Who Knew??? A Mesa Mark V Is The Best Amp To Get Nirvana/Cobain Tones!

[la szum]

I think it is. Proof below.

Looks like a Mark V Stack to me. I am guessing that is Posty's Rig. I wonder why no Mark VII?

Stoked that Dave, Krist, and Pat got to do this on that stage.

 

[CorrosiveMatter]

Remove "Is" from your thread title and then remove everything from Me on for the correct answer.

 

[EOengineer]

Interesting!

I definitely am of the opinion that there is Nevermind sauce in the Mesa Studio Preamp & DS-1 combination. The Mark V should be able to nail that and provide some more refined workalikes too.

 

[EOengineer]

Man, I bet it would be AMAZING playing a V through all those cabs. They are probably dummy cabs, but still.

 

[la szum]

I see 2 Mics on the Mesa Cab the Mark V Head is sitting on.

I assumed it was a Mark VII at first, and then I was all, but the Mark V has
that big ass Blue Bezel on the far right of the amp.

Posty wasn't too kind to that Les Paul after the song, was he?

 

[spawnofthesith]

Post-y is the man

 

[newholland]

wasnt his sound a studio .22?

 

[EOengineer]

wasnt his sound a studio .22?

I’m not sure where the studio .22 comes in. I’ve never seen any images of him using that amp. I suspect it’s internet wisdom confusing that amp with the Mesa Studio Preamp, which was a mainstay in his rig for pretty much his whole career.

 

[newholland]

i think it came directly from bruce vig. fromw what i know about it (indirectly anyhow) was that he used its preamp and put it into a solid state power amp.

 

[EOengineer]

i think it came directly from bruce vig. fromw what i know about it (indirectly anyhow) was that he used its preamp and put it into a solid state power amp.

I’ve read this but Butch is mistaken, confusing the Mesa studio preamp for the studio .22.

You can see the Studio Preamp in Kurt’s rig from pre Nevermind days all the way through their last tour. He did send the studio preamp into a crown power amp.

 

[newholland]

possible for sure- studio preamps, makes sense. i guess theres A documented show of using a .22 that mayve been rented or borrowed.

BUT.. not at all surprised that a mark v sounded right!

peripherally, gads, i saw soundgarden on the louder than love tour (i think in '89?), and kim thayil had two full mark stacks on stage..

 

[megametal7]

 

[la szum]

Kurt walking away from the Mesa Studio Pre and Crown Power Base, with his head down, after one of his idols
tells him his Rig "sounded like dogshit."

 

[EOengineer]

Kurt walking away from the Mesa Studio Pre and Crown Power Base, with his head down, after one of his idols
tells him his Rig "sounded like dogshit."



View attachment 39364

We’ve talked about this before, but I really have no idea how he made that setup work with that power amp. My theory is that he was using the recording outs on the preamp, which crudely simulate a power amp and cab.

There are a ton of live recordings of the band where the guitars sound pretty good.

 

[newholland]

woof. im with albini. sounds worse than a solid state peavey.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

I’m not 100% sure their ampsounds where the pivot point of succes

 

[newholland]

I’m not 100% sure their ampsounds where the pivot point of succes

definitely moreso on record than live if that was the end product- gakk! i never saw them live, but gads the vid above is terrible sounding. at least the songs were good

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

definitely moreso on record than live if that was the end product- gakk! i never saw them live, but gads the vid above is terrible sounding. at least the songs were good

Well, they obviously had a sound that spoke to a generation, which is a formidabele achievement!
I just don’t think it was particular amps that contributed to that, moreso: songs, arrangements, choices when tracking, mixing.

 

[newholland]

Well, they obviously had a sound that spoke to a generation, which is a formidabele achievement!
I just don’t think it was particular amps that contributed to that, moreso: songs, arrangements, choices when tracking, mixing.

oh no question here- no shade thrown in the least! i sure know in the 90s nobody told me how to use a guitar amp, and there sure werent internet resources to help figure it out. i played mesas then and now, and i feel like i just figured out the gain channel

 

[laxu]

Well, they obviously had a sound that spoke to a generation, which is a formidabele achievement!
I just don’t think it was particular amps that contributed to that, moreso: songs, arrangements, choices when tracking, mixing.

They also came at a time when the sound on the radio was the very polished, heavily produced stuff. By comparison Nirvana felt raw and exciting, which of course resonated with guys like me who were growing up in that era.