Mesa Mark IV guys...

[chrisolson]

Got a possible deal in the works today!

Talk to me about the MK IV. I had a buddy that had one, and it was the first Meas I heard first hand. It was AMAZING, and I've wanted one since that day, but just didn't have a good opportunity until now...

Comments? Like? Dislike? I know it has a learning curve, and the manual is essential to getting started. I'll be running it through a Marshall 1960A w/T75's (for now - moving on to a Greenback cab at some point), and running a Lexicon in the loop (MX200 now, Nova System down the road).

It will probably cost me my Marshall JCM900 combo and maybe my Chupacabra, but my Quick Rod cover the Chupa territory, and the JCM was going to end up making a trip to Voodoo labs.

[djpharoah]

I don't have one (yet!) but I love it too. My experience stems from playing around with my buddy's Mark IV head.

1) It's f'n LOUD!! (only dislike - can't really run it at bedroom levels since it's 0-0.25-Rocket Ship Blastoff Volume)
2) It nails a very nice metal Rhythm Tone ( LOG, DT etc etc)
3) Beautiful lead tone. Can do everything from Santana to shreddy high gain John Petrucci stuff.
4) Play around with the EQ a lot (my buddy has changed his settings a bit since he first got it)
5) Clean boost it with a tube screamer or any derivative of one. It makes it sound a lot tighter on the low end.

[etepbbb]

They do take some fiddling around with, don't give up to quick. Also, check out the Boogie Board as they have posts of settings and that can be a great jump start, depending what your after. FWIW, I had an M4, now an M5, and like the M4 a little better with regards to the lead channel.

[chrisolson]

Hoping to get a demo lined up for tomorrow night. Couldn't get it to happen today...oh well. Got some pics with better detail -- it's set up with EL-34's & 6L6's, so I was glad to see that. Looks like the fan is there, and the tubes are a "few months old". No reverb tank that I notices, but I'd never use it anyway.

I'm planning on running it like my Splawn to control the volume, so I'll put a volume control in the loop. Hope it works... I think I can find almost any tone I'd need out of it. I hate heavy downtuned mud, and it seems this is able to cover a lot of stuff from the 80's & 90's from what I've heard. I'm really looking forward - hope it happens. All I'll need to do after that is find a headshell. Not really wanting to keep it in a rackmount.

[emperor_black]

I owned one for almost 2 yrs. A early 90's Type A. Just traded it to a JCF forum member.

Hit the boogie forums. Those guys know everything about them amps. There is a huge 40+ page just for Mark IV questions. Its very middy amp and if you love mids, this is the greatest. but if you want to scoop mids for some death metal once in a while, get a MXR 10 band and put it in the fx loop. SICK tones!!

[akoch]

It is a very good amp. I have had one for over 10 years, and it is not going anywhere. But I would not say this is my favourite amp either. I would also say it is not an "upgrade" from a JCM900, so you might want to be careful about this.

[chrisolson]

It is a very good amp. I have had one for over 10 years, and it is not going anywhere. But I would not say this is my favourite amp either. I would also say it is not an "upgrade" from a JCM900, so you might want to be careful about this.

Let me put it like this -- the only way that my JCM 900 stays with me is after a good mod job, so while my initial investment wasn't bad, after paying for a mod job, now we're talking REAL money. I will have less into the Mk IV if I can just get my investment back from the JCM. I won't take anything away from the JCM however...it's a great amp. I would have had it modded to smooth it out, lose a little of the sizzle, and get a more musical gain. Probably would have had Voodoo do it. But it would have turned it into something just like my other amps. Not that it's a bad thing...

I also have a lot of redundancy in Marshall tones with the Friedman modded JCA head, the Chupa, and the Quick Rod. I don't like modern Mesas very much after having owned an F-100, Rectoverb, and Single Rec. But the Mk IV tone has always "spoke" to me. My buddy's was one of the best sounding amps I've ever heard, and my tonal tastes have reverted back to where I was about 15-20 years ago. This should be a win/win.

HOPEFULLY my seller will not "be too busy" to sell me this amp tonight, and I'll have something to talk about tomorrow. The process has not been without a bit of frustration to this point, but hopefully patience pays off.

[straycat]

A full report Chris when you get it!

[markD]

i hope you have patience, hahaha....i had a MKIV for a while and it drove me insane!!!! it was my dream amp. according to the specs it did everything i ever thought i'd want an amp to do. it didn't. it only did one thing well, and that was make me sound like santana (it doesn't help that i kinda play like that anyway, but all "my" tone was lost - it is hard to explain). the amp is heavy in midrange, but i don't mind that. my biggest problem was getting a good bass and treble blend.

i also had a hard time keeping a tight sound. the bottom end always seemed flubby. i had a short head running the 6L6/EL34 combo. i had several cabs at the time - a marshall 1960, my array of rivera cabs w/ EVM12Ls, a recto 2X12 with V30s....each cab brought out a new "misery" frequency for me. i never bothered to put an extra EQ in the loop because i don't believe that i should spend $1900 on a head and have to add a $60 EQ to make it sound good.

i HATED the clean channel. it sounded way too solid-state for my tastes. i prefer a warmer, fender-type tone like my rivera amps have (or my vintage fenders). the boogie clean was a lot like a roland JC120 to my ears....very glassy and sterile. the so-called "crunch" channel was useless - well, it was okay as long as you don't want a clean channel (and vice-versa).

it was an amazing lead amp. i could sit for hours and just noodle on the lead channel. in fact, i had intended to keep it in the studio just for recording solos, but i found that impractical and GAS struck!!!

after a year and a half, i sold it to purchase a rivera KHR100.

anyway, i don't want to rain on your parade, but be prepared to work at getting the MKIV to be killer.

[chrisolson]

A full report Chris when you get it!

Shall do!

i hope you have patience, hahaha....i had a MKIV for a while and it drove me insane!!!! it was my dream amp. according to the specs it did everything i ever thought i'd want an amp to do. it didn't. it only did one thing well, and that was make me sound like santana (it doesn't help that i kinda play like that anyway, but all "my" tone was lost - it is hard to explain). the amp is heavy in midrange, but i don't mind that. my biggest problem was getting a good bass and treble blend.

i also had a hard time keeping a tight sound. the bottom end always seemed flubby. i had a short head running the 6L6/EL34 combo. i had several cabs at the time - a marshall 1960, my array of rivera cabs w/ EVM12Ls, a recto 2X12 with V30s....each cab brought out a new "misery" frequency for me. i never bothered to put an extra EQ in the loop because i don't believe that i should spend $1900 on a head and have to add a $60 EQ to make it sound good.

i HATED the clean channel. it sounded way too solid-state for my tastes. i prefer a warmer, fender-type tone like my rivera amps have (or my vintage fenders). the boogie clean was a lot like a roland JC120 to my ears....very glassy and sterile. the so-called "crunch" channel was useless - well, it was okay as long as you don't want a clean channel (and vice-versa).

it was an amazing lead amp. i could sit for hours and just noodle on the lead channel. in fact, i had intended to keep it in the studio just for recording solos, but i found that impractical and GAS struck!!!

after a year and a half, i sold it to purchase a rivera KHR100.

anyway, i don't want to rain on your parade, but be prepared to work at getting the MKIV to be killer.

I've heard that a few times, so I'm prepared for it. I've heard "the goods" from it, so I'm willing to take the time to get there. When I get frustrated, I've got some pretty easy-to-use amps to bring me back from the edge. I have a good friend who used one for years in case I get stuck too.

Thanks for the advice though!

[javert]

it only did one thing well, and that was make me sound like santana

You gotta hate an amp that does that! Did it make you play the dorian mode too?

[Sukkoi19]

I owned one for almost 2 yrs. A early 90's Type A. Just traded it to a JCF forum member.

Great head. I couldn't get it to do what I liked but my other guitar player loves it. Of course he gets to use it for free so maybe thats why he likes it so much. Still have that DK1 man? I know you weren't too hot on the Nebula graphic.

[Hellraiser6502]

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.

[jgcable]

I guess I will be in the minority here. I would keep the 900 and the Chupacabra. The Mark IV is a nice amp but I am going to take a guess and say you won't like it that much. Its organic. It takes alot of tweaking. You certainly like the Marshall based high gain tones and thats why you might not like the looseness of the Mark IV. It does sound much better as you turn it up loud.
My response is bias though. I love the JCM900 tone. Especially if you get it modded. Clean or dirty, its a fantastic recognizable tone.
I also am a huge fan of modded Plexi's and the Cieratone is one of my favorite boutique custom Plexi's. You will never get that tone out of a Mark IV.

[emperor_black]

Great head. I couldn't get it to do what I liked but my other guitar player loves it. Of course he gets to use it for free so maybe thats why he likes it so much. Still have that DK1 man? I know you weren't too hot on the Nebula graphic.

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.