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rabies wrote: This is precisely when I have learned to put the guitar down, turn off the amp, and walk away. The madness has eased somewhat by trading my mkiv for a single channel VHT, but I still am confronted by the urge to remove the back panel and start swapping tubes. Must resist.....

Sounds like you're in mkiv hell - I've been there man. But there's a mkiv heaven, too, and its awesome. One of the issues I had, and it sounds like you are having, is that the mkiv is a very complicated amp and when it starts to get old and have little problems, it can be hard to diagnose. My...

I've been very happy with a new production "mullard" 12AX7 (old brand name purchased by New Sensor, no relation to real Mullard tubes) for the V2 spot in the mkiv. It is very clean and smooth, which is great for V2 (a non-adjustable gain stage and fx return). Relatively cheap ~$17 compared to NOS.

Hate to say it, but I think you should just get a JCM900. If that's the sound you want, nothing will be as pure as the real deal. And they aren't very expensive and are widely available used. Just the other night I was at a show standing about 15 feet from a JCM900 w/matching standard 4x12 cab...

I own a short 1x12 combo and would advise you to get the wide head. The combo is heavy, and frankly it doesn't look very cool to have a little 1x12 combo sitting on a big cab for a show (although it leaves room for a couple beers on the cab, which is nice). I'd say get the wide version of the...

I've got a 91 mkivA. Its a great amp and has become a central part of my sound - but I have experienced several (perhaps coincidental) problems with it. It seems to go through tubes fast, both pre and power, so there may be some hard-to-detect issue with the tube heater circuit. I've had a...

There is a slight difference between really old ones and new. Back in the early 90s there was a change from Revision A to Revision B. There are some subtle differences between the two revs, but both should be fine for LoG-type tone. One thing I like about the Rev A is that the lead drive...

For the "modern" metal tone, one trick ponies like Framus and Diezel are tough to beat. But, at least in southern california, the modern metal tone seems to be falling out of favor. It was so popular for so long that it got to the point where everybody had the same mid-scooped sound. What was...

I've heard a lot of buzz about the Lonestar Special. El84s are becoming really popular for awesome cleans - check one out. I play a mkiv, and while it doesn't have the best cleans, they can get quite good, even at very loud volumes, with some tweaking. If you're interested in a mkiv, try one on...

I have that problem as well on my 91 mkiv revA, but I'm not sure its isolated to R2. I'll check it. When I noticed it happening, I just assumed it was a bunk component in the switchable fx loop circuit. So I switched over to the normal loop and only rarely miss the switch function. I've had...

I find it more convenient to control the input signal volume with a EB passive volume pedal than fiddling with the volume knobs on the guitar - maybe I'm just not very coordinated. So that, and a wah are between my guitar and the mkiv. Sometimes tremolo & delay in the fx loop, but that's the...

I use front settings similar to mrd's, but I prefer to run the channel volumes as low as possible. I run full power, pentode, and switch between class A and simul based on the type of tone I want - class A for more "tool" tone, simul for more "metallica". I find low channel volumes give the...

When I first got the mkiv, I was a little disappointed too. But after several months of trying different tubes and settings, I have to say that I am now totally stoked on it. One piece of advice - you'll probably need to set the preamp gain a bit lower than you'd think with those 5 new...

Don't ditch the new prod tung-sol without trying it in the lead socket (V3 for revA, V3 and V4 for revB, whichever one is controlled by the lead drive knob). I think it makes a great aggressive and harmonically-full lead tone.

Always on for R2 and Lead. Never on for R1. I find that if I use the GEQ as a mid cut/scoop (as I do for R2 & L), the clean sounds much better with its natural mids. I wish there was an independent bass knob for R1, though, since I have yet to find a good R2 setting with bass more than 2. R1...

The difference due to passive vs active pups is a mystery to me. Two things that I have found to cause crackling have been bad capacitors in the power conditioning circuit and inverter tubes that are not balanced. See if the gain values are listed on the box your inverter tube came in - the...

There's nothing special or magical about Mesa branded tubes. They've just been checked and sorted and relabeled. BUT one of the checks they do is for current draw at operating voltages, and this is critical. Since Mesa amps do not have a bias adjustment, you must be sure to use tubes that have...

I have this problem with my mkiv A using the standard FU-3 footswitch. It seems to be worse when the total lead gain (gain+drive) is high and the R1 gain is low. I have found that if I turn the R1 gain high enough, and run the lead channel with almost no total gain, there switching pop goes...

Absolutely right about the Tung Sol in V1. I've tried them several times and they always have a certain "ice-pick" brightness. Try a JJ there for a darker sound (though I have tried many new prod. 12AX7s in V1 and am currently using a Chinese 9th gen, specifically for its "marshally" high gain...

Awesome effort, man. I hope you'll start a trend here - this is a great way to objectively study an amp. I can't imagine how loud this must have been. With lead gain at 8, drive at 4-5, channel volume at 2, and output at 3.5 (full power, simulclass, pentode), I'm louder than the drummer by a...