Amplitudes: The Mesa Boogie Blog

Monuments guitarist John Browne brings another round of 7-string guitar wizardry to the Tone Sessions, this time playing through the Mark Five: 35™ head and a Rectifier® Traditional 4x12. The song “Stygian Blue” is an unreleased song from the band’s 2016 writing sessions for their third Monuments album due out this year.

This playthrough is a great showcase of the versatility of the Mark Five: 35 for both pristine, sparkling clean sounds and tight, accurate and detailed gain sounds for both extended range rhythm tones and searing-yet-smooth single note lead sounds. It’s worth noting that the Ch. 2 gain setting for both rhythm and solo sounds in this video was less than halfway up - tons more crunch to be had for those who love massive gain!

Channel 2 Settings:

Combined with the graphic EQ and multi-speaker closed-back cabs like 2x12s and 4x12s, the punch and saturation of Ch. 2 is substantial & accurate and combines the snarl and sparkle of Mesa®’s well-known four EL-84 power section with the renowned gain of Mark Series amps.

That same Dyna-Watt™ power section brings pro level clean headroom to the compact Mark Series format. For this song John was looking for VERY pristine, sparkling clean sounds and had the Gain control set very low at – around 3 – to maintain optimum clarity. Even at that low gain setting, the Master was still less than half – leaving plenty of room for even more headroom if needed.

Channel 1 Settings:

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In addition to being available as a Short Chassis head and 1x12 combo, the Mark Five: 35 is even offered as a 4-space rack mount for those looking to build compact touring/gigging rigs.

Recorded with John Browne’s Signature Mayones Duvell Qatsi guitar with Bareknuckle Ceramic Nailbomb pickups into the following signal chains:

Ch. 1 Clean: Mayones Duvell Qatsi JB Signature Guitar with Bareknuckle Ceramic Nailbomb > Jim Dunlop MXR Carbon Copy > Origin Effects Cali 76 Pedal > Mark Five: 35 > Rectifier 4x12 Traditional Straight

Ch. 2 Rhythm: Mayones Duvell Qatsi JB Signature Guitar with Bareknuckle Ceramic Nailbomb > Reaper Pedals JB Signature Pandemonium OD > Boss NS 2 > Mark Five: 35 > Rectifier 4x12 Traditional Straight

Ch. 2 Lead: Mayones Duvell Qatsi JB Signature Guitar with Bareknuckle Ceramic Nailbomb > Jim Dunlop MXR Carbon Copy > Reaper Pedals JB Signature Pandemonium OD > Boss NS 2 > Mark Five: 35 > Rectifier 4x12 Traditional Straight

Recorded with the Mark Five: 35 Head and 4x12 Rectifier Traditional with Vintage 30 speakers. Mic’d with a Shure SM57, Mojave MA-301 FET and the CabClone™.

Ch. 1 Clean: Mixed 50% Mojave MA-301 and 50% CabClone w/ Open Back Cab Sim.

Ch. 2 Rhythm/Lead: Mixed 33% SM57, 33% Mojave MA-301 30% CabClone w/ Open Back Cab Sim and 4% Stereo Room Mic for Ambience

Waves SSL Channel Strip plugin with -3dB at 400hz, Hi-Pass at 80hz and Lo-Pass at 6.5K, and LA-3A compression at -1dB.

Our thanks to John Browne and Monuments for the time, great playing and great music!
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Recorded in the historic Mason’s Lodge above the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, CA on January 20, 2016. Big thanks to the Regency Ballroom & staff for all the help and the experience in the legendary Mason’s Lodge!
www.theregencyballroom.com

The Mark Five: 35:
www.mesaboogie.com/amplifiers/electric/mark-series/mark-five-35/index.html

Rectifier 4x12 Traditional:
www.mesaboogie.com/cabinets--simulators/guitar-cabinets--simulators/rectifier-series/4x12-recto-traditional-size-straight.html