opinions on versatile amp

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Thurgood

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I am thinking about downsizing a bit by selling my drri and marshall dsl. So I would like to replace them with one amp (or head) that will do a bit of each. Mostly for recording and the occasional jam. I know that is a hard bill of materials to cover those bases. I haven't played through a Mark 5 but it does come to mind. (I have a Mark 3). I have the tweed thing covered as well as a little Emery Superbaby. Any thoughts.
 
No bites? Maybe Lt. Bob could chime in. I know he has a bunch of amps and owns a Mark 5.
 
Yeah ...... I have a bunch of 'em and a Mark V.

I think the V is pretty damned versatile. With the 3 channels and 3 modes per channel and the ability to run any channel at 90, 45 or 10 watts and any channel can go (or not) thru a graphic EQ ...... pretty wide range of sounds it'll get.

The only thing I haven't delved into is metal sounds since I never get gigs in that genre but I do see a good number of metal guys using it and I can't imagine it wouldn't do it.

The ONLY thing I've found that it falls short in ( and only a very little bit) is a super pristine clean (think pedal steel clean) 'twang' on the low E when I'm doing country.
And really ..... that specific note and only a little almost unoticable mushiness to it. Probably no one would notice but me and it could very well be the speaker rather than the amp. I have an Ampeg Reverbrocket that does that one thing slightly better but I'm not talking about much and that's the absolute only thing I would want a little different.
It's a pretty damned nice amp.
 
Thanks Bob. Does the Mark v have the "odd" nasal quality that other Marks have. It is the upper mid stuff that you can't dial out very well. I have head it on Mark3's and 4's. BTW The 750 slider is not the key here. I hope you know what I a m referring to but are not plagued by it with your current Mark 5. Thanks again.
 
Thurgood said:
Thanks Bob. Does the Mark v have the "odd" nasal quality that other Marks have. It is the upper mid stuff that you can't dial out very well. I have head it on Mark3's and 4's. BTW The 750 slider is not the key here. I hope you know what I a m referring to but are not plagued by it with your current Mark 5. Thanks again.
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I don't have such an issue . no. I've never played much on a 3 or 4 though.

Also ...... I wouldn't consider 750 to be in the realm of 'nasaly' sounding. That's more of a boxy sounding section of the EQ.
Actually they don't have a slider that's in the 'nasal' area. The 2200 would come closer than the 750 but 2200 is really too high ...... 2200 is more where things get harsh sounding although someone might call that nasally.

And actually I tend to not like graphics on guitar amps. It's one of the things I didn't like about Mesas after the Mark I.
On the V you can not use it so I don't even have it in the path at all and only use it as a form of boost for certain particular sounds.
 
I have a Mk III. I don't recall it being nasal much. Boxy if you don't know how to EQ it, maybe.
I will say that, if I had the money and opportunity, I'd love a Mesa Boogie Lone Star. That's a REAL versatile amp. Takes a little time to sit down and get familiar with, but it sounds great and takes pedals well, too.
 
The tone I hear is more in the area of 1.2-1.5k. That is why I said in esssence, "please don't tell me to adjust the 750 slider." The generic response I see posted when referring to midrange issues in mesa mark amps is, "just adjust the 750." I do not know what the slope of those filters are but a dedicated 1.5k slider would be nice. Anyway back on topic. The reason I have the amps that I do is to be able to cover a lot of ground with each amp doing what it does best, I was jsut wonndering if someone new of some "new" amp had come around that did many things well. I appreciate all of your responses.
 
Thurgood said:
The generic response I see posted when referring to midrange issues in mesa mark amps is, "just adjust the 750"..... a dedicated 1.5k slider would be nice.
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I agree.

Lt. Bob said:
Actually they don't have a slider that's in the 'nasal' area.
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One amp I'm a bit curious about because of it's size is that new Carvin V3 Micro.
A lot (but not all) of the same stuff as a Mark V ...... 3 channels ...... multiple 'modes' and various wattages.
I have a buttload of amps but one more would be nice! :D

A lunchbox like the V3 Micro and a small 10" cab would be super handy for some of my gigs.
 
I think most fender amps are pretty versatile (I'm ducking now to avoid the flying bear bottles). I've used a twin for a lot of years with various pedals in front and I thought it could cover a lot of ground from soft jazz to blues to hard rock stuff.

My main amp the last few years has been a Dr. Z MAZ 18 JR NR. It is super versatile. I think it's based off of a Marshall 18watt, so it's got that vibe, but it sounds really close to a AC30 with the right EQ settings, and with everything dimed it has a loud bassman sound, I can even get some really nice blackface kinda sounds from it...plus it responds super well to rolling on and off the volume on the guitar. Awesome amp if you ever get a chance to check it out. I think a lot of sound comes from the cab too, I have one alnico blue like the ac30s, and one marshally speaker so blended they cover a ton of ground, and recorded I can close mic the sound I want.

But, nowdays I don't really care about versatility. I just like something that does one thing well and has a really cool sound.
 
Why , oh why did you have to mention Dr. Z amps...... I had forgotten about them (thankfully). They give me GAS. I dont know why, I have never played through one. I would love to try one out but nobody has one around here. AFAIK. Lt. Bob thanks again for your input. I like your technique of usingwetting an amp without the EQ. I can get nice tones from my Boogie without the eq for clean, crunch but for lead or heavy stuff the Eq. is really helpful. Since I record mostly I have the luxury of setting amps up for a specific tone and can re-adjust as necess. But I do want an amp that I can "grab and go" that also performs well in "studio...chuckle" environment. I guess I should just be happy with the Tweed, Blackface, Boogie, Marshall setup here already. But I still want a "grab and go" that covers a lot of territory. Think country, jazz, blues to NIN. Dream on sir. :facepalm:
 
aaronmcoleman said:
... (I'm ducking now to avoid the flying bear bottles)...
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(Peers just over the edge of a solid concrete barricade...)

I don't think such an animal exist. Every guitarist wants one, every amp maker to ever come down the pike takes a stab or two at it but they ALWAYS miss the mark, and the search goes on...

(Ducking down behind the concrete, again...)
 
Thurgood said:
Why , oh why did you have to mention Dr. Z amps...... I had forgotten about them (thankfully). They give me GAS. I dont know why, I have never played through one. I would love to try one out but nobody has one around here. AFAIK. Lt. Bob thanks again for your input. I like your technique of usingwetting an amp without the EQ. I can get nice tones from my Boogie without the eq for clean, crunch but for lead or heavy stuff the Eq. is really helpful. Since I record mostly I have the luxury of setting amps up for a specific tone and can re-adjust as necess. But I do want an amp that I can "grab and go" that also performs well in "studio...chuckle" environment. I guess I should just be happy with the Tweed, Blackface, Boogie, Marshall setup here already. But I still want a "grab and go" that covers a lot of territory. Think country, jazz, blues to NIN. Dream on sir. :facepalm:
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Get the Z!!!

Versatile amps usually do a lot of stuff really badly, that's probably why nobody can come up with any great suggestions.
 
Yep you are probably correct, ponies can only do so many tricks. A Z may be in the future for two reasons, I want one, I want one. I am in the beginning process of building a Tweed Bassman (cause I want one) but all this amp gas will probable be moot as I am moving to what will most probably be not so amp friendly environment. If that happens then the search may also be moot until I find a stand alone spot for my project studio. And until then maybe an Axe FX. Maybe I can buy some chops too LOL. Thanks again kind sirs.
 
aaronmcoleman said:
Get the Z!!!

Versatile amps usually do a lot of stuff really badly, that's probably why nobody can come up with any great suggestions.
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actually I consider the Mark V to be a great suggestion.

Dr Z amps are damned good amps and cool looking too! NOT the most versatile but I kinda believe with a good pedalboard any good amp will do fine.
 
Good point bob. I've never messed with a messa v but you got me wanting to.
 
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