Mark Five:25 25-/10-watt 1 x 10-inch Tube Combo Amp - Black Taurus Review

Cher Petite Boogie!

Best little amp you me or anybody else ever heard. After owning it for a year and using it for gigs I can honestly say that. It's sounds as stunning today as the day I heard it in a local shop. I was mesmerized how this little amp filled the whole shop with this heavenly sound. Different players with different guitars all played it and it just continued to deliver. I eventually… read more took it for a spin. With a trusty Strat is memiced Fender cleans and Strat tones to die for. How does this little box do it. Flamethrower lead sounds! Crunchy Stoneish tones. It's all in there at the twist of a knob or flick of a switch. It'll keep up with a drummer too! No problem! If your need a big THUMP or Bone Jarring low end… look some where else. But it you want the ultimate tiny tone machine… the Mark V 25 can deliver. It's not cheap but it doesn't sound cheap either… Strats, SG's and ES-175… it don't care… at 24lbs. and smaller then a Blues Jr. it's the grab and go amp King!

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The Tiny But Mighty Little Tube That Could:

The tiny little Mesa Boogie Mark Five 25 Combo is really quite an awesome little tube amp. Without going into too many details as deeper The tiny little Mesa Boogie Mark Five 25 Combo is really quite an awesome little tube amp. Without going into too many details as deeper dives have been covered in other reviews, I'll just add a few of my thoughts about it from how I use it. My… read more other current amps are a 64 Fender Princeton Reverb and a Blackstar Studio 10 6L6 and both of them are great sounding small amps in their own particular ways. I use it mainly for recording direct and the CabClone, though basic with only 2 settings, it gets the job done very well. It has nice dynamics and feel with lots of tonal options to supplement and tweak the direct sound output. Playing it out loud in my home, it sounds very good and would likely work in most smaller venues. In larger spaces you may need to run a direct line to front of house to supplement the speaker, mic it, or add an extension cabinet. I am not blasting it out in my home, so keep that in mind. The reverb tone sounds very good to me. It's not overpoweringly swampy, but in my opinion, it is a very good sounding tube spring reverb. It doesn't quite get you into total Surf territory when you dime it, but I do like its sound a lot. The two reverb knobs which can be set separately for each channel are located on the back of the amp. They are easily reached and adjusted by feel as they are located just over the top of the amp. I play mostly clean to slightly gritty guitar tones. The Channel 1 Clean and Fat setting are very good, with just a bit of Vox chime. Great fat Jazz and Classic Rock tones. The Crunch setting sounds great, but does cause a pretty big volume bump when switching the Clean channel selector to that setting. Using the high gain on Channel 2 with my Strat, I'm able to tame the gain down and get a great warm and creamy 70's Rock tone. I don't do Metal, but I would imagine that it would do the job. Check the Metal reviewers for more info. The EQ lets you get a boost or cut if all the frequencies controls are moved together, up or down as needed. You can also tone shape with them and it's foot pedal switchable on or off. I mainly keep it out of the circuit, but it seems to work just fine. It comes with a nice heavy cover and a foot switch allowing both channel switching and EQ on and off. It also has an effects loop which I haven't tried. Be aware that it has an always on cooling fan that sounds like those on a computer, but I think it is fairly quiet. The amp is very tiny and easy to carry. The control panel is pretty small. If you have huge hands, it might be a problem reaching the the channel 1 toggle switch. The little amp seems like a premium product and is very well made. It comes with a very thorough printed manual with lots of details on how to use the amp and how to get all the tones that are available in it. You will have to work a bit to get the tones, as this is a somewhat complex little beast, but they are there. For its tiny size and all the features and tones available, it is an amazingly cool little piece of engineering. It carries a 5 year warrant too except for tubes. It is a pro level product with a pro level price, but I think it's definitely worth it.

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Every tone I need in a small package

I owned a Mark V 25 head when they first came out. After a while I bought a full size 90 watt Mark V head. That head thru a 4x12 was my main gigging rig for a long time. But I have been out of the band scene for a while now and sold off the old rig. But I missed that Mark V sound. When I saw this, it was perfect! Best of all I still have a custom made 1x12 I can run it with if I… read more need the extra volume. It's like having a portable amp head that still is usable all on its own. If you want amazing versatility, and world class tone, and all in a small portable package this is the answer! Worth every penny!

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An amp to rule them all!

This amp surpassed by far all the expectations I had before buying it. I am an intermediate guitar player and I have been exploring several music genres, all the things starting from fusion jazz and finishing at hardcore metal. As I moved from my country to USA, I was looking for a small amp that fits all those sounding demands and easily to take it back home, so my sales… read more engineer Zach Menard made an awesome job recommending this chameleon beast. When I opened the box, everything was in perfect shape as it should, not a single scratch and the quality of the materials did not disappointed me in any form, so i proceeded to read the manual (highly recommended) and about one hour later, just plugged everything. My first impression was that this amp worth's every single dollar. It is the most versatile amp I have ever played in different aspects. First i plugged my Yamaha Pacifica 112J, just to hear what a cheap guitar sounds with it. I never though a $200 guitar could sound as good as a $2,000 one. Both channels sounded awesome with all the pickups configurations, but the real magic begins when the 5 band EQ is activated. You can go from deep bassy groars to shimmering glassy cleans with the same equipment. Seriously, you can play everything you want with this beast. After i tested it with the Pacifica, I proceeded to plug in my strat and i discovered a whole new world of excellent sounds that i was not aware off before. In other aspect, this amp let you use it for room practicing at low volumes with the 10 watts and master volume configuration. I live in a small apartment with my wife, and only by having the door closed, i can crank it up without disturbing her and yet get roary sounds at low volume. For a small gig, it can get as loud as you need with the 25 watts selector without losing any sound qualities. So this make it a tool that will do the job, whatever the job is. Other useful stuff that it comes with, is the open back cab or close back cab selector and 1 reverb knob (real spring pool reverb) for each channel. Because of this, now I'm thinking of removing my overdrive, fuzz and reverb pedals from my pedalboard and put something else in those spots. The only small inconvenient I had with this amp, is that for some reason, it detects some sort of radio or tv transmission and I can hear it at the speaker. To fix this, I only changed it to another location a little bit far away from the window and it never happened again. This only happens in that specific spot, but it may be a problem for other people. Other than that, I think I will never buy another amp in my life because this one does everything I need. For sure I will buy some replacement tube sets to keep using it for several years.

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Maybe the best small amp ever made!

I previously owned a custom Boogie Mark IV (Bubinga cab, cane grill) for almost 30 years - it was a work of art, but way too much amp for me to master - I could never seem to dial in an authentic Mark I or 'D'-esque tone. I reluctantly sold it a year ago as part of a major downsizing of my guitar and amp collection. I didn't miss the amp, itself, (anyone who has parted with great… read more gear know that letting go is a "process") - but I did miss having a Boogie as part of smaller collection. An online thread (a telecaster discussion page) gave me the inspiration to buy a Mark Five:25 Combo from Sweetwater this past summer - with the help of my terrific Sales Engineer, Ashton Vaudt. It lingered on my wish list for some time before I finally committed. In 55 years of playing (or rather, playing at, guitar), I've owned many amps - Fenders, the Mark IV, several limited edition Vox's, Blackstar, Laney, Marshall and several 5 watt amps of various pedigrees. Without a doubt, the Mark Five:25 is the most versatile and player-friendly of the bunch. My amp arsenal is down to three amps now, and this new Boogie is the centerpiece. I'm still experimenting with it and learning all that the amp has to offer - but dialing in a new tone is so easy and accessible - if you remember to adjust in small increments. Lastly, that inspiring thread pointed the way to finding a great tone, with little effort. I didn't expect to find a holy grail tone in the Xtreme channel - but there it was. That Ford, Carlton, Santana sweet spot - gorgeous note "bloom" with just a little "hair" - it was so gratifying to find that tone. Xtreme/Gain, 3/Treble, 0/Mid, 5-6/Bass, 0/Presence, 0/Master, 5 - EQ, On (yes, those are the EQ settings) - 10W (25, for a little more headroom). The Mark Five:25 is an amazing musical instrument - enjoy!

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