DV Mark Amp - Which One?

[christianm77]

I am the guy who turns down the treble and bass on my Princeton down to 0, so maybe it’ll work for me lol

[christianm77]

I tried my guitar through a mark bass micro cube and thought it sounded great

[Longways to Go]

I am the guy who turns down the treble and bass on my Princeton down to 0, so maybe it’ll work for me lol

Is there any other way? LOL That is exactly why I sold my Princeton in favor of my Rivera.

I'm a fan of the Little Jazz myself. So small, so light. Very functional for my quiet gig purposes.

[Jbeckforever]

I think I'm leaning towards the DV Mark Micro 50 CMT. I can't find much on this amp, but it seems like its perfect for jazzy fusion stuff. I would hope the OD channel would be far more useable than the one on the Micro 50 due to the fact that they have implemented a vacuum tube into the circuit. But who knows. I wonder if the amp is louder than its strictly transistor brothers. I doubt it.

I guess it comes down to either getting a Jazz 12 and running pedals in front, or getting the head and spending more on a cabinet. There is a guy selling a Coyote cabs Alpha Pup cabinet with a 10" speaker, maybe I'll go see how low he will go on the price...

[christianm77]

Is there any other way? LOL That is exactly why I sold my Princeton in favor of my Rivera.

I'm a fan of the Little Jazz myself. So small, so light. Very functional for my quiet gig purposes.

Yeah I should see if I can get it modded. The mighty Jon Dickinson lives up the road so I’m sure he can advise.

[Longways to Go]

Yeah I should see if I can get it modded. The mighty Jon Dickinson lives up the road so I’m sure he can advise.

My understanding is that adding a mid control to a Princeton is a traditional mod. If I recall correctly, they often install the knob on the back where the external speaker out is located.

A seriously great sounding amp regardless!

[christianm77]

My understanding is that adding a mid control to a Princeton is a traditional mod. If I recall correctly, they often install the knob on the back where the external speaker out is located.

A seriously great sounding amp regardless!

I think I just want more of a mid push in general.

[GregMath]

I am sort of confused. Is there anything about the Micro 50 Jazz that makes its sound particularly "jazzier" than the Micro 50 Mark II? Do the clean channels sound identical? If so, I'm confused why anyone would buy the Micro 50 Jazz over the Mark II, since it has more features. As Lawson said, he thinks it was made with sturdier hardware too. Am I missing some reason that the Micro 50 Jazz might be preferable to the Mark II?

[Jim Soloway]

I am sort of confused. Is there anything about the Micro 50 Jazz that makes its sound particularly "jazzier" than the Micro 50 Mark II? Do the clean channels sound identical? If so, I'm confused why anyone would buy the Micro 50 Jazz over the Mark II, since it has more features. As Lawson said, he thinks it was made with sturdier hardware too. Am I missing some reason that the Micro 50 Jazz might be preferable to the Mark II?

I'm kind of asking the same question. The Jazz seems to be more expensive and it's missing the the line out. So why buy it instead of the Mark II?

[sgosnell]

More, different products == more revenue from more customers. There doesn't have to be a lot of difference, just something to attract buyers. It seems that the difference between the II and the Jazz is that the II has a lead/crunch/distortion/overdrive channel, and the Jazz doesn't. The II appears to be just an update of the original Micro50. I don't know if the voicing of the Jazz is the same as the I or II models, but if you want or need a distortion channel, the Jazz is not for you. If you want just clean, it might be. I've heard neither model, but I prefer the GK MB200 to the original Micro50. I definitely don't need a distortion channel.

[Jim Soloway]

More, different products == more revenue from more customers. There doesn't have to be a lot of difference, just something to attract buyers. It seems that the difference between the II and the Jazz is that the II has a lead/crunch/distortion/overdrive channel, and the Jazz doesn't. The II appears to be just an update of the original Micro50. I don't know if the voicing of the Jazz is the same as the I or II models, but if you want or need a distortion channel, the Jazz is not for you. If you want just clean, it might be. I've heard neither model, but I prefer the GK MB200 to the original Micro50. I definitely don't need a distortion channel.

The missing line out feature on the Jazz is pretty close to being a deal killer for me.

[christianm77]

Oh really? That sucks.

[Jim Soloway]

Oh really? That sucks.

[GregMath]

My primary concern is if the Micro Jazz is voiced the same as the II model. If their cleans are the same, then I would definitely go with the II. Even though I don't see myself using the crunch/overdrive channel, I don't see any harm in having it as an option.

I just sent DV Mark an e-mail to try to get an answer to this voicing question. However, if anyone here on the forum happens to know, I'd like to know because I'd like to pull the trigger on one of these.

[christianm77]

Let us know what they say!

[lawson-stone]

I'm kind of asking the same question. The Jazz seems to be more expensive and it's missing the the line out. So why buy it instead of the Mark II?

The DV Jazz head and the Micro50 II are the same price at Musicians Friend. And neither has a line out. They both have an effects loop, whose "send" can be used as a line out, though it's unbalanced. DV Mark Micro50 "original" had the XLR, but not the Micro50 II.

The only way to know from labeling you have the Mark II is the sticker on the bottom. And most dealers don't distinguish between the features of these in their product description, in part because the Micro50 and Micro50 II are not even distinct on the DVMark site.

[GregMath]

Lawson, do you have any personal experience playing with the DV Jazz head? If so, how does it compare sound-wise to the Micro50 II? Are their clean sounds the same? Any difference in their voicing?

[Alder Statesman]

The missing line out feature on the Jazz is pretty close to being a deal killer for me.

The Little Jazz and Jazz 12 have an XLR out and speaker mute, giving some great flexibility for recording and gigging into a PA.

[sgosnell]

Jim, I think what you need is another MB200. I recently replaced my Micro 50 with one, and I'm happy I did. It's a little bit smaller, lighter, and sounds marginally better. Amps can be tweaked to get a lot of sounds, but my preference is for one I can just put all the knobs flat and play. The MB200 does that for me. The Micro50 isn't far off, but did require some slight knob twisting. YMMV.

[Jabberwocky]

Just wish to chime in that Musician's Friend has a 15% off discount code on DV Mark amps till the end of 2017. The Micro 50 CMT Head costs $296.65 with free CONUS shipping. The Micro 50 Jazz Head, $254.15, free CONUS shipping. Tempted...

[lawson-stone]

The Little Jazz and Jazz 12 have an XLR out and speaker mute, giving some great flexibility for recording and gigging into a PA.

Important distinction: the Little Jazz and Jazz 12 COMBO amps have XLR out. The Micro50 Jazz has no XLR out, only the effects loop send. Likewise, the Micro50 II has no XLR, only the effects loop send.

These are reasons to consider the combo amps!

[Jim Soloway]

Jim, I think what you need is another MB200. I recently replaced my Micro 50 with one, and I'm happy I did. It's a little bit smaller, lighter, and sounds marginally better. Amps can be tweaked to get a lot of sounds, but my preference is for one I can just put all the knobs flat and play. The MB200 does that for me. The Micro50 isn't far off, but did require some slight knob twisting. YMMV.

That's definitely one of the top options. One thing I've learned on this trip is that if we plan to live in Mexico (which seems likely), then equipment redundancy is mandatory. There's not a lot of selection here and prices for gear are very high. There are a lot of talent repair technicians but these micro amps are not very conducive to that sort repair. They mostly require replacement boards that are difficult to get here.

[sgosnell]

Yes, repair of any modern electronic device is problematic, anywhere. The use of chips and circuit boards with surface mount components, along with the prices of them, makes repair difficult and more expensive than it's worth in many cases. Electronics have become disposable. You can buy a new inkjet printer for the same, or less, money than you'd pay for just new ink cartridges, and that has been the case for more than a decade. Reliability is certainly a consideration, as well as price. I don't know how mail order works down there - customs, tax, import fees, etc, so that may or may not be a viable option. If you can afford backups, they're probably a good idea.

[Jim Soloway]

Yes, repair of any modern electronic device is problematic, anywhere. The use of chips and circuit boards with surface mount components, along with the prices of them, makes repair difficult and more expensive than it's worth in many cases. Electronics have become disposable. You can buy a new inkjet printer for the same, or less, money than you'd pay for just new ink cartridges, and that has been the case for more than a decade. Reliability is certainly a consideration, as well as price. I don't know how mail order works down there - customs, tax, import fees, etc, so that may or may not be a viable option. If you can afford backups, they're probably a good idea.

Anything that involves shipping is pretty much out of the question. It either has to be something that is well represented in Mexico (like Boss/Roland), traditional tube technology that's easy to repair, or something that is inexpensive enough to back up and replace.

[Woody Sound]

Guitar Friend IS a micro 50 built into a cab with 12" speaker. You can take it out using a screwdriver and have a micro50 head without feet and front plate.

I just looked on their web site and it says it's discontinued. Of course, dealers/outlets may still have some.