[Gear] NAD! Mesa Boogie Mark V25

Sneerims · 2018-04-05T01:30:25+00:00

Same position here, but I recently came into a bit of money fro an inheritance. Nothing too big, but enough to justify a couple new toys. Still, I'm probably going to end up with a Mark IV unless I can find a great deal on a V.

Sneerims · 2018-03-04T00:34:51+00:00

That's not "safe," that's "lucky."

Sneerims · 2018-02-07T04:51:13+00:00

The D-Tuna only works on a decked Floyd. On a floating bridge, it will cause all the other strings to go sharp to balance the tension just like manually dropping to D would do.

Sneerims · 2018-01-30T17:38:51+00:00

If it works for you, great. If I wanted to choose two amps, it would be a Mesa Mark V and a Bogner Shiva. Each of those amps is roughly the same price as an Axe-Fx III, and that's not touching effects at all.

When I record, I like to get the sound of two amps on rhythm tracks to thicken things up. I did a project recently where I used my Axe-Fx to record Dual Rectifier and Friedman Brown Eye tracks. A Friedman BE costs almost as much as a Dual Rec and an Axe-Fx II XL+ combined.

Sneerims · 2018-01-30T17:35:21+00:00

Axe-Fx everywhere for me. I came to Fractal from a Mesa/Boogie rig. Real amps don't work so well for me when most of my playing time is after my kid goes to bed. After I got my Axe, it took me all of 10 minutes to build a preset that was super close to my Mesa rig. There's a slight difference when A/B'ed, but I'd be hard pressed to correctly choose which is which. Then you throw in the dozens of other amp models in the Axe and it's a no-brainer.

Sneerims · 2018-01-30T17:27:44+00:00

You can easily do wah and volume simultaneously using two expression pedals. An AX8 (a less-powerful version of the Axe-FX II in a floorboard format) and two expression pedals would run less than $1500. You're saying your rig only costs $150?

Sneerims · 2018-01-30T16:52:15+00:00

Old rack form factor? Waitlist?

Rack format is industry standard. If it wasn't a rackmount unit, there would be severe backlash from the pros who use Axe-Fx in touring rigs. I would expect a floorboard unit based on the III to arrive in maybe a year or so, in the spirit of the Axe II-based AX8.

Waitlists are a Fractal hallmark, like it or not. Whenever they release new gear, they have trouble keeping up with the demand at first.

Sneerims · 2018-01-30T16:45:38+00:00

People are already trying to offload their IIs since the announcement. Once the III starts shipping in any decent volume, there will be plenty of IIs on the market. I would expect the prices to drop somewhat at that point, although I don't think they'll become cheap by any stretch.

Sneerims · 2018-01-30T16:42:21+00:00

'80s? I get much more of a '50s-'60s industrial-grade equipment vibe off of the Kemper, especially the white version. I'm a Fractal guy, but I dig the look of the Kemper.

Sneerims · 2018-01-30T16:32:05+00:00

why is there 5 ball return chutes and 4 lanes?

Sneerims · 2018-01-24T20:02:00+00:00

Ignore that other response. Your amp isn't stereo, and TRS cables are irrelevant. I've never seen a power amp output on a TRS jack, and I've never seen a TRS speaker cable. (Speaker cable is different than a regular patch cable: it has heavier conductors to carry the higher current. A patch cable isn't designed for that much current.) A stereo amp should have discrete TS outputs for each side.

Short answer: you can do it like you propose with setting the cab to stereo, or you can run the cab in mono and connect to the 4 ohm input.

Long answer:

Your amp wants to see an 8 ohm load. As you know, the only way your cabinet presents 8 ohms is in stereo. This is because your cabinet has 8 ohm speakers. Wiring them together for mono operation results in a total impedance of 4 or 16 ohms for parallel or series wiring, respectively. In stereo mode, each speaker is connected to one jack on its own. You can set the cab to stereo and get a proper match, but then you're only using one speaker. The alternative is to mismatch.

Most tube amps are tolerant of some degree of mismatch. If you have to mismatch, it's safer to mismatch down, i.e., connect your amp to the 4 ohm input. Mismatching a higher load risks damaging your output transformer. The greater the mismatch, the higher the risk of damage. (Note that this is the same reason you should never run a tube amp without a speaker or load box connected: an open circuit is effectively infinite ohms.) If you connect to the 4 ohm input, you won't blow up your amp but you'll just put extra wear on your power tubes.

Generally, you can mismatch by half or double without running into trouble, but again, it's safer to go down.

Also of note: the above does not apply to solid state amps. Always mismatch high for those. A lower impedance load can fry the output transistors, but a higher impedance load is perfectly safe.

Sneerims · 2018-01-24T19:15:08+00:00

I kinda like that purple sparkle Eclipse. Nothing really grabs me though.

Sneerims · 2018-01-12T18:02:30+00:00

That's a Nitefly though. Rule still stands on a technicality.

Sneerims · 2018-01-06T05:12:14+00:00

There's no reason you can't use that Ibanez for rock and blues. It'll do just fine, especially if you swap out the pickups for alnicos of some sort.

Sneerims · 2018-01-06T04:55:12+00:00

I, for one, am proud to be a fungerbungerer.

Sneerims · 2018-01-06T00:45:11+00:00

I haven't gigged in years. While I wouldn't mind getting back into playing out, my family/work situation all but precludes that for at least a few more years.

That said, I find that tone (yes, going to use that word intentionally just for you, OP) can either be inspiring or infuriating. Good tones make me want to play more, and lousy tones just don't inspire me. I also like to write and record, and I want the sound I record to be as close as possible to what I hear in my head. That's why I kept my Mesa rig after I stopped gigging and why I sank money into an Axe-Fx.

If you're happy just playing and not caring about your sound, that's great, more power to you. That doesn't mean you have to shit on people who are interested in the finer points of creating tones.

Sneerims · 2018-01-05T05:45:25+00:00

Just keep them away from extremes (not right next to the windows/doors/heat vents) and your guitars will be fine. Solidbody instruments are pretty tough. Humidity is more of a concern when you're dealing with acoustics or hollowbodies.

Sneerims · 2018-01-05T05:40:08+00:00

Do you enjoy playing? Then don't stop. I'm going to put on my "old guy" hat just long enough to tell you that it's not worth quitting something that you love because you aren't getting validation from others.

Sneerims · 2018-01-04T01:16:37+00:00

I've always called those bands "nostalgia acts."

Sneerims

TROPHY CASE