So, i guess i have a RA-100 coming to go with my Mark V

The Boogie Board

Help Support The Boogie Board:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

exbest182

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 17, 2010
Messages
264
Reaction score
1
Location
Jacksonville, Fl
So,

I dont sleep well... I take a high dose of ambien to sleep.. Sometimes i sleep, sometimes not..
Sometimes i dont remember doing things.

Long story short, i got a shipping notification for a RA-100 in my email this afternoon.

Whoops.

So, i play in a punk band... And i have been meaning to buy a 2nd amp to go in the studio with mark v.
Will this do it for me? I play semi-high gain, but by no means the heavy brutal metal... Bands like no use for a name, pennywise, i need tight, bright... The tones ive heard i like.. But im a novice with these amps..

I run 6l6's in the mark v, a mullard in v1, a ts in v3...

Whats my best bet to get a good tone to compliment my mark v, stick with el34s? Change out to 6l6? High gain preamp tubes?

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Also, anybody use it with EMGs?
 
A medical excuse for buying stuff :shock: Cool.

The RA sounds like it will work very well for what your doing. It does have a lot of gain. I mainly use the vintage lo gain for classic rock and it sure is tight and bright. The vintage hi adds quite a bit more gain, but seems a bit less tight and bright. You probably just need to adjust the EQ a little for high gain. I have my tone controls set almost at 12:00. Trebble = bright, mid = agression and bass = tightness.

The Stock El34 tubes are fine. I have tried 6L6 tubes which definately changes the character, but prefer the El34. After more than a year im running all stock tubes and have had very little reason to change anything.

One thing, if you are mostly using the RA in a studio, be mindfull that the reverb can add a lot of noise if it is turned up past about mid way. Its a non issue for live and louder playing though.

Hope you love your RA as much as I love mine.
 
exbest182 said:
So,

I dont sleep well... I take a high dose of ambien to sleep.. Sometimes i sleep, sometimes not..
Sometimes i dont remember doing things.

Long story short, i got a shipping notification for a RA-100 in my email this afternoon.

Whoops.

So, i play in a punk band... And i have been meaning to buy a 2nd amp to go in the studio with mark v.
Will this do it for me? I play semi-high gain, but by no means the heavy brutal metal... Bands like no use for a name, pennywise, i need tight, bright... The tones ive heard i like.. But im a novice with these amps..

I run 6l6's in the mark v, a mullard in v1, a ts in v3...

Whats my best bet to get a good tone to compliment my mark v, stick with el34s? Change out to 6l6? High gain preamp tubes?

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Also, anybody use it with EMGs?

I play through Carvin DC400's and the other two guitars at my disposal also have the same preamp module. Not quite what you would consider low impedance type pickup like EMG's since the electronics use standard or high impedance pups, but they are active electronics and not passive.

As for the RA, give it a run for the money as it is.


I have not yet ordered my RA100 but will soon. :p I am still debating if I want to order the half stack or just the head and build a cab for it. Some people like V30, I am just not one of them. :( I bought my cab over 13 years ago so maybe the speakers back then just were terrible, have the V30's gotten any better? Early voice coil break up just does not sound all that great to me. Even had the issue with the MC90 in my Mark IV (bought it 13 years ago also) fixed that with a Fane Studio 12L. :mrgreen:

As for the Mark V, have you tried JJ6CA7 in it yet? :shock: They are in the EL34 family of tube types, but sound killer in the Mark V. Best tube I ever heard. I have tried Mullard re-issue, Tung Sol, EH, Jan/Phillips 5751 in attempt to break the ice pick highs. I found the TS to work well in the V7 to cut some of the highs. My favorite power tubes were SED wing =c= 6L6GC, not any more. JJ6CA7's will provide a deep and tight bottom end as well as the complex harmonics similar to SED but without the need of ear plugs to cut down on brightness. I have tried EL34 in the Mark V but had to push the volume too high to get that grinder sound. I usually run the gian around 10:00 on CH2 and or CH3 depending on the effect I desire. CH2 crunch with the gain almost dimed, is amazing too. I have been able to enjoy all modes of each channel. I did not like tweed or edge modes but now they sound great. Most of all, I am running the amp with stock preamp tubes except for the PI which is a matched Sovtek LPS. JJ6CA7 (with EL34 bias) brings out more of a modern/vintage tone of the Mark V. I may get around to trying the EH 6CA7 but the JJ brand got better reviews. That being said, I do not have a stock 412 recto cab either. I replaced the V30 with Black Label EVM12L (ZW).

It all boils down to preference. :? I typically play classic rock to what used to be called heavy metal. I may even venture into what is now called heavy metal. I may spend the entire session in bluse, or try to emulate jazz to some extent. It is not all high gain style that I do often. I love the clean channels on the Mark IV and the Mark V. I would do the chicken picken if I knew how. There are many styles that I am becoming more interested in. So far the Mark V has satisfied many desires but it is not complete. The RA would fill in that gap (I think).
 

Latest posts

Back
Top