NAD yesterday... whoop whoop

Finally got that Mark V. My fingers are sore. It arrived undamaged though someone somewhere seems to have attacked the outer box. There were two largish holes right in the middle of one side, they had been taped over by Sweetwater. I think the manual saved the grill. The manual has a hole knocked in the front and is dimpled to about halfway through the pages. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Tim had included a cover and that wheels were included.
I don't know but I suspect that I am in a small minority of people who buy a Mesa Mark for clean and lower distortion settings. I love the first channel, Clean, Fat, and Tweed are all three awesome. I really like channel two, especially Edge. It will do a convincing AC-30 sort of tone and flip a switch and it is in early Marshall land. Crunch is one I haven't had time to quite figure out yet but the other setting in channel two, Mark 1 is really nice.
Channel three is all good too. Mark IIC+ has some awesome tones and I haven't gotten into the variac power of the triode/pentode settings yet. I got good sounds from Mark IV and Extreme, but with lower gain settings.
 
This amp is articulate and immediate. It is unforgiving but if you play something well it will make you sound great, if you play something sloppy, it is unforgiving. I am going to have to work on my chops.
 
With the 10/45/90 watt settings for every channel and mode it is very useable. 90w, does not seem hardly louder than 45w but it has more clarity, more bass, more girth.. more everything. I have not figured out how to use the simulclass knob yet but I'll get to all these things. I've only played my American Deluxe Strat through it and got some really good Waiting for the Bus/Jesus just left Chicago sort of tones. Of course I had to try some licks from Abraxas on the Mark 1 mode, I ain't Carlos but it sounded good. I bet it will really be great with an SG.. . I'll try a Les Paul and a Suhr with P90s today... will go through the manual page by page with the amp in front of me... I'll learn it and I think I will become a better player because of this amp.
 
Bottom line, I managed to get some great tones from it and a few that will need work. It is a beauty too!
 
Another thing, it can be very loud but it is also easily quiet enough for use anywhere and it isn't nearly as heavy as people make out. It is about 65 pounds but it is well balanced and has a nice wide dog bone handle... then there are the wheels. I think my Custom Vibrolux Reverb with Emi Ragin Cajun speakers is north of 50 pounds, the weight of this amp isn't an issue for me and I am what you would call a small guy.
 
Happy happy! I do think I will send pics of the box and the manual to Mesa and ask for a new manual. I can't find anything to not like about this amp. The tones are there and it is beautiful. I may want to try it through some other speakers but I don't know where to start and can't afford to just buy a bunch of speakers to try. I have some Celestion G75s of some sort and an Emi Texas Heat, some Carvin V-30 clones.
 
Now if I could borrow an SG from someone... hmmmm.
 
J

I have bought a guitar amp from them and it arrived fine - double boxed from Fender (mustang III V2 amp). Of course if it came that way from the factory, I send it back and let them know a thing or two (especially for the price). Of course they think you want it and won't complain while waiting longer but then that is your decision.
 
You know there are videos on utube about how some of those drivers act (especially if someone is not at home.) with delivery services.
But again if from the factory then that is another subject.
 
 
 

the mark 5 has one of the very best clean tones available.
 
 
depending on how you set the amp up (so many options) the low gain can be exceptional.
 
i have a vintage mark2b, but my buddy has a 5, and he is not a high gain player....
i've messed with it a bunch, and i'd gladly sell my vintage 2b for a 5.
 
in fact, eventually, i probably will.
 
 
CONGRATS on an excellent choice.