So... MK50h is here

[GRK]

It's finally here!

Let me start off by saying that Cornford is a VERY, VERY different territory than my comfort zone, Mesa Boogie.
With a Mesa, I know what to expect. They may look like a airplane console but I feel home with both the sound and the controls with a Mesa. So after 3 years of nothing but Mesa, you could say that Cornford got a few minutes of ear adjustment.

I started by plugging it through a Marshall 4x12 g12t75's. Like with many of my amps, I didn't like it much. And after waiting that long for the amp, you could imagine my first reaction. Disappointment. Then I grabbed my 2x12 Avatar with CL80's. TONS of more mids and punch and no ice picky treble. I took the amp in the central area of my house away from the rooms with windows that face neighbor houses (10:20 am here) so I can turn it up a bit. I turned it on.

WHOLE different story. It was a punchier, smoother, sweeter Cornford with my Avatar. Not like the colder, more brittle Cornford with the Marshall 4x12.

Not being used to the whole single channel amp with 2 steps of gain concept, it took me a while to set my settings for a sweet clean, smooth/slight dirty overdrive and a full/warm distortion sound. But I did find my settings quite fast compared to Mesa's (doh!).

All in all, I can't compare it to many Brit sounding amps to be honest. Cause I haven't owned many. But I can say that it delivers the promises I've heard. AMAZING build quality, great clarity and definition. A unique, quality sound (I keep playing the same songs and they just don't sound like what I'm used to hearing with other amps [in a good way]) It really does have something unique.


Only one little thing though. When I play single notes on overdrive, I hear this second voice coming through the speakers. Imagine a 5% wet signal with chorus turned on. But it's a weird fuzzy sound. Almost like something electrical. It's not THAT present but it's there. It does kinda bother me but I gotta see if it goes away when I play in respectable volumes. It only happens in overdrive mode not clean. I'm pretty sure it's gonna go away in high volume though.

Oh and... THIS THING IS FUCKIN LOUD. I think the loudest amp I've owned.

Oh and it's pretty light compared to Mesa's I've owned. Which is GREAT

All in all, looks like it's gonna be a good day today
Back to playing...

 

[GRK]

How could I forget

MANY, MANY thanks to Kurt!!!! He's kept the amp for me for a month and a half while I was on vacation and sent it the day I asked him to. GREAT guy. And man, you definitely know how to pack an amp Thank you!

 

[MARK1970]

Cool, Cornfords are badass. I have never tried an MK50, but I tried the RK100 which I liked alot.
Congrats.

 

[GRK]

Sounds like you're hearing "ghost notes." Those are present on Plexi style amps too. I actually kinda dig ghost notes, but most don't.

The Sig:X has those in low power mode too.

Interesting. I've heard the term before but I didn't think it corresponded to this certain situation. I actually tried other preamp tubes and it kinda went away or is less present I should say.


Alright back to playing

 

[J.B.]

Congrats man!! The MK50 is a GREAT amp!! The tone is great and the build quality is as good as it gets. You're ears will need adjusting after playing Mesa's for a while, but I think you'll end up really loving it in the end.

 

[GRK]

It definitely takes adjusting and the more I play, the more I like it!!! Been 2+ hours and it's getting better even without touching settings haha!

 

[gibson5413]

Congratulations! I would love to try a Mk50. If I ever go with a Cornford I would love to try the Hellcat.

 

[duodecim]

It's finally here!
[...]

Is this the I or II version?

I've always wondered how much gain these amps have. I like the clips and records, but I have yet to hear/see a really heavy (death/black) metal band use a Cornford.

Maybe because they usually don't have money for one of those.

 

[drapesy12]

can it do heavier stuff? like dream theater time stuff etc? i live about 30minutes away from cornford in kent which which is why i am asking!

 

[GRK]

duo,
if you play black/death and stuff of that vein, I wouldn't recommend MK50h. (Mine is MK50h I by the way not II) I wouldn't even know how to get a black metal sound out of any amp (excuse my ignorance) but I'm pretty sure that there are far more suitable amps out there for that stuff. MK50h has tons of gain (relatively speaking. I don't use much gain so it's pretty much a lot more than I need) but not THAT kind of chugga chugga gain IMO. It's full and punchy but not METAL IMO.

drapes,
When you say stuff like DT, I think it's more of a compression issue than gain issue. IMO, JP's sound has a lot of compression so I'd say no, MK50h wouldn't get that kind of sound. Sure, you CAN play progressive rock/fusion and what not. It has the ingredients but not DT type of amp at all. Doesn't have the compression.

People say Hellcat has way more compression than MK50h so you can look into that. I'm actually wondering how Hellcat sounds too. Probably should go check one out at Tone Merchants... But again, if I wanted a JP kinda sound, I'd look at different brand of amps. If you're living close by though, you should definitely go check em out and see for yourself though.

 

[duodecim]

duo,
if you play black/death and stuff of that vein, I wouldn't recommend MK50h. (Mine is MK50h I by the way not II) I wouldn't even know how to get a black metal sound out of any amp (excuse my ignorance) but I'm pretty sure that there are far more suitable amps out there for that stuff. MK50h has tons of gain (relatively speaking. I don't use much gain so it's pretty much a lot more than I need) but not THAT kind of chugga chugga gain IMO. It's full and punchy but not METAL IMO.
[...]

Actually, a lot of black/progressive metal is played on Marshalls (and similar) and isn't quite "chugga chugga"... I don't like "chugga chugga".

But I hear what you're saying... I reckon that it has high gain for most '80s stuff, but not necessary for the latest incarnations of metal. I've read that the mk II has a bit more gain though, which is why I asked which version you've got.

Thanks for your reply, and I hope you enjoy your amp as long as possible before GAS sets in again.

 

[GRK]

duo,
if you play black/death and stuff of that vein, I wouldn't recommend MK50h. (Mine is MK50h I by the way not II) I wouldn't even know how to get a black metal sound out of any amp (excuse my ignorance) but I'm pretty sure that there are far more suitable amps out there for that stuff. MK50h has tons of gain (relatively speaking. I don't use much gain so it's pretty much a lot more than I need) but not THAT kind of chugga chugga gain IMO. It's full and punchy but not METAL IMO.
[...]

Actually, a lot of black/progressive metal is played on Marshalls (and similar) and isn't quite "chugga chugga"... I don't like "chugga chugga".

But I hear what you're saying... I reckon that it has high gain for most '80s stuff, but not necessary for the latest incarnations of metal. I've read that the mk II has a bit more gain though, which is why I asked which version you've got.

Thanks for your reply, and I hope you enjoy your amp as long as possible before GAS sets in again.

Well what do I know It might be just your thing then. It has clarity and definition with the Marshall vibe. It has MUCH more gain than a jcm 800 and is tighter. It is VERY natural sounding and has more low end than Marshalls I've played through. It also has a thing of it's own as I said before. If you get a chance to check out, DO IT!

 

[ttosh]

To get an idea of the type of gain and tone you can get towards a bit more of a metal style check out http://www.robbalducci.com/index2.htm it is far from death metal but it definitely has some serious gain IMHO. This guy also rocks! Everything you hear from him is MK50H. Check out The alchemist