The Electradyne is drawing me back in...

This is not too say I'm not 100% happy with my Mark V after a year, because I completely am, and I'm still glad I made the switch. However about a month ago I began working at Guitar Center in Central Dallas, (if I'm not playing in a band I need to at least be around guitars and amps) and on my breaks I really enjoy hanging out in the Mesa room (big surprise) and jamming on everything we have. (Just got a Vintage 1984 Mark IIC combo in today with the sample settings sheet and all, it's pretty sweet... but I digress) I recently plugged my Bare Knuckle equipped Michael Kelly into the Electra Dyne combo we have and I quickly remembered why I loved the amp in the first place. Now, it will NEVER do what my Mark V does, and the Mark will never do what the ED does... It makes me want both, haha. The Alnico Nailbombs cleared up any issues I had with the amp before (other than the gain issue), Sadly, I didn't feel like I could crank the gain out of it like I used to, but it could be due to the fact the BKs are lower output and I'm playing through a C90, not V30s. Since I have so many pedals at my disposal via GC I'm intrigued to try a bunch of different combinations just to see if I can get a suitable metal/post-hardcore tone out of it.

Thankfully, my boss respects my opinion in regards to Mesas and when I asked him to order some RA-100s, he did so (we're out at the moment) and I really want to try them side by side. The last few times I didn't like the RA as much as my Mark.... until I used my BKs. They really make ALL of the difference in the world... and I definitely have Yellowjacket to thank for that.

Anyway, all this to say that my love affair with the ED may not be over... for anything other than metal/heavy stuff it is THE best amp IMHO. It destroys the crunch tones of any Marshall, Orange, Bogner, Splawn etc. that I've tried.

-K

See! SEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still have my recto for hardcore tones but it gets used less and less these days.

I have the Tan Electra DYne head with a 27" 1 x 12 extension cab. I REALLY like the c90 with the amp since it gives such a unique tone. Do bear in mind that the Mark V has loads more gain than the Electra Dyne. Also consider your pickup height. I run my bridge pickups quite high so I can get extra output for crunch / lead tones. I have my neck pickup lower for more open and woody clean / blues type tones.

Actives will generate more gain but not more tone.

Do this. Use an Xotic BB Preamp and set the level all the way up, and set the gain very low, like on 1 or 2. Bass and treble at halfway. THERE'S your metal. I've tried plenty of other pedals and the BB is my favorite with the Electra Dyne but don't set the gain high and the level halfway since I don't think it sounds good that way. Boost the level.

Other pedals that people like are the OCD but IMHO it turns the Electra Dyne to mush.

I've been using my ED for metal...

Gain pointed at the "V" in Volume and a low output PAF humbucker. It's not as saturated as a Recto, but the amp's response is correct.

I'm starting to think I must have a sledgehammer for a pick attack or something, because I have a really hard time using the gain levels I see a lot of people use via the Internet.

How high do you have the master?

I have the master almost off and I have to run the volume up about 3:00 to get a good crunch at these levels. Of course, the more you turn the master up, the more you can turn the volume down!!!

Master = anywhere.

I don't have a gain trim, so cranking the gain up at low volumes would cause the clean channel to become significantly louder than the dirty channels.

You should get that feature installed. It dramatically increases the useability of the amp!

Even if I had the mod I probably wouldn't dial it in any different.

Ya?
I have my amp dialed in the way I do right now because the master is a hair from being off entirely and it requires the extra preamp gain have any gain. If I turn it up, I turn the volume down.

I thought you'd find the lo / hi option on the gain trim switch particularly interesting. Especially when you can turn the master up a bit, the edge of breakup tones on Vintage Hi and Clean are positively seductive!!!

The other advantage is when running higher gain settings, the gain trim set to clean means you can get a skinner and less tubby clean.

Once I get a bit of volume going my clean channel turns into a crunch channel that transitions to clean as I back off the pick attack.

Channel 2 and 3 I use for a fat, chewy crunch (Vintage Lo) and brighter, more aggressive crunch (Vintage Hi). Once I get enough volume to get a bit of compression Vintage Hi covers most of the stuff that I use my Recto for. It has less gain and more clarity, but still produces the saggy response when palm muting that I love the Recto for.

Hmm. Does it do this even at lower master settings for you? I'm guessing you're running it in 45watt mode with the master at LEAST at 10:00.
In 45 watt mode with the master below 8:00, I get tonnes of squeaky clean headroom and the Vintage Lo has this wonderful complex and detailed crunch without being overgained. I can dial back the volume pot on my guitar and get it to clean up nicely. The Vintage Hi is a thicker crunch very suitable for more modern rock and punk. All three channels have this wonderful elastic feel which is great for lead playing. This amp does basically everything besides Djent.

I'd have to go experiment to see where the breakup points are, and right right now it's too late to push any sort of volume.

I've actually been messing with the edge setting on my V more and I've found it's very Dyne like. I mean there is definitely a difference in low end response but it's nothing that is make or break for me, it's subjective. The more I've jammed on the Dyne I re-realized my issues I had with it and why I went with the V instead. Still a great amp, but the closet I may get back into dyne territory is the RA, if I ever can come up with the extra cash, it will be the next head I get. I don't see selling my Mark V anytime soon.

The Electra Dyne is a totally different beast than a Mark V. I think it requires an entirely different technique to play and the feel and response is something that works really well with how I think about guitar.

The Mark V is AMAZING though. My friend has one and he let me play on it when I was visiting my family in Manitoba. The 'feel' of it is so thick and chewy, and the vocal leads are supported under the pressure of a firehose of liquid hot gain. If one is into metal, this really is the PERFECT amp both for rhythm and lead tones. At the end of the day, I prefer the complex and detailed crunch of the 'Dyne to the thick and meaty roar of the Mark V. Now, if I had to chose between a Mark and a Recto, I'd probably get the Mark, at least I think I would...

YellowJacket said:

The Electra Dyne is a totally different beast than a Mark V. I think it requires an entirely different technique to play and the feel and response is something that works really well with how I think about guitar.

The Mark V is AMAZING though. My friend has one and he let me play on it when I was visiting my family in Manitoba. The 'feel' of it is so thick and chewy, and the vocal leads are supported under the pressure of a firehose of liquid hot gain. If one is into metal, this really is the PERFECT amp both for rhythm and lead tones. At the end of the day, I prefer the complex and detailed crunch of the 'Dyne to the thick and meaty roar of the Mark V. Now, if I had to chose between a Mark and a Recto, I'd probably get the Mark, at least I think I would...

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I don't know. If the Dyne sounded as terrible as that edge mode I would have sold it a long time ago.

danyeo1 said:

I don't know. If the Dyne sounded as terrible as that edge mode I would have sold it a long time ago.

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It doesn't sound anything like edge mode, so I'm not exactly sure what your point is?

screamingdaisy said:

danyeo1 said:

I don't know. If the Dyne sounded as terrible as that edge mode I would have sold it a long time ago.

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It doesn't sound anything like edge mode, so I'm not exactly sure what your point is?

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The op thinks it does. I think I quoted the wrong post.

AHAHAHA, apples to oranges guys.

I think the modes on the Mark V that interest me most are Fat (clean) Crunch and Mark II, and Mark 2C+ / Mark IV. BUT, I like the Electra Dyne better. It just has soul, and tonnes of it!!!

I may have miss-communicated, the Dyne and Edge mode are inherently very different beasts, yes. But what I meant is with some heavy tweaking I'm able to get out of the edge setting something similar to what I would have wanted from the Dyne. But, I don't understand why the Edge setting gets so much hate... It's quite possibly my favorite in channel 2. I just think it reacts very differently to different pickups/guitars, I've had certain guitars where I used that channel and did not like it at all, but it loves my Bare Knuckles and I get everything I want out of it. :mrgreen:

I tried using Edge mode but when I finally found a sound I liked out of it it wouldn't cut through at band practice.

I'm sure there's great sounds in there to be found, but for me it's been far easier to work with the other modes.