New to Mesa and Mark V Owner - Some questions...

[tminus3]

Hi Guys! I'm new to Mesa/Boogie and a new Mark V head owner ... Owned a DC-2 Studio Caliber back in 1998...but then sold it shortly after for a '66 Fender Deluxe Reverb. Got my Mark V on thursday night, got a chance to play with it friday morning for a few minutes and then packed and left for vacation! But my impression from the first few minutes was not very positive. Maybe I'm not used to setting up a Mark series amp. I have to admit that after reading the manual I might have been doing it all wrong, but just wanted some insight from you guys.

I do remember cranking up the bass (2:00 - 3:00) , mids at 11:00 and treble at 11:00 and then the gain at 4:00. So that was my channel 3 setting and I was disappointed to hear the distortion. It was so ..ummm...blah. Now here I am on vacation, far from my amp, and can't stop wondering what it was that I did wrong.

Any tips/insight you can offer me about Marks...I've read the board through and through. I have a gut feeling that the controls on the Mark V don't behave like the controls on any other amp I've owned. But just any clarification or reassurance would be helpful...until I get back on Friday and work on it ...on my own. =)

Thanks

 

[MusicManJP6]

Turn your bass down to noon or lower. Use the graphic EQ to compensate. What cab(s) are you using?

You've got lots of tweaking ahead of you when you get back from vacation! The Mark V is no simple plug and play amp...

 

[Silverwulf]

As above, lower your mids and bass a good bit and use the EQ to tweak them.

 

[petruccimustacheride]

start here: http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=36442

If that doesn't shine your shoes - there is a distinct possibility this amp ain't for you.

 

[MarkIVwidebody]

I'll trade my Line 6 Spider for it. 4 channels, built in effects, fookin' tone machine!

 

[DudewithFr0]

basically what everybody else is sayin...turn ur bass down to 9:00 or lower. A high bass setting makes it sound like GLUB GLUB!!! :lol:

 

[ryan b]

the settings for my channel 3 are (playing into a oversized 4x12 cab)

Gain - 3:00
Master - 12:30
Presence - 9:00
Treble - 2:00
Mids - 11:00
Bass - 9:30

Bright switch on
Mark IIC+
EQ on
Pentodes on the back.

Also, you can turn the EQ off, and switch to Triodes on the back.

 

[tminus3]

Ok I'm getting the picture now... Thanks guys for the info.

If I recollect what I did...I can now understand why it sounded like my 4x12 was blown. I had the bass on the EQ maxed out too. !!!

Oh another thing .... I had all the channels set to 10w and I was barely past 8:00 on the master. Of course I was in a rush to pack for vacation, and so I just tried to "plug and play" ...bad!!!

I'll give her a fair shot this friday and post my opinion.

 

[Bobby_E]

All I can say, is thoroughly read that manual.

It's says all over it, as the gain goes up, the bass needs to come out. Quite the tweaker of an amp.

 

[scott7d]

Tminus, like you, I wasn't thrilled, and I'm still not. However, Everything was pretty low volume since my roommate had family over. But on my Rectoverb at low volumes, the tone is good, and just gets better as it's cranked.. So far on the Mark V, it has really thin bass, and too much top end, and just continues to be that way as I ramp the volume up. Reminds me of the Stiletto I had.

This is my 4th Boogie, so I know tweaking is inevitable, but the others I've had took about 20 minutes to find something I liked. I am getting closer though, the more I mess around with the EQ and Contour. I am also going to mess around with upping things on the EQ as I back the standard EQ down.

As I said in my own thread, the most disappointing thing about this amp so far has been the bass. But, lots more experimenting tomorrow!

 

[tminus3]

Ok I'm back from vacation... my thoughts... ummm...how do I say this... THIS IS ONE FRIGGIN AWESOME AMP!!!!

Thank you guys for being patient with me and not flaming me, with my initial post.

So here is the long and short of it...

I got back home, plugged the head into the 2x12 attached to my Peavey Classic 60 (I realize the speakers aren't that great, Blue Marvels)... and proceeded to first zero-out all the knobs.
Then I gave myself a lobotomy, to forget everything I knew about setting an amp to get the tone I need. You basically have to do that if you own a Boogie..it seems.
Next plugged my old faithful trusty MIJ squier strat from '92 with Dimarzio Chopper in the bridge into it.
Channel 1, set gain and master... nice tone.. tweaked it with some of the info from the manual...WOW!
Channel 2, tweaked it for a bit with some tips from the board and holy cow! This channel is the hardest to get right, but I also have to believe now that this channel has the best tones lurking in there!
Channel 3, tweaked it ... and hit an A power chord.... I think I went from being Indian to Eskimo! (No offense to any Eskimos) The **** thing blew the pigment off my skin.... LOL

Thanks again guys... I'm in tone heaven!

-Abhi