NAD Man this thing really boogies!

[XPT707FX]

I’ve always wanted a Mesa Mark amp since I became more serious about. This is a dream come true and man does it ever live up to the hype! It really roars and I finally understand why John Petrucci scoops the shit out of his mids. Anyways here are some pics: https://imgur.com/gallery/TgBpzdd

 

[Trainwreck]

I’ve always wanted a Mesa Mark amp since I became more serious about. This is a dream come true and man does it ever live up to the hype! It really roars and I finally understand why John Petrucci scoops the shit out of his mids. Anyways here are some pics: https://imgur.com/gallery/TgBpzdd

Congratulations on the new amp ! I love the Mark series, very versatile, especially the V.

 

[MASS DEFECT]

Congrats! It looks nice with the slant 1x12! Even if you scoop the mids, there still is a lot of mids with these amps. Turn off the geq and hear for yourself.

 

[Deadpool_25]

I had one of those. Some great sounds in there. Loved the crunch mode.

 

[TedEH]

HNAD, these things are cool. Marks are worth the little bit of learning curve figuring out how to dial them in IMO.

I finally understand why John Petrucci scoops the shit out of his mids

I get why a lot of people do it - and at low volume/at home jams I'll sometimes do the same, but IMO, you shouldn't be too afraid of that mid slider. I only cut the tiniest amount from it, and it's amazing for being audible without needing to be loud. It also gives you a space for your sound to live in if you play next to a different amp. Similarly, you don't haaaaave to leave the bass knob at 0. A bit o' thickness is ok!

I find it useful to think of it as a "how forward in this mix do I want to be right now" slider. Drop it down and you sit behind everything. Crank it up and you're suddenly in everyone's face. It's an amazing feature for leads -> Just do the opposite of what most people do for "tight rhythms" and you suddenly have the must cutting and singing lead you could need. Use the mids. Let the bass control come up a bit. Etc.

Also fun to do -> Cut the highs and crank the bajeezus out of the bass knob to get this thick fuzzy kind of sound. It's not useful in a "modern metal" context like you'd hear on this board, but it's got a lot of texture to it.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

That title. I see what you did there.

Also i find it depends on the amp with the mid slider. On the Mark IV i was able to go crazy with the 750hz. From what i can tell in videos, the Mark V is also forgiving in that regard.

On my Mark III on the other hand. You had to be careful. If you set the mids too low, you to beyond AJfA/Pantera levels of scooped.

 

[wakjob]

I always wondered if it was really Carlos that named the company?

And I just played a Mark V 25 again for the first time in over a year, and forgot how goddamn good they are...nice.

 

[XPT707FX]

HNAD, these things are cool. Marks are worth the little bit of learning curve figuring out how to dial them in IMO.


I get why a lot of people do it - and at low volume/at home jams I'll sometimes do the same, but IMO, you shouldn't be too afraid of that mid slider. I only cut the tiniest amount from it, and it's amazing for being audible without needing to be loud. It also gives you a space for your sound to live in if you play next to a different amp. Similarly, you don't haaaaave to leave the bass knob at 0. A bit o' thickness is ok!

I find it useful to think of it as a "how forward in this mix do I want to be right now" slider. Drop it down and you sit behind everything. Crank it up and you're suddenly in everyone's face. It's an amazing feature for leads -> Just do the opposite of what most people do for "tight rhythms" and you suddenly have the must cutting and singing lead you could need. Use the mids. Let the bass control come up a bit. Etc.

Also fun to do -> Cut the highs and crank the bajeezus out of the bass knob to get this thick fuzzy kind of sound. It's not useful in a "modern metal" context like you'd hear on this board, but it's got a lot of texture to it.

Thanks for the advice. I just used some of JP’s settings as a starting point, since I enjoy his tone, but I am gonna tweak the settings to taste as I play it more.

 

[Choop]

It's capable of such a wide range of good tones that you really can't go wrong! +1 to the advice that it just depends on how forward in the mix that you intend to be. I think Petrucci tends to make his sound thicker and mushier a bit overall with his rhythm tones since he is the sole guitarist in DT, but YMMV as far as your wants/needs.

 

[sevenfoxes]

Sexy! Congrats!

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Congrats, Marks are sick amps. They're a bit trickier than other amps to dial in but once you get the hang of it they have a lot of versatility. If you want a tight cutting sound just dial out bass and add in some treble on the 3 band, then add it back to taste on the 5 band. The deep V eq is a very good place to start, then tweak to taste.

That title. I see what you did there.

Also i find it depends on the amp with the mid slider. On the Mark IV i was able to go crazy with the 750hz. From what i can tell in videos, the Mark V is also forgiving in that regard.

On my Mark III on the other hand. You had to be careful. If you set the mids too low, you to beyond AJfA/Pantera levels of scooped.

Yeah the mk3 is wayy more sensitive to the 750hz slider than the mk4 I had. It's both the best thing and the worst thing about the eq of the MK3. Oh I want to play pantera esque shit, zero out the 750 slider. Oh I want to play more modern sounding shit, just slightly nudge it to the bottom line. That couple of cm difference sounds veryyyy different.