Mark V:35 - too quite for drummer

Hi Guys,

So my Mark V:35 amp and 2x12 vertical Recto (v30s) cab had its first outing on the weekend.
My drummer from a prior band (who I have not played with in years) drowned me out to the point where I was embarrassed and moreso disappointed with the lack of volume my amp put out. I was running in 35W mode and cranked to about 9 as I didn't want to push it any harder.

For a gig sure we could mic up but we are just jamming atm without a PA.
My mate had a solid state Fender that was LOUD!

I assume using a 4x12 won't help and I need perhaps a Mark V 90W amp...perhaps the combo? I suspect moving up 15W to a 50W amp won't be much of a step up?

I just sold a Marshall JCM2000 100 head and 4x12 as I didn't think I'd ever need that power again, and to be honest I can't carry that bulk around anymore. 90% of my playing time is at home in an apartment.

What do I do?

Find a different drummer.

Seriously? I cannot imagine a 35 Watt tube amp pushing V30's not getting over the drums. I have played with a complete, loud band with an Express 5:25 and had no issues (except running out of headroom on the clean channel (as a clean channel). Are you sure it the lower volume wasn't just perceived that way, because of positioning? Were you standing closely in front of the cab or off to the side? One thing I would recommend trying - put your cab facing you from the side. In other words, perpendicular to you, and a few feet away.

Can you take a pic of your settings for us? Or just tell us, if that's easier for you, especially the GEQ.

The 35 should be able to hang with any drummer and have plenty to spare. Either something is wrong with your amp or cab or your settings need improvement.

Dial in some mids

This is somewhat surprising. My little RectoVerb (25W I think) hangs (barely) with my drummer, albeit when the amp is pretty much maxed out. In our small practice room it is generally about 115 dB or more when we're going at it (we aren't really known for being subtle, which is unfortunate, actually). The RectoVerb was hooked up to a really crappy, 16 ohm Marshall 2x12 (the cheapest one they make, not saying Marshall is crappy, but this cab is). A 16 ohm cab is generally a little less loud than an 8 ohm (when hooked to the 8 ohm jack).

The point is, your Mark 5:35 should be able to hang with the drummer, even if not miced. So, as a previous poster said, maybe the tone needs a bit more body (mids), or a wee bit more presence or treble to cut into the mix. Maybe a power tube was going bad or something?

Mace

...Crap this makes me nervous... haven't even received mine yet and this was my worry the whole time which is why I opted for the 35 and NOT the 25. But like the original poster (zem100) I desperately wanted to get away from carrying around full size heads...so I bought the Mark :-/

Where is your 750 GEQ slider at? If that is set too low/bottomed out, then anything will eat a Mark Series lunch.

. I have the V35 combo and I run lone star 19 cab under it and it can make my bands ears bleed.

Have you looked at the owners manual and made sure that you have matched the impedance of your cab to the correct speaker output? Accidentally assuming that these are all the same is the wrong move. If you have an 8ohm cab and accidentally plug it into 1 of the 4ohm outputs, the amplifier will sound weak as it is a technical mismatch. If you have an 8 ohm cab it needs to go to the 8 ohm output, if it is a 4 ohm cab to one of the 4 ohm outputs.

check this as it will severely limit your output.

To all of the other posters, please don't worry as this amp has more than enough horsepower, something is clearly wrong here.

Shannon

I play the drums too. To be honest, I cannot hear the drums if I play along to a recorded track stored on a TC ditto playing through the Roadster at 50W in spongy mode. Forget the JP-2C as it was overbearing in 60W mode but not in a bad way by any means. I use the amp and TC ditto to practice the drums. Have not tried the Mark V at 45W, perhaps the 10W would work. Yes, 10W mode is loud enough to drive a 412 cab. The 2x12 cab will not push as much air but should be loud enough. I could not use the JP-2C with the 412 cab as that would dominate the entire room. The vertical or horizontal 212 would do the trick. May have to try that with the Roadster to hear the difference.

The Snare I am using is extremely loud, toms and kick drum are close but at lower frequencies and the cymbals can make you deaf depending on how hard you hit them. I can understand your dilemma. Is the drummer pushing harder because they cannot hear themselves over your Mark V:35?

Also are you positioned in front of the drum set or off to one side? Where is the speaker of the amp pointing? At the drummer? Relative position in a room can make a difference. If all you can hear is the drums, perhaps a different perspective may be: can the drummer hear the drums or is the amp drowning him or her out?

Sometimes it becomes a battle of not hearing oneself playing and all they hear is the other. This can happen every time and may depend on room acoustics or mindset (very easy to push harder so you can hear what you are doing relative to other instruments).

zem100 said:

Hi Guys,

So my Mark V:35 amp and 2x12 vertical Recto (v30s) cab had its first outing on the weekend.
My drummer from a prior band (who I have not played with in years) drowned me out to the point where I was embarrassed and moreso disappointed with the lack of volume my amp put out. I was running in 35W mode and cranked to about 9 as I didn't want to push it any harder.

For a gig sure we could mic up but we are just jamming atm without a PA.
My mate had a solid state Fender that was LOUD!

I assume using a 4x12 won't help and I need perhaps a Mark V 90W amp...perhaps the combo? I suspect moving up 15W to a 50W amp won't be much of a step up?

I just sold a Marshall JCM2000 100 head and 4x12 as I didn't think I'd ever need that power again, and to be honest I can't carry that bulk around anymore. 90% of my playing time is at home in an apartment.

What do I do?

Click to expand...

hahahaha fix ur amp cos it's in serious need of repair
The Fender SS amp was louder and you think ur Mark V is operating correctly.
After u fix it u won't be able to hear the Fender or your drummer - or the singer either :mrgreen:

I played in a medium sized rehearsal space last night with my MKV25 and it was crushing loud with a very heavy hitting metal drummer. I still have my head dialed in from last night if you want to see a pic. I used the crunch mode on channel 1 only last night.

One thought comes to mind, replace the PI tube with a good one if you feel the amp is not performing up to specification. So far I had to replace a few of the preamp tubes in my JP-2C (had a few Mesa tubes in near new condition). That happens sometimes.

Either that or replace the drummers heads with mesh heads, that will quiet the drummer for sure.

zem100 said:

Hi Guys,

So my Mark V:35 amp and 2x12 vertical Recto (v30s) cab had its first outing on the weekend.
My drummer from a prior band (who I have not played with in years) drowned me out to the point where I was embarrassed and moreso disappointed with the lack of volume my amp put out. I was running in 35W mode and cranked to about 9 as I didn't want to push it any harder.

For a gig sure we could mic up but we are just jamming atm without a PA.
My mate had a solid state Fender that was LOUD!

I assume using a 4x12 won't help and I need perhaps a Mark V 90W amp...perhaps the combo? I suspect moving up 15W to a 50W amp won't be much of a step up?

I just sold a Marshall JCM2000 100 head and 4x12 as I didn't think I'd ever need that power again, and to be honest I can't carry that bulk around anymore. 90% of my playing time is at home in an apartment.

What do I do?

Click to expand...

A Recto 2x12 @ 8ohms pushed by a 35w Mesa head is more than enough. Either not a true statement (i.e. Troll) or user error.

Check your speakers in the 2x12. Maybe they are out of phase.

At7 Modded V25 in loud drummer and bass player situ with the other guitar player rocking a cranked AC30..
The V25 is 25watts mode Crunch/Extreme mode setup through the widebody ported cab, and the 2x12 horizontal recto. (without casters mounted)
In the loop is a TC Nova used to control patch levels. Mute, Norma; and boost (Which on the Nova works by letting that which was previously attenuated out come through, so only a relative 'boost')
So can get it louder, Im sure too.

The cabs are are angled side on, to the cam, sadly..and handily for this test: Totally un-mic'ed and no cab clone augmentation was used either..

The AC30 faces the cam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAOza60dRbA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRN7tQv_uTE

The V:35 should be even more power and vol. So that Amp definitely should have zero worries.
Especially with the option of Mic'ing the cabs or Cab Cloning too.

How big is the rehearsal space?

I've found that 30-40W amps, even Mesas, don't cut it in a large room.

That room was 30 x 40ft.

I can show you a vid where I soundchecked open air and competed with drums, bass and the other guitar which was mic'd through the PA. The 90w head in 10w mode.

The way they are EQ'd has a lot to do with it.