Amplitudes: The Mesa Boogie Blog
Tones And Tips, Guitar Products, Artist
Stacked Mark Fives - Put Your "B" Rig to Work
Long-time MESA® owner and all-around Tone Enthusiast Ted Aguilar from Death Angel stopped by the Home Of Tone recently to pick up his two MARK FIVE™ Heads that were re-tubed and given a thorough going over in preparation for his upcoming European Tour. While he and his amps were here, we helped him explore ways of getting more Tone, pound for pound, out of what he was already using, as well as exploring options with the Triple Crown 50 he had in his arsenal at home.
We employed a MESA Switch-Track™ AB/Y Amp Switcher to incorporate both MARK FIVE™ preamps and give him the options of using either head for different sounds or both of them together for a sound made up from the two amps in different Channels/Modes and/or settings, through one Cabinet. …each amp feeding one half of the MESA "Split-able" (Stereo) 4x12 Rectifier® Traditional Cabinet.
While overall power on each amplifier was reduced slightly due to the two speakers on each side (vertically) wired in Parallel, producing a 4-Ohm Load when the Cabinet is Split as opposed to the 8 Ohm Load presented when the Combined (or Mono) Jack on the Rear Panel is used, you can clearly hear Ted’s reaction upon experiencing the huge blended sound when the amps were combined.
We chose to add the second MARK FIVE set to CRUNCH in Channel 2 with Gain set differently as well as different/more conservative Graphic EQ settings, to enhance definition and punch as well as infuse a slight British flavor. There were also many other amps, modes and settings tested en route to Ted's flavor of the day including some, surprising to Ted and even MESA’s John Marshall, MARK I Mode settings also in Channel 2 of the FIVE. In the end, all those sampled added surprising girth, dimension, fullness and definition to the great MARK FIVE sounds Ted was happily accustomed to. At the end of the session, he left the building feeling inspired and excited to get home and begin wiring it all up for the coming Tour. If you have a second amp, enhanced tone and big sound are only a Switch-Track AB/Y Switch and Recto cab away!
