Members MadKeithV Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 A shout-out between both amps would cool. I think you almost the verb there. You should prefer to shoot Mark out IV or V times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members greatmutah Posted February 7, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 Ok so here's what I've found. Clean channel on the V is immaculate, not unlike the IV but with many more modes and options. A lot of playability and all the modes sound fantastic. The middle channel on the V kicks the crap out of the middle channel on the IV. Very usable and can almost keep up with the high gain channel in some modes. I was expecting to be blown away by Mark I mode but it was actually Crunch mode itself that surprised me. Good spectrum of gain, awesome harmonic spread and very, very rich. Could easily get some Rush-like tones (ala Permanent Waves/Moving Pictures) with little to no work. Just superbly pleased with that channel. The high gain channel between both I expected to be very similar, and on modes IV and Extreme, they are. Granted my IV is a IVA and this is closer in sound I imagine to a IVB but the differences are so minute they're damn near the same. IIC+ mode, for me, is where the amp shows it's stuff. Less compressed, more hair on the top end and a great harmonic haze. On top of that lead lines feel like they "play themeselves" so to speak. Very fluid and rich, especially on a good neck pickup. Built in reverb is good too. Much better than the IV in that department. A couple things I wish this amp did that the IV does: Real simul-class capability. By that I mean being able to run EL34s in the outer sockets at the same time as 6L6s. I know I can bias it for EL34s but really, why can't it do both at the same time like previous models? Also, the IV had a gain-boost switch on the back for Harmonics or Mid-boost. It was primarily meant to fatten up lower gain sounds on the lead channel, but it can sound really damn good with high gain. Not a necessity, but it would have been cool to have. Overall, first couple days impressions is that I like it on the surface, now I just need to really dig in and play with it more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eudaimonia02912 Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 Great review. You can run both EL34s and 6L6s at the same time on the V. You need to put in 6L6 mode, put the EL34s in the inner sockets and the 6L6s in the outer sockets. (--The opposite of how it works on the IV.) Also, once you do that, you must never run it in 10 watt mode. The original manual for the Mark V said this was how to run simul-class. However, once they discovered that running two kinds of tubes would hurt the amp in 10 watt mode, they took it out of the manual and started telling people to use one tube or the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members magh8 Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 Great review.You can run both EL34s and 6L6s at the same time on the V. You need to put in 6L6 mode, put the EL34s in the inner sockets and the 6L6s in the outer sockets. (--The opposite of how it works on the IV.) Also, once you do that, you must never run it in 10 watt mode.The original manual for the Mark V said this was how to run simul-class. However, once they discovered that running two kinds of tubes would hurt the amp in 10 watt mode, they took it out of the manual and started telling people to use one tube or the other. ah,I wasn't aware of this.I read many mixed opinions on this ...did you try it with yours and is it even worth doing??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tommy Horrible Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 Hmmmmm, the lack of being able to run it in simul-class would be a deal breaker for me on the V. I love love love the simul-class sound. Both my III and IV have it. That sound has become addictive to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KCTigerChief Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 I think you should do a comparison to see which you li.......... Oh my bad... Great review! The mark's are some of my favorite amps ever. Great amps. Haven't gotten to fiddle with a V yet, but I hope to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members magh8 Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 Hmmmmm, the lack of being able to run it in simul-class would be a deal breaker for me on the V. I love love love the simul-class sound. Both my III and IV have it. That sound has become addictive to me. so what is it that you love about it???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cobrahead1030 Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 You should compare the two amps, via projection in an outward fashion!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tommy Horrible Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 so what is it that you love about it???? The tone. It's el34s and 6l6s together, It's the best of both worlds. I really think my Marks,(the III in paticular) sound very similar to my JVM in the EL34 50w mode, and very similar to a Peavey like the Ultra or VTM with all 6l6s. The Simul-class sound is the Mesa sound to me, it sounds like you're playing 2 amps at once. Best of both worlds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shine Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 The mrack V will be better because its one more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eudaimonia02912 Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 ah,I wasn't aware of this.I read many mixed opinions on this ...did you try it with yours and is it even worth doing??? Yes, I've run it that way for months at a time. Some people on the Boogie Board have run their Vs with mixed tubes for 2+ years with no problems. It should only cause a problem if you put it in 10 watt mode. (In the 10 watt mode, the amp runs off one tube but then uses another tube as some sort of sink. I don't remember the details. But in that case, it's important that the tubes match.) Personally, I prefer using a mix of two types* of EL34 tubes. Part of the reason for this, I think, is that Mesa actually biased the amp to run rather hot in EL34 mode. So, rather than the typical cold bias Mesa tone, it has something close to the proper bias in EL34 mode. *SEDs + TAD EL34B-STRs. I don't use Mesa's STR 447s. They sound too brittle and bright IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tommy Horrible Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 Yes, I've run it that way for months at a time. Some people on the Boogie Board have run their Vs with mixed tubes for 2+ years with no problems. It should only cause a problem if you put it in 10 watt mode. (In the 10 watt mode, the amp runs off one tube but then uses another tube as some sort of sink. I don't remember the details. But in that case, it's important that the tubes match.) Personally, I prefer using a mix of two types* of EL34 tubes. Part of the reason for this, I think, is that Mesa actually biased the amp to run rather hot in EL34 mode. So, rather than the typical cold bias Mesa tone, it has something close to the proper bias in EL34 mode. *SEDs + TAD EL34B-STRs. I don't use Mesa's STR 447s. They sound too brittle and bright IMO. I've gotten tired of that same flat el34 tone, 6l6s sound to cloudy to me. Put them together though and Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members magh8 Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 Ill give it a shot a have a quad of 6l6gc and a quad of e34l's on hand for the mesa.....as far as running dif pairs of el34 you should be able to run kt77 with el34 too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Holy-diver Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 Kt77s are able to be run in the simul slots of tge mark iii and iv, i would imagine they work well in the v too. I love mine, i have 4 6l6s and 2 kt77s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members buddhapaugh Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 Cool info guys! Congrats on the new amp, too. Been struggling with my Mark IV. Still trying to find that "sound" that melts my panties. I have been running 6L6's in it but am thinking I may go back to Simul-Class. I have some Tung Sol EL34B's laying around that I could mix in with my SED Winged C's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tommy Horrible Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 Cool info guys! Congrats on the new amp, too. Been struggling with my Mark IV. Still trying to find that "sound" that melts my panties. I have been running 6L6's in it but am thinking I may go back to Simul-Class. I have some Tung Sol EL34B's laying around that I could mix in with my SED Winged C's! Holy {censored}, just realized you and the OP aren't the same person. Your both from Michigan, using Marks, and your user names for some reason seem similar to me LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members magh8 Posted February 8, 2012 Members Share Posted February 8, 2012 ok so I'm gonna go for it right now...6l6 mode,e34L on the inner sockets,no 10 watt mode...will report back soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members magh8 Posted February 8, 2012 Members Share Posted February 8, 2012 well I ran the mixed quad and first impression I didn't care for it.I prefer running e34l's in this amp..I will give it another go at high volume levels and see if that changes my opinion of it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members greatmutah Posted February 8, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 8, 2012 I just got home from work so it's too late here for me to attempt that, but good to know. Thanks eudaimonia. Much appreciated info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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