Mesa and Bogner guys come and give me your advice

[lame guitarist]

Hey guys, need some help.

I am either gonna get a Mark 5 or Bogner Shiva 20th anniversary with KT88's tomorrow.

I have a lot of amps but still chasing that elusive tone. Listened and played both amps the other day and first impressions were..

Mark 5 - very hard to dial in a tone and was quite boomy. Could have been the cab the shop had, which was a peavey. I remember when I got my triaxis and roadster they took a while to get my head around, so I imagined the mark 5 being the same.

Shiva 20th- plugged in and thought HOLY SHIT!!!
Amazing clean, crunch could give me anything from punk, classic Rock to metal, was an amazing amp.

I definately loved the shiva but the mark 5 has more.. I know that playing the mark 5 the first impressions were uncertainty. When I played the Bogner though it was love at first hear!

Any of you guys own these amps and can share your experience?

I want a great clean and crunch that can give me lots of gain, tight bottom end and wide open sound. Kinda like my diezel Herbie but not as compressed when its cranked.

 

[droptrd]

Clearly you like the bogner better. Go for it.

 

[DEWD]

Sounds like you like the Bogner and should go that route but I like the Mark V better. It's a little different to dial in but once you do, not many amps can top it. It CAN NOT be dialed in like any other Mark series amps if you want to hear it's full potential.

 

[reverymike]

I honestly don't see a tough choice here. If the Bogner did it for you, then that's your amp.

 

[lame guitarist]

I am swaying more toward the Bogner, it's just that the Mark 5 has more so that's why I feel maybe with a lot of tweaking and so on it could be a great amp. The bogner was plug in and play, great sound just like that.

It's like getting a new car, do you get the basic model that gets from A to B but and runs great, or do you get the porsche with the sat nav, in car DVD, leather interior etc...

 

[glip22]

Hey guys, need some help.

I am either gonna get a Mark 5 or Bogner Shiva 20th anniversary with KT88's tomorrow.

I have a lot of amps but still chasing that elusive tone. Listened and played both amps the other day and first impressions were..

Mark 5 - very hard to dial in a tone and was quite boomy. Could have been the cab the shop had, which was a peavey. I remember when I got my triaxis and roadster they took a while to get my head around, so I imagined the mark 5 being the same.

Shiva 20th- plugged in and thought HOLY SHIT!!!
Amazing clean, crunch could give me anything from punk, classic Rock to metal, was an amazing amp.

I definately loved the shiva but the mark 5 has more.. I know that playing the mark 5 the first impressions were uncertainty. When I played the Bogner though it was love at first hear!

Any of you guys own these amps and can share your experience?

I want a great clean and crunch that can give me lots of gain, tight bottom end and wide open sound. Kinda like my diezel Herbie but not as compressed when its cranked.

Get the Shiva and install some SED 6550's. Great Amp!!! There's no Shiva in a Mesa.

 

[Ventura]

I'm a Bogner guy.

No wait, I'm a guy who digs "unique" and awesome tone.

So ya, by default, I'm a Bogner guy (in addition to Diezel).

Dude, when I first started reading your email, I was thinking there couldn't be two more different amps to compare to one another. Seriously, different animals in my book. But here's the deal in my headspace... There are a LOT of Mark V's out there. There are NOT a lot of 20thA Shiva's out there. I would without one iota of doubt or second guessing throw down for that 20thA Shiva and NEVER look back. Man, I OWN a 20thA EL34 loaded XTC, and part of me still WANTS a 20thA Shiva!! Have you heard the clips on this beast?? Dude... NO CONTEST if you're looking for a unique, chewy, brilliantly alive tone.

20thA Shiva ALL the way. And here - here's a review for ya...

https://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/I ... views.aspx

Hope this helps!!

V.

 

[Nico]

Looks like you want to be convinced of the Bogner. I have never heard the Mark V.

But I don't understand how you are comparing basically a Rock amp to a Metal amp. Neither of these amps deserves to be labeled upon one category, but in the big picture that is what they were meant to do...

 

[some dude]

I'm a Mesa dude. I like them, yet in general I think most Mesa's I've owned have sounded pretty mediocre right off the bat. Sometimes it's finding the right settings, and others it's learning how the amp feels and responds to the way you play. Either way, I've always found it a far more rewarding experience than an amp that sounds great right off the bat, probably because I had to work a little harder for it.

 

[thiswaythatway]

After having owned the Mark V and playing lots of them, I'd take a chance on the Bogner if i were you, especially since you liked it already.

 

[Anonymous]

played a mark v. definitely some fiddling around there to get a sound i liked...but boy oh boy, when i got it dialed in...

 

[The Hoff]

played a mark v. definitely some fiddling around there to get a sound i liked...but boy oh boy, when i got it dialed in...

Exactly this. Like many Mesa amps, it takes awhile to dial in. If you're willing to do that-I'd personally go for the Mark V. I love that amp.

 

[skoora]

Is it a store. Do they have a return policy? if so get the Mesa and see if you can get sounds you dig within the return policy. If not return it for the Shiva.

 

[Big Rich]

sometimes mesas take a minute for you to find the 'sweet spot' ... if you get there before pulling your hair out it will sound awesome


i love my mark 5 .... deff alot more fun to play through than the twin jet i had

 

[mightywarlock]

played a mark v. definitely some fiddling around there to get a sound i liked...but boy oh boy, when i got it dialed in...

Exactly this. Like many Mesa amps, it takes awhile to dial in. If you're willing to do that-I'd personally go for the Mark V. I love that amp.

Than why do you keep buying and selling them?

Sheesh I've bought 2 of them from you already heheh

as for which to get...

It's really what kind of tubes do you like?
Mark V some folks (like me) like them with EL34's. but they seem to excel and work better with 6L6's.
I imagine the Bogner is EL34?

sometimes bells and whistles are overblown. would you rather tweak all day and night, trying to find a tone, or just dial it in and play?

do what makes you feel right if you can't just afford to buy both.

 

[The Hoff]

played a mark v. definitely some fiddling around there to get a sound i liked...but boy oh boy, when i got it dialed in...

Exactly this. Like many Mesa amps, it takes awhile to dial in. If you're willing to do that-I'd personally go for the Mark V. I love that amp.

Than why do you keep buying and selling them?

Sheesh I've bought 2 of them from you already heheh

as for which to get...

It's really what kind of tubes do you like?
Mark V some folks (like me) like them with EL34's. but they seem to excel and work better with 6L6's.
I imagine the Bogner is EL34?

sometimes bells and whistles are overblown. would you rather tweak all day and night, trying to find a tone, or just dial it in and play?

do what makes you feel right if you can't just afford to buy both.

HAHAHA

Without a doubt it would be my amp if I had to choose only one.

But since I don't - I whore it up and own multiple amps.

By the way, I've been meaning to PM you so, I'll do that now.

 

[JakeAC5253]

Few things on my mind. It does seem that you like the Bogner off the bat and thats a good thing, but you are also giving the MKV a reasonable chance, and that's a good thing too. Here's a few key points, in no particular order.

-I wouldn't judge the MKV based on what you heard through the Peavey cab
-See if you can check out the MKV boosted with a Tubescreamer clean boost, really brings the amp to life
-I would take your own cab to the store and try both amps through your cab
-I would recommend trying the MKV through a Mesa Recto cab
-Look up how the MKV dials, it's not the most logical thing, but it's not difficult either. There's a video on the Boogie site of JP showing his MKV settings and I'd say that would be a good place to start
-You either want the Boogie sound or the Bogner sound, there's really not a whole lot of overlap there
-If you thought the Mark was boomy then you were dialing it wrong, or you weren't boosting it. It's not a 'safe' amp, where you can run anything into it and it can be counted on to sound good. It was designed with the Tubescreamer EQ curve in mind, that's why most guys run the 750Hz slider almost all the way off.

And in the end you like what you like. The Mark takes a lot of things going right in order to sound 'like' a Mark IMO, and if that's not your gig then that's understandable. That's what turns a lot of people off about Mesa amps in general. I chose Mesa, that's my gig, but I wouldn't be opposed to owning something of Bogner's either.

 

[some dude]

I don't find Marks need to be boosted in the way that people do with Rectos. All that shaping can be achieved with the the amps own tonestack so there's no real need to rely on a pedal to do it.

I will say that if the amp sounded boomy it was probably either the settings or the cab. It can be crazy tight if you dial it in for it.

If the amp has the suggested settings card that sits on top of the amp in the store those settings are pretty decent for a starting point... although I'd bump the treble up slightly on the Mark IV setting and the V on the graphic EQ is they show is stupid scooped.

 

[lame guitarist]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I tried the Mark V again and even after a lot of tweaking I still felt unsure. Don't think I am in the right space to go for it just now.. Soooo the 20th Shiva it was!

Feels so good to play this thing. Its a non reverb model which suits me fine. Running it through a straight bogner 4x12 cab with V30's

Anyone got any settings to share for it? how different does it sound with 6550's?

Will try and record some clips over the festive period and post them up.

 

[Tawlks]

Clearly you like the bogner better. Go for it.

This.