My itch as been itched for now...............NAD! Mark V content.

Deijavoo

Been toying with the idea of a home amp for a long time however looking at Mark V and thinking that full volume would be fine in my band and then maybe take it home switching everything to 10w with a 1x12 cab.

Anyone tried this before to any sort of success or is it a poor idea? 

My way of thinking was that I would have to flog my current amp which I'd really rather not but the additional few hundred I'd spend on a Mark V would be substantially less than a second home amp of similar quality cost. 

Cheers. 

ThorpyFX

I have a mark v, I use it at home and due to its power scaling it sounds great in this environment as well as at full bore. Can't fault it at all.

Deijavoo

Awesome, what sort of cab do you use at home?  Do you use it in a band context too? 

ThorpyFX

I have the combo variant so a 12" black shadow speaker in an open cab. I haven't gigged it but I have cranked it away from the home. It is f*****g loud!! But clear too. I love it

Deijavoo

I'm thinking if I can be bothered carting it home and back again from our place then it could be a good solution.  

Do you find that flipping from 10 to 90 means you have to really change your dials to get it right?  I want to literally set it and leave it. Leave a cab at home with speaker cable hanging out get my board out and get on with playing. 

That's another point actually, the footswitch will bloody dominate my board. 

Catthan

The 10W setting is more of a feel thing. It's also quieter but not by a lot.

The MkV has a good MV and you will be able to use it at home set at 90W as well.

ThorpyFX

Catthan said:

The 10W setting is more of a feel thing. It's also quieter but not by a lot.

The MkV has a good MV and you will be able to use it at home set at 90W as well.

I run mine at 90w and use the MAster volume. Best headroom and feel for me.

Deijavoo

Really? That kinda changes things.

 I always find that using effects with high wattage amps at low volume makes a horrible result. Usually makes over accented delay and reverbs and messing on with them is even more of a pain. 

Catthan

^ true, though there's this thing with the MkV and Mesas where a lower MV setting helps running effects in the loop. with the MV at noon or higher, specially in the high gain channel the signal is so hot out of the loop send that tends to overload the fx input.
So 10 or 90w, you will be able to use the MV and get smth nice at home volumes. at 90w you won't be able to set the MV very high which means that fx in the loop won't clip. moreover, engaging the loop will bring the overall output control in the signal so you got loads of control at any wattage. obviously, unleashing the beast will put a huge smile in your face. I won't go on as I don't want to confuse you but if you get the MkV you will realize there are a few ways to manage volume

Deijavoo

Top man thanks.

The pangs get worse.

Nerine

I wasn't keen on the Mark V.

After you have set the amp how you like it, the myriad options just then become redundant.

If you think a particular switch makes the amp sound worse, you're not going to use it.

I found it really difficult to balance the channels also.

Jack of all probably best sums it up.

Don't get me wrong, there's definitely some GOOD sounds in it. Just maybe not great ones..

sted

Hmm, yeah. I had a combo for a while, it was a disaster!

Footswitch broke mid gig and it started changing channels on its own, turns out its the midi cable plug they use, they did offer to send me a new one and recommended I put the cable over the top of the head to stop it dragging the pins, not impressed with that solution!

It also used to pick up horrendous amounts of extraneous noise from police radios, taxi's etc, then it developed a strange rumbling noise on the gain channels.

They also weigh a tonne and the handle isn't the best thing for carrying it up stairs.

Having said all that, on its day it sounded great, if a little bit beam like, you have to like tweaking as the amount of options are mind boggling, I thought it was the be all and end all of amps but I offloaded it bloody quick for an Electra Dyne which I never had a moments problem with (Other than the fact that was a hefty beast as well! Wtf do mesa put in these things? The centre of bloody stars?).

octatonic

I was looking at the Mark V, Bogner Uber and The Custom Audio Amplification PT100/50 models.

After extensive auditioning and much wringing of hands I bought the CAA PT50 and haven't looked back since.

Pretty sure there is a CAA on the forum for sale at the moment.

Nerine

I'll vouch for CAA OD50 Classic + as well.
Really like mine. Won't be going anywhere.

Deijavoo

The multi watt feature was selling well to me but I dunno. 

ThorpyFX

Heres my amp (i leant it to Dan for this demo) ultimately its a demo for the GIGRIG G2  but i think he gets some great tones out of the amp and it shows just how flexible the amp can be...

Deijavoo

My one in, one out theory is a wee bit wrong for the time being. Got such a good deal I'm not in such a mad rush to flog my SLO Clone now. Still need to sell it but not yesterday.

Only bad point was my PayPal gift transfer was showing as pending for 24 hours in the sellers account but I got that sorted today, oh that and the realisation the 1x12 at home is 16 ohm and Mark V only has 8 or 4. I realise 8 into a 16 cab is apparently safe but I'm quite cautious. To the venue for my proper cab!

Anyways, just thought I'd share.

Si_

glad you got sorted...

Deijavoo

Thanks @Si_ owe you a beer at Amp Party.   

Deijavoo

Can any owners past or present explain to me why some of the footswitches are soft and some not? 

Si_

the 3 channel selection ones are soft and the others latching from memory.. no idea why it's just like that.. To be honest the footswitch is horrible.. it's way too big and often has issues with the connector (both amp and footswitch end) and the cable.. I had to send mine off to be repaired AND had to buy a replacement cable.