Mesa Boogie Mark V

[XxpapertigerxX]

I've suddenly become very interested in picking one of these up. Interestingly, I've found that its clean tone is supposed to be one of its best features, which is kind of unexpected, but in a good way. The clean sounds I've heard from it (not in person, unfortunately) are gorgeous.

What concerns me is that the high gain tones could be too processed and metal sounding. However, a lot of the people who do video reviews of these amps somehow manage to make every amp they get their hands on sound exactly the same, so it's hard to tell.

Do any of you have personal experience with this amp? If so, how would you describe its tone, especially on the higher gain channels? It would be great to hear some first-hand accounts of the tone, because if the high gain tones are versatile enough to play styles other than metal, I might just be sold on this amp  :D

[Nephilim]

Listen to John Petrucci/Dream Theater. He's used the Mark V on the last few albums, and he plays every kind of style imaginable. I think the Mesa Marks have a really expressive lead tone :). Just remember, it's the tone freak's Holy Grail. You can modify the amp to get the exact tone you're looking for.

[Dmoney]

Good luck to anyone who wants to mod a MarkV...!

[Denim n Leather]

Listen to John Petrucci/Dream Theater. He's used the Mark V on the last few albums, and he plays every kind of style imaginable. I think the Mesa Marks have a really expressive lead tone :). Just remember, it's the tone freak's Holy Grail. You can modify the amp to get the exact tone you're looking for.

Only about 50% of Petrucci's recent recorded tone is the Mark V. He uses several amps in the studio and relies just as much on his MkII.

[Nephilim]

Listen to John Petrucci/Dream Theater. He's used the Mark V on the last few albums, and he plays every kind of style imaginable. I think the Mesa Marks have a really expressive lead tone :). Just remember, it's the tone freak's Holy Grail. You can modify the amp to get the exact tone you're looking for.

Only about 50% of Petrucci's recent recorded tone is the Mark V. He uses several amps in the studio and relies just as much on his MkII.

Doesn't he mainly use a Mark IV? And your probably right about the different amps. Best thing is to watch Dream Theater live. At least then you'll get the idea of the tone, straight from the amp live, rather than having all the editing in the production stage.

[XxpapertigerxX]

Good luck to anyone who wants to mod a MarkV...!

Yeah... that's not going to happen.

Only about 50% of Petrucci's recent recorded tone is the Mark V. He uses several amps in the studio and relies just as much on his MkII.

Yeah I think it is a mix of amps as well. I haven't been able to find a recent interview where he says what he recorded with. He did say that he got the amp too late to do much recording with it for Black Clouds and Silver Linings. He said he got it right at the end of recording, so it was only used for one solo. As for A Dramatic Turn of Events, I have no idea.

[Sancho]

Good luck to anyone who wants to mod a MarkV...!

Or needs to get it fixed...

[Denim n Leather]

Yeah I think it is a mix of amps as well. I haven't been able to find a recent interview where he says what he recorded with.

Check out the October issue of Premier Guitar. He and John Myung are interviewed. :)

[Denim n Leather]

Good luck to anyone who wants to mod a MarkV...!

Or needs to get it fixed...

Do Mesas break?

I've had mine for decades and it's still going strong ...

[HTH AMPS]

Good luck to anyone who wants to mod a MarkV...!

Or needs to get it fixed...

Do Mesas break?

I've had mine for decades and it's still going strong ...

I repaired a burnt-out PCB on a single recto a few years back.

[K-Roll]

hey Roland

 if your main concern is whether the mk 5 is an all out metal amp then the answer is no.. what i found out having spent almost one year with this amp is that it's really really depends on the guitar/pickups+playing style.. 
PRS guitars.. teles and strats sound totally different on certain settings than LPs and full bodied mahogany guitars do..
superstrats are even more different.. I must admit I am not digging any of the videos of the mark5 I've seen online.. expcept for this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1YANbeMsrI

 if you play metal and you've got a superstrat then - yes it will sound 'metal'but due to the music you play :) if you play modern rock using PRS/LP and stuff, it will suit that style well, too.. if you play swing using hollowbodies, it's gonna sound just like that.. the only limit is usually the guitarplayer (in this case it's me :D )

it's really versatile.. anyway.. to all who play rock/classic rock and stuff like that.. you'd be more than happy using EL34s with this amp spending 90% of your rhytm work on channel 2 crunch (maybe mark 1 too) and switching over to the ch3 2c+/mk4 settings for your smooth-cream lead work.. whereas a metalhead would choose 6L6s, channel 3 mark 4 or extreme settings and balls to the walls sound slight V GEQ scoop and lots of gain

the sky's the limit..

[choucas09]

Seems to me that a MK5 is in with a shout for being the most versatile amp going.......http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=b5zZw8sz6lU

[XxpapertigerxX]

I just came across this video. For those of you who don't want to watch it, John Petrucci basically says that he only used the Mark V on the latest Dream Theater album. He even said that he always would use his CII+ for leads, but this time around he plugged into it and just didn't like the sound enough for whatever reason, so he put the Mark V on the CII+ setting and it "kicked the CII+'s butt." So yeah, this amp looks amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7G2XxAj-Vw&feature=channel_video_title

I also happened across a demo video of the Mesa Royal Atlantic. Wow, that amp is great. Here's the video:

(7:10 is a nasty sound, I love it. I would almost get the amp for that sound alone, but one Mesa is expensive enough)

[fltlll]

I just came across this video. For those of you who don't want to watch it, John Petrucci basically says that he only used the Mark V on the latest Dream Theater album. He even said that he always would use his CII+ for leads, but this time around he plugged into it and just didn't like the sound enough for whatever reason, so he put the Mark V on the CII+ setting and it "kicked the CII+'s butt." So yeah, this amp looks amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7G2XxAj-Vw&feature=channel_video_title

I also happened across a demo video of the Mesa Royal Atlantic. Wow, that amp is great. Here's the video:

(7:10 is a nasty sound, I love it. I would almost get the amp for that sound alone, but one Mesa is expensive enough)

He must be going deaf if he honestly said the MkV sounded better than the 2c+ (or the most probable scenario, got paid to say so). I've heard numerous clips and played that amp so many times, yet it still feels and reacts like a 2c+ modeler.

If you like the Mark series tone, I'd recommend you either find a used 2c+ or IV.

[XxpapertigerxX]

He must be going deaf if he honestly said the MkV sounded better than the 2c+ (or the most probable scenario, got paid to say so). I've heard numerous clips and played that amp so many times, yet it still feels and reacts like a 2c+ modeler.

If you like the Mark series tone, I'd recommend you either find a used 2c+ or IV.

Well Mesa actually doesn't pay anyone to endorse its products. In fact, they don't even give out free products, so even people like John Petrucci have to pay for their amp. So I don't think it's a conflict of interest. Anyway, it could have been something as simple as the IIC+ was in need of repair since it's so old and he just found it easier to use the Mark V.

Have you played the Mark V and the IIC+?