Mesa Mark VII - newly announced

[Neptical]

Wasn't the III the production version of the IIC+ mod?

The red stripe Mark III is the closest to the IIC+. Its a bit more hotter/aggressive than my purple stripe but neither amp is really that much different with some good EQing.

The Studio Preamp and the Quad Preamp nailed those IIC+ tones ten fold.

 

[Old Punker]

Sorry, I just caught this. I bought a new set of tubes when I bought the amp: "Tung-Sol Tube Upgrade Kit For Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier & Solo 50 Amps w/6L6GCSTR 12AX7"

https://reverb.com/item/1637899-tun...ingle-rectifier-solo-50-amps-w-6l6gcstr-12ax7

I like "Modern" on channel 2. Definitely nothing but great tones to be had with this amp though.

Question for you: Have you tried yours with EL34's ? Mesa recommends 6L6's.....

I only used Modern mode about a year ago when I was trying out some down tuned nu metal stuff. Will probably go there again once my skills improve. I fully agree with you on the great tones from the Single Rectifier. The Mark's seem to get the spotlight but these Recto's are really versatile amps with tons of smile-invoking tones. They're also very reasonably priced on the used market.

Question for you: Have you tried yours with EL34's ? Mesa recommends 6L6's....

No, I've only used 6L6's with my Rectifier. What's the EL34's supposed to do for the Mesa? Will it lean more towards the British sound? Right now I'm even having a hard time finding JJ EL34's for my Marshall. I'm still using the factory tubes there and they're 3 years old so I'm noticing the tone changing a little, but not in a bad way, since there seems to be more bottom end now and I can bump up the gain and treble a bit to make up for the aging.

How do you like the Tung Sol preamp tubes? Are they more geared toward metal or good all around tubes?

 

[Old Punker]

Just going to point out that the advantage of having a permanently attached power cord is, you won't forget to bring your power cord unless you forget to bring your amp. And let's face it...we've probably all forgotten to bring a power cord for SOMETHING at some point in our lives. That's probably why Fender doesn't equip their amps with detachable power cords. Save you THAT annoyance.

All this talk of power cords...

Detachable, non-detachable, personally, as long as I can plug it in and crank it up for cool sounds...I don't give a

 

[Deftone]

How do you like the Tung Sol preamp tubes? Are they more geared toward metal or good all around tubes?

Nothing really to compare them to in the Mesa but I guess they are good. JJ's have been working good in my Marshall's.

 

[Ufoscorpion]

The red stripe Mark III is the closest to the IIC+. Its a bit more hotter/aggressive than my purple stripe but neither amp is really that much different with some good EQing.

The Studio Preamp and the Quad Preamp nailed those IIC+ tones ten fold.

Talking of pre amps .

 

[mark123]

It still says “HAND-WIRED IN PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA, USA”. So I’m cool with it.

 

[tallcoolone]

No, I've only used 6L6's with my Rectifier. What's the EL34's supposed to do for the Mesa? Will it lean more towards the British sound?

Not at all IME—very subtle if any noticeable tonal difference.

 

[tallcoolone]

All this talk of power cords...Detachable, non-detachable, personally, as long as I can plug it in

Well with the Mark V, that’s the issue—on a dark stage it can be near impossible to do this. For those who never move their amp or see a stage, no issue at all, as we can see in this thread. Not everyone’s situation is the same.

 

[mark123]

Not at all IME—very subtle if any noticeable tonal difference.

It is subtle but you can hear a difference. I have a video somewhere.

 

[Deftone]

Holy crap...."Mesa Boogie Mark II C+ 2-Channel 100-Watt Guitar Amp Head:"

 

[FleshOnGear]

I’m sorry, but those amps can’t be worth 5 digits. Can they? WTF? I wouldn’t pay that much for a Plexi.

I’ll be looking for a IIB, III, or a Studio Preamp…

 

[SonVolt]

Those IIC+ are most likely snatched you by wealthy doctors & lawyers that grew up listening to Metallica in the '80s.

A Mark IV is the king of the Mark series IMO. That is the root of the Black Album tone anyway.

 

[Deftone]

 

[Charvel1975]

not a lot different than the mark V

View attachment 126559

View attachment 126560

I noticed these below didn't carry over from the Mark V:

Mark 1 and Tweed
Channel Voicing Switches
Solo+Mute, Output Master, Tuner Output
True Class A 10W single ended mode
Triode/Pentode in 45W mode
Diode/Tube Rectifier
Variac Power
Loop Send Level and Hard Bypass
Slave Output+Level at speaker jack
Graphic EQ Presets

Me and my other guitarist both have Mark V's noticed the above and they increased the price even more!?

Still learning the Mark V and it's a very different sound than my 1995 Mesa Tremoverb but it's nice to have the variety of sounds with the Mark V!

 

[-BOOGIEMAN-]

Wow I dig the new amp from Boogie!!! I should have never gotten rid my 90’s Duel Rec. That rig was a total gigging workhorse, rock solid, never let me down ever…If I was still playing live, I’d consider this new one for sure.

 

[Neptical]

Having WAY too much fun with the Rectifiers lately. Clean boost out front, EQ in the loop w/ Soldano V30 412. Tight, clean and monstrous sounding tone. When playing Marshalls for several months without plugging in to the Recs, it's apparent why these amps will always have their place. Absolutely nothing like 'em.

 

[Matthews Guitars]

I've owned a few Dual and Triple 3 channel recs. They did their thing very well but I always found them to be kind of dry and lacking in character. But now that I have a Mark V 90, I'm very happy. They do the rectifier sound, but with more character, warmth, and tweakability. Plus the V is tighter and even meaner when you want it to be. Because of the Mark V, I'm done with Rectos.

 

[FleshOnGear]

I've owned a few Dual and Triple 3 channel recs. They did their thing very well but I always found them to be kind of dry and lacking in character. But now that I have a Mark V 90, I'm very happy. They do the rectifier sound, but with more character, warmth, and tweakability. Plus the V is tighter and even meaner when you want it to be. Because of the Mark V, I'm done with Rectos.

I’ve played through Rectos a couple times. They’re neat sounding amps. But aren’t they sort of based on the SLO? I’ve always wanted to play one of those, never had the chance.

 

[Matthews Guitars]

It's not true that the Rectos are based on the SLO, but they do use similar circuit topology to get similar results. There's no evidence that either Randall Smith or Mike Soldano copied the other, they both knew tube circuits well enough to figure out how to add another tube gain stage or two and how to shape tone. They cooked up similar solutions at the same time in response to similar requests by musicians.

 

[FleshOnGear]

Well, that cold clipping 3rd gain stage with the 39kohm cathode resistor is pretty unique. Obviously Randall Smith is an innovator, but what are the odds he’d come up with that cold clipping stage on his own, just like Soldano did?