Sold my Mark V heres why (lengthy)

[BrentSSL]

I am so oddly relieved I sold it for just under what I paid and I could not be happier. I feel like the Mark V just does not live up to the hype it never wowed me. I could list the ridicolous amount of amps that I have first hand experience with but thats a long list. I never owned any other mark series amp tried a triaxis rig once and that was brief so i cannot speak for those models but the MarkV is not the holy grail amp its made out to be. I think that if I had started playing on a Mark 3 maybe a 4 I could have figured out how to appreciatte the 5. But I started on a Rec and at the end of the day I think thats more my style.
A nice guy was asking me why I like Recs over the MarkV my honest and most sincere opinion its a overpriced bedroom amp. Why ? because it tracks great for recording no question there. With the right mic or direct input or ISO cab live with a soundman that takes pride in his job it will sound good live. However you have to be so exact in every little detail pickups, guitars, ohms, cab, speakers, the position in the room of the cab. I know at one point I had it sounding awesome but once I lost those settings by trying other ones I could never get it back to the way I liked it sounding. It is so touchy that the tone changes if you move the cab a quarter of an inch in a ISO recording room. Maybe it was my amp maybe it was my cab or maybe it was me I do not know. What I do know is with a rectifier I can always get my tone no matter where it is in a room what cab I am running or guitar I am playing I can get grat tones out of it that sound and feel great.
Thats another thing the MarkVs feel it didn't give me that umph i am used to feeling with rectos and honestly the distortion sounded like a processed walkie talkie kind of thing that I could not dial out. I owned it for a little over a year and honestly for an unmic'd rehearsal jam it sounded thin and too harsh to my ears. The mark V is meant to be an amp in a full band live with leads and you can get great metallica tones from it whoopi I will be looking for a Rev F soon if anyone knows where I can get one let me know. I know this is long but if you do read this let me know if you guys think I did the right thing I feel I did but opinions are always welcome.

 

[Kullerbytta]

What I do know is with a rectifier I can always get my tone no matter where it is in a room what cab I am running or guitar I am playing I can get grat tones out of it that sound and feel great. Thats another thing the MarkVs feel it didn't give me that umph i am used to feeling with rectos and honestly the distortion sounded like a processed walkie talkie kind of thing that I could not dial out

Sounds like you don't need our opinions on whether or not you made the right choice
You already know, mate!

You should always go with what you're feeling rather than asking for other people's opinions on gear considering opinions are all subjective

 

[Leuchty]

This is why 5150...

 

[SSK0909]

Mark's are really tweaker amps and not plug and play.

Just the whole "Tone knobs are for feel, eq sliders are for tone" thing takes a lot of getting used to.

You can get some brilliant tones with them, but the sensitivity of the eq sliders means you can just as easily make terrible ones

That being said, the Mark V really is a tone wise step down from the old Mark II and III's.
Made a comparison with my IIC+ once, and the V had this "Blanket over the speakers" muffled sound that I just couldnt dial out. But I would never call it a bad amp or an overpriced bedroom amp. Well.. maybe a little because i'm european and Mesa thinks it's fair to charge double prices overhere

 

[Der JD]

The Mark V isn't for everyone and while it does a lot of things extremely well, it doesn't do everything.

I absolutely love my Mark V. You do need to understand how to dial it in. It's not like most amps. I like it most for clean, mid-gain tones, and thick, creamy leads. With that said, it covers most of what I'm doing now. I've gotten to the point where if I feel that I need to make an EQ adjustment, I know exactly what to do.

What it doesn't do so well, IMO, is a saturated really brutal rhythm tone. It doesn't have the roar of a Rectifier and doesn't have the saturation and brutality of a 5150/6505. That's why I kept my 6505! It does a tight, clear, dry rhythm tone but it sounds a little more old-school to me. Actually, I find it fairly easy to dial in a decent 80s type metal tone with it.

Based on what I've heard, it's also picky about cabs. I use a Recto horizontal 2x12 with it that sounds great but I've heard it through other cabs and didn't care for the tone as much.

 

[RustInPeace]

Pretty much same reasons as to why I sold my Mark V for a 5153. That being said, I'd still love to own a mini mark, to use in tandem with my 5153.

 

[jbailes]

I'm with BrentSSL on this. I've never gone the mark series route because of certain overtones you just can't get rid of. Even the DC series amps are that way as well. But both are very good and versatile amps. Recto is the way for me as well.

 

[JeffHenneman]

Mark's are really tweaker amps and not plug and play.

Just the whole "Tone knobs are for feel, eq sliders are for tone" thing takes a lot of getting used to.

You can get some brilliant tones with them, but the sensitivity of the eq sliders means you can just as easily make terrible ones
D

The reason I got rid of the mark v is I spent way too much time tweaking it. I got great tones out of it, but I like messing with knobs on amps. Doing that on the V is not easy, you can't just turn a knob here and flip a switch there.
When I did that the results were horrible. So you have too put in the extra time tweaking to get that great tone. And it does have those great tones in it, just no easy to get to them.
A lot of people associate the mark series with James Hetfield, and when you listen to songs like battery and damage inc you think aggressive. But the mark V had a more smooth hi gain style going on. I think that throws some people off.
Even with all that said, I am sure I will get another mark v or a Iv sometime in the future.

 

[mesaboogie6l6]

I don't like the Mark V either. I have (2) 2channel Triple rev f's, and (1) dual rev f. Found the triples on ebay and the dual on craigslist.

 

[antuni]

Sold my Mark V also and got the Dual Rec multiwatt.

 

[BrentSSL]

Love this forum lol I might be getting a brand new roadster for a grand thinkin about the multiwatt still hung up on the rev F super hard to find tho

 

[Shask]

I like the Mark series, but I usually get along with Rectos better. I had a Mark III for years, but now only have a Triple Recto.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

I loved my Mark V to death. Best clean and solo tones ever, period. However, for my own playing (mostly heavy rhythm), my 5153 is better suited to the sound I normally go after. The Mark wasn't bad for this by any means, but I just preferred the tight, saturated, cutting, and thumping sound of the EVH red channel overall, and the blue channel is heavier/more saturated/thicker than the 2nd channel of the MkV, which also suited me better. Cleans are better on the Mark no contest, but the cleans on the EVH are more than useable. Very good actually.

At the time, I had a lot of other purchases planned and needed cash more than a second amp. I'd still love to own another Mark V later on! I miss it terribly

EDIT: I owned a 3 channel non-multiwatt Triple Rectifier before the MkV (did a straight trade for it ) and honestly it wasn't my thing. I can definitely see why someone wouldn't get along with a Mark series amp if they're a Recto lover since nothing else really does that sound, but overall the Mark and 5150-style amps are more up my alley. Tighter, cut better, better FX loops, etc. IMO

 

[NinjaRaf]

It's interesting because I sold my 5150 for my Mark V 25. It does everything that I'd been trying to get my 5150 to do for 6 years. I absolutely love it. Need to get a full size next...maybe in a few weeks. I also owned a single recto, and I liked that more than the 5150, too. I think the Mrak is just my tone, though. Its what I grew up listening to on those old Metallica records, and its what I've been hearing in my head for a long, long time.

 

[BrentSSL]

I really like rectos with seen strings too for some reason again loving the feedback on here all great stuff I went with the roadster it was clearenced at GC for a grand can't beat it right I am still gonna look for a rev F tho

 

[decreebass]

Maybe it's because of this thread, but for the first time last night I couldn't find a tone I liked from my Mk V during band practice! I think a lot had to do with the fact our keyboardist just quit so we were all a little 'off...'

Either way, TC, I'm sure you'll find an amp that you love

 

[BrentSSL]

So sorry if I messed up the Mark V for you btw can you send a link to your band page having trouble finding it on reverb

 

[Hollowway]

I got about 25% in and couldn't deal with the run on sentences and lack of punctuation.

 

[neoclassical]

I've tried Mark amps iic+ up to v, and they are ALL the hardest amps to dial in. You spend more time playing with them than through them. I want to like them, but...... I was told by a big time tech and an engineer that if you replace the transformers and mod them a bit they work better live.

 

[BrentSSL]

I got about 25% in and couldn't deal with the run on sentences and lack of punctuation.

If i'd known there was a english teacher grading my post I would have edited it for you