thiswaythatway
Well-known member
Played the Mark V combo today. First let me say that I dislike open back 1x12 combos for rock and metal. I have played Mark IV combos and I owned one for a short time so I had that in mind for comparison.
I went straight to channel 3 and I dialed it in how I would normally dial in a Mark series amp. Bass, mid, and presence set low and I set the treble up high. With the lack of push/pull knobs and only 1 gain control I was worried it might not have the same feel or tones as were used to with mark series amps. I was pleased to see that the treble control acts like it always has. Above 7 and it acted like a gain control.
As far as the IIC+ mode. Did it sound like a real IIC+? Not sure. Time will tell when someone can put the V and IIC+ in the same room on the same cab to really see. I did like it though. Plenty of singing gain at any volume and it sustained notes with ease. Again, this was the combo and I can’t wait to hear it on a good cab. With my normal settings on IIC+ mode I did do a Metallica scoop and it had that base covered.
The IV mode added gain and more mids. There wasn’t much of a volume jump to this mode I thought. Boatloads of gain here, perfect for singing liquid leads. The extreme mode added volume and high end. I didn’t see the purpose of this mode since I thought I could tweak one of the other modes to sound like this one. And since you can’t footswitch between the modes, it seems like overkill.
Overall, the IV and IIC+ modes sound every bit like a Mark series amp. But when I was done I realized I was in triode, not pentode. And how close is the IV mode to a real IV? Probably extremely close but again, someone needs to play them both back to back to really see.
Clean channel? I didn’t bother. Hehe
Channel 2 was cool.I used the preset EQ knob and not the sliders. A big improvement over the Mark IV R2 for sure. The Mark I mode was thick, really THICK. Pretty dark, but very creamy sounding and sweet for lead playing. Not sure I would really say this was great for metal rhythm playing even though it did have a lot of gain. I never played a Mark I so I don’t know how this compares. But think Dark, Thick, and creamy as all hell.
Crunch mode was interesting. I had a hard time dialing in a thick bottom end, but i was finally able to get a nice crunch going on for VH style riffs. I think I would need more time with that mode to get a good feel for it, and I’d need to hear it on a good cab.
Edge mode, I didn’t really mess around with it that much. It sounded like crunch mode with less gain. Overall, the Mark I mode was the winner on channel 2 for me, and much better than R2 on the IV.
So IMHO the V is a better amp than the IV, it’s a lot more versatile. Lead mode, 90,45,or 10 watts a channel, more tones, EQ sliders or preset EQ knob. However it’s not perfect. For me I would MUCH rather have it laid out with the Mark I and IIC+ modes on channel 2. And I’d have a Mark III and IV modes on channel 3. Extreme, edge, crunch, all seem like overkill for me. I don’t get why they would leave off the Mark III and put an edge and crunch mode on it? If I want a Brit inspired amp I’ll buy a Marshall.
And not being able to switch between the modes is a letdown IMHO. If you had a IIC+ mode on channel 2 and a IV mode on channel 3 you would have 2 killer high gain tones at your feet. IMHO, metal heads won’t be 100% happy with the Mark I mode for rhythm. It’s got gain and it’s thick but the overall feel isn’t what I’d use for metal. So basically, if your gigging out, you’re stuck with choosing just 1 mode from channel 3 and the other 2 modes go to waste. A lot of people don’t seem to care though about this issue.
So if you owned a Mark IV now and all you really use is clean, and that killer gain and you have no need for anything else, you may not need the V, some may not need all the extras. If you wanted to get back into the Mark amps then skip the IV and get the V, it's probably worth it.
And again, I’m really not sold yet on the idea that it nails the IIC+ tones, time will time when more people have time with both amps.
I went straight to channel 3 and I dialed it in how I would normally dial in a Mark series amp. Bass, mid, and presence set low and I set the treble up high. With the lack of push/pull knobs and only 1 gain control I was worried it might not have the same feel or tones as were used to with mark series amps. I was pleased to see that the treble control acts like it always has. Above 7 and it acted like a gain control.
As far as the IIC+ mode. Did it sound like a real IIC+? Not sure. Time will tell when someone can put the V and IIC+ in the same room on the same cab to really see. I did like it though. Plenty of singing gain at any volume and it sustained notes with ease. Again, this was the combo and I can’t wait to hear it on a good cab. With my normal settings on IIC+ mode I did do a Metallica scoop and it had that base covered.
The IV mode added gain and more mids. There wasn’t much of a volume jump to this mode I thought. Boatloads of gain here, perfect for singing liquid leads. The extreme mode added volume and high end. I didn’t see the purpose of this mode since I thought I could tweak one of the other modes to sound like this one. And since you can’t footswitch between the modes, it seems like overkill.
Overall, the IV and IIC+ modes sound every bit like a Mark series amp. But when I was done I realized I was in triode, not pentode. And how close is the IV mode to a real IV? Probably extremely close but again, someone needs to play them both back to back to really see.
Clean channel? I didn’t bother. Hehe
Channel 2 was cool.I used the preset EQ knob and not the sliders. A big improvement over the Mark IV R2 for sure. The Mark I mode was thick, really THICK. Pretty dark, but very creamy sounding and sweet for lead playing. Not sure I would really say this was great for metal rhythm playing even though it did have a lot of gain. I never played a Mark I so I don’t know how this compares. But think Dark, Thick, and creamy as all hell.
Crunch mode was interesting. I had a hard time dialing in a thick bottom end, but i was finally able to get a nice crunch going on for VH style riffs. I think I would need more time with that mode to get a good feel for it, and I’d need to hear it on a good cab.
Edge mode, I didn’t really mess around with it that much. It sounded like crunch mode with less gain. Overall, the Mark I mode was the winner on channel 2 for me, and much better than R2 on the IV.
So IMHO the V is a better amp than the IV, it’s a lot more versatile. Lead mode, 90,45,or 10 watts a channel, more tones, EQ sliders or preset EQ knob. However it’s not perfect. For me I would MUCH rather have it laid out with the Mark I and IIC+ modes on channel 2. And I’d have a Mark III and IV modes on channel 3. Extreme, edge, crunch, all seem like overkill for me. I don’t get why they would leave off the Mark III and put an edge and crunch mode on it? If I want a Brit inspired amp I’ll buy a Marshall.
And not being able to switch between the modes is a letdown IMHO. If you had a IIC+ mode on channel 2 and a IV mode on channel 3 you would have 2 killer high gain tones at your feet. IMHO, metal heads won’t be 100% happy with the Mark I mode for rhythm. It’s got gain and it’s thick but the overall feel isn’t what I’d use for metal. So basically, if your gigging out, you’re stuck with choosing just 1 mode from channel 3 and the other 2 modes go to waste. A lot of people don’t seem to care though about this issue.
So if you owned a Mark IV now and all you really use is clean, and that killer gain and you have no need for anything else, you may not need the V, some may not need all the extras. If you wanted to get back into the Mark amps then skip the IV and get the V, it's probably worth it.
And again, I’m really not sold yet on the idea that it nails the IIC+ tones, time will time when more people have time with both amps.
