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iamqman « Surf's Up!!! »
Published on 06/22/11 at 23:16This is a solid amp and the color to match is another win for this amp. I love the surf green color of this thing. The tolex has been upgraded to a surf green color and the front grille baffle has a gold tweed design that matches up real well. You get the same great tone and features of the black standard, but just in a higher priced but unique looking amp.
This amp is a beast. I would say that the Road King is the most versatile amp in the Mesa Boogie line up this amp is right up there with that one. This amp has more features and control knobs on it that make a airplane control room look small. It looks like the amp could take flight if give wings. Well, I have had this amp around many situations and I have to say it has some soaring features and tones that make it a lot of fun playing with.
It is basically three channels from the earl Mark up to the modern Mark series amps. The best part of this amp in my opinion which is on all Mesa's which makes me love Mesa is the self biasing features it has. Not having to pay some amp tech to pull your amp out of the chassis and spending the money is a plus.
UTILIZATION
Specifications:
* Bias Select Switch (6L6/EL34)
* Fixed Bias for Consistent, Maintenance Free Performance
* Full Power/Variac Power Switch (Patent 5,091,700)
* 3 Fully Independent Channels with 9 Modes (Channel 1 = Clean, Fat or Tweed, Channel 2 = Edge, Crunch or Mark I, Channel 3 = Mark IIC+, Mark IV or Extreme)
* Normal/Bold Switch on Channel 1, Normal/Thick Switch on Channel 2 (Mark I mode only), Normal/Bright Switch & Pentode/Triode Switch on Channel 3
* Each Channel features: Independent Gain, Treble, Mid, Bass, Presence, Master, Footswitchable or Auto-Assignable Contour Depth Control, Footswitchable All-Tube, Long Spring Reverb Control, Rectifier Tracking (Auto-selects Tube for all 10 Watt Modes, Diode for all 90 Watt Modes, selectable Tube or Diode for 45 Watt Modes on Channels 1 and 2, Diode for 45 Watt Mode on Channel 3 - Patents 5,168,438 & 7,193,458)
* 5 Band Graphic EQ is Footswitchable, Channel Assignable and Selectable between 1 group of 5-Band Sliders or 3 channel specific, variable depth Contour Controls
* Footswitchable, Channel Assignable or True Bypassable All-Tube FX Loop with Send Level Control (over all channels when activated)
* Output Level Control (over all channels when activated)
* Footswitchable Solo Level Control – Patent 6,724,897 (over all channels when activated)
* True “Hard” Bypass Switch removes FX Loops, Output Level & Solo Level Controls from signal path
* Tuner Output w/Footswitchable Mute
* Slave Out w/Level Control
* Fan Cooled with On/Off Switch
* External Switching Jacks for Channels 2, 3 (channel 1 is default), EQ & Solo
* Aluminum Chassis • New 4x4 - 8 Button Footswitch (Bottom Row: Channel 1, Channel 2, Channel 3, Solo – Top Row: Reverb, FX Loop, EQ & Tuner Mute)
SOUNDS
The Mark V is such an amazing amplifier that makes Mesa Boogie look good. This is an amp that has some crushing tone and operation. This amp sounds fantastic with just about any guitar.
It sounds great with a Gibson Les Paul or any other humbucker pickup style guitar. Even a nice Fender Telecaster it will sparkle and chime on the lower settings for the clean stuff. But, the Mesa Boogie sounds the best in my opinion on the modern settings of channel 3 and the extreme mode. This thing is a beast and will crush just about any other amp that tries to square off against it.
OVERALL OPINION
At new this amp comes in at around $2430. That is a couple hundred dollars more than the standard black combo. It think it is worth it in this color since this looks very stellar. You can get this amp online or even ask Mesa Boogie to make you one off. They have a custom shop where you can actually design your own color or tolex and grille combination.
This is a workhorse amp. It will be ready to rock with you night in and night out. Mesa is good at customer service as well. You can call there anytime during the work hours and speak to someone who is helpful. They are big company with small company standards and people skills. I highly recommend them to anyone.
This amp is a beast. I would say that the Road King is the most versatile amp in the Mesa Boogie line up this amp is right up there with that one. This amp has more features and control knobs on it that make a airplane control room look small. It looks like the amp could take flight if give wings. Well, I have had this amp around many situations and I have to say it has some soaring features and tones that make it a lot of fun playing with.
It is basically three channels from the earl Mark up to the modern Mark series amps. The best part of this amp in my opinion which is on all Mesa's which makes me love Mesa is the self biasing features it has. Not having to pay some amp tech to pull your amp out of the chassis and spending the money is a plus.
UTILIZATION
Specifications:
* Bias Select Switch (6L6/EL34)
* Fixed Bias for Consistent, Maintenance Free Performance
* Full Power/Variac Power Switch (Patent 5,091,700)
* 3 Fully Independent Channels with 9 Modes (Channel 1 = Clean, Fat or Tweed, Channel 2 = Edge, Crunch or Mark I, Channel 3 = Mark IIC+, Mark IV or Extreme)
* Normal/Bold Switch on Channel 1, Normal/Thick Switch on Channel 2 (Mark I mode only), Normal/Bright Switch & Pentode/Triode Switch on Channel 3
* Each Channel features: Independent Gain, Treble, Mid, Bass, Presence, Master, Footswitchable or Auto-Assignable Contour Depth Control, Footswitchable All-Tube, Long Spring Reverb Control, Rectifier Tracking (Auto-selects Tube for all 10 Watt Modes, Diode for all 90 Watt Modes, selectable Tube or Diode for 45 Watt Modes on Channels 1 and 2, Diode for 45 Watt Mode on Channel 3 - Patents 5,168,438 & 7,193,458)
* 5 Band Graphic EQ is Footswitchable, Channel Assignable and Selectable between 1 group of 5-Band Sliders or 3 channel specific, variable depth Contour Controls
* Footswitchable, Channel Assignable or True Bypassable All-Tube FX Loop with Send Level Control (over all channels when activated)
* Output Level Control (over all channels when activated)
* Footswitchable Solo Level Control – Patent 6,724,897 (over all channels when activated)
* True “Hard” Bypass Switch removes FX Loops, Output Level & Solo Level Controls from signal path
* Tuner Output w/Footswitchable Mute
* Slave Out w/Level Control
* Fan Cooled with On/Off Switch
* External Switching Jacks for Channels 2, 3 (channel 1 is default), EQ & Solo
* Aluminum Chassis • New 4x4 - 8 Button Footswitch (Bottom Row: Channel 1, Channel 2, Channel 3, Solo – Top Row: Reverb, FX Loop, EQ & Tuner Mute)
SOUNDS
The Mark V is such an amazing amplifier that makes Mesa Boogie look good. This is an amp that has some crushing tone and operation. This amp sounds fantastic with just about any guitar.
It sounds great with a Gibson Les Paul or any other humbucker pickup style guitar. Even a nice Fender Telecaster it will sparkle and chime on the lower settings for the clean stuff. But, the Mesa Boogie sounds the best in my opinion on the modern settings of channel 3 and the extreme mode. This thing is a beast and will crush just about any other amp that tries to square off against it.
OVERALL OPINION
At new this amp comes in at around $2430. That is a couple hundred dollars more than the standard black combo. It think it is worth it in this color since this looks very stellar. You can get this amp online or even ask Mesa Boogie to make you one off. They have a custom shop where you can actually design your own color or tolex and grille combination.
This is a workhorse amp. It will be ready to rock with you night in and night out. Mesa is good at customer service as well. You can call there anytime during the work hours and speak to someone who is helpful. They are big company with small company standards and people skills. I highly recommend them to anyone.