TGF Official Amp Mesa Boogie Mark series. Join the fun and get one today!

[newholland]

I can't ever imagine calling anything with this speaker in it "little"

hahaha.. i didnt say LIGHT..., just dimensionally little.

hilariously, i pulled that out of there and loaded two in a 212. now the 112 has an altec 417. im not sure i believe in light speakers...

 

[JiveTurkey]

I wonder how a 212 with the EV and a C90 would sound?

 

[spawnofthesith]

I wonder how a 212 with the EV and a C90 would sound?

Sometimes I run my widebody and thiele together, sounds pretty rad

 

[EOengineer]

View attachment 50094
Oh dear lort. This thing fucking kills! The EV speaker weighs a TON and the fuck if I know how to dial in to this speaker for now but holy fuck through the V30 212, this amp is a RIPPER Blue stripe, reverb, R2, EQ. I don't have the switches for any of that so I am going to have to do some digging. I am just loving the heavies through this thing! I Super ALIVE sounding and very organic, as dumb as that may sound? I could see doing everything from heavy post punk to tech-y old school thrash with this. VERY inspiring \m/

FYI; headshell will be absolutely vital. Badlander homemade head has been empty for far too long

Congrats! Thrilled you dig it. It’s hard to describe what the III does, but I’ve always described it as sounding more pissed off than the other amps. It feels amazing under the fingers, especially as the volume starts going up with the simul class magic happening.

 

[László]

View attachment 50094
Oh dear lort. This thing fucking kills! The EV speaker weighs a TON and the fuck if I know how to dial in to this speaker for now but holy fuck through the V30 212, this amp is a RIPPER Blue stripe, reverb, R2, EQ. I don't have the switches for any of that so I am going to have to do some digging. I am just loving the heavies through this thing! I Super ALIVE sounding and very organic, as dumb as that may sound? I could see doing everything from heavy post punk to tech-y old school thrash with this. VERY inspiring \m/

FYI; headshell will be absolutely vital. Badlander homemade head has been empty for far too long

Very sweet setup!

 

[newholland]

I wonder how a 212 with the EV and a C90 would sound?

its okay. i ran a 412 with both. ultimately if you love celestions, it aint bad, but it runs dark and middly to me. if thats your bag- its great- but i never found it super complementary. i was glad to dispense of the upper midrange RAAARRRR of celestions cause it gets cloying- but a lotta guys dig that. evs also like all the voltage to open up.. so with ebms, less speakers is more better unless ungodly loud. and theyl do that solo just fine

 

[JiveTurkey]

Congrats! Thrilled you dig it. It’s hard to describe what the III does, but I’ve always described it as sounding more pissed off than the other amps. It feels amazing under the fingers, especially as the volume starts going up with the simul class magic happening.

It sounds great. I'm looking forward to tweaking on it New board sounded great with it as well.

its okay. i ran a 412 with both. ultimately if you love celestions, it aint bad, but it runs dark and middly to me. if thats your bag- its great- but i never found it super complementary. i was glad to dispense of the upper midrange RAAARRRR of celestions cause it gets cloying- but a lotta guys dig that. evs also like all the voltage to open up.. so with ebms, less speakers is more better unless ungodly loud. and theyl do that solo just fine

Yeah I think I'll give the separate EV 112 idea a go and see where that takes me

 

[EOengineer]

Yeah I think I'll give the separate EV 112 idea a go and see where that takes me

FWIW the 12L in a sealed cab raised the bar on what I thought a single 12 could pull off.

 

[laxu]

Mesa is missing a trick here by not demoing the Mark VII for lower gain players. I’m tempted to do a YouTube video to demonstrate how good it is at low gain settings! They’re marketing this thing as a very high gain amp in all the demos, which of course it can be.

Same issue with the Mark V, could find like a handful of lower gain tones when I was considering the Mark V. Definitely do a demo for lower gain tones!

I had, and liked, a Mark V, but couldn't really use Channel 3 much, there was a bit too much gain for my taste. The Mark VII is simply easier for me to work with on all three channels.

That can be fine tuned to some degree with preamp tube choice. Might be worth exporing in the VII as well, at least the V is quite sensitive to tube changes.

 

[EOengineer]

Mark series amps generally all have VERY good cleans. The IIB might have the best EOB clean I’ve ever heard from anything, but you sacrifice your lead tone for it. Same on the III. You can balance things but there’s always a sacrifice. You have to be ok with that going in.

With the Mark V and VII, not only can you have amazing cleans, but you don’t lose your lead tone. You can even switch between black panel cleans and plexi-ish British cleans. Absurdly great amps.

 

[newholland]

Mark series amps generally all have VERY good cleans. The IIB might have the best EOB clean I’ve ever heard from anything, but you sacrifice your lead tone for it. Same on the III. You can balance things but there’s always a sacrifice. You have to be ok with that going in.

With the Mark V and VII, not only can you have amazing cleans, but you don’t lose your lead tone. You can even switch between black panel cleans and plexi-ish British cleans. Absurdly great amps.

you dont, really lose a great clean tone on the iib at all, truly. living with this beast for eight years now, thats more interwebz mythology than truth. its still in the amp absolutely- its just accessible via volume knob, not footswitch.

i truly feel like this amp was designed more like a faux NMV amp than a modern footswitcher, whichd make sense for 1981. the rhythm channel WORKS fine, but i genuinely feel like its the lead channel minus gain, rather than the lead channel being an addition of dirt to the clean- which is very NMV. you can set up a fender clean, but itll never get dirty or vice versa.

BUT... it works awesome if the amp is loud and you roll back guitar volume.. bam.. loverly cleans, amp voltage up, bass fills in, mids are up for meaty thickness, and treble just rises with volume.

now... at human volumes... im inclined to agree.. way less fun. but a mark iib isnt super happy being domesticated

 

[EOengineer]

you dont, really lose a great clean tone on the iib at all, truly. living with this beast for eight years now, thats more interwebz mythology than truth.

It’s not a myth, it’s just dependent on what instrument you’re playing, and what ground you’re trying to cover tonally.

I generally find that by the time I have enough lows to give the clean channel the body I want, I can no longer control the low end sufficiently coming into the lead channel. I can “kind of” balance it but ultimately I’m always picking to optimize clean OR lead.

Folks who are using lower lead gain levels I think can fare much better but IMO it’s a well earned and fair representation.

 

[newholland]

It’s not a myth, it’s just dependent on what instrument you’re playing, and what ground you’re trying to cover tonally.

I generally find that by the time I have enough lows to give the clean channel the body I want, I can no longer control the low end sufficiently coming into the lead channel. I can “kind of” balance it but ultimately I’m always picking to optimize clean OR lead.

Folks who are using lower lead gain levels I think can fare much better but IMO it’s a well earned and fair representation.

haha.. man, its fine, its largely a usage issue. the mistake is definitely in thinking its a modern amp it definitely aint a point and shoot!

if youre going for max gain like a mark iv, it definitely cant do that! but man have i read an awful lot of misinformation about iibs. theyre not nearly the 'low gain' nor 'flubby' beasts theyre reported to be UNLESS you expect modernity. but it sounds like a mark! i think what youre saying is true if you consider them different channels, for sure. i like to think of the 'clean channel' as a safety device

 

[EOengineer]

haha.. man, its fine, its largely a usage issue. the mistake is definitely in thinking its a modern amp it definitely aint a point and shoot!

if youre going for max gain like a mark iv, it definitely cant do that! but man have i read an awful lot of misinformation about iibs. theyre not nearly the 'low gain' nor 'flubby' beasts theyre reported to be UNLESS you expect modernity. but it sounds like a mark! i think what youre saying is true if you consider them different channels, for sure. i like to think of the 'clean channel' as a safety device

I hear you. The IIB really is a fantastic amp and IMO worth owning even if someone owns another variant. To some extent the market seems to be catching up but for a good while there they could be had for pretty cheap, like the III. I really regret not grabbing a IIB in addition to my III back when it was a fully loaded $700 amp. What a steal.

To your point, a loop modded or stock RP9c IIB can be a face melter.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Any non-Mesa source for an aftermarket headshell?

 

[EOengineer]

Any non-Mesa source for an aftermarket headshell?

GTS over on the boogie forums used to be the goto. Boogie may still make them as special orders. Alternately you can get a rack kit for ~200 IIRC.

 

[JiveTurkey]

GTS over on the boogie forums used to be the goto. Boogie may still make them as special orders. Alternately you can get a rack kit for ~200 IIRC.

They look to be out of stock on the Boogie site. Can you get them anywhere else?

 

[EOengineer]

They look to be out of stock on the Boogie site. Can you get them anywhere else?

There are some head shells on reverb but the prices are bonkers. If you never want to migrate back to the combo you could just cut the combo shell down.

 

[newholland]

theres a coupla cats on mesa boogie group on FB that do em, run about $350, but great quality, lotsa colors and options. i thought about commissioning one, but figured maybe someday ill find a rackmount kit and KISS.

 

[laxu]

• Mark V 90 slave out -> Fryette PS-100 -> Bluetone 4x10 w/ 10" Greenbacks
• Mark V 90 speaker out -> Mark V combo's Celestion MC90

Sounded kickass! Being able to dial in the balance between the speakers and fine tune the 4x10 sound was nice. I think it might also sound bigger and tighter than just running both cabs with the Mark V speaker outs.