Another New Guy With A Mark V.

Hey guys, just took possession of a Mk V head and psyched to being back to Boogie. I was a long time user of the amps and then somehow lost my way... My life has been meaningless the last few years playing other amps.

I just wanted to say hello and thank you all ahead of time.

-Sergio

Hi.

I made the same mistake a number of years back and have never regretted the decision to return.

Congratulations on the Mark V. Love mine. It's an awesome amp. It's does take a while to dial in the tones with the 9 different voicings but when it's on, it's pure tonal purity and a joy to play with. I have had mine for about 3 years and still find new tones ..

Thanks guys. Yeah, I'm pretty psyched.

What made you go with the 90w, 3 channel, 9 sound big hoss when there are soooooooooooooooooo many, much LIGHTER choices? I'm actually serious with the question because after owning and selling a V:25 Express, then an Express+, and now running the Mark V 25. I keep thinking I should have just bought the 90w 3 channel and gotten the job done. Did you get the 100lb combo or the 80lb head? How bulky is that puppy and what do you have it connected into?

nevermind said:

Did you get the 100lb combo or the 80lb head? How bulky is that puppy and what do you have it connected into?

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The Mark V 90W head is about 45 lbs. And each pound is worth it's weight in gold.

Yeah, the head isn't that bad for weight. And it's small compared to many other heads which helps with portability too. That said, I still think I'll snatch up a 25 or 35 if a used one ever pops up for a decent price just to lug to jams.

But I do like the more fully featured 90w version. Even if they don't get used much, it's fun to have Tweed, Edge, and Mark I modes, and to set up a Clean, Crunch, and Lead. The 10 watt single ended mode is fun too.

nevermind said:

What made you go with the 90w, 3 channel, 9 sound big hoss when there are soooooooooooooooooo many, much LIGHTER choices? I'm actually serious with the question because after owning and selling a V:25 Express, then an Express+, and now running the Mark V 25. I keep thinking I should have just bought the 90w 3 channel and gotten the job done. Did you get the 100lb combo or the 80lb head? How bulky is that puppy and what do you have it connected into?

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Price, mostly. A buddy of mine made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

I had looked at smaller stuff but then figured I wouldn't regret a head, all the modes, and enough volume to stun small animals. Unfortunately, it's not plugged into anything at the moment. It's wrapped in a garbage bag, stashed in my basement storeroom, hidden from my girl, and all the drywall dust from my present home renovation. I'm hoping she'll be distracted enough by new appliances and furniture to not notice it for a bit... or the 2x12.

Sounds like you have it all planned out! Congrats on getting a great amp...

Yes well done. You picked a great time to get one in. Plenty of exciting things happening with these amazing beasts.

Markageddon said:

Yes well done. You picked a great time to get one in. Plenty of exciting things happening with these amazing beasts.

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From poking around it seems I should just go ahead and order some 12AT7's, huh?

sergiodeblanc said:

From poking around it seems I should just go ahead and order some 12AT7's, huh?

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I believe some would play it first but I have no idea who that might be! :mrgreen: FWIW, I've been reading the thread on the big Mark V and then rolling tubes like a mad man in my Mark V:25 head. I also just put an Eminence Legend EM12 in my mini recto-slant cab. I'm pretty sure I've confused the daylights out of the amp and my ears. Time for me to play it for a week or two and leave it alone.

I would play the amp first before swapping just one tube to the 12AT7, If you bought the amp used, you may as well get new tubes anyway so I would opt for the 12AT7 for V4 position and get stock tubes for the rest including the rectifier and 6L6 tubes.

I found the Mesa 12AT7 to be on the bright side, the JAN/Phillips 12AT7 is much better (a bit warmer in tone and definitely kills the JP-2C tone on all 3 CH3 voices).

sergiodeblanc said:

Markageddon said:

Yes well done. You picked a great time to get one in. Plenty of exciting things happening with these amazing beasts.

Click to expand...

From poking around it seems I should just go ahead and order some 12AT7's, huh?

Click to expand...

It...is...your.....des-tinyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.... 8)

bandit2013 said:

I would play the amp first before swapping just one tube to the 12AT7, If you bought the amp used, you may as well get new tubes anyway so I would opt for the 12AT7 for V4 position and get stock tubes for the rest including the rectifier and 6L6 tubes.

I found the Mesa 12AT7 to be on the bright side, the JAN/Phillips 12AT7 is much better (a bit warmer in tone and definitely kills the JP-2C tone on all 3 CH3 voices).

Click to expand...

Hey all...! Another new guy here as well who also recently replaced the V6 stock tube in my MkV with a AT7 (mesa brand, though I'm tempted to get the J/P tube and give it a try just for fun!)

Found that the tube swap much helped the gain structure/signal out; took away some of the "sterile" or "artificial" artifacts in the gain structure. Kinda difficult to describe but its definitely there compared to my early models Mk IVa / Triaxis.

(Should also mention I use an Axe Ultra 4CM so that is a big part of my signal processing with additional EQ blocks available to tweak the tone...)

In my old minded opinion, V4 is the better candidate for the 12AT7 position. You will not gain much with it in V6 since this will not affect the send signal level in the FX loop as it only affects the return level. Sure there may be some benefit with V6 but I found the tone of the amp has not changed at all and still bright. The ice pick cure is to change V4. Mesa 12AT7 will also sound bright as I have those as well. Heck the JAN/Phillips 12AT7 actually costs less than the Chinese (Mesa) 12AT7. There are other options as well but the tube quality of the newer versions may not stack up to the military grade 12AT7, even with tarnished pins.

It really is an OMG difference with the JAN/Phillips 12AT7. Too bad I did not buy into this any sooner but soon enough as I was ready to sell my Mark V, now it is top shelf tone that I would find it hard to part with.

sergiodeblanc said:

Markageddon said:

Yes well done. You picked a great time to get one in. Plenty of exciting things happening with these amazing beasts.

Click to expand...

From poking around it seems I should just go ahead and order some 12AT7's, huh?

Click to expand...

Well well well! I'm no tube amp expert, but I believe they perform better if you take them out of the plastic bag and plug them into a speaker cab. :lol: Congrats on the amp!

And yes, I've been wanting to try this for a few weeks but as you are well aware, I got really really distracted! LMAO And ironically, turned the Mark V on the other night to compare a bit to said distraction and C1 and C2 were fizzling.... C3 is fine. I've got a pre-amp tube crapping out on my so I have to replace that first to get it working correctly, then try this swap.

Anyway, welcome to the board! And hope you really love the Mark V. Hopefully we'll both love this new "trick."

bandit2013 said:

I would play the amp first before swapping just one tube to the 12AT7, If you bought the amp used, you may as well get new tubes anyway so I would opt for the 12AT7 for V4 position and get stock tubes for the rest including the rectifier and 6L6 tubes.

I found the Mesa 12AT7 to be on the bright side, the JAN/Phillips 12AT7 is much better (a bit warmer in tone and definitely kills the JP-2C tone on all 3 CH3 voices).

Click to expand...

I've go about a week left before I can (safely) fire it up. So in the mean time I've been reading up and yes, will order new tubes... may as well get a couple of 12AT7's for sh!t's and giggles anyway. Right?

Dreamtheaterrules said:

sergiodeblanc said:

Markageddon said:

Yes well done. You picked a great time to get one in. Plenty of exciting things happening with these amazing beasts.

Click to expand...

From poking around it seems I should just go ahead and order some 12AT7's, huh?

Click to expand...

Well well well! I'm no tube amp expert, but I believe they perform better if you take them out of the plastic bag and plug them into a speaker cab. :lol: Congrats on the amp!

And yes, I've been wanting to try this for a few weeks but as you are well aware, I got really really distracted! LMAO And ironically, turned the Mark V on the other night to compare a bit to said distraction and C1 and C2 were fizzling.... C3 is fine. I've got a pre-amp tube crapping out on my so I have to replace that first to get it working correctly, then try this swap.

Anyway, welcome to the board! And hope you really love the Mark V. Hopefully we'll both love this new "trick."

Click to expand...

Hey! What's up, Howie?

Yeah I know you're busy with that other amp right now.. It's cool, we all stray and then we always come back! :mrgreen:

Probably the wrong place to post the 2nd part of my question...but...

What tubes did you order?

I mean if I buy a newer mark V and said, "im changing all the tubes"....do you order mesa tubes and AT7 from another company or just change em all to JJ's or some other companies tubes? whats the prescription formula? I read the entire 16 page thread and it seems some have done all sorts of different brands etc.

As you can tell..i know zero about tubes.

Thanks! and these tube swaps sound addictive!