what do you guy's think of Mesa Boogie Mk V

[Fumble fingers]

what do you guy's think of the Mesa Boogie Mark V ??....... I need a good metal amp that has nice cleans ..... or ... what do you guy's recommend ??

thanks , Eric

[Case24]

What are you using now Eric? Would a good pedal get you there?

[john o]

I have lusted after the Mark V myself, but have never played through it. It's complicated to use based on the controls options. It is rather expensive. John Petrucci uses it and sings its praises. He can play metal with the best of them.
At least take a look at the V3m by Carvin. It has 50 watts, all tube, great tone on the demo's, won Namm awards in 2011, more affordable.
Has a clean channel and 2 overdrive channels, 6 controls on each channel, foot switch available for performance. Nice price from carvin direct. When my marshall eventually dies, i am getting one of these and a 2x12 cab, as my 50's back is getting tired of lugging the 4x12!

[Fumble fingers]

is the V3m a good metal amp with decent clean?? , although we hardly play clean .... current amps are 1973 Fender Twin Reverb , 1976 Fender super reverb and Peavey classic 30 , it just to far off from the lead guitars metal amp , he has a Line 6 something Valve ( maybe spyder valve ?) with a matching foot pedal deal with 4 buttons and wah/volume pedal

[john o]

check out this link on youtube for a demo. a versatile amp with tasty tone, great crunch, and very clean clean channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwFvKrKqtcU

[Fumble fingers]

I did call Carvin , the sales person said the V3m does metal good but the V3 with 100 watt does it better , he thought clean wise it was a toss up between the two and not a lot of price difference either between the V3 or V3m (specially compared to a Mk 5)
thanks for the tip !!

[meowmix]

I did call Carvin , the sales person said the V3m does metal good but the V3 with 100 watt does it better , he thought clean wise it was a toss up between the two and not a lot of price difference either between the V3 or V3m (specially compared to a Mk 5)
thanks for the tip !!

[john o]

yeah, the V3 would definitely rattle the windows more than the V3m.
i have found that, in an all tube amp, 50 watts is usually plenty of power, unless you are playing large halls or outdoors.
with solid state or hybrid amps, you need at least 100 watts.
good luck in your search.

[fianoman]

Wow - what kind of arenas are you playing Fumble? 100 tube watts is big stuff! I am wondering if you could find a nice metal pedal (I'm not much of a metal player so I can't give you suggestions) and run it through your Twin. That twin is plenty loud.

I am pretty sure you won't find anyone with anything bad to say about the Mark V - nice amps. I always thought the Mesa metal amp was the dual recto or triple recto. Maybe you can find a used one cheap.

I have a minty Deluxe Reverb II but it won't get close to what you want so I don't think you would be happy with it. Not quite metal distortion and not nearly as powerful as what you are talking about.

[Fumble fingers]

we just played outdoors and have another one coming up .... the 100 watts is switchable 100/50/25 on the Carvin V3 and 50/22/7 for the V3m ..... Mesa Mk 5 is 90/45/10 watts ..... I figured you can always turn it down ..lol .... I just hate to jump into a 2K dollar amp then not be 2K satisfied ...... metal is not my preferred music , but sometimes you gotta go with who will have you ...

[fianoman]

I just hate to jump into a 2K dollar amp then not be 2K satisfied ...... ...

Well put FF - that's a lot of special K's there!

[fianoman]

Hey, check out this Marshall pedal. It has some pretty good metal sounds for not much K! It is demoed through a Champ with volume on 3.

http://www.guitartoneoverload.com/2010/ ... ackhammer/

Here's an interesting thread for you to brush up on metal sounds - hmmm.... brushed metal? Pedals to the medals...

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-many- ... rtion.html

Hope it helps in your quest!

[john o]

the Boss Metal Zone pedal is nice. my son uses that one.

[jonc]

the mesa is nice but there's a ton of choices and the mesa clean sound is not your chimey fender and might be too "dark" for you. for example here's a metal amp over at my friends site (Chris Guitars) that you might not have considered or heard about and that also has a really good clean sound. If you're looking for a metal amp then a pedal probably won't do it for you with your current amps, as you can only get so much with a pedal "in front of" your amp. the sound i think you're looking for comes from an amp architecture that kicks the <censored word> out of the power tubes and that's hard to attain just with a pedal imho. of course ymmv. and just to clarify - - what type of metal sound are you looking for? what players / bands?

Engl Fireball 60 Head E625, (panel), (top), (back), (back panel). New amp - used only several hours; ships in original box. This is a killer amp for the rock guitarist and although I don't think it's marketed as such, it's probably one of the best metal amps in production. The Fireball 60 is an all-tube head (dual 6L6 power, 4 ECC83 preamp), 2 channel, 2 master volumes and adjustable effects loop, Thomann preamp section, 3 band equalizer, Bright and Deep switches, Presence control, Master A/B, with 60 watts of power. It a heavy hitting amp with enough punch for larger clubs, cranking out as much hi-gain lead sound as anyone could want, as well as a crisp clean tone. As far as gain goes, this amps beats just about everything out there. It delivers a tight bottom end, smooth top end, with punch that'll hit you in the chest if you want. It has some trademark ENGL features like a second master volume, electronic power amp monitoring, and a variable FX loop. For a good YouTube demo, click here and for manual and features, click here for Engl's site. At $1843 list, it's very reasonable priced for an amp of this quality, especially considering that's made in Germany. With a new street price of $1474, save some serious beans and get this "as new" one for $929.

[Fumble fingers]

sounds good Jon but I can't find the link ??....

[jmontgomery]

The Mark V isn't complicated at all. Each channel has its own set of controls. So, to make it simple, just look at it as three different amps. I'm going from memory but each channel has volume, treble, mid, bass, presence and gain. That's really not complicated.

[Fumble fingers]

The Mark V isn't complicated at all. Each channel has its own set of controls. So, to make it simple, just look at it as three different amps. I'm going from memory but each channel has volume, treble, mid, bass, presence and gain. That's really not complicated.

I agree , the Carvin amps are the same way , 3 separate channels with they're own controls .... probably takes a little longer to get everything set up

[Elwood]

sounds good Jon but I can't find the link ??....

Here's the amp page from Chris' site (...quite a selection there):
http://www.chrisguitars.com/amp.html

[jonc]

Thanks Elwood. Chris's site is messy for most although I like a laundry list. The amp in question is on the home page, but there are also listings on the Semi Just In page and the Amp page as you noted.

[john o]

I remember reading a review of the Mark V's (combo and head) in guitar player mag, and thinking it was sophisticated, with alot of switching options that significantly affect tone, and that are unique to each of the 3 channels. I couldn't find that particular review online, but here's one that reflects the complexity of using this amp, from iguitarmag site:

http://www.iguitarmag.com/magazine-edit ... ie-mark-v/

[Fumble fingers]

whew ... that is a overwhelming web site ...lol.. specially with my eyes ...... the sound clips on V3M sound good too , I've been wearing out the sound clips in a bunch of amps .... Chris even has a V3 head for cheap

[jonc]

whew ... that is a overwhelming web site ...lol.. specially with my eyes ...... the sound clips on V3M sound good too , I've been wearing out the sound clips in a bunch of amps .... Chris even has a V3 head for cheap

yeah his site can be a challenge to the ol eyes but it's worth going through and then checking in every few days to see what new stuff he's posted. plus he loves trades and gives really good trade allowances (even on things i bought from him and traded back in later). i like getting guitars from his as well since his tech Martin is an old time Valley Arts guy and really knows his stuff. and every guitar Chris sends out gets the Martin treatment. anyways, enjoy the hunt and don't get tempted by anything until you feel it's the right or best choice you can make.

[Fumble fingers]

Jon , I have a feeling I will be on that site a bunch .... looked like your old asat III with humbucker DF is on there for a really fair price

[jmontgomery]

You should check out the Mesa Express 5:50+. I had a Mark V for a couple of years. It was to heavy to carry so I sold it when the 5:50+ came out. With my 5:50, a tubescreamer and a Riot pedal I can cover all the ground my old V covered and sound 99% the same doing it. And it weighs much less.

[glvourot]

I had no prior knowledge of this sites existence, thanks for posting the link, it is now bookmarked. Saw a Gibson GA-5 that is really creeping into my thoughts.

[Fumble fingers]

I had no prior knowledge of this sites existence, thanks for posting the link, it is now bookmarked. Saw a Gibson GA-5 that is really creeping into my thoughts.

I could probably get into some trouble on that web site

[Fumble fingers]

I ended up getting a Peavey 6505 + 1x12 combo off of Craigs list just 9 miles from my house last night , it's mint and has the foot switch ..... played last night with it and I think it's going to work out just fine for the time being

thanks for all the suggestions , Eric

[Fumble fingers]

darn .... I have to stay off of Chris's guitars web site , is there a group program to deal with this kind of problem ?? ...... found about 10 amps I want and about three G&L's I want , lol ....... I'm having web site over-load

[Elwood]

Breath..smile,
...and here's a quick distraction:
http://www.guitaracquisitionsyndrome.com/Page_1.php

We're here for ya

[Boogie Bill]

I'm glad you found the Peavey; it sounds like it should fit your needs. I was going to suggest the 5150 as a budget alternative to the Mark V--they're a hard-rocking amp.

In my mind, the Mesa Rectifiers--Single, Dual, Triple, Recto-Verb, Roadster, and Road King are the definitive 'Metal" amps.

The Mark Series amps though, I feel, are much more versatile. I own three Mark IIIs, a Mark IV, and a Mark V combo that I have had for about a year now. I have not regretted this purchase for one second.

Yes, the Mark V is a complicated amp, but the reality is that you are getting three channels, each with three different modes--nine different amps. But wait, you also have three different power settings for each of those modes--so now we're talking 27 different amps. And then you have the choice of tube vs. SS rectification on the lower wattage settings, and THEN--you can choose to run the amp in FULL power, or use the Variac Switch to drop the voltages for more of a tweed sound. Add in the choice of the CONTOUR or the Graphic EQ--yes it can be a bit daunting and mind-boggling to figure it out. Oh, yeah, I can also use either 6L6s OR EL34s too.

The good news is that all of these setting are useable. And more importantly, when I'm getting a tone that might not be EXACTLY what I want--it still sounds good.

So you've got guys who are using this amp for Metal, like Lamb Of God, and of course Petrucci. But I can pack this thing up and take to my Classic Rock and Blues gigs, my Funk horn band gigs, my Country gigs with the chicken wire in front of the stage (ala The Blues Brothers), or grab a jazz box for the swinging cocktail lounge set.

So let's see--

Nile Rogers of Chic--check.
Billy Gibbons' "Tush"--check.
Mark Knopfler/EC/Robert Cray--check.
Santana--Hell Yeah!
George Benson--yeah, if I could play like him, LOL!
Mick Ralphs (Bad Company)--check.
Ballsy Tele Tones--check.
SRV--do you even have to ask?

It's like have a modelling amp with genuine ORGANIC tones. With TUBES. Think about that.

I will say that I thought about getting the head version but decided on the combo. I do have a Mark III half-stack, but it does not get used very much in my current band. For that last 15 years or so, I have been happy using my Mark Series and DC-3 combo amps with a Thiele cab underneath for more punch and projection. (I also have a Maverick 212 combo that I like to use with a Horizontal Recto 212.) So I added a Mesa Closed Back Wide-Body cab to my Mark V combo. Mine was specially ordered with a Vintage 30 speaker and the "Boogie" badge (rather than "Mesa Engineering" badge) to match the Mark V. I actually like the tone of this rig better than the head and 412 V30 cab I tried. Amazing low end from that WB cab.

I like the FAT and the TWEED modes in the CLEAN channel; the CRUNCH and the MARK I modes in the second channel; and the MARK IIC+ and MARK IV modes in the LEAD channel--these are the ones I use the most. I don't typically use a lot of gain--but there is way more available than I would ever need.

And don't think of it as a $2,000 amp. Try thinking of it as going out and buying a vintage Boogie Mark I, a Mark IV, and a holy-grail Mark IIC+. Then get yourself a vintage tweed Deluxe, and a Twin Reverb; and then buying a couple of high-gain amps--say a 6505+ and a Soldano. Then, you'll need an elaborate switching system to connect them together. That's about $10,000 worth of amps.

Bargain.

Bill