Mark Morton Tweets Never Into Mark V, Switched To Royal Atl.

[Gooseman]

I noticed this on another forum and thought I'd do some investigatory work. Turns out this post is true. I'm not a metal guy, let alone dark metal like LOG. I am just impressed that the Royal Atlantic is starting to catch on. I didn't think it would, but it is. I bought, gigged it, love it. Could be a sleeper amp for the coming couple of years.

Petrucci also stated in an interview from September 7 that he had a Royal Atlantic that he was due to spend some time with. If he makes the switch, wow, the secret could be out!

 

[polaris20]

I still need to play one. You guys really have me interested. I've got a DC-5 I'll never part with, and I'll likely get the Mini Recto too, for fun. But I've wanted a British-sounding Mesa for awhile now.

 

[Gooseman]

Seriously, the thing is like a Recto with more midrange and less compression. It sounds huge and thumps, and can do the low gain crunch thing REALLY well.

 

[Gooseman]

http://twitter.com/#!/MarkDuaneMorton

Mark Morton's Twitter ...

"i never totally switched to the 5. used them primarily to supplement my IVs. switching to the Royals b/c they sound better.

 

[CaseyCor]

Makes since to me. Mark is the "non-metal" player of the group. Will be running them with his original Mark IVs most likely.

I listened to some clips of the RA a few days ago here at RT, and REALLY liked it. Low gain sounds were fantastic.

 

[D-Rock]

For what it's worth, Morton has become more of a blues lick/classic rock vibe player over the last few years. So It's no surprise he is gravitating more towards the RA. He still likes to thrash, but also likes to have that swagger and boogie feel to his riffing. Adler is more of a straight up razor's edge metal player out of the two.

 

[The Hoff]

Interesting. Don't think it could replace my V but I'll have to check this out next time I'm at Mesa.

 

[steve_k]

I would imagine Randall will be calling Mark to the office for a little discussion about "endorsement etiquette".

 

[Gooseman]

Doesn't sound like an endorsement issue. Sounds like either way, players will be swayed to Mesa. It isn't like he stated that he hates Mark's in general. He still uses Mark IVs. If it is all an endorsement ploy, for Mesa's benefit, it still doesn't change the fact that the amp is a gem. I was sort of hoping the thing wouldn't take off. I mean, I kind of like some notoriety and difference between players at gigs. Every gig, there is always a Fender, a Recto/Mark, and Orange, BadCat, or Vox. To be honest with you, I don't see too many Marshall's here in the Boston rock scene. Anyhoo, the RA is pretty rad.

 

[steve_k]

Doesn't sound like an endorsement issue. Sounds like either way, players will be swayed to Mesa. It isn't like he stated that he hates Mark's in general. He still uses Mark IVs. If it is all an endorsement ploy, for Mesa's benefit, it still doesn't change the fact that the amp is a gem. I was sort of hoping the thing wouldn't take off. I mean, I kind of like some notoriety and difference between players at gigs. Every gig, there is always a Fender, a Recto/Mark, and Orange, BadCat, or Vox. To be honest with you, I don't see too many Marshall's here in the Boston rock scene. Anyhoo, the RA is pretty rad.

I've owned all the Mark Series from IIC+ to V. Liked them all. Quite frankly though, I am not a fan of all the cloned amp lines. If I want Vox or Marshall, I will buy a Vox or Marshall. If Mesa isn't careful, they will go the way of other companies and come out with so many amp lines that they will finally dilute their signature tone and lose direction. They should have stuck to what they did best.

As for Mark Morton, I feel quite sure that a "Tweet" about disliking something Mesa endorses him to use in favor of a different Mesa product is still not something Randall likes to see. They had a hard enough time forcing the Mark V on them. I quite liked the Mark V, but it was nothing like a IIC+, III or IV. Mark IV endorsed players I think agree, since they all carry around the Mark IV's still.

But, my opinion, and I don't know shit.....

Steve

 

[oldmanmetal]

Edit.

 

[squank]

http://twitter.com/#!/MarkDuaneMorton

Mark Morton's Twitter ...

"i never totally switched to the 5. used them primarily to supplement my IVs. switching to the Royals b/c they sound better.

All those magazine promo ads showed him pretty happy with his Mark V

 

[kiff]

I've owned all the Mark Series from IIC+ to V. Liked them all.

I use a IV but I have a IIC that needs some work and I was thinking of having it converted to a +. just wondering, and I've heard varying opinions on this, how you would compare the high gain side of the IIC+ to the IV's.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Doesn't sound like an endorsement issue. Sounds like either way, players will be swayed to Mesa. It isn't like he stated that he hates Mark's in general. He still uses Mark IVs. If it is all an endorsement ploy, for Mesa's benefit, it still doesn't change the fact that the amp is a gem. I was sort of hoping the thing wouldn't take off. I mean, I kind of like some notoriety and difference between players at gigs. Every gig, there is always a Fender, a Recto/Mark, and Orange, BadCat, or Vox. To be honest with you, I don't see too many Marshall's here in the Boston rock scene. Anyhoo, the RA is pretty rad.

I've owned all the Mark Series from IIC+ to V. Liked them all. Quite frankly though, I am not a fan of all the cloned amp lines. If I want Vox or Marshall, I will buy a Vox or Marshall. If Mesa isn't careful, they will go the way of other companies and come out with so many amp lines that they will finally dilute their signature tone and lose direction. They should have stuck to what they did best.

Steve

What IS the Mesa signature tone? Plenty here will say it's the Mark series but the fact is when the Recto's came out in the early 90's the Mark series amps weren't that popular at all really and the Recto's took off BIGTIME. They've probably sold more Recto's than anything else. So, is that their signature tone? And the Mark series amps have been all over the map really and the Mark V's vary from amp to amp, and they still don't sound as good as IIC+'s or IV's. While I still have played a few V's that sounded good, I've really drifted away from the Mark series and I'd take a RA-100 in a heartbeat over a V.

I really wonder who was behind the Electra Dyne and RA? They are soo different from most everyother Mesa and they don't need mods, tweaks, or new revisions to sound good. They finally got a few amps to sound good right from the start. This is something Randall hasn't done in a while.

However, the Lonestar's are pretty cool for what they are. And at least Mesa has keep everything in the USA and they don't have some cheap shit line made in China.

 

[thiswaythatway]

I've owned all the Mark Series from IIC+ to V. Liked them all.

I use a IV but I have a IIC that needs some work and I was thinking of having it converted to a +. just wondering, and I've heard varying opinions on this, how you would compare the high gain side of the IIC+ to the IV's.

IV - more refined, a little more compressed, a little more hi-fi sounding, very smooth. R2 is useless.

IIC+. A little more raw, less compression, slightly less gain. Very alive sounding. The EQ wasn't as sensitive I thought, I could set the 750hz slider at the same point as the one on the IV and the Mark IV would sound a lot more scooped.

 

[blackba]

I've owned all the Mark Series from IIC+ to V. Liked them all.

I use a IV but I have a IIC that needs some work and I was thinking of having it converted to a +. just wondering, and I've heard varying opinions on this, how you would compare the high gain side of the IIC+ to the IV's.

IV - more refined, a little more compressed, a little more hi-fi sounding, very smooth. R2 is useless.

IIC+. A little more raw, less compression, slightly less gain. Very alive sounding. The EQ wasn't as sensitive I thought, I could set the 750hz slider at the same point as the one on the IV and the Mark IV would sound a lot more scooped.

So how would you compare the V to the IIC+ and IV?

Also, I wouldn't call R2 on my mark IVA useless, Its just the weakest channel of the 3, but does respond well to a boost.

All this talk of the RA-100 has me really interested to check one out. Wish I had more free time to get to music stores to try things out.

 

[some dude]

I really wonder who was behind the Electra Dyne and RA?

I can't remember his name but it was one of Mesa's other engineers. Not a big name like Mike B, but some dude nobody had heard of before. I'm pretty sure he's the same dude that's behind the RA. The little bit I've read on him says he's the one that's into the retro-future look, hence the look of the ED and RA.

From the way I understand Randall has backed off on the development and is letting other dudes take the lead now. I think he's still pretty involved in research, but the newest couple of Recto (Dual/Triple/Roadster/RK) revisions have been done by others.

One thing of interest is that some dudes who tested the Mark V said it's biased warmer than what Mesa's been doing for the last couple of decades.... particularily on EL34 mode, which is running them hot. I haven't read any test results on the ED, but it would make sense for them to have done the same.... ditto with the RA.

Maybe they learned from their mistakes with the Stiletto?

They are soo different from most everyother Mesa and they don't need mods, tweaks, or new revisions to sound good. They finally got a few amps to sound good right from the start. This is something Randall hasn't done in a while.

The Electra-Dyne has already had a revision (the addition of the gain trim/clean level control).

 

[Gooseman]

I get the argument that Mesa could be diluting their line of amps and losing their signature sound as a result, but isn't that what Randall does though? Doesn't he take previous amp ideas and tweak them to make them better, ala his original Boogies that were nothing more that modded Fenders?

 

[some dude]

I get the argument that Mesa could be diluting their line of amps and losing their signature sound as a result, but isn't that what Randall does though? Doesn't he take previous amp ideas and tweak them to make them better, ala his original Boogies that were nothing more that modded Fenders?

The Recto was fathered by the SLO.

It's not like this "diluting the signature sound" is a new thing. He's been producing a variety of amps since the 1980s, some of which succeeded and some of which failed, but you can see the progression in developmental ideas that eventually work their way into future models/revisions.

People have long wanted a Recto with less sag and more mids, and if the Royal-Atlantic manages to do that then I don't see a problem with it.

Personally, I don't understand the logic that a company should stop innovating and trying to move forward. If Randall had followed that logic he would've never developed the Recto, which has been his most successful venture.

 

[D-Rock]

I get the argument that Mesa could be diluting their line of amps and losing their signature sound as a result, but isn't that what Randall does though? Doesn't he take previous amp ideas and tweak them to make them better, ala his original Boogies that were nothing more that modded Fenders?

Personally, I don't understand the logic that a company should stop innovating and trying to move forward. If Randall had followed that logic he would've never developed the Recto, which has been his most successful venture.

+1