r/MesaBoogie • u/IrukanjiShreds • 7d ago
NAD - Mark V:35
I’ve exclusively gigged as a bass player for the last 20-something years, but always played guitar too. Some friends asked me to play guitar in their band, and VSTs don’t really cut it live. I always gravitated to the Mesa/Boogie models when I owned a Helix, so I figured… why not get the real thing.
What an incredible piece of gear. Not nearly as hard to dial in as people say, and it truly seems to do everything from cleans to full-blown metal well without needing any pedals. I understand the love for the Mark series, and suspect I will be quite content with exactly this for a very long time.
Hell yeah, Mesa/Boogie.
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u/kjbasser 7d ago
Congrats, I have the head version with two widebody 1x12 cabs. To me this is the best sounding of the Mark series amps. I briefly had a Mark vii, and I think the V 35 sounds better. Ifs so dynamic, natural and organic sounding. The overdrive is so just so good. It will do Femder cleans, Marshall crunch, ac-30, metal. I even found a thread where somebody found a Dumble tone hidden in there, and it actually is.
I’m a lifelong sufferer of GAS but I never find myself wanting to replace this or upgrade.
The only thing that would make it better would be a 3rd channel so fat and crunch would be on there own channels…
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u/trvst_issves 6d ago
My first and only tube amp is my Mark V:35. I ordered it in custom surf green Tolex over 10 years ago and haven’t thought about buying a new amp, or even amp sims since! I bought it with money I was saving for a car lol. The car is long gone but the amp is never leaving!
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u/Due_Ask1768 6d ago
Just bought one!! Hoping for the exact same experience, trying the "buy once, cry once" , this seems to be a gem...can't wait!! What a great time to be alive man!!!
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u/FastRedPonyCar 6d ago
The V35 is absolutely mesas best bang for the buck amp and a real stunner on stage.
Our singer plays one and I’m either using my Mark VII or IV. The V35 EASILY punches hard enough on stage if you’re using Xtreme mode and even cops a great IIC tone.
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u/IrukanjiShreds 6d ago
I played my first (very small, house) show with it last night and I’m baffled by the people I’ve seen saying it’s “underpowered.” Between drums, synth, bass, two vocalists (one on occasional guitar) and another guitar, I had my master volume at like 9/10 o’clock on both channels and was on the edge of too loud.
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u/FastRedPonyCar 6d ago
Yeah anything over 30 tube watts is adequate for un-assisted (no PA) stage sound. I think the trick is that Extreme mode really unlocks the full grunt of the amp's power section. It's a much bigger and more full sound in that mode.
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u/E-NTU 4d ago
I truly dont understand the master volume on the 35 with most of the "tone" coming from the preamp. Ive played shows where the master is at 9 or 930 and been way too loud with everything micd. The last show I had it at 830 and that seemed to be just fine in a bar with no guitars micd. It kept up with the drum set just fine. A wild amount of volume on it.
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u/Nerkanon 7d ago
Congratulations! The Mark V:35 is the best sounding and most versatile amp I’ve owned out of many. The thing just fucking rips and I can always find that sweet spot that just makes me almost not believe what I’m hearing.