[TI4-1009]

My local music store has a Mesa Boogie Mk V, used at a reasonable price. Is it useful for the tone we're after here? I know Jerry used a Mk IIa for a while.

[tcsned]

My local music store has a Mesa Boogie Mk V, used at a reasonable price. Is it useful for the tone we're after here? I know Jerry used a Mk IIa for a while.

lol - I was just in my buddy's music store here in Blacksburg and they just got one in used too. I would think that it would do a reasonable job - I think it has a Mark II channel but it's a Mark IIC not and "A"
I've got a Mark III and a Mark IV and love them both

[tigerstrat]

The IIA was supposed to have a noisy reverb. The V seems like it would have a lot of features that wouldn't often get used by someone going for a Jerry clean sound. Or the III or IV for that matter. However, as tcsned can probably attest, they can all do pretty great clean tones- sometimes I think I am being overly picky in all these Fender preamp mods and tweaks,when I am usually very happy to just plug into my Mk III combo (w/ JBL) and let it rip. But then I plug into my Fender and decide yes, it's worth it

This guy has compiled some great info on Mark Boogies: http://homepage.mac.com/mesaboogie/welcome.html

[TI4-1009]

Thanks for the link. I know I shouldn't admit it here, but, well, uh, sometimes, just sometimes, I do like to play stuff other than Grateful Dead. Having cut my teeth in a 60's garage band- Stones, Who, Animals, Kinks, Rascals....

And considering that my current options are my Vox Valvetronics 120VT and an 80's red knob Champ 12, the Mesa should be a big step up.

[sants]

They are cool amps but way too many features for my liking. I played one and got some decent sounds but still like my twin and Deluxe reverb much more! I compared one to a a mesa tremoverb and liked the trem much more. The lonestars would be much better suited for a Jerry tone.

The V has a lot going on which can be both good and bad.

[tcsned]

Yeah, it seems to have a lot going on but if you want the versatility it'll be a great amp. I prefer my Mark III over the Mark IV because it has less going on but I played a little through the used Mark V at my buddy's store and it seemed like a really good amp. It sounds like you need something a little more versatile than a Twin and Boogies are certainly that. You might also want to look at Rivera amps too. I got an SMS preamp from Brad and run that into the Mark III effects loop and it's a great clean Fender sound plus having the option to disconnect and use the Boogie sounds. I play a lot of stuff other than Dead too so I like having options.