Helping my friend pick a new amp; advice needed

[MadAsAHatter]

Ah a man of (newly discovered) taste! It’s a bummer the III market is what it is now compared to 10 years ago…

I will say I’ve noticed a general downward trend in Mark IV pricing lately…. I got mine for $1k earlier this year which is a bit of an anomaly but I’ve seen a lot more for like $1400-1600 lately, and it seems like that’s lower than what I had been seeing them for the last couple years

Yeah, it's crazy to see what Mark III's are going for now when they used to be the middle child no one cared about. Granted I paid just under market price a few years ago for mine, but at least it had just been sent to Mike B. for a full service,recap, cleanup and R2 channel volume mod. Seller included all the paperwork. If not for that factored into the price I likely would have passed.

On the positive side, at least they're finally getting the better recognition they deserve.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Yeah, it's crazy to see what Mark III's are going for now when they used to be the middle child no one cared about. Granted I paid just under market price a few years ago for mine, but at least it had just been sent to Mike B. for a full service,recap, cleanup and R2 channel volume mod. Seller included all the paperwork. If not for that factored into the price I likely would have passed.

On the positive side, at least they're finally getting the better recognition they deserve.

Marks are pretty much the end game amp for me, currently have a IV and a V (for the second time around)

Used to have a red strip III that I wish I still had. Basically at this point I’d like to just gather Marks like infinity stones lol

 

[la szum]

If you can't help your friend with that arsenal your friend can't be helped.

 

[la szum]

Mark Series amps can be notoriously challenging for less skilled players to play, though. So
there is that. It's like putting someone on a PBR Bull to ride when they maybe are used to
something with training wheels.

"WTF?? I am awful and now I sound and feel worse than awful!"

 

[MadAsAHatter]

Mark Series amps can be notoriously challenging for less skilled players to play, though. So
there is that. It's like putting someone on a PBR Bull to ride when they maybe are used to
something with training wheels.

"WTF?? I am awful and now I sound and feel worse than awful!"

I don't think it'd be any more challenging for him than transitioning to another tube amp. Coming from SS it'll mainly be a matter of him getting used to the dynamics and response to pick attack. He picked up on that quickly just playing my amps for the short time.
His biggest challenge would likely be dialing in a tone. He's admitted he's not adept at doing that. Any amp would be probably be a little tough for him at first; a Mark even more so. At least there's more than enough youtube videos out there to help get him to a good starting point.

 

[Byrdman]

Mark Series amps can be notoriously challenging for less skilled players to play, though. So
there is that. It's like putting someone on a PBR Bull to ride when they maybe are used to
something with training wheels.

"WTF?? I am awful and now I sound and feel worse than awful!"

I don't think it'd be any more challenging for him than transitioning to another tube amp. Coming from SS it'll mainly be a matter of him getting used to the dynamics and response to pick attack. He picked up on that quickly just playing my amps for the short time.
His biggest challenge would likely be dialing in a tone. He's admitted he's not adept at doing that. Any amp would be probably be a little tough for him at first; a Mark even more so. At least there's more than enough youtube videos out there to help get him to a good starting point.

I felt the same way, but it shouldn't take too long for him to catch back up. I sounded worse than terrible the first few months switching from SS to Tube, now just terrible, lol. Every mistake was accentuated, but it forced me to become a better player than what I was. YMMV...

 

[spawnofthesith]

Marks got nothing on a Fryette for really shining a spotlight on poor technique and really putting the tonal ball in the picking hand's court

Definitely worth it though shoot now my fryette GAS is flaring up again

 

[gy1900s]

I'll get flamed for this, but if he likes the sound of that peavey, a Boss Katana head can be made to sound near identical,while also doing a bazillion other things

A gen 2 is like $150 now if you look around

 

[EOengineer]

My friend came over and played a few of my amps. He tried my Skeleton Key, Hellion, and Mark III Red Stripe. It ended up being a big eye opener for him on how responsive to playing a tube amp is. He started off bitch picking and had this puzzled look of why does this sound like crap. I had to stop him there and remind him of the difference in dynamics between SS & tube amps. "Now hit a chord like you mean it." He finally dug in to a couple of notes and had his holy shit this is awesome moment.

He liked the Skeleton Key & Hellion, but really lit up when playing the Mark III. He said he really loved the way it sounded and it was his favorite of the 3.

He's still shopping around and is still interested in a 6505. He said he liked the 6505-II most so far but wants to check out more comparisons between that and a 6505-1992. After playing my Red Stripe a Mark series might be the one to beat now.

In a funny way the Mark III makes sense here. We tend to gravitate towards familiar sounds. The tight, percussive attack of the Mark III probably most resembles the faster solid state transient response of the transtube amp - probably moreso than those other amps.