MusicRadar
The No.1 website for musicians
Mesa/Boogie Mark Five £2649
How much more Boogie could you possibly want?
Mick Taylor, Tue 21 Jul 2009, 2:51 pm BST
For those who came to the electric guitar any time after 1990, chances are that the name Mesa/Boogie will conjure thoughts of towering Dual and Triple Rectifier stacks – the amps that became the industry standard for hard rock and metal.
Rewind another 20 years, however, and Boogie main-man Randall Smith was making his name modding Fender Princetons into the world's first high-power 1 x 12 combos. The original Mesa-branded, snakeskin-vinyl Mark I debuted in 1972, starting a family line that finds itself here in 2009: the Mark Five.
Smith and his team have introduced some killer features over the years. From things we now take for granted, such as channel switching, through to channel-assignable power settings with valve or solid-state rectification. The goal of the Mark Series in particular has always been to offer a wide range of tones in a single amplifier. And boy does this do that.
Check out the video below to hear it in action:
Controls
The Mark Five is laid out logically, with each of the three channels getting the same complement of controls. Rotaries cover the basics of gain, master, bass, middle, treble and presence, while the first of the mini toggle switches determines its respective channel's mode.
"Nothing short of a remarkable engineering and tonal achievement."
Channel one offers 'clean', 'fat' and 'tweed' modes; channel two has 'edge', 'crunch' and 'Mark I'; while channel three has 'MKIIC+', 'MKIV' and 'extreme'. The channels are footswitchable, but the individual modes within them aren't. The gain and tone characteristics of each mode are so different, they're more about setting up the core tone of each channel, rather than tap-dancing within it.
You Might Like:
User comments (6)
-
It took 10 weeks to finally get my amp delivered. A nail biting wait. Was it worth it? Absolutely! You'll have to nit-pick to find things you may not care for about the amp. The front is jammed packed with knobs and switches and it's darn hard to read the labels as well. Some knobs are so close to the wood frame that you have to get real dainty to access them. At 80lbs or so, get a roady to move it. I have mine in the only place it's safe... in the basement. How I dread going up the stairs humping this amp. Overall, it's a joyful pain. I still rush home from work to lose myself on this dream.
-
It's not the plugging in and having a go that scares the bejeezus out of me...it's that insane price tag! Although it's totally in keeping with this amp's talents which are unmatched by any other amp on the market.
-
"The ultimate compact yet powerful do-it-all amp" that's an excellent description........
-
"The ultimate compact yet powerful do-it-all amp" that's an excellent description........
-
"The ultimate compact yet powerful do-it-all amp" that's an excellent description........
-
Very good review Mick. I enjoyed reading it a lot, and as a proud owner of a Mark V I can say that it's the best amp I've played on in terms of versatility and sound!
I would like to point out that the Mark V has a series effects loop and not parallel like you mention in page 3 of the review!
You need to be logged in to post a comment. Login or Register to post a comment.
MusicRadar rating
Pros
Immense functionality and tonal range. Compact design.
Cons
The footswitch is hard to remove.
Verdict
The ultimate compact yet powerful do-it-all amp.
Review Policy
All MusicRadar's reviews are by independent product specialists, who are not aligned to any gear manufacturer or retailer. Our experts also write for renowned magazines such as Guitarist, Total Guitar, Computer Music, Future Music and Rhythm. All are part of Future PLC, the biggest publisher of music making magazines in the world.
User rating
Where to buy
Buy similar products from Soundslive Ltd
Buy product from Andertons Music Company
Buy product from Thomann
Buy similar products from Studiospares
Buy product from Wood Brass
Buy similar products from Sounds Great Music
Specification
Mark Five
- Price:
- £2649
- Additional Features:
- Valves: 7 x ECC83, 4 x 6L6, 1 x 5U4G | Controls: All channels have independent gain, master, presence, treble, mid, bass pots; three-way mode switch, three-way EQ assign switch, three-way power select switch, voicing switch. EQ section has independent mode switches, five sliders, adjustable contour knobs. Master volume, solo volume, full power/Variac power switch. Rear panel has independent channel reverb pots, silicon diode/tube rectifier switch in channels one and two, pentode/triode switch for channel three | Speaker: 1 x 12-inch Mesa Black Shadow/Celestion MC90 | Footswitch: Eight-button footswitch (included) for channel changing, solo volume, EQ on/off, reverb on/off, FX loop on/off and tuner mute | Addition Features: 2 x 8-ohm, 2 x 4-ohm speaker out, slave output with level control, tuner out, remote switching jacks, parallel effects loop with level control and hard bypass switch, cooling fan on/ off switch, bias switch to use either EL34 or 6L6 valves,
- Country of Origin:
- USA
- Power (W):
- 90
- Weight (kg) (kg):
- 30
- Dimensions (mm (w x h x d)):
- 575 x 470 x 290mm
- Weight (lb) (lb):
- 66
- Options:
- Custom cabinets and vinyls available – see Mesa/Boogie website for details
- Device Type:
- All-valve three-channel combo with solid-state and valve rectification
GGP
Thu 13 May 2010, 6:47 pm BST
User rating 5 of 5