#1 · May 06, 2009 02:39 UTC
Well, we had a happy day at the store. The first Mesa Mark V 112 combo came in off the FedEx freight truck. YAY!!
So we fired it up.
Channel 1 was VERY spanky for a Mesa Amp, especially when compared to a Lonestar, the new Electrodyne or my Roadster. Almost annoyingly so. Clean channel is the brightest sounding Mesa I've ever heard (speaker was a Black Shadow). It actually sounded very good, just a little too shpanky shpanky for my tastes. Me likes my cleans warm.
Channel 2 you start getting into the slightly crunchier tones, all the way into a Mark I sound. Lower gain, but very nice od channel. A good drive pedal would make this channel come alive.
Channel 3 you start getting into the Mark II & Mark IV sounds. This channel needs no drive pedals. Distortion sounds are nice and tight. Mark IV setting gets a great rock sound. On the Extreme setting, the amp gets a little more gain than the Mark IV and a bigger bottom (definitely more balls). This setting, for gainier stuff, sounds great.
Now, would I get rid of my Roadster for one. Nah. Clean channel isn't as warm as I would want. When I back the lead channel on my Roadster to the Vintage setting, it gets into the Mark IV territory with a drive pedal to tighten it up. Would I get it if I didn't have a Roadster? Probably.
I really want to hear the combo cranking into a 412. I'm not a 1 speaker guy. ;)
So we fired it up.
Channel 1 was VERY spanky for a Mesa Amp, especially when compared to a Lonestar, the new Electrodyne or my Roadster. Almost annoyingly so. Clean channel is the brightest sounding Mesa I've ever heard (speaker was a Black Shadow). It actually sounded very good, just a little too shpanky shpanky for my tastes. Me likes my cleans warm.
Channel 2 you start getting into the slightly crunchier tones, all the way into a Mark I sound. Lower gain, but very nice od channel. A good drive pedal would make this channel come alive.
Channel 3 you start getting into the Mark II & Mark IV sounds. This channel needs no drive pedals. Distortion sounds are nice and tight. Mark IV setting gets a great rock sound. On the Extreme setting, the amp gets a little more gain than the Mark IV and a bigger bottom (definitely more balls). This setting, for gainier stuff, sounds great.
Now, would I get rid of my Roadster for one. Nah. Clean channel isn't as warm as I would want. When I back the lead channel on my Roadster to the Vintage setting, it gets into the Mark IV territory with a drive pedal to tighten it up. Would I get it if I didn't have a Roadster? Probably.
I really want to hear the combo cranking into a 412. I'm not a 1 speaker guy. ;)