Dialling in Mark V

Wolfenstein98k said:
I have the same experience. The best advice I can offer you is to remember that the Treble knob functions effectively as another gain stage, so whack that up too. Pull the Bass knob right down to 2 or less.

Scoop the mids with the GEQ, and boost the lows and highs (classic V shape) is typical too.
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Good advice here
 
I like the sound of the Mark demos too (never tried a real one) but I don't seem to gel with the sims, or they require way too much work for me to dial in. Luckily there are a lot of other great options available in the Axe-FX. Other advice is to utilise a drive block / boost or turn up the input trim.
 
I have a real Mark V and as other folks have mentioned you need to have the treble and presence up as they are part of the gain structure. Keep the bass at 2 or 3 and make sure the EQ is engaged and the 2200 Hz slider is boosted for the high mids which will add gain as well - Also on the real amp the Master Output Volume at 10 or 11 o'clock is the sweet spot and the amp growls and opens up
 
you all got me curious so i went back and tried some of the suggestions out and got a pretty good (to my ear anyway) rhythm tone using mikko's Clark Kent Job IR alloy. its definitely a balancing act between your BMT (which is located before the input gain(?) so those knobs are feeding into your 2 gain knobs) and the graphic EQ on the amp block. i set the GEQ to pre power amp bc i think thats how it is on the real one and the changes felt smoother and more natural that way anyways. oh, i had the bright and fat switches engaged too
edit: i also went into the speaker tab and brought the hi frequency curve wayyyy down and it helped smooth out some of the fizz i was hearing!
 
Hi

I have an AXE (XL) and a Mark V ( I play cover and many things but a lot of Santana)
had Mk1/IIC+/III even a colliseum head

I suggest you

1.) find the sound you like-->maybe here



2.)Replicate the setting 100% to the axe as a starting point
3.) Do what above was suggested especially bass low and treble is gain
4.) A Mark secret is to play loud-->Even on axe you need some air beeing moved
5.) I believe even a tube Mark V cannot fully do a Mark IIC+ the mother of high gain-->If you on 90% where you want to go look into the transformer (mis) match as I think the huge trafos are part of CII+ sound
6.) Additionally I believe that lower output PU's sound better and let the amp do the gain ( so on the Am Tele arround 6-7 volume max)

But

Even the Mark's on Axe behave like the real things.One day the setting sounds to die f0r and next day its meh-->you always have to readjust-->and we talk about a very narrow margin from drive 7,2 to drive 7,4-->HUGE difference

Just my 5 Cts

Roland
 
Maybe I've overread it but I haven't seen the FAT switch being mentioned. Activate it!
It models the Pull Fat (I believe) on the original Mark II/IV and is always engaged on the Mark V.
It saturates and tightens the tone. It's hard to achieve a good metal tone without it.
 
Matt_B_77 said:
I used and sold Mesas for years and it's all about cascading gain and keeping the bass under control and using the 5 band graphic to get back the bass you cut to keep things from getting muddy. USA Lead is my main amp block.

OP, was your preset done in 1.06? I ask because I tried loading it and it was empty. I'm still running 1.05.
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Thanks! :)
And yeah it was done in 1.06
 
barhrecords said:
Here is a USA LEAD preset I just threw together

http://axechange.fractalaudio.com/detail.php?preset=3950

Tweaks:

- add FAS boost in front
- turn down bass
- turn up middle, treble
- turn master up to 6
- turn down transformer match
- use the output comp for some extra sustain on high notes
- change the GEQ to the classic V shape
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Sounds interessting - I haven't got an XL, so where is the "output comp" in Axe Edit pls?
 
Black Bitch said:
Sounds interessting - I haven't got an XL, so where is the "output comp" in Axe Edit pls?
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Its on the Dynamics page of the Amp Block in Axe Edit

I typically set the Comp Type, Output Comp, Comp Threshold.

A little goes a long way. I rarely use over 1.0. Use the amp block level for makeup gain as you will notice the overall output gets lower.

axe%20fx%20output%20comp_zpsc5bdjk5b.jpg
 
Dillonski said:
The tone I get is reasonably distorted but it's no where close to anything I've heard people do with the Axe-Fx models or the real Mark V
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I owned a real Mark V for years and to be honest I really didn't feel it had all that much gain on tap unless you really cranked the treble and presence. .
 
I would also suggest in addition to Mikkos Mark IV guide there is also a preset of his floating about somewhere " Mikkos Mesa Boogie Mark IV " works very nicely. I do not own a Mark V but I do have a Mini rectifier and a Triple Rectifier so I am well acquainted with their idiosyncrasies. Really a love / hate thing dealing with Mesa's - ha . The axe really nails that perfectly along with the oddities of their gain structure, extremely authentic IMO.
 
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