Mesa 2013 Mark V head Mid hump?

Hi, this might be a crazy question, but a friend brought his 84' Mark IIC+ over the other day to compare to the Mark V IIC+ mode and in all modes (except maybe the Clean channel) of the V, there was this mid hump, almost like a 1/2 cocked wah tone that does not go away with the V. We were using a EVM-12L in a 1-12 cab. The IIC+ sounded very balanced maybe flatter in the mids with the EVM-12L. I even tried different tubes going back to the original tubes, but the slight wah tone never completely left. Has anyone experienced this as well? I want to love the V, but maybe there is something not right? I hear that the Celestion V30 is a better speaker for the V, but I have always loved the EVM-12L with my Mark Series amps, seems like maybe Mesa made a change somewhere and it is getting this strange tone we both heard, not bad, just different, we thought maybe they voiced it slightly to work with certain speakers. I also heard this with Petrucci's IIC+ vs. V comparison. Anyone care to jump in? Sure different transformers, tubes etc. but the tone is much like when Petrucci has his wah 1/2 cocked at times, can you say "Cocked-wah" here? It just seems a bit nasal at times compared to the 84' IIC+

I'm assuming that they voiced the V to accommodate a more modern, less scooped approach to mids. The IIC+ is probably scooped heavily.

You should be able to adjust it with either the built-in GEQ or with a separate EQ in the loop.

Two different amps.
Two different sets of tubes.
Two different transformers.

Just play them and enjoy them rather than picking fly crap out of your pepper.

JJ ECC83.

More mids, more compression.

How many mids is too many? :wink: :wink: :wink:

-

I changed the stock tubes to Winged C 6L6's and Tungsol 12AX7, I found the change to be significantly better.

screamingdaisy said:

JJ ECC83.

More mids, more compression.

Click to expand...

4406cuda said:

I changed the stock tubes to Winged C 6L6's and Tungsol 12AX7, I found the change to be significantly better.

Click to expand...

To expand on this.... I have a small pile of Mesa Russian 2 12AX7s (aka: Electro-Harmonix 12AX7EH). When I dropped them in the Mark V they reduced the upper mids, cleared up some of the midrange congestion, and improved low mid definition. Overall, they brought the amp more inline with how I remember Mesa's typically sounding 10 or more years ago.... colder with a more open and aggressive yet industrial sounding distortion.

At first I liked the change, but after awhile I began missing the upper mids and compression of the JJs. JJs may not be the clearest sounding preamp tube and typically I hate them, but IMO they give the amp less metal/more rock vibe and I believe it may be one of the reasons both Marks and Rectos seem to be finding a new audience with dudes who would've overlooked them in the past as sounding cold and harsh.

In the end I left the Russian 2s in the input and channel 2 gain stages in an effort to make that channel sound more aggressive and put Mesa/JJs in channel 3's drive stages in an effort to give that channel more upper mids and compression for soloing.

YMMV.

Thanks all who replied, I appreciate it! :^)

That sound you are describing is a defining character of Mark series amps in my opinion... they all have that to a certain degree. This is not a dis on Mark series amps at all but they have a very similar higher gain sound to the old 1980's Randall heads that I also use. It's a hollow(ish), half cocked wah kinda mid range that is very unique to these amps. I've always dug that sound, and love both Randall's and Boogie's because of it. That sound can be dialed out, but when they are really cooking it's in there to certain degree's depending on settings. Another thing is... the Mark series Boogies on the lead channel respond a lot like a solid state Randall in the way the low end is voiced... VERY tight, tighter than most amps out there, but then it has that tube warmth that we all love. Certainly an original sound, and not for everyone, but original tones are the best tones to my ears.