V25 in the house!

i went to pick it up last night, and got home tonight and had a chance to try it out. I only had about an hour. I spent all that time with my incredible PRS NF3.

I'm going to say now, I know how the honeymoon stage can be with gear, and I know how first impressions can be with new gear. Usually takes a while to find the flaws in good stuff. That said,
This is the best all around amp that I've ever played or heard! I got everything from sparkling clean strat like tones to massive heavy stuff. I honestly think that if it only had the 3 modes on the clean channel, it would still be the best amp I've ever played! The crunch channel has plenty of gain for almost anyone. Clean and fat quickly showed two great base tones, and the gain and EQ range can take it from there to anything you want. The clean, mild breakup and crunch tones were FANTASTIC!

I could keep going but I'll say more later after I've had more time and tried more guitars. But for now, my first impression is this. This amp covers more tones than I could even imagine, but the best thing is that it doesn't just do them, they all sound absolutely killer! This amp is amazing!!!

Congrats!

I'm with you man.

It is possibly the honeymoon stage, but at this stage at least I can't see how I could be more pleased with this amp.

They basically took the only modes on the Mark V I would use and put them in the V25.

Cleans sound killer (and loud).

Crunch can do any level of classic rock you want.

And we all know what the IIC+, IV and XTREME can do.

And it weighs 16lbs.

If I had to pick a single negative, I'm not crazy about the reverb. I figured I would sell my Hall of Fame reverb pedal once I picked up the V25.

I will be keeping the pedal. Probably I just don't like spring reverb. Cause I don't like the spring reverb setting on the pedal either.

Congratulations. Reviews are really appreciated. Keep them coming.
I have serious G.A.S for this amp.

Congratulations and thanks to both you (DTR) and primal...

I have huge interest in this amp, but while I haven't generally been a fan of EL84 powered amps, I'm cautious. Without actually going out and playing one, I'll never know if that's a real concern or not. Can either or both of you (and anyone else with experience) opine on whether my concern is substantiated or not? Since my interest in this amp has risen, I have begun to think that maybe I should be looking at a Mark V instead (which I've initially thought to be more amp than I need)...thoughts regarding comparison?

Snottyboy said:

Congratulations and thanks to both you (DTR) and primal...

I have huge interest in this amp, but while I haven't generally been a fan of EL84 powered amps, I'm cautious. Without actually going out and playing one, I'll never know if that's a real concern or not. Can either or both of you (and anyone else with experience) opine on whether my concern is substantiated or not? Since my interest in this amp has risen, I have begun to think that maybe I should be looking at a Mark V instead (which I've initially thought to be more amp than I need)...thoughts regarding comparison?

Click to expand...

The power section works beautifully with this amp. It has a great break up that you can actually dial in at useable volumes which enhances the preamp distortion.

Congrats on the new amp! I'm also in the honeymoon stage, but I can already tell that Mesa hit a home run with the Mark V:25.

Snottyboy said:

Congratulations and thanks to both you (DTR) and primal...

I have huge interest in this amp, but while I haven't generally been a fan of EL84 powered amps, I'm cautious. Without actually going out and playing one, I'll never know if that's a real concern or not. Can either or both of you (and anyone else with experience) opine on whether my concern is substantiated or not? Since my interest in this amp has risen, I have begun to think that maybe I should be looking at a Mark V instead (which I've initially thought to be more amp than I need)...thoughts regarding comparison?

Click to expand...

I used to own a Mark V 90 watt amp head, but ended up selling it a while back. It was a decision I always regretted. When I learned of the Mark V:25 I was stoked. It was a much cheaper alternative to the full Mark V, and the low wattage appealed to me since I'm more of a bedroom player, and don't need all the headroom. That being said, I was concerned about the EL84s. I'm generally not a fan and prefer the 6l6s. I went to a few different guitar shops to try out the Mark V:25 and A/B it with the Mark 90 watt. The result is that they sound very close to one another. I would say the 90 watt has a tad more detail in some of the sound to my ears, but that small difference is negligible especially considering the Mark V:25 is $1000 cheaper.

I will say that the cab definitely makes a difference in the sound as well. While at the shop I was playing through a 1x12 cab, which sounded a bit thin to me. When I got home and plugged into my 2x12 it added that perfect amount of low end that I felt was missing.

Now that I have Mark V:25 I don't miss the Mark V at all.

I this demo really shows how close they are to each other:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpZQZo7aZCg

They've tuned the circuit to compliment the El84s so I think that's how they're able to bring it out the big brothers tone to this little guy.

Primal,

You mentioned not liking the reverb on the V25. Did you like the reverb on your ED? Or is it reverb pans just don't do it for you?

And do you know if Mesa put a smaller reverb tank in the V25 than what is found in the Mark V?

talltxguy said:

Primal,

You mentioned not liking the reverb on the V25. Did you like the reverb on your ED? Or is it reverb pans just don't do it for you?

And do you know if Mesa put a smaller reverb tank in the V25 than what is found in the Mark V?

Click to expand...

I believe it is more a case of me just preferring hall style digital reverb over spring reverb.

With my TC Electronics "Hall of Fame" reverb, I don't like the spring reverb on it either. In fact, if I compare the spring reverb setting on the pedal to the Mark V25 spring reverb, the Mark V25 reverb sounds better.

It has been a while since I played the Electra Dyne, but I do remember liking the reverb on the Electra Dyne.

Here's the thing though.

I have been playing a Stiletto for a while and it does not have reverb. So I had to use the Hall of Fame reverb on the clean channel. And I never used the spring reverb, I always used the hall reverbs and I think I just got used to that.

So I would not be surprised at this point if I went back to the Electra Dyne if I would also not like the reverb as well, simply because I prefer the hall reverb so much more then spring.

Not sure how the tank compares to the one on the 90 watt Mark V. Would expect that the 90 watt reverb tank would be much bigger given how tiny the

Thanks to everyone who replied to my question above. Are the cleans big and deep enough, or does anyone feel they are too thin? From all the clips I've seen/heard, the clean channel appears to have tremendous versatility that will take you from crystal clean to vintage rock with great variations in between. That's what has me really interested. Metal ability is frosting for me.

primal said:

Not sure how the tank compares to the one on the 90 watt Mark V. Would expect that the 90 watt reverb tank would be much bigger given how tiny the

Click to expand...

The...what? Don't keep us in suspense! :lol:

I've had mine for three days now and have to support all previous claims...it's an absolutely incredible head. My Dad's hugely into gear and buys/sells plenty of tube heads, so before purchasing the Mark V: 25, I borrowed various amps from him (Engl Powerball II, Boogie Stiletto, Triple Rectifier, Krank Krankenstein and a few more) and found I couldn't really attach myself to any of their particular sounds (probably because I've spent years listening to Petrucci's leads, ha!). When the V:25 came in, it was literally three seconds before I found the sounds I'd heard in my head.

I have to agree that I'm way more accustomed to digital reverb, so the spring reverb isn't my all-time favorite, but I certainly like having the all analog option. My ONLY complaint (not even a complaint, really) and something that I believe to be a side-effect of playing through solid state amps most of my life, is that at higher gains, there isn't QUITE the note sensitivity I'm used to. I think a boost or compressor will make all the difference, but I'll probably start a topic on this anyway. Anyway, I'd give this beast an honest 10/10.

LesPaul70 said:

primal said:

Not sure how the tank compares to the one on the 90 watt Mark V. Would expect that the 90 watt reverb tank would be much bigger given how tiny the

Click to expand...

The...what? Don't keep us in suspense! :lol:

Click to expand...

HAHAHA,

And I wasn't even drinking.

How tiny the head is. It would seem they were constrained with the size they could fit.

Again though, don't mean to rip on the reverb. My guess is as far as spring reverbs go it is a good one. Spring reverbs just now my thing.

Thanks for the insight, Primal!

Night #2 - one hour, only used the new PRS Custom 24 with 59/09's and only used the crunch channel.

I don't see how any of the three modes on channel 2 can even compete with what I heard tonight. The crunch mode is simply off the charts. If an amp had either one of the first two modes as the clean channel, and crunch mode as the gain channel, it would be a phenomenal amp!!! Channel 2 is going to have to be unbelievable to even equal channel 1!

WOW!!!

And by the way...

Primal, I too have the TC Hall of Fame pedal, and my experiences with it are very similar to yours. (Well, actually my pedal is the Trinity version of the HoF but aside from two special presets on the Trinity, named Ethereal 1 and Ethereal 2, it's the same pedal.)

I don't like the HoF Spring reverb emulation on the pedal either. Its spring reverbration 'sproing' is too fast and intrusive to my taste. It's almost like the reverb effect is mixed with a tremolo effect where you have no control over the tremolo depth or rate. All real spring reverbs I have on my amps are preferable to that.

Now, the various room/hall/cathedral reverbs on the HoF are a different matter altogether. I will gladly choose them over any amp spring reverb. They are just that good.