New member here with a q: Mesa Mark V 25 vs. Engl Ironball

[Speeddemon]

Hi guys,

longtime lurker, firsttime poster here (active on various other forums). Given my general taste for all things 70's/80's rock/metal, I figured "this might just be the place for me!"

Anyway, I was wondering who of you have extensively compared the Engl Ironball to the Mesa Mark V 25?

I own an Ironball (amongst others; Engl Invader 100 + Engl 4x12 Pro cab, EVH 5150 III 50W, Fryette Sig:X, Fender SF Princeton Reverb, Roland JC-120H head & JC-55 combo, Marshall Lead 100 MOSFET full stack, Tech21 TM30...) and as you can see, quite the thirst for amps.
I did own a Mesa Mark IV (rev A) for a few months, but the weight, sort-of-uselessness of R2, and fan noise made me wanna sell it. Plus, after a retube and some hefty EQ-ing, I could get quite close in lead tones with the EVH. But the clean tone was to die for and there's this gnawing "you gotta at least have one Mesa, dude" feeling...
I love my Ironball, it's not going anywhere. Clean tone is nice, but the Mesa Mark IV's was definitely better (yeah, yeah, big glass, big iron, I know the drill ;-) ) and aside from that, the Mark V 25 is cute. I'm even considering the new 6505 MH, even when I own the 5150 III!

Love to hear your thoughts!

 

[Speeddemon]

bumpski.
I've checked out the Bonedo reviews (German site with audio samples) for each.
So far it seems that the Mark V:25 would have the upper hand, clean, but the Ironball might win in the tight, saturated gain department and they seem both equally capable in the in-between tones.

Anyone can confirm that?

Links:
http://www.bonedo.de/artikel/einzelansi ... -test.html

http://www.bonedo.de/artikel/einzelansi ... -test.html

 

[blackba]

I think I would look to try to get some big iron tone in a portable package, like the soldano hr25. The mark v:25 at least from the clips doesn't have the thump of the bigger mark v. Both the mark v and v:25 goes down to 10 watts, so the main thing you are getting with the v:25 is the cab clone and portability.

Have you considered the Mesa transatlantic or express series?

 

[Speeddemon]

I think I would look to try to get some big iron tone in a portable package, like the soldano hr25. The mark v:25 at least from the clips doesn't have the thump of the bigger mark v. Both the mark v and v:25 goes down to 10 watts, so the main thing you are getting with the v:25 is the cab clone and portability.

Have you considered the Mesa transatlantic or express series?

Well, I had the idea that the Translantic wouldn't have the tight high gain tones that the Mark series has. And the same with the Express; more bluesrock oriented, as I heard it described at least.

I've looked at the Soldano as well, but as I'm in Europe, just like the Mark, insanely expensive. And for the record, I *had* a fullsize Mark IV (not the V, mind you), but R2 was 'meh' and the weight and all made me sell it. But I've been lusting for the clean tone (and high gain tone), hence my interest in the mini Mark.

 

[blackba]

I think I would look to try to get some big iron tone in a portable package, like the soldano hr25. The mark v:25 at least from the clips doesn't have the thump of the bigger mark v. Both the mark v and v:25 goes down to 10 watts, so the main thing you are getting with the v:25 is the cab clone and portability.

Have you considered the Mesa transatlantic or express series?

Well, I had the idea that the Translantic wouldn't have the tight high gain tones that the Mark series has. And the same with the Express; more bluesrock oriented, as I heard it described at least.

I've looked at the Soldano as well, but as I'm in Europe, just like the Mark, insanely expensive. And for the record, I *had* a fullsize Mark IV (not the V, mind you), but R2 was 'meh' and the weight and all made me sell it. But I've been lusting for the clean tone (and high gain tone), hence my interest in the mini Mark.

Sounds like you are into heavy music, in which case I am not sure the v:25 will have the thump and authority for you. Check out the clips comparing the v:25 and v, you can hear it.

The mark v is supposed to have a slightly better channel 1 and a much better channel 2 compared to the mark IV. The channel 3 on the mark v is generally thought to be a downgrade.

I also have a ta15 and for me it does a good job on hye he hard rock and old school metal front, but doesn't have the punch of the mark IV. The mark v:25 with its graphic eq and darker voicing should be better in this regard. I almost got the mark v:25, but for me not having a 5 watt mode was the deal breaker as that mode is great when I need to keep the volume down.

 

[Speeddemon]

Yeah, I do play heavy stuff mostly, but I frequently venture into some blues, surf, funk, classic rock, and sporadically into latin and country.

Regarding 5W mode, I don't know how the Mark V:25 behaves at lower master volumes, but I keep my Engl Ironball pretty much always at the 20W mode, eventhough it has 5W and 1W modes as well. To me, too much headroom is lost and the low-end suffers a bit too, I think.