Any Carr Mercury V and Sportsman owners out there?

AllthegearNoidea

Looking for advice please. 

95% of the amps I’ve owned have been Fender based or clones. Likewise my guitars are usually Fenders. 

I owned a sportsman and sold it years ago

 I now have a PRS 594 and a Dr Z Z-Lux. I have found that I enjoy the z the most when driving it with a pedal. Firmly in Marshall territory. This made me think of the Mercury V which has the attenuation and could be played pedal free at any volume but  I might miss the Fender clean tones? From your experience of the V does it do nice cleans. 

The sportsman also took pedals like a dream but I can’t remember what the drive sound was like at lower volumes with the headroom control at lower volume. Anyone still own one and have a similar setup as me?

Carr Super Bee also on the radar when they land in the UK. 

Any help appreciated as always. 

Wazmeister

I’ve owned em all.

The Merc V is your man for those Fender/Marshall hybrid tones... superb amp at home and live.

Slant 6 is very much DR territory, but better. Needs volume though, and the Marshally drive channel is just ok.

Sportsman is one of my fave Princeton type, with a headroom control that brings break up and OD. A truly lovely ‘warm’ amp

Fishboy7

I'm not sure any of those would be significantly better than the Dr Z +  pedal though.  

AllthegearNoidea

Fishboy7 said:

I'm not sure any of those would be significantly better than the Dr Z +  pedal though.  

I must admit the Dr Z is showing hidden depths. A little bright maybe but very nice when driven. 

AllthegearNoidea

Wazmeister said:

I’ve owned em all.

The Merc V is your man for those Fender/Marshall hybrid tones... superb amp at home and live.

Slant 6 is very much DR territory, but better. Needs volume though, and the Marshally drive channel is just ok.

Sportsman is one of my fave Princeton type, with a headroom control that brings break up and OD. A truly lovely ‘warm’ amp

Thanks Warren. What made you sell the V?

Wazmeister

AllthegearNoidea said:

Wazmeister said:

I’ve owned em all.

The Merc V is your man for those Fender/Marshall hybrid tones... superb amp at home and live.

Slant 6 is very much DR territory, but better. Needs volume though, and the Marshally drive channel is just ok.

Sportsman is one of my fave Princeton type, with a headroom control that brings break up and OD. A truly lovely ‘warm’ amp

Thanks Warren. What made you sell the V?

Stupid GAS !!

Seriously, I miss the Merc V but I did replace it with a rather good Matchless Nighthawk which I couldn’t turn down

AllthegearNoidea

Wazmeister said:

AllthegearNoidea said:

Wazmeister said:

I’ve owned em all.

The Merc V is your man for those Fender/Marshall hybrid tones... superb amp at home and live.

Slant 6 is very much DR territory, but better. Needs volume though, and the Marshally drive channel is just ok.

Sportsman is one of my fave Princeton type, with a headroom control that brings break up and OD. A truly lovely ‘warm’ amp

Thanks Warren. What made you sell the V?

Stupid GAS !!

Seriously, I miss the Merc V but I did replace it with a rather good Matchless Nighthawk which I couldn’t turn down

The nighthawk sounds great on the demos. 

smudge_lad

I also had a Merc V and totally loved it! Absolutely killer amp, and my only regret is that I never got to use it live due to Covid!

Two downsides for me - the gain stages were not foot-switchable and no FX Loop. However, these are both VERY small downsides on an otherwise superb amp. 

It can get pretty clean, especially with guitar volume roll-off, and can definitely deliver the goods when cranked! Takes pedals well, looks the part - great amp!

Only sold mine as it was a place-keeper until my new guitar was built. I bought it at the start of lockdown, but then needed the cash to pay for the guitar once it was finished.

I'd definitely buy another one if funds permitted

AllthegearNoidea

For those that helped I bought a Carr Super Bee. Brilliant amp. 

Benm39

Demos of the Super Bee sound awesome and really versatile.  Glad you found what you were looking for!

AllthegearNoidea

Benm39 said:

Demos of the Super Bee sound awesome and really versatile.  Glad you found what you were looking for!

Cheers. 

russpm

AllthegearNoidea said:

For those that helped I bought a Carr Super Bee. Brilliant amp. 

What is it best at??

AllthegearNoidea

Really great blackface tones on the 68 setting. The 72 setting drives brilliantly.  Takes pedals like a dream and the attenuator is fantastic. 

You can get real valve distortion at home volumes.