Who's Still Playing Their Mark V?

[skoora]

Because of the liveliness of the thread I decided to go demo a V again and pretty much sealed the deal for me. I just can't jive with the top end on this amp. Very pinched to my ears. I even tried a different cab with different speakers. Plus the medium gain sounds at first have a good roar to them but as I really listened there was a wash to it. A lack of distinction in the notes. I'm glad a lot of guys have found "it" with this amp but I'm crossing it off my list. MK1 setting is still a blast though when the GEQ is used.

Ever play on a real Mark I or Heartbreaker ?..... pretty different than the other Mark's much more of a Fender type thing in my ears.
....................................................................................................
MESA BOOGIE MARK III COLISEUM 300 HEAD RED STRIPE .... is my personal favorite. If I was looking for a Mark this would be the one.....

I've only played MK I reissues and the Heartbreaker I've played plenty. I worked at a Boogie dealer when those amps were current . Never got a distorted sound out of a MK I that sounded anything like the MK V setting. Great for clean but overdrive was for shit on those. The Heartbreaker was maybe their first attempt at a British slant to their sound and failed (or more straight American Tweed anyway). Never had enough cut or spank in the mids and treble but I put that up to Mesa's sensibilities at the time. None of their amps back then had what I would call spank. We called the Heartbreaker combo the Backbreaker. Weighed more than a 5150 combo I think. Maybe a talented tech could mod the HB into something special.

 

[steve_k]

And someone mentioned that Mesa did do a slight change somewhere around SN 2k, something like that.

So far as I know the only change that's been made is that they replaced the tube protector bar on the back with a screen... something they did to all their amps at the same time.

Long story short, a year or two back there was a dude on this forum that owned a first run Mark V and hated it. A few years later he tried another one in a store and really liked it. Without any evidence he guessed that they must have made changes to the amp and when he heard they changed the tube guard he assumed they must have made changes to the PCB at the same time. Next thing you know he posts a thread on it and one man's rumour became another one of those internet facts.

My theory is that if Mesa did start producing a Mark VB a few years ago it would be well known complete with schematics by now.

I was talking to JT at Mesa Hollywood on another subject and asked about the Mark V and if there were any revisions. He said no revisions but only a couple of small changes:

"Mesa has made no major changes to the audio path of the MKV..There was a minor change to the reverb on chan 1 so that the reverb would not feed back stupid settings!!
and a minor change to the switching circuit for graphic EQ.. Other than that no changes..

So, there you go.

Steve

 

[dgaemc2]

Thanks Steve_k
I am not surprised to hear about only minor changes to the V since it's release to the public. I bought one of the first MkV's offered in 2009, and it continues to be the best amp I have ever owned for my needs!!

 

[Jofipe]

I run EL34's in my V.
It really does the mids "justice" and it makes the edgy part of the top end more creamy.
In general a more musical amp.. IMO. Try it!

And seriously... this amp has more than enough of low end. Use the pregain bass to adjust the sag/spongyness

 

[dgaemc2]

Been there, done that with EL-34's. Personally, I prefer the sound of my MkV with 6L6's. Just my opinion!

 

[Anonymous]

Because of the liveliness of the thread I decided to go demo a V again and pretty much sealed the deal for me. I just can't jive with the top end on this amp. Very pinched to my ears. I even tried a different cab with different speakers. Plus the medium gain sounds at first have a good roar to them but as I really listened there was a wash to it. A lack of distinction in the notes. I'm glad a lot of guys have found "it" with this amp but I'm crossing it off my list. MK1 setting is still a blast though when the GEQ is used.

Ever play on a real Mark I or Heartbreaker ?..... pretty different than the other Mark's much more of a Fender type thing in my ears.
....................................................................................................
MESA BOOGIE MARK III COLISEUM 300 HEAD RED STRIPE .... is my personal favorite. If I was looking for a Mark this would be the one.....

for sure, my heartbreaker wasnt ANYTHING like any of the mark series i played. it was way bouncier, and truely had that fender feel to it. not a bad thing, just not a Mark thing, regardless of what Mesa writes in their crafty manuals and descriptions.

i really want a mark v !!! badly!

 

[blackba]

The V vs earlier Marks... hm... I don´t know...They are all different, but share a common tonality. Some are better at certain things,

I´ve owned a lot of Mesa amps through the years, 2 ch Dual recto, Roadster, quad/2:90, Dc-5, a IIB and 3 different Mark IV´s (both version A and B). I still have the Roadster, a red stripe fully loaded Mark III, a Mark IVB and the Mark V. So I have some knowledge about Mesa amps.

I love my Mark V, just like I love my Mark III and my Mark IV. Never owned a IIC+, but I have played one often (a friend owns a fully loaded one) and it really is the King of Boogies. No, the V doesn´t nail it. It´s sort of in the ballpark but not quite there. But I do like the C+ mode on the V for what it is.

I do feel that the V is the best version yet, mainly for it´s versitility. But I do also love the way it sounds. No, it´s not as agressive as my III or as midrange grindy as my IV. But I feel that the smooth lead sounds are better on the V. Both my III and IV are slightly better at the high gain heavy rhythm stuff. They are a bit thicker and chunkier. The V is also very good at this sound, but lacks a bit of the necessary grind. But I do feel that the cleans are way better on the V and they finally delivered a more usable 2nd channel.

Like some of you guys, I didn´t quite like the V at first, it sounded a bit thin and buzzy to me, and sorta mushy in the lows, lacking the tight thumping lows of the earlier Marks. But after some dialing (and changing the V1 tube to a Ruby 12ax7ACZ HG+. Yeah, it´s a JJ tube like the V comes with stock, but it did change the tone of the amp quite a bit), the amp got a lot warmer and fuller sounding to me.

I guess what I´m trying to say is, that in my opinion the Mark V is a great mark series amp!

Its interesting that your mark V came with a JJ preamp tube stock for V1, not sure if all the tubes were JJ. My experience with JJ preamp tubes and my mark IVA was not good. Back in about 2002, I retubed my mark IVA with all JJ preamp tubes and JJ 6L6GCs. I almost sold the amp at that point, the amp just sounded more lifeless and dead and fuzzy. I then started the process of testing the preamp tubes in each slot and picking the best one. The JJ's didn't make the cut in any of the positions, I left the JJ 6L6GC's in the amp. I probably would have sold the mark IVA if I had kept all the JJ's in there. I have like JJ preamp tubes better in other amps, but not the mark IVA, still JJ's are among my least favorite preamp tubes.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Because of the liveliness of the thread I decided to go demo a V again and pretty much sealed the deal for me. I just can't jive with the top end on this amp. Very pinched to my ears. I even tried a different cab with different speakers. Plus the medium gain sounds at first have a good roar to them but as I really listened there was a wash to it. A lack of distinction in the notes. I'm glad a lot of guys have found "it" with this amp but I'm crossing it off my list. MK1 setting is still a blast though when the GEQ is used.

Ever play on a real Mark I or Heartbreaker ?..... pretty different than the other Mark's much more of a Fender type thing in my ears.
....................................................................................................
MESA BOOGIE MARK III COLISEUM 300 HEAD RED STRIPE .... is my personal favorite. If I was looking for a Mark this would be the one.....

I've only played MK I reissues and the Heartbreaker I've played plenty. I worked at a Boogie dealer when those amps were current . Never got a distorted sound out of a MK I that sounded anything like the MK V setting. Great for clean but overdrive was for shit on those. The Heartbreaker was maybe their first attempt at a British slant to their sound and failed (or more straight American Tweed anyway). Never had enough cut or spank in the mids and treble but I put that up to Mesa's sensibilities at the time. None of their amps back then had what I would call spank. We called the Heartbreaker combo the Backbreaker. Weighed more than a 5150 combo I think. Maybe a talented tech could mod the HB into something special.

This guy tears it up on a Heartbreaker. I tried a Mark V again the other day............no thanks. Like the other guy, I found the top end really nasty sounding and every Mark IV I've ever played had more gain than even that extreme setting. Yes, I know how to tweak Mark amps.

 

[some dude]

Its interesting that your mark V came with a JJ preamp tube stock for V1, not sure if all the tubes were JJ. My experience with JJ preamp tubes and my mark IVA was not good. Back in about 2002, I retubed my mark IVA with all JJ preamp tubes and JJ 6L6GCs. I almost sold the amp at that point, the amp just sounded more lifeless and dead and fuzzy. I then started the process of testing the preamp tubes in each slot and picking the best one. The JJ's didn't make the cut in any of the positions, I left the JJ 6L6GC's in the amp. I probably would have sold the mark IVA if I had kept all the JJ's in there. I have like JJ preamp tubes better in other amps, but not the mark IVA, still JJ's are among my least favorite preamp tubes.

Back in 2008 New Sensor changed the specs on their tubes and Mesa suddenly had huge problems with their amps failing all over the place as the tubes could no longer handle the voltages present in the cathode follower positions. All their amps now come stock with JJ ECC83s.

I agree with you about the tone. My Roadster had a heavy dose of blanket over the speakers with all JJs. I had a TungSol on hand that I jammed in the V1 just to see what happened and I really liked the results. I haven't bothered to replace the rest of the tubes.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

I bought one after playing one in a local shop, ordered a custom blk/gold jute front and when the amp arrived it sounded horrible. I know tubes can be goofy when shipped but with every toggle on ch 3 adding gain just made amp buzz more. Returned it and buying Friedman BE-100. The other channels eq were set to what Petrucci uses on his settings vid...tone wasn't for me.

 

[blackba]

Its interesting that your mark V came with a JJ preamp tube stock for V1, not sure if all the tubes were JJ. My experience with JJ preamp tubes and my mark IVA was not good. Back in about 2002, I retubed my mark IVA with all JJ preamp tubes and JJ 6L6GCs. I almost sold the amp at that point, the amp just sounded more lifeless and dead and fuzzy. I then started the process of testing the preamp tubes in each slot and picking the best one. The JJ's didn't make the cut in any of the positions, I left the JJ 6L6GC's in the amp. I probably would have sold the mark IVA if I had kept all the JJ's in there. I have like JJ preamp tubes better in other amps, but not the mark IVA, still JJ's are among my least favorite preamp tubes.

Back in 2008 New Sensor changed the specs on their tubes and Mesa suddenly had huge problems with their amps failing all over the place as the tubes could no longer handle the voltages present in the cathode follower positions. All their amps now come stock with JJ ECC83s.

I agree with you about the tone. My Roadster had a heavy dose of blanket over the speakers with all JJs. I had a TungSol on hand that I jammed in the V1 just to see what happened and I really liked the results. I haven't bothered to replace the rest of the tubes.

Interesting info on the tubes.

 

[Shiny_Surface]

I was a big Mark IV fan, owned one for 9 years. I have to admit my initial interest in the V imploded when the ensuing backlash hit the forums from some early adopters and made me feel lucky I dodged a bullet. But I kind of feel like trying one now to see how bad they are.

 

[djpharoah]

I tried one out yesterday for a good hour or so and found it to be a shit load easier to dial in properly than a mark iV. Granted I've had my Mark IV for a while and have it finally dialed in I found the various modes and amp settings to be killer. I'm one of the few people maybe who'll be selling my IV for a V.

 

[blackba]

I was a big Mark IV fan, owned one for 9 years. I have to admit my initial interest in the V imploded when the ensuing backlash hit the forums from some early adopters and made me feel lucky I dodged a bullet. But I kind of feel like trying one now to see how bad they are.

I hope you do try a mark V out, I would be curious to hear your thoughts.

 

[ACShreds]

I've owned two Mark IV's in the past and i did love the tone i got from them. However i ended up trading in my second IV for V and i couldn't be happier. I did get an earlier SN Mark V, 1400's i think and it still smoked the IV, both in tone and versatility. I swapped out the preamp tubes for the high gain preamp set from doug's tubes and now it breaths fire. I understand how people can love the IV over the V but anyone who's on the fence about it definitely needs to give the V a try. Also make sure when demoing it, that its being used with a solid cab and take the time to dial it in.