Mark V:35 new owner couple of questions.

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GazzaBloom

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I've just upgraded to a Mark V:35 combo from an Express 5:25+ combo. It's a notable upgrade, the mid boost control on channel 1 is superb and really opens up the flexibility of the clean and fat modes allowing all manner of cleanish to light clipped tones and can get much closer to my idea of Fender cleans than the Express.

Also, the crunch mode on channel 1 of the 35 can be dialled in for a quite satisfying “Marshally” type light crunch as well which sounds great with a Strat, I lost a couple of hours noodling around on that mode alone last night. The crunch modes on both amps are quite similar I guess.

Having A/B'd the 35 and Express+ side by side ther are a few immediately notable differences. The low end response on the Mark V:35 is quite different to the Express+ and the bass tone control on the 35 needs to be set quite a lot higher to get the same level of low end as the Express on the clean mode. I can dial in the 35 to sound the same as the Express clean but the tone controls settings are quite different on each amp to get the same sound. I wasn't expecting that.

In general, my first impressions are that the mid boost and presence controls gives the 35 a little more refined level of tone shaping control than the Express. The 5 band GEQ sliders on the 35 feel a bit higher quality than the Express as well with the centre notch feeling more definite on the 35. The noise floor of the Express is a bit higher that the 35 which even allowing for the cooling fan is quieter than the Express.

Apologies if this has been covered but I couldn't find it on search but I have a couple of questions:

Is it possible to remote switch the Mark V:35 at all via the din socket? Unlike the Express or full Mark V there are no std 1/4” jack switching sockets.

Also, with no reverb footswitch is there anyway to turn off the reverb other than turn the control knobs to zero?

It's a shame that these features are on the Express but not on the Mark V:35, I would have preferred just one solo boost covering both channels and have a reverb on/off switch plus squeeze in at least a channel change std 1/4” socket somehow. Minor points on an otherwise very impressve amp.

I haven't had chance to spend a lot of time on channel 2 yet but a quick flick through the modes and I can hear that there is a whole world of gain flavours to discover. I found the Express burn mode gain to be a little fuzz like which is either something you like or don't.

It's hard to imagine going back to any other amp brand now I have exprerienced a couple of Mesa Boogies!
 
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