New Mesa Boogie Mark amp?

[narad]

FInally some good heavy vid's This one's awesome too.

Plenty of room coming in on the mic but I think:
JP2C: preferred it overall.
VII: the IIC+ mode seems like a more authentic recreation than the JP2C IMO. You can really hear it in a direct A/B. Something about the character of the mids / upper mids. It's voiced a bit less aggressively / warmer / more balanced. But the attack seemed a bit off and more in line with the Mark V. IV mode sounds authentic, but not authentic to how I ideally dial in a IV. This is sort of how I have mostly experienced how the IV sounds, but after I sold mine and was doing a final play through, I wound up getting into some even better space for a couple nights, and made me regret selling it. I think the IV mode on the VII falls short of that.

 

[MoistTowelette]

Can anyone here describe the difference between the JP2C shred mode and the V’s extreme mode?

Shred adds more gain and more high end. Extreme mode adds more volume, low end and compression compared to the iv.

 

[Seabeast2000]

If Mesa would just put a pull switch on every single knob we wouldn't have to deal with these sacrifices.

 

[Seabeast2000]

Like any good politician, I’d like to chime in here and steer the conversation back to me.

I just got the V head I got from @MoistTowelette . I didn’t get a chance to plug in yet, but I’m soooo excited to finally have a Mark amp that can do a IV tone. (Or pseudo IV tone for you finicky motherfuckers. Do not acktchually me! )

If anyone wants, I can do a comparison video between what this sounds like, what I remember the IV sounding like in a music store 20 years ago, and the IV mode on the VII based on YouTube videos I’ve watched.

You are nothing without your teleprompter and carefully prepared statements. I think you should do a helicopter fly over over of the Peta Luma factory with press team to personally observe Mesa Boogie. You'll get my vote.

 

[Seabeast2000]

reading this in my mind I heard Ola saying , "Wiil. It. Tweed? What's up everybody. ( burp) Today we see if the Mesa Mark 7 can Tweed..."

*Proceeds to triple-stop finger style twang riffs.

 

[Kyle Jordan]

Plenty of room coming in on the mic but I think:
JP2C: preferred it overall.
VII: the IIC+ mode seems like a more authentic recreation than the JP2C IMO. You can really hear it in a direct A/B. Something about the character of the mids / upper mids. It's voiced a bit less aggressively / warmer / more balanced.

Simul-Class would be my bet. I think that's one of the little bits of magic in the Marks that folks often overlook or forget about.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Simul-Class would be my bet. I think that's one of the little bits of magic in the Marks that folks often overlook or forget about.

Yeah it's hard to pinpoint a 100% accurate IIC+ because you also have to factor in if it's an HRG or DRG variant.

 

[MASS DEFECT]

FInally some good heavy vid's This one's awesome too.

Jp2c overall has the most balance. But the 5150 sure has that room filling sound.

I remember 2021, I had all the 5150III variants, and I really loved the Stealth, but one day just got tired of the "aggressive mids". Sold the 5150s.

As far as the EVH noise, yea. Get a noise gate. It's high gain amp necessary equipment for playing live for like the last 30 years.

I think he is referring to the Stealth 100's problem. It has been widely known that these heads do in fact squeal more than the regular EVH heads in high gain, high treble/presence settings and noise gates can't tame it. You can't really push the presence on the Stealth in loud volumes and high gain situations and it ends up sounding darker live than the regular 100 or the el34.

 

[Hollowway]

Does anyone know what the Mark VII mode is supposed to be for? It sounds like no one’s getting their mind blown with the tones, and I’ve hear that is modeled after everything from a stiletto to a rectifier. But there must be a genre or tone that they created this for.

 

[technomancer]

Does anyone know what the Mark VII mode is supposed to be for? It sounds like no one’s getting their mind blown with the tones, and I’ve hear that is modeled after everything from a stiletto to a rectifier. But there must be a genre or tone that they created this for.

Clearly it was created exclusively to piss off metal guys looking for all the TIGHT GAINZ

 

[SalsaWood]

I think he is referring to the Stealth 100's problem. It has been widely known that these heads do in fact squeal more than the regular EVH heads in high gain, high treble/presence settings and noise gates can't tame it. You can't really push the presence on the Stealth in loud volumes and high gain situations and it ends up sounding darker live than the regular 100 or the el34.

I have the EL-34 version of the same amp and use a decimator front and back. It's definitely a noisy amp, but not a problem for my rhythms. Maybe I've had too many questionably modified Randalls and don't think it's a big deal.

 

[GreatGreen]

FInally some good heavy vid's This one's awesome too.

These tones are good, but ultimately a poor comparison of the EVH vs the Mesa stuff, because the EVH's Presence knob was set at about 2:00. That seems high, but considering that it's a logarithmic pot that doesn't even start to activate until about 2:00, it's set WAY too low in this video and consequently the EVH sounds way too dark.

The EVH can get every bit as bright and snappy as the Mesa stuff, you just have to crank that Presence, which you almost never hear because for whatever reason, most guitar players are terrified of setting any control beyond 10:00 - 2:00, except of course for Gain.

Edit: As for the complaint that the Stealth 100w inherently squeals at high Presence controls, well... no it doesn't. At least, mine doesn't, and I crank the bejesus out of the Presence. If you have one and it's squealing, I dunno, maybe you've got a microphonic tube or pickups that aren't potted well enough?

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Does anyone know what the Mark VII mode is supposed to be for? It sounds like no one’s getting their mind blown with the tones, and I’ve hear that is modeled after everything from a stiletto to a rectifier. But there must be a genre or tone that they created this for.

Since it's a Mark-series sound that doesn't sound as tight and has a more "standard" 3-band EQ, I think we came to the conclusion that its just a rebadged Caliber (.50 Caliber+, DC5, F-series, etc) lead channel.

 

[c7spheres]

Does anyone know what the Mark VII mode is supposed to be for? It sounds like no one’s getting their mind blown with the tones, and I’ve hear that is modeled after everything from a stiletto to a rectifier. But there must be a genre or tone that they created this for.

Since it's a Mark-series sound that doesn't sound as tight and has a more "standard" 3-band EQ, I think we came to the conclusion that its just a rebadged Caliber (.50 Caliber+, DC5, F-series, etc) lead channel.

I have no basis for what I say but I think Mark VII mode is going to end up being a great blues or crunch channel moreso than heavy, unless you want that filthy heavy sound. I'm kinda liking it actually but maybe for anything other than super tight chugs. Out of everything I've heard Mesa for chug metal I like the Mark IV clips best and Single Rectifier Tremoverbs so far.

 

[DeathByButterslax]

These tones are good, but ultimately a poor comparison of the EVH vs the Mesa stuff, because the EVH's Presence knob was set at about 2:00. That seems high, but considering that it's a logarithmic pot that doesn't even start to activate until about 2:00, it's set WAY too low in this video and consequently the EVH sounds way too dark.

The EVH can get every bit as bright and snappy as the Mesa stuff, you just have to crank that Presence, which you almost never hear because for whatever reason, most guitar players are terrified of setting any control beyond 10:00 - 2:00, except of course for Gain.

Edit: As for the complaint that the Stealth 100w inherently squeals at high Presence controls, well... no it doesn't. At least, mine doesn't, and I crank the bejesus out of the Presence. If you have one and it's squealing, I dunno, maybe you've got a microphonic tube or pickups that aren't potted well enough?

I thought the presence pot was like that on the Peaveys not the EVHs

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I thought the presence pot was like that on the Peaveys not the EVHs

The 100W EVHs work the same as the Peaveys. The 50W EVHs are more "normal."

 

[DarkstarII]

I have presence and treble both pretty low on my 50watt Stealth — like, 9 o’clock. Otherwise the highs rip my head off.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I have presence and treble both pretty low on my 50watt Stealth — like, 9 o’clock. Otherwise the highs rip my head off.

On the 100w heads you have to set the knob at like 3:00 to get a similar effect. Apparently that's how Eddie wanted all of his amps, but I guess they convinced him otherwise for the 50w and Iconic.
I think that's why a lot of people had issues at first with the Iconic when comparing it to the 100W. They were setting the Presence the same as the 100W 5153s when that's like.... biiiig fucking no-no lol

 

[SalsaWood]

Cranking the presence on my 100w just makes the top end hairier, doesn't seem to really tighten up anything. My low settings are pretty severe, though so maybe that matters.

 

[GreatGreen]

On the 100w heads you have to set the knob at like 3:00 to get a similar effect. Apparently that's how Eddie wanted all of his amps, but I guess they convinced him otherwise for the 50w and Iconic.
I think that's why a lot of people had issues at first with the Iconic when comparing it to the 100W. They were setting the Presence the same as the 100W 5153s when that's like.... biiiig fucking no-no lol

That's exactly what happens, and it makes me irrationally mad every time I see an EVH 50w vs 100w video where both amp Presence controls are set to noon because doing that will make the 100w amps sound WAY darker. When you actually dial by ear, the amps get a lot closer.

Cranking the presence on my 100w just makes the top end hairier, doesn't seem to really tighten up anything. My low settings are pretty severe, though so maybe that matters.

It doesn't tighten the amp, it just gives it a more balanced tone across the full spectrum. Setting the Presence to "normal" 10:00-2:00 settings makes the 100w amps overly dark sounding.