Mesa Mark V or mods for my RM100

[Tubes In a Hat]

The title says it all.

I traded a guitar for an RM100 a little while ago, and I've been digging it, but I've had some problems with fuses and I'm finding that it's not QUITE my sound... to be fair though, I haven't tried it with a good cab.

I just recently received a sum of money and I'm thinking of overhauling my entire rig.

I'm gonna get an Avatar 2x12 with a WGS ET65 and British Lead for sure, but I'm faced with a decision about which head I'll use.

I can buy a Mesa Mark V or I can have my modules and my RM100 head modded and stick with MTS.

I know I'm likely going to get mostly pro MTS responses, but I thought it would be good to ask anyway. Also, if anyone has had the chance to compare MTS to the Mark V, what's the verdict?

Thanks

 

[rhequiem]

I've heard really good things about the Mark V, but the major draw of the MTS stuff is the flexibility to change your rig to fit the sound(s) you are looking for. I haven't played a Mark V, but I imagine any of the pro modders will be able to dial in your modules to get that sound you're looking for

 

[Tubes In a Hat]

I went and played a couple Mark Vs today. They had a combo and a head with an Egnater 2x12 there in the store. I tried them both, but I only got to play the combo at a decent volume.

It seems like a pretty killer amp... but idk. It's REALLY hard to tell what all it's capable of in one sitting... that's for sure. I'd have to hear it with a hot rated set of KT77s before I could know for sure about the Mark.

I'm going to try one of the new Dual Rec multi watt heads tomorrow. I'd also be interested in trying a VHT Sig X... but this is bound to be an expensive fruitless expedition.

In the end, maybe it would be smartest to just have my RM100 made to sound exactly like what I'm looking for. Decisions decisions.

 

[Mattfig]

Easy decision....MTS....I have a Jaded Faith VHT module that is spot on for a VHT Deliverance for sale in the classifieds...

The pro modders here will make the MTS more valuable than buying a Mesa...I have a Mark Series module coming from Pete in a few days - while it isn't based off a Mark V it is still supposed to be close...I'm sure he could tweak one for you to give you the feel of the V....

 

[Tubes In a Hat]

I played one of the new Dual Recs today and a 5150 III head both through Mesa Recto cabs.

Both heads sounded pretty awesome even at the low volumes I was using, but I'm not convinced that I couldn't get even better sounds out of MTS stuff.

Really what I need is a great full, smooth clean sound with lots of headroom, a smooooooth overdrive sound with definition like a Mark I with Santana in mind, and basically the Dual Rec heavy distortion sound that I know and love but a little tighter with less buzz that will work well for heavy rhythms AND solos. It would also be cool to have a Soldano SLO type sound...

Currently my thoughts are an RM4 with a Mesa Fifty/Fifty. That way I could keep everything in a rack and save space and weight... plus I could have 4 channels instead of 3.

I have a stock Blackface, SL+, and Rectified, and I could very easily add another module... what are the recommendations?

btw, thanks for the input

 

[walshinator666]

The other guitar player in my band has a mark5 and it sounds pretty good, cuts through the mix well...but having it for a few months it started overheating and smoke stared coming out the front.The regional tech said they are netorious for that due to small fans.The mts stuff I got seems to me much more reliable,for the gigs we played he had to go back to his old marshalls,(his mark5 never made it to a gig yet)

 

[Julia]

If you are even thinking VHT check Fryette Amps. The new VHT amps are VHT in name only. Fryette is the old VHT amps.

My advice is to invest in a couple of decent pieces of rack gear:

* dbx 166xl -- nice gate/compressor/limiter -- read the manual on how to set it up. Two channel so you can use it for vox as well.

* dbx 215 two channel graphic EQ. Use one channel going into the amp, and the other channel in the loop to shape your tone. This gives you a lot more possibilities.

and you're out the door for under $400. Try these with your MTS.

 

[Tubes In a Hat]

I really appreciate the input.

I think I've come up with something that will work well for me.

I could use the RM100 and have my modules modified (and at this point I could go either way on having the MM trannies installed) with a TC G-Force in the loop and a few pedals in front and control the whole thing with an RJM switcher and a controller.

So I'll have the RM100 head, a small rack probably no more than 8 spaces, a 2x12, and pedalboard with my controller, volume, wah, and tuner.

I did notice that the high end VHT amps had changed to Fryette. Either way, the Sig:X is pretty dang cool, but I'm sold on sticking with MTS. I think the RM100 definitely has the potential to deliver everything I'm looking for.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of sticking a GEQ post preamp in the chain. Mods are more expensive, but I just feel like they address the issue more directly whereas the EQ is like a band-aid. Just my opinion. Of course, my opinion isn't totally valid this time since I got really lucky with the extra money.

I'll check out the 166xl though. Thanks again for the all the help.

 

[nomad100]

i have the rm100 with a mix of kt77 and 6l6's and a 2x12 recto cab. Cab r just as important as the amp in many cases. I have the same modules you have and i get killer tones. I like the mts treadplate module better than any mesa amp i've played. I chose the MTS over the MarkV.

The geq is not a band aid just a tool. The mark amps have the tone stack right after the first gain stage. In this place you have to cut a lot of bass or you get mud when you have the gain up. you can kind of thing of the tone stack on the mark stuff as character/touch control and the GEQ as the actual eq for the channel.

a lot of amps have a fixed tone network in the same place and a tone stack after all the gain stages. kind of a similar thing just less control

 

[Julia]

EQ is not a band-aid. It is a tool. But you've got to remember a few things:

* your pickups are EQ
* your guitar body is EQ
* the guitar neck is EQ
* the guitar strings are EQ
* your guitar cable is EQ -- so try a bunch. NOTE: US Made Lava Cable is available at Guitar Center for $5 more than Chinese made Monster. I use a PRS Van Damme cable because I couldn't find a Chuck Norris cable. I don't think they make Chuck Norris cables because it would scare the electrons.
* your amp's tone stack is EQ -- you know those bass, mid, and treble knobs?
* your amp's power section is EQ -- you know Density and Presence?
* your speaker cabinet is EQ
* your speakers are EQ
* the room in which you're playing is EQ
* the volume is EQ
* your ears are EQ
* the mic you use for recording is EQ
* the mic preamp is EQ

basically everything is EQ. In the hi-fi audio world you can spend $10K on a pair of speakers and put them in a shitty room and still need to EQ them for the room.

So with guitar amps, they all can benefit from EQ. A venue's sound engineer will EQ you at the board.

Personally I find that when playing at a low volume at home where I'm not driving the hell out of the speakers that having an EQ both in front of the amp and one in the serial loop is of great benefit.

The one in front gives the opportunity to change the character of the pickups and guitar. And that will affect the way the tone stack responds.

The one in the effects loop can compensate for the loudness contour curves, and can be bypassed for recording, unless I don't want to bypass it.

So if you consider a GEQ in the Serial Loop of an amp as a crutch, you should also look at pickups, guitar body material, neck material, strings, cable, etc., as crutches. But they're not. It's just reality.

 

[eedude]

... a midi controllable eq in the loop is actually pretty dang cool. I use a g-major, it has a parametric EQ (along with all the other goodies). g-majors sell for nothing now that that the gmajor II is out.

Having it under midi control allows you to disable it for some modules (if you want) or pull up programmed curves with the push of a button, dink, dink, and dink. :O

 

[m0jo]

Did you try the RM100 with a good cab yet?

For me it was a total headtrip when I tried it with a crapcab ("****.. this doesn't sound good at all, should've gone for another option")..
Then tried it with a good Marshall 1960a .. ****..
And believe me: I'm not even a big fan of Marshall cabs :lol:

Try the RM100 through a Mesa cab for instance ^^ awesomeness all around.
(or an MTS cab if you can get your hands on one)

 

[Tubes In a Hat]

+3 for the geq it seems. I guess the reasonable thing to do is try the 215

I didn't mean any disrespect with the "band-aid" bit. I agree that every piece in the chain from the fingers to the propagated air jutting from the speakers reflecting off the surrounding walls back to the ears of the listener plays an integral role in creating the frequencies perceived by the human brain... theoretically... but my point is that when overdrive and distortion come into play, there is added compression and a lot of artificial harmonic frequencies produced that... in my opinion are "better" altered by a change of internal components than the addition of 15 filters after the preamp, but once again, that's just my humble opinion. Now an 18,000 band graphic or parametric EQ might change my mind a bit :lol: No hard feelings I hope. Anything after the overdrive/distortion stage in the chain seems to only shape and mold what's already there to some degree. For instance, I don't really think that a heavily saturated Mesa Recto could be made to sound like a VHT D60 through the use of a 15-band EQ

I've used the RM100 with an Avatar 4x12 with v30s and g12h30s in x pattern. It definitely sounded WAYYYYYY better than my loaner 4x12. Honestly though, every amp I try at guitar center ends up sounding a lot better to me through that Egnater 2x12. Those 80 watt speakers just really work for me, but I'm also a long time fan of the G12-65, so that's why I decided on the Avatar 2x12.

I just got my big check deposited, so I can start building this rig any time. Methinks it behooves me to get the cab first.

I know I keep saying it, but thanks again for all the input.

 

[Daryl]

... a midi controllable eq in the loop is actually pretty dang cool. I use a g-major, it has a parametric EQ (along with all the other goodies). g-majors sell for nothing now that that the gmajor II is out.

Having it under midi control allows you to disable it for some modules (if you want) or pull up programmed curves with the push of a button, dink, dink, and dink. :O

+1 on the EQ in the G Major. I've used a G Major before and it sounds great. I have a G Major 2 now and it is even better. You can get the EQ dialed in really nicely and have duplicate effects patches with different EQ structures. Works great for adjusting to room size. Nothing's perfect, but you can get pretty close and the G Major2 knobs are more sturdy to adjust on the fly. Love it. :twisted: :shock: :twisted: