New from Mesa/Boogie - Mark V 25-watt. OMG.

Drew_TNBD

I dislike the brightness and the fuzziness of EL84 power sections.

Si_

Drew_fx said:

I dislike the brightness and the fuzziness of EL84 power sections.

Try  Pink Taco if you get the chance.. sounds nothing like an EL84 amp.. it really does sound like it's running from a quad of EL34s

I bet it's not cheap, but it looks excellent. WANT...

Drew_TNBD

Mesa gear doesn't really do anything for me looks-wise to be honest. I had a Rectoverb combo back in 2007 and disliked it. Found it really difficult to dial in. When I was looking for a replacement multi-channel amp for my Fryette Sig X 3 or 4 years ago, I tried out a Dual Recto and didn't like it. I tried it out at Andertons and I'm pretty sure it had some problems, because I couldn't get a clean tone from it. Pretty sure the preamp tubes needed looking at.

So my Mesa experiences have never really been that good. Though whenever I've heard Dual Recto's live, jeeeezzz they sounded amazing.

There was a guy in Westside down Denmark Street last year who was trying out a Mark V, and it also sounded immense.

guitarfishbay

A 50 watt Recto and a 3/4 back 1x12 enclosure just doesn't sound like a good idea at all... I've never tried a Rectoverb combo but I can't imagine it being anywhere near the experience of playing a 100 watt dual through a bigger closed back cab.  I still maintain it is worth pairing Duals with the matching cabs - it gets a very pricy affair at that stage but the feeling of playing them is pretty mega.  

littlethoughts

I think I'd rather have the express...

Deijavoo

I am after a smaller home amp now my SLO Clone has sold.... really didn't like this one's big bro though. 

Deijavoo

This vs Bogner Atma vs Victory V30 is a comparison I'd like to hear. 

Bucket

Drew_fx said:

Mesa gear doesn't really do anything for me looks-wise to be honest. I had a Rectoverb combo back in 2007 and disliked it. Found it really difficult to dial in. When I was looking for a replacement multi-channel amp for my Fryette Sig X 3 or 4 years ago, I tried out a Dual Recto and didn't like it. I tried it out at Andertons and I'm pretty sure it had some problems, because I couldn't get a clean tone from it. Pretty sure the preamp tubes needed looking at.

So my Mesa experiences have never really been that good. Though whenever I've heard Dual Recto's live, jeeeezzz they sounded amazing.

There was a guy in Westside down Denmark Street last year who was trying out a Mark V, and it also sounded immense.

Rectifiers are fairly different to other Mesas sound-wise, I'd advise you to check out something like an Express or a Mark V.

Catthan

What @welshboyo said, cranking a big Mk to appreciate what the 6l6s do is not very practical, at least not to most of us here I would assume.

When I gig the big V, ch.3 is set to extreme, channel master is at 11:00 and output no higher than noon and I've done relatively big function venues unmic'd.

Same goes with my el84 LSS, output is at noon and dirt master around the same so I doubt I'm using much out of the "true" power section character in either amp and that's why I find the power section comparison a bit irrelevant to me at least. 

Or my ears are illiterate when it comes to power sections. Gain is at 2:30 in both amps so maybe I'm using too much pre- gain to be able to appreciate anything out of the power stage.

I don't know how the simul- or triode-pentode thing applies to the little one, if at all, as this makes a small difference in the big one. That's more of a "feel" thing to me tho, eg triode is more chewey.

From having owned and gigged the above  Mesa & Boogie, I would expect that even with the el84 the little V has smth nice - if not special - going on specially in the low watt setting where the power stage works harder. I can't tell how much of a Mk it is compared to other Mks but judging from the low watt settings of the LSS, it may be possible that it has some magic. My understanding is that people who tried the mini Rectos liked them and didn't find they lacked much, if anything at all, compared to the big boys.

And what exactly is that Mk character? where does it mostly originate from given the many versions, different power sections, revisions, stripes or whatever? 

To me, this is something like the "true PAF" tone which can be many different things (after all) within a given context (still vague imho) which we all have a general idea of.  

What about the MkII versions, A, B, C (+), the different PCBs and loop circuits etc etc which AFAIK affected the preamp more. 

There is a whole debate on a cap in the V's IIC+ circuit and whether this is the big cap from the GEQ IIC+s or the small one from the non-GEQ ones. But they all  give Mk tone don't they? So maybe Mk tone is not just "all in the preamp" but more of a reference in RS's head and he builds and tunes the whole circuit to work together round that. 

Can he achieve that with el84s in the power amp? I don't see why not.

Another problem with M/B is that there have been some models that were so successful, albeit in a narrow stylistic range, that other models were deemed poor compared to those. MkIIC+, MkIV and early pre- 500 SN Recs are some examples. 

IOW, M/Bs bring a lot of controversy and one's true Mk tone may be another one's shitty tone.

So imho this one should be best judged on its own and I'd be curious to try one.