My in-depth Mark V review

Hi again,

Only my fourth post. Thought I'd share this:

https://donstickguitar.net/2016/02/22/mesaboogie-mark-v-90w-head-review/

I gotta say................. From my perspective that's right on the money. **** nice job. They may not be for everyone (what is??) but if they're what you crave, there's nothing like a Mark.

Perfect review. I really haven't tried all of the modes on my combo, and that review is making me want to spend some time tweaking. It's interesting that you compared the Extreme mode to a 5150 amp. My Mark V sits next to my 5150 iii and I never even thought to compare the two. Now I'm really curious.

Great review. Very thorough.

One tip. On the Mark I mode, (I) NEVER use the preset, or the EQ with 80 or 240 above flat. Boosting the bass with the sliders is the sole reason I couldn't bond with Mark I when I first got the amp. The best tones I've gotten from it were with the bass control somewhere between completely off and maybe 8:00, (9:00 max) and the tip I got here for an "uptilt" EQ curve in which the 80 slider is down somewhere between half (the lower middle line) and flat, 240 is halfway between that spot and flat. 750 flat, 2200 up a bit, 6600 up a bit more than that. So that you have an upwards tilt of the 5 bands, with 750 centered at flat.

I got that tip here. (thanks to whomever it was that suggested it because it's great!). That does sacrifice your EQ and the desired V for C3, but when I did this I used the Preset for C3 and that worked out fine.

This allowed me to do something that I've become quite find of. Use C3 Extreme for the punchy bold high gain rhythm tones you mentioned, and then flip back to C2 Mark I for solo tones. Look out! This is a killer set of tones! A lot of the guys (again as you mentioned) who might use Recto of 5150 would love this setup as it gives you that big punchy rhythm, but also a screaming solo tone that is something those amps don't have.

Wow great review, I think I need one :shock:

Wow. That was a remarkable read. Well written and well researched. Thank you for this.

Thanks for sharing! I'm liking all your reviews on your site! All very well written.

That was a good review. thank you for sharing. However, the last image had me puzzled, I had to go to the Mesa website to figure out what amp was in the picture, Mark V:35. Too bad the image does not have the full range of Mark V's to include the 25, 35 and 90.

I have been a Mark Owner since the late 80's from the III to IV so my first impression test driving the V for the first time seems so familiar and easy to dial in an admirable tone. On the flip side I was originally after the Roadster but could not figure the amp out so I took home the V instead. Eventually did get a Roadster and love it ! The Tweed of the Roadster is king, as for the Mark V (seems shrill and brittle). Same goes for the Edge. For me to really appreciate those particular channel voices I will have to revisit the suggestion settings in the manual. The rest of the amp is as I would expect from a Mesa Mark amp, only better than what I had before. Previous Mark Amps I had were combo's but I took every advantage I could with various cabinets. The Mark IVb was definitely a monster under wraps such that the amp would never live up to its potential in combo format unless you unleashed the beast through a 412 cab. I often operated the Mark IV with an integrated quad (EL34/6L6) which was reminiscent to the Mark III in that respect. I admit I was seduced by the V. I am definitely one who fidget with controls and such as I generally am seeking something different. At times I have had a love/hate relationship with the V, but I never gave up and finally bonded with the amp after 4 years of ownership (the Roadster and RA100 had stolen my attention away from the V.) Yep, the amp is not for everybody and that would almost apply to just about any tube amp, especially if the controls and response is not intuitive but once you figure them out nothing else will do.

Glad everyone's enjoying these. Y'know, this whole time I thought the bottom pic contained the whole range - but now I can only see 35s! Will fix later; well spotted.

I like the Mark 1 approach detailed above. I often run Mark 1 with EQ disengaged or used very subtly but not as a lead channel. Will definitely be trying that out

I look forward to sharing more stuff with you dudes.