Comparing the Mesa Boogie Mark Series - III, IV and V

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Bad.Seed

Bad.Seed

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Hey guys, I don't spam my YouTube shit in here any more because I haven't been posting in the forum for a bit, and I don't like being the dude that drops a link and then drops out.

I've kinda finally got the itch to really start messing with gear and play guitar again, and it also has me feeling more social about the subject as well.

With that said, I'm doing a little live stream with my Mark III Purple Stripe, Mark IV Rev B and Mark V 90 at 2:15 PM today.

I always and still do respect a lot of guys on this forum, many far more knowledgeable and capable than myself in the guitar world. Would be cool for any of you guys that are big Mark series fans or nerds to come hang out and give some cool info on the amps that maybe others do not know.

Here is the link if interested:
 
This video came at an awesome time. I just snagged a MKV 90. I'm super pumped about it. Talking about the JP2C in another thread created an itch I had to scratch :D
 
Watched most of your wonderful cool amp video on YouTube Kyle... Cool dude who owns tons and tons of amps !! I wish I could have the luxury but I remain as a low working class lol

Good and thumbs up on the Mesa clips... I would really hear and compare as I snag a Mark IV rev B just few days ago... Your video link comes in perfect !!
 
IIc+ (altho never played), III,IV,JP2C, V35/25, V90 in that order.
 
Whats funny is the MKV would get way more praise if Mesa didn't put the MKIIC+ switch on the fuckin amp. They had a lot of balls and created way too high of expectations releasing the amp that way. After the amp was released I even recall at the NAMM show Randall Smith and Mike B. were adamant about the authenticity of the mode and wrote off everyone else's opinion. However you want to dice it, the amp sounds fantastic and sounds like how a modern Mark should.
 
Sorry I missed the live stream, I was at work.. If you have any unresolved Mark questions let us know.

On the Mark IV, start with these lead channel settings. Lead gain pulled.


Oh yeah and, since you like to just use a SM57, I highly recommend checking out the Fredman Technique.
 
PurityS.L.G said:
Whats funny is the MKV would get way more praise if Mesa didn't put the MKIIC+ switch on the fuckin amp. They had a lot of balls and created way too high of expectations releasing the amp that way. After the amp was released I even recall at the NAMM show Randall Smith and Mike B. were adamant about the authenticity of the mode and wrote off everyone else's opinion. However you want to dice it, the amp sounds fantastic and sounds like how a modern Mark should.
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the 5 band is for lack for better terms "different feeling" than all the II - IV marks. Also that IIC+, IV, extreme switch should have been labeled with different description words, so people wouldn't expect it to sound/respond/feel like those amps, which they don't at all. the mark V has its own thing going on, and yeah it sounds killer, for sure. I've owned 3, and if money wasn't a thing i'd still have one now.

i haven't played the jp-2c yet, but i'm not expecting a "c+ reissue". Mesa needs to either do a straight reproduction of it (like they did the mark I...for the most part anyway), or stop saying these other "all in one" amps, are "like" the c+ or a reissue of the c+. people are way too big of purists to accept anything less. if the jp-2c really was a c+ reissue, we might not see real c+'s going to 10 grand quite yet, but who knows.
 
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hopkinWFG said:
Watched most of your wonderful cool amp video on YouTube Kyle... Cool dude who owns tons and tons of amps !! I wish I could have the luxury but I remain as a low working class lol

Good and thumbs up on the Mesa clips... I would really hear and compare as I snag a Mark IV rev B just few days ago... Your video link comes in perfect !!
Click to expand...
Yeah, but are any of those amps worth anything?
 
The MkV, is the champion,
Randall Smith’s masterpiece.
That’s a tough amp to beat.

In fact, no mortal designer/builder/amp co,
can touch it, not even close.
Then go build it.
-crickets….

*And that includes ‘whomever’ builds Larry amps*
 
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Dino 939 said:
The MkV, is the champion,
Randall Smith’s masterpiece.
That’s a tough amp to beat.

In fact, no mortal designer/builder/amp co,
can touch it, not even close.
Then go build it.
-crickets….

*And that includes ‘whomever’ builds Larry amps*
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what do you think of the V:25 lunchbox heads?
 
JimAnsell said:
what do you think of the V:25 lunchbox heads?
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Small heads imo are ballpark amps voltage is not big as 100 watter or a 50watter... power amp Response won't be good... My GPDI attested this... Till I plug it to a power station and it went cracking up the pits of hell...
 
PurityS.L.G said:
This video came at an awesome time. I just snagged a MKV 90. I'm super pumped about it. Talking about the JP2C in another thread created an itch I had to scratch :D
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found myself liking the V more than the other two in this video at most points, but I also seemed to be having a bad tone day haha
 
hopkinWFG said:
Watched most of your wonderful cool amp video on YouTube Kyle... Cool dude who owns tons and tons of amps !! I wish I could have the luxury but I remain as a low working class lol

Good and thumbs up on the Mesa clips... I would really hear and compare as I snag a Mark IV rev B just few days ago... Your video link comes in perfect !!
Click to expand...
I'm certainly not rich by any means. Worked blue collar jobs my entire life until my last little stint at an office. Regardless, I made my own fortunes by being smart with what money I had and watching it compound as I made the right decisions.

Not that I am at all taking what you said as an insult or an attack, I just get the question "how do you afford all this?!" or called a rich boy in my comment section on a weekly basis. I grew up in a trailer park. My mom worked in a plastic shop and my dad is a laborer. I decided I didn't want to spend my life doing jobs I hate, so I made something else happen. That's pretty much what it boils down to.

Appreciate the kind words! I know a lot of people look down on what I do, but I don't give a shit. I get to play with guitar gear for a living. You ain't raining on that parade! Haha
 
hopkinWFG said:
Unless a Marshall... Kyle has his passion that most of us admire !
Click to expand...

-Speaking of a lot of amps.
I remember you stating you had over a 100 amplifiers in for your modifications to individuals Marshall amplifiers.
-How’s that going?

Because if that’s true..,
you’re the real Mhenson ‘round here.
 
Just a tip, If boosting a Mark IVb or Mark III I generally like to keep the treble down to like 5 or 6 or it does get that sorta quackiness going on, even without a boost and you got a trebley pickup you don't want your treble dial too high on the amp or it's gonna get that weird sound. When I had a dimeslime, it had a really bright pickup, a l500xl, my Mark's sounded like shit with that guitar. I could not for the life of me make that guitar work with a Mark.

Those amps are very dependant on what you got running into them, from your guitar to your boost... the more things you put in front, the more of a balancing act you gotta make with all that pre gain EQ. I find it easiest to just run straight into the amps myself, but I can make a boost/overdrive work well if I got a really balanced pickup in my guitar.

Also, I have those days too where I just can't make my amps sound the way I want them. Mark's are VERY tempermental amplifiers, one thing affects another thing... and push that presence in on the IV, they sound balsier with the presence pushed IMO.
 
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