Mesa Mark IV guys...

[chrisolson]

Well, I now have a VERY CLEAN Mark IV rackmount head in my posession! The only issue I had - everything worked perfectly when I demo'd it. I brought it home, and the footswitch didn't work other than to toggle the EQ on/off. I played with every switch/setting for 2 hours! I finally gave up. Yesterday I decided to take another crack at it. There was a wire broke in the XLR connector. I made a "bridge", soldered it in, and VOILA! Works perfectly now! That said, I found another FU-3 on Craigslist, and bought that for $50 shipped, so I'll have a spare, and will probably have a new XLR head put on the other one at some point, as I expect that will probably not be the last time that happens.

I have spent about 4 hours with this amp, and I think I've already unlocked some of it's secrets! What a playable amp! John - "organic" was the EXACT term I came up with. I like that. Its got a sound unlike any other amp I have ever had. AND IT IS NOT A RECTO!!! Soooooooo versatile, sooooooo many sounds. You're right - I love modded Marshall tones, and I REALL have that covered in spades. The only amp that will move on is the JCM 900 - by the time I pay to have it modded, etc., it will be a much more expensve amp than the M4, and since I decided to keep the Chupa, I think 3 Marshall based heads is enough for now. The Chupa and the Splawn murder the 900 to my ears anyway. I'm sure the mod would change that, but again, not too sure what sense it would make to turn it into something I already have. Tesla rocked the SHIT out of them a couple weeks ago though...

I LOVE the M4's lead channel, even without the EQ engaged, and have figured out a great setting for the much hated Rhythm 2 channel. I just boost it with my Boss SD1, and it's killer! I can't figure out why people hate it so much, other than not having the thought of boosting it with a $40 overdrive pedal... I don't use the clean much at all, but it is certainly nice, and it is the only clean channel I have on any amp that's really worthwhile.

I like the difference in tones with the Simul/Class A tones. I like the crunch the EL34s in the Class A mode afford, and how smooth it gets when the 6L6s engage on the SimulClass setting. Harmonics is the place to be as well. Huge differences in the Tweed vs. Full power modes as well. I prefer the Tweed, but the Full setting makes it sound HUGE!!!

Overall, a winner, and the only Boogie I've really wanted - for about 17 years to be exact... Thank God it doesn't have any Recto overtones, and it's certainly not a Marshall, which is just fine - I need something a little different to keep it interesting.

I'll post more as I get into it deeper. Loving it so far.

[chrisolson]

I love my Mark IV...bought it new about 10 years ago and it has done everything I've ever needed and more. I love this amp and will probably never sell it.

THAT SAID...I just bought an Axe -FX and a Mesa 2:90 Power amp just for a change of pace.

Did you dial in your MK IV channel yet?

[jgcable]

Well, I now have a VERY CLEAN Mark IV rackmount head in my posession! The only issue I had - everything worked perfectly when I demo'd it. I brought it home, and the footswitch didn't work other than to toggle the EQ on/off. I played with every switch/setting for 2 hours! I finally gave up. Yesterday I decided to take another crack at it. There was a wire broke in the XLR connector. I made a "bridge", soldered it in, and VOILA! Works perfectly now! That said, I found another FU-3 on Craigslist, and bought that for $50 shipped, so I'll have a spare, and will probably have a new XLR head put on the other one at some point, as I expect that will probably not be the last time that happens.

I have spent about 4 hours with this amp, and I think I've already unlocked some of it's secrets! What a playable amp! John - "organic" was the EXACT term I came up with. I like that. Its got a sound unlike any other amp I have ever had. AND IT IS NOT A RECTO!!! Soooooooo versatile, sooooooo many sounds. You're right - I love modded Marshall tones, and I REALL have that covered in spades. The only amp that will move on is the JCM 900 - by the time I pay to have it modded, etc., it will be a much more expensve amp than the M4, and since I decided to keep the Chupa, I think 3 Marshall based heads is enough for now. The Chupa and the Splawn murder the 900 to my ears anyway. I'm sure the mod would change that, but again, not too sure what sense it would make to turn it into something I already have. Tesla rocked the SHIT out of them a couple weeks ago though...

I LOVE the M4's lead channel, even without the EQ engaged, and have figured out a great setting for the much hated Rhythm 2 channel. I just boost it with my Boss SD1, and it's killer! I can't figure out why people hate it so much, other than not having the thought of boosting it with a $40 overdrive pedal... I don't use the clean much at all, but it is certainly nice, and it is the only clean channel I have on any amp that's really worthwhile.

I like the difference in tones with the Simul/Class A tones. I like the crunch the EL34s in the Class A mode afford, and how smooth it gets when the 6L6s engage on the SimulClass setting. Harmonics is the place to be as well. Huge differences in the Tweed vs. Full power modes as well. I prefer the Tweed, but the Full setting makes it sound HUGE!!!

Overall, a winner, and the only Boogie I've really wanted - for about 17 years to be exact... Thank God it doesn't have any Recto overtones, and it's certainly not a Marshall, which is just fine - I need something a little different to keep it interesting.

I'll post more as I get into it deeper. Loving it so far.

Keep posting Chris. I am interested in your overall take on the Mark IV. One thing you will notice is that the Mark IV has alot of presence for an amp that doesn't have a ton of midrange. I didn't know you were looking at a rack mount unit. Thats very cool.

[chrisolson]

Keep posting Chris. I am interested in your overall take on the Mark IV. One thing you will notice is that the Mark IV has alot of presence for an amp that doesn't have a ton of midrange. I didn't know you were looking at a rack mount unit. Thats very cool.

I might grab a shell for it...but is it worth an extra $150-200 to do that? I don't know...

The amp is driven from the high end, but has the right amount of mids for me. Low end is in the background too, which makes me happy. I hate amps with thump. I like 'em to tear! I'm running the presence @ 3-4 on all channels, and the push-pull is IN.

I'll post a pic when I get a chance. I have to take some of the Marshall anyway so I can get that up on Craigslist.

[Grim]

Keep posting Chris. I am interested in your overall take on the Mark IV. One thing you will notice is that the Mark IV has alot of presence for an amp that doesn't have a ton of midrange. I didn't know you were looking at a rack mount unit. Thats very cool.

This is actually something I notice with every Mark IV I play through - The gain structure is very interesting! Certainly seems brighter than you'd think, even with the fat switch depressed. My SG sounds fantastic through the Mark IV mode of my Mark V, which sounds like a Mark IV to my ears (lol) and it just kills. I don't think the amp is that hard to use either. It's a bit intimidating, but I found the controls to be quite intuitive once I took a minute.

You're so right about it not being a Recto too - Even the "Extreme" gain setting on the Mark V I find closer to something like a bright 6505+ (6534+?) than a recto. It's a completely different gain structure.

Enjoy, I forsee you having a lot of fun with this amp, I certainly enjoy my V!

[emperor_black]

The weird thing about this amp is by upping the presence, there is a noticeable boost in gain, not just the higher frequencies. Which is quite different from how other amps behave.

[Sukkoi19]

Yup, I do have the Dk1. Its my second fav of the herd...the first being my Dk2T which is getting a paint job by Mr. Learn as we speak. The neck is thinner than the DK2T's llke you said. Still not too gaga over the Nebula graphic but the guitar is a bomb!

If you have not tried it yet, try a MXR 10 band in the loop man. the tonal options this combination gives are totally worth it.

Yes I do have an MXR 10 band through the loop. It just seemed liked it needed a lot more tweaking when it came to playing in different locations. I would get it sounding great in the practice room and then when playing a gig would have to start all over for that venue. I just got lazy really and the ease of my 6505 won out. That amp is hard to EQ improperly even if you are trying to make it sound bad. Still an amazing head and I do love it as long as my other guitar player is the one having to mess with it.

Good to hear you still have that DK1. It was an amazing guitar but gawd damn that neck got painful to play for any length of time for me. Great for the leads however.

[KINGSFAN]

IMO the Mark IV is the greatest amp to date. I have owned a Mark III, IV and V and still have the IV and V. The IV is my main rig while the V is a backup. Currently running the Mark IV with a Mesa Satellite, with the Axe Ultra for FX and it is the greatest rig EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also this is coming from a dude who gigged with Marshall JCM 800's for 20 years.

[Robotechnology]

I recently picked up a Mark IV short head. Sold my previous Mark IV head around 2 years ago. Decided to mess around with one again and see how it goes. Glad you like your rackmount. Every rackmount IV I've ever touched always sounded killer for some reason.

[chrisolson]

Thx, Robo. I have had the same experience - the guys with the heads/combos sounded good; the guys with rack mounts sounded AWESOME! Not sure why that is, but it is!

I haven't had mine on in a week...home repair & improvement. I have to travel for work next week, so my playing time has & is taking a beating. I'll have to make the next couple days count.

One side effect - it made me realize that variety of tone is a good thing. I had a pile of Marshall-y stuff. I'm cutting that back. I'm looking for an Orange now as well - likely a Rockerverb. That should round out the tone pallette quite nicely.

That said, the Mk IV is arguably the best amp I've had.

[Wizard of Ozz]

They are cool amps, but take a bit of time and effort to dial in. Upping the presence around 1-3:00 worked best for me, and adds a nice aggressive edge to the tone combined with the classic "V" eq pattern.

[KINGSFAN]

Greatest Rig Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[chrisolson]

^^Brings tears to my eyes!

[Patt]

Hey Folks:

First post, and a subject near and dear to my heart.

My Mark IV acquisition three years ago ENDED my insatiable amp quest. (I'm 44 and been playing for ever it seems, have owned and sold everything. ehhhh. G.A.S.)

As for tweaking a tone (This is my take and I'm no expert)
The rotary eq is Pre distortion. The grapic is POST distortion, So, I imagine I have an eq. pedal followed by an overdrive pedal followed by another eq pedal. Not unlike when we had a marshal and we'd beef the input with an overdrive or eq pedal.

So, if you dial a lot of bass at the rotary controls things get sloppy and 'flubby'. And naturally if you boost the treble you get gain. I dial in treble around 7 and mids at 2 or three. the bass is at an unbelievable 1 or so. but you get the lows back with the Graphic.

Again this is just my take on dialing it for a heavy sound on the lead channel.

Cheers.

Patt.

[chrisolson]

Good illustration, Pat. Hadn't really thought about it like that, but it certainly makes sense!

Welcome to JCF, btw...