Mark Five:25 : Nothing Compares.

This has to be one of the best and greatest guitar amplifiers ever made and I have owned a lot, Orange, Peavey, Vox, Marshall, Roland and several Mesa Boogie's. The tone is to die for albeit slightly thinner than my Dual Rectifier but then even most 100 watt heads are. This head had an enormous role to fill particularly as I took the brave decision to buy the Rectifier 1x12 straight cab to compliment it. How did it perform in the studio and on stage with my band? It passed with flying colours, seriously good tone and punchy with a surprisingly good amount of bottom end. The guitar really cut through the mix. My band mates were blown away and really liked the clear sound it produced. Very easy to get a good tone from too. Do I still prefer my Dural Rectifier for bone crushing tone? Yes. Will I be using the Mark V 25 live from now on? Yes. It is so good that I am willing to keep my Dual Rectifier at home. The sound it produces ranges from really clear cleans, blues, classic rock, classic 80s metal through to jaw dropping modern metal, it is mind blowing how Mr Smith crammed so much awesome tone into such a small head. Yes, it is expensive but you really get a lot for your money. I can't think of any other amp in this category that compares its that simple. Also, it weighs less than 8Kgs. I watched the John Petrucci play through video on Youtube and was convinced it was the right amp head to get for playing live.