Mesa Boogie Mark V: Does it live up to the hype?

[jlbaxe]

I would and probably will buy one again. If it wasn't for needing extra cash I would still have it. I'm sure after I buy a Soldano SLO I will get one after prices start dropping more. Great amp though. If I remember correctly channel 2 was probably the hardest for me to dial in. I had to close my eyes and not look at the dials as I did it.

And the comment above about owning a mark series amp not liking the new Mark V.... I like it but sonicly was missing what my Mk III has.... I still think it has something to do with aging electronics and if that is true the Mk V will only improve For what it is worth my Bogner 20th X is my desert amp but the Mk III can still pull more soul out of the lead tone but they are 2 completely different amps.

Wait till you try dialing in the SLO's Crunch ch. In a word, it's weak, shared tones. The Mesa blows it away IMO

Dude !!!!! why ya wanna burst my SLO bubble ???? Crunch as in Ch 1? Im a clean freak and luv the slo lead ch Took me a while to dial in my MK III since all 3 channels share the same eq. That is my only complaint with the Mk III.

 

[4406cuda]

I was one of the first customers to get a Mark V from Mesa Hollywood and I still have the head and it is my main amp now.

I have had/have 2203's, 2004's, Lee Jackson modded 2203, Carvin's, Hughes & Kettners, Mesa Studio Pre, Triaxis/2:90, Mark III Blue Stripe, and Mark IV

I loved the cleans, crunch, and Mark IV mode, but after I swapped out the tubes for Winged C 6L6's and Tungsol 12AX7's, it really made the amp special. I play it through two Bogner 1 X 12 cubes.

I recommend getting a head, unless you want to connect the combo to an external cab.

I recently discovered the Xotic Effects EP Booster. Great pedal, I always leave it on.

 

[155]

I really want to try one. Sit down for a couple hours and just dial, dial, dial. Unfortunately, now that GC doesn't carry new Mesa stuff anymore, there's nowhere in my state that has any in stock. I've got to keep checking the GC and Sam Ash used sites to see if one shows up.

Unless someone in CT has one and wants to hang out for a few hours

I have a mark iv you could try out..you have any amps we could swap for a few days?

 

[Blitzie]

I really want to try one. Sit down for a couple hours and just dial, dial, dial. Unfortunately, now that GC doesn't carry new Mesa stuff anymore, there's nowhere in my state that has any in stock. I've got to keep checking the GC and Sam Ash used sites to see if one shows up.

Unless someone in CT has one and wants to hang out for a few hours

I have a mark iv you could try out..you have any amps we could swap for a few days?

Unfortunately not. I've got a Rectoverb that I'd trade with you for a while but it's not anything special. You'd be getting the short end there.

Appreciate the offer though, very cool of you.

 

[thegame]

According to its own user manual, it exceeds the hype and every C+ ever built

 

[4406cuda]

According to its own user manual, it exceeds the hype and every C+ ever built

I have never played a IIC+, but I have recorded and performed with a Mark III, Mark IV, Triaxis/2:90, and a Boogie Studio Preamp in to the power section of a Marshall 2203

The Mark V may not be as brutal as the Mark III or have the same lead tone as a Mark IV. But I bet most people would not be able to tell the difference when Petrucci is performing live with his Mark V's compared to his IIC+. A great player is going to sound great through any decent amp.

The Mark V is more versatile than the other amps mentioned.

I play in a cover band and I get the 5 main sounds I need:

Channel 1 for clean
Channel 1 plus the Fulltone OCD for slight break up
Channel 2 for Crunch (Lead and Rhythm)
Channel 3 for Hi Gain (Lead and Rhythm)
Channel 3 plus the lead boost and TC Electronics Flash Back Delay (Lead)

I occassionly use a Script Phase 90, Visual Sound Chorus, FullTone Wah. I also always leave the Xotic Effects EP Booster on. With that setup, I can cover all the bases.

 

[shredhead666]

Hmm. Interesting. I was expecting more positivity!

Is there an amp out there that actually does do all the things the Mark V is/was supposed to?

There is actually.

3:55 is where the A/B comparison happens

 

[155]

I really want to try one. Sit down for a couple hours and just dial, dial, dial. Unfortunately, now that GC doesn't carry new Mesa stuff anymore, there's nowhere in my state that has any in stock. I've got to keep checking the GC and Sam Ash used sites to see if one shows up.

Unless someone in CT has one and wants to hang out for a few hours

I have a mark iv you could try out..you have any amps we could swap for a few days?

Unfortunately not. I've got a Rectoverb that I'd trade with you for a while but it's not anything special. You'd be getting the short end there.

Appreciate the offer though, very cool of you.

you can still try it..

 

[Blitzie]

Hmm. Interesting. I was expecting more positivity!

Is there an amp out there that actually does do all the things the Mark V is/was supposed to?

There is actually.

3:55 is where the A/B comparison happens

There is definitely a difference but I feel like all you would have to do would be turn up the presence on the real Mark V and they would be identical. Very cool though.

 

[taliababa]

Hands down the best amp I ever owned. As soon as I get the cash together I'll be buying another.

 

[shredhead666]

Hmm. Interesting. I was expecting more positivity!

Is there an amp out there that actually does do all the things the Mark V is/was supposed to?

There is actually.

3:55 is where the A/B comparison happens

There is definitely a difference but I feel like all you would have to do would be turn up the presence on the real Mark V and they would be identical. Very cool though.

Yeah, the VERY minor differences there could even be just things like the mic used, etc... If you played me this clip of the AxeFX 2 blind, I wouldn't have known it was an AxeFX 2, I'd have immediately said it was a Mesa Mark series of some sort though.

 

[Blitzie]

I dig the Axe-FX stuff but I'd still rather have a "real" amp. Call me crazy. Plus, if I ended up with a Mark V, I'm already going to spend a ton of time tweaking and trying different stuff, I'd probably be so overwhelmed with the Axe-FX that I'd never actually play it.

 

[blackba]

According to its own user manual, it exceeds the hype and every C+ ever built

I have never played a IIC+, but I have recorded and performed with a Mark III, Mark IV, Triaxis/2:90, and a Boogie Studio Preamp in to the power section of a Marshall 2203

The Mark V may not be as brutal as the Mark III or have the same lead tone as a Mark IV. But I bet most people would not be able to tell the difference when Petrucci is performing live with his Mark V's compared to his IIC+. A great player is going to sound great through any decent amp.

The Mark V is more versatile than the other amps mentioned.

I play in a cover band and I get the 5 main sounds I need:

Channel 1 for clean
Channel 1 plus the Fulltone OCD for slight break up
Channel 2 for Crunch (Lead and Rhythm)
Channel 3 for Hi Gain (Lead and Rhythm)
Channel 3 plus the lead boost and TC Electronics Flash Back Delay (Lead)

I occassionly use a Script Phase 90, Visual Sound Chorus, FullTone Wah. I also always leave the Xotic Effects EP Booster on. With that setup, I can cover all the bases.

What's funny to me is that when it was just the mark III and mark IV being compared, I saw the same reasoning. 'Well the mark III is more brutal, but the mark IV is more versatile'. Now its, well the mark IV has a nicer lead channel, but the mark V is way more versatile. The more things change, the more they are the same.

Its too bad that as they add features to the mark series, they can't seem to quite get the magic of the previous models. That said I do plan to get a markV at some point and regulate my mark IV to studio work.

 

[Blitzie]

Seth aka "155" is being kind enough to lend me his Mark IV for a day. I'm very excited to give it a try and see what all this "magic" is about.

If I can get 2 or 3 really great sounds out of it, then it'll be tough to choose the Mark V over it. But if it does one thing really well, I'll probably go with the V just because I know I can get 6+ awesome tones out of it.

What an awesome problem to have!

 

[Blitzie]

I have no Mesa Boogie "baggage" and no preconceived notions and I think it's more than great. Cleans are great, crunch channel is fantastic and so far Mark IIC+, IV and V modes all deliver.

I'm listening to everyone who has posted in this thread and taking it into consideration, positive or negative. But all the clips that I'm listening to are SO good. And my favorite clips are the "in the room" clips made with a Zoom or something.

I still need to find a place around here that I can try one out, but it's looking good right now.

 

[K-mark5]

I would have never admitted this, but..

My main amp in the past almost 3 years was the mark V.. it did the job well, however it always left me wanting for more.. It took a lot of time to make it sound just like I wanted..

long story short.. I sold it after getting an EVH 5150 100w.. that thing slays in every way.. the gain structure has a lot of ooomph, it's also on the tighter side just like MV, however it does that almost bognerish kind of 3D sound..

What I found out was that the mV was really picky on guitar/pickups etc whereas the EVH sounds reaallyy lush with almost anything I plug into it. The biggest pro was that it's very easy to set up and everysince i got rid of mV and started using the EVH I suddenly started getting compliments on my sound..

The EVh just does the thing I need it to better.. it's more on the modern side and keeps me really smiling whenever we rehearse or play onstage..

 

[brianiac5150]

I don't often enough get the pleasure of plugging into mine and letting 'er rip, therefore, have many times considered trading for a Kemper or AxeFX rig. That said; when I do, all those thoughts go right away. For me, it's the best amp I've ever owned. Does it do everything I want an amp to do? No. But it does a whole lot of 'em and extremely well.

The one thing I've yet to really nail is the guitar volume knob down, cleaned up Marshall tone. ...'cause it's not a Marshall.

You can hear mine HERE. All three demo tunes are done with the Mark V, various modes. "Dust" has a track of an Eleven Rack through a Two Notes Live (for cab sim), mixed with Mark IV mode. They separate at 3:30 - 11R left, MkV right and then they pan across each other back to mixed.

: 2¢

 

[Little B]

According to its own user manual, it exceeds the hype and every C+ ever built

I have never played a IIC+, but I have recorded and performed with a Mark III, Mark IV, Triaxis/2:90, and a Boogie Studio Preamp in to the power section of a Marshall 2203

The Mark V may not be as brutal as the Mark III or have the same lead tone as a Mark IV. But I bet most people would not be able to tell the difference when Petrucci is performing live with his Mark V's compared to his IIC+. A great player is going to sound great through any decent amp.

The Mark V is more versatile than the other amps mentioned.

I play in a cover band and I get the 5 main sounds I need:

Channel 1 for clean
Channel 1 plus the Fulltone OCD for slight break up
Channel 2 for Crunch (Lead and Rhythm)
Channel 3 for Hi Gain (Lead and Rhythm)
Channel 3 plus the lead boost and TC Electronics Flash Back Delay (Lead)

I occassionly use a Script Phase 90, Visual Sound Chorus, FullTone Wah. I also always leave the Xotic Effects EP Booster on. With that setup, I can cover all the bases.

What's funny to me is that when it was just the mark III and mark IV being compared, I saw the same reasoning. 'Well the mark III is more brutal, but the mark IV is more versatile'. Now its, well the mark IV has a nicer lead channel, but the mark V is way more versatile. The more things change, the more they are the same.

Its too bad that as they add features to the mark series, they can't seem to quite get the magic of the previous models. That said I do plan to get a markV at some point and regulate my mark IV to studio work.

This...but still a great amp

 

[Anonymous]

I use almost every mode on my MV. Only one I never use is the Extreme. That makes it worth it IMHO. Yeah, it doesn't NAIL the old Mesa sounds but it comes real close with some tweaking.

And for those who think its hard to dial in God forbid you should go near a computer based rig.

 

[midnightlaundry]

Riddle me this buttman:..

What is it exactly that the MV doesn't nail about the 2C+ a IV modes compared to the original amps?