel.



First Crunch setting @ 3.24: http://youtu.be/gjkfArHfV6Q?t=3m24s
Petrucci_1_zps14aab148.jpg


Second Crunch setting @ 4.09: http://youtu.be/gjkfArHfV6Q?t=4m9s
Petrucci_2_zpsff48e77d.jpg
 
Is the amp really loud when you hear the noise, such that playing guitar totally masks it, or is the noise loud relative to the Guitar?

If the former, it's probably normal. If the latter, may be a noisy tube. I don't get unexpectedly high noise with gain and treble at 1:00.

Are you using an od or boost in front? I do get noticeable noise when I use gain pedals and lots of amp gain together.
 
Thanks Elvis!

I definitely notice the noise more when playing at lower bedroom volumes. At those levels(maybe like a loud TV), if I let a chord ring out, I can start to hear the background noise. At higher volumes, the guitar seems to cover up the noise better. I find it interesting that I can run the gain higher in the xtreme mode with less noise.

As for the OD in front, I haven't been using it. Seems like the amp doesn't really like my Maxon OD808, kinda ruins the sound. (Worked great for my Roadster though)

I have some other mesa 12ax7's i could try out, do you have any idea which tube affects the Mark IV mode?

Thanks again for the assist.
 
I'm not having any noticeable noise issues with those settings. In that case I had it dialed it for more of a lead tone (I was looping a rhythm part on the crunch channel and then using channel two for lead). Normally with the band and at volume I wouldn't have the gain that high on the Mark IV setting.
 
pinhedgtr said:
OK thanks man, guess i need to try some spare tubes out in V1 and V2 and see if that makes a difference.

I appreciate the replies!

These are always the first steps to take when dealing with noise:

Does the noise happen when there is no instrument connected to the amp?

How about when the instrument is plugged in, but with the guitars volume down?

Are you in close proximity to fluorescent lights, computer monitors, fans, dimmer switches, etc?

Have you tried other cables and guitars?

Have you confirmed the noise happens in multiple locations (i.e. Home, rehearsal space, friends house, work, etc)?

Do you have any effects in front of the amp or in the fx loop?

Have you done any tube troubleshooting?

Many of the noise inquiries we receive are proximity issues - the power in your house, grounding, or interference from lights, monitors, ceiling fans, dimmers, cycling appliances, cell phone, wifi, etc. Its often picked up by your guitar pickups, or a result of faulty shielding or grounding on the instrument, cable, etc....and sometimes picked up by the amp.

The next most common cause is a noisy preamp tube - To trouble shoot the preamp tubes, take a new/known good 12AX7 and swap it into each preamp position, one position at a time. Test the amp in-between each swap to pin-point the tube that is potentially causing the issue.

I hope this helps. Thanks!
 


Crunch and MK II....eq off....sliders set flat...25W(both)

I'm using the cabclone pretty much for everything except an ACTUAL recording session so .these settings should be taken in that context it's being sent to a yamaha AW4416(a cheaper version of an O2R digital mixer)with the eq set as a low cut@74Hz and a high cut @6Khz no other eq or processing is applied and then in my studio it goes to a pair of Event PS8 monitors, i VASTLY prefer the sound of a mic'd amp over that of an actual speaker cab when i'm playing so live i just will have it in my monitor mix.

haven't been able yet to get a straight to cab sound that i'm happy with yet but i've only had it a couple of days.

I use the amp like 2 single ch. amps Crunch for heavier more aggressive stuff and the IIc+ for everything else...i also use my flux drive as a lead gain boost for both channels
 
I have noticed (an the manual does point this out) how big a difference the treble control makes on the channel 2 settings. The gain structure really changes as you roll the treble knob up. On the MkIIC+ mode, at 11 o'clock, the tone is dull and uninspiring. Turn the treble up to 1 o,clock, and the amp comes alive.
 
I am sooooooooo stoked! My new 5:25 is waiting in a box at home for after work and I can't even think straight. I have been wanting a mark v since they came out in 09? Now I can take it anywhere in my honda which was questionable with the original! Anyways.... The tone quest continues on..... Anyone want to buy a used Nomad 45 1x12?
I have watched the youtube vid with Petrucci a dozen or more times. Saw some of his settings what they did at the table.

Bitting at the bit until I can go home :p
 

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