I tried a mark V and couldn't dial it in.

The cab was a Marshall with greenbacks and CL80's I just could not get the tone out of it I've heard in the JP clinic on youtube. I took screenshots of the settings so I know they were correct. Made me very hesitant and want to stick with my recto. Do you think it was the cab?

Switching cabs/speakers makes a pretty drastic difference with the Mark V (as with most amps). If you're looking to nail Petrucci's tone, then you need his entire signal chain, the chain of the gear used to create the recording you're listening to, and you have to be able to copy his style & technique pretty closely.

It took me an age of tweaking to dial in my MKV - I have owned it for 4 years, was convinced I wanted to sell it at least 3 times, then finally got CH1 and 2 like I wanted them ... couldn't bond with CH3 ... but thankfully persevered. When you nail it's sweet spots (and it has many), it kills. I finally learned to work with it, and how to use it to suit my needs. The V is now my go to amp for almost everything I want to do, particularly in 10W mode. And despite everything I think I know about this thing, a small tweak here or there continues to surprise with something new

In short, you may need to put the miles in before hitting the MKV jackpot. It is the most sensitive and responsive amp I know, and will bring out both the best and worst in your technique and signal chain

Chester said:

In short, you may need to put the miles in before hitting the MKV jackpot. It is the most sensitive and responsive amp I know, and will bring out both the best and worst in your technique and signal chain

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Very well said. The Mark series will not hide anything about your guitar and/or your playing. These amps are VERY responsive to pickup and speaker cabinet choices. If you really want to get picky, the placement of the cabinet in relation to the walls around it and your distance from the cabinet will affect your perception of having it "dialed in". Good luck. 8)

I was in the same boat as you when i first played the V at the guitar store. I wasn't impressed. When i had a chance to crank it in a band situation, it was like day and night! It sounded fantastic! Notes where ringing out clear and didn't sound muffled at low volumes. Take that into consideration especially for an amp designed for live performance.

The Mark series is not plug and play....but worth the effort. Small adjustments make big changes sonically- it's also important to use your ears and not visually "see" what position the knobs are turned to.

cradlefish said:

I was in the same boat as you when i first played the V at the guitar store. I wasn't impressed. When i had a chance to crank it in a band situation, it was like day and night! It sounded fantastic! Notes where ringing out clear and didn't sound muffled at low volumes. Take that into consideration especially for an amp designed for live performance.

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This….What sold me on the amp was when I turned it up a bit in the store. Not cranking it but definitely pushing some air. Everything came to life. The frequency spectrum of the amp just comes together and you don't have to EQ to any major extremes to get what you need. Plus I found that I got plenty of gain on CH 3 with the preamp not even at 12'Oclock (in any mode) , so I think some folks are maybe losing some punch and definition by turning this up too much. I found CH3 is better served where, keep the preamp at 12 O'Clock or lower and choose the mode that gives you the low end and saturation that's closest to what you need. Right now I'm stuck playing at home and can't turn it up but even found using a Hotplate helped but you need the speaker excursion in there as well to get the real deal.

Mine has not yet arrived but I have already read the manual once. I'll start again tonight. Third time when I get it... I think it will help.

J

It's easy to get carried away with the treble knob cause it adds saturation but I found especially on CH 2 to be careful with getting it too high and trying to use a balance of the treble and presence to get the top end I need and if I need more gain I bring up the gain. It's finnicky but once you get used to it the gain, treble, presence dance goes pretty quick. Keeping the presence low is a good way of taming fizziness. But a little bit of volume is a great start.

I wasn't really happy with the MkV until I got an EVM-12L loaded cab. I find it less coloured, more opened, so it can let the amp express itself fully.
Also like some people allready said it, try a right balance between treble and presence, it's a very sensitive trick, adjustable for each channel.

You need to spend time with the Mark. Real time. And really, it's well worth your effort. This amp is full of subtleties that need to be explored. Tiny adjustments to the knobs can result in big changes sonically.

I have had my Mark V for just over a month. I am running it thru two of the 2 X12 vertical Mesa cabinets. I use two so I can have one cabinet on the bass player’s side of the stage.

Well, I have been reading all over the place about the Mark V and the problems people are having with tone and pedals. As I began to get a feel for the amp I began finding great tones but it took a couple of weeks. Why did it take me so long to find what I was looking for? Fighting change. It came to me one night, if I wanted the Mark V to sound like one of my other amps why did I buy a Mark V? With a break in jobs I stopped using my Boogie F-30. I had to clear my head of all the years of tone memory. After a week or two of working with the Mark V doors seemed to open and big warm tones began to come out. Adjusting the amp is not the same as adjusting a few knobs on a stereo. Everything has an effect on everything else. The presence pushes to the treble which pushes into the mid and so on. Another thing is a little bit of a turn can do a lot to the tone. Also the volume position on the guitar changes not just the drive but also the attack. Yes, I use the volume and tone controls to change the tone. Then there is also the dynamics of the amp. The amp is so sensitive that how hard the notes are played when the volume on the guitar is turned down can take a barely driven or almost clean sound right to breaking up by just picking harder. The bottom line for me is, the Mark V is not one of my other amps and it is not going to act like one either.

A few of my thoughts on amps and tones. If I have to turn the gain all the way up, there is not enough gain. Every guitar has its very own voice no matter who is playing it. When you are on break and someone comes up and asks what chord you were playing, you tell them. When someone tells you “great tone” you buy them a beer.

I am looking forward to the next job to see how it works. Also channel 2 on the Mark V has great tone. Channel 2 is my opinion, the most versatile channel on the amp. Work the Volume and have rhythm and lead in one place, no overdrive pedal required.

jbow said:

Mine has not yet arrived but I have already read the manual once. I'll start again tonight. Third time when I get it... I think it will help.

J

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Ditto. I'm still going through the first pass, and it's amazing how much info is there. Combined with this forum, I've learned a LOT about the Mark V.

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge!!

I couldn't dial mine in either...until I switched over to =C= EL34s. And that just around when going-back-to-6L6s was the trendy thing to do here. :lol:

In any case, I find that for me personally, EL34s make more sense in a V than 6L6s do. Especially on channel 2 - its all 3 modes were pretty much unsuable (for me) with 6L6s. With EL34s, I could easily get great faux-Marshall (but not quite) sounds from the Edge and Crunch modes, and the Mark I mode turned into the biggest, baddest rock beast I've ever heard from a Mark. On channel 3, the EL34s gave me more midrange grind, which turned the previously dull and boxy sounds into soaring leads and ferociously aggressive metal tones. On channel 1, though...well, on channel 1, the Tweed mode works just as well or better than before, but the other two lack body compared to the usual 6L6 sounds. But that can be mostly fixed with the channel EQ controls.

Of course I also have 3 other Mesas (another Mark and two Rectos) with 6L6s in them, so it also makes sense to have one EL34-equipped amp in my arsenal. And the Mark V is really the best choice for that.

The bottom line is, with 6L6s, I was always struggling trying to get usable sounds on channels 2 and 3. And I felt silly, having bought a top-of-the-line, 3-channel, 9-mode amp, 6 of which were useless to me in a band situation. With EL34s, all 9 are usable, and I feel like my V really is "9 amps in one".

YMMV.

I've had mine for about two months now, the head with vertical 2x12 cab, and a few good points have been brought out in this thread:

1) Although it has the ability to sound good at low volumes, it really sounds great opened up at 90watts in a live setting. I've found that this amp, over all others I've played, has a focus, musicality, and ability to punch through a live mix while still sounding balanced, more than any other. It really gives you a "professional" sound, and a kick-*** one to boot.

2) EL34s. If you want all the channels to sound great, I think you have to go with these. I replaced my stock 6L6s with JJs or Winged C's or something I can't remember at the moment, but what I do remember is that although it was an improvement in tone overall, the EL34s still made channels 2&3 really come to life. Sure, the 6L6s give you a better clean channel, but the 34s by no means make your cleans sound bad.

3) Read your manual. At least twice before, and once after.

4) If you have a new cab, like I did with the rectifier 2x12, make sure you give it a week of solid playing before coming to conclusions. My amp sounded like crap when I first got it, partly because of the stock tubes, but mostly because the stiff speakers. In combo with the 6L6s it sounded like bees in a can. About a week or two of playing and some new tubes later, it totally smoothed out all the harshness and fizz.

Great amp. If I'd just played it once and had to make a decision, I probably would have ditched it. But after a few months of playing around with the dials, a few reads through the manual, new tubes, and getting used to some of the differences between the sound of this amp and my Blackstars, I'm totally sold. All the modes put out some really great sounds. Hope you keep yours and get to know it.

Xombie was test driving my amp, and I let him spend a weekend with it and he did try with a variety of diff cabs-he realized he wasn't a mark guy and I believe he went the recto route
( I know... I was a helluva guy to let him!cool guy)

It all worked out - a senior just got my mk v head because he has been a good kid.. A good kid with a helluva dad!!(and a whattadeal!)
We dialed her in with my trusty old boogie halfback 4x 12 with Ev/ c90 combo( it has enclosed back thanks to Joey B)
Pure rock fury, and they drove away happily ever after