Advice with my first Boogie purchase

[diesil]

Hey guys, so I finally sold my 6505+ and I have my eye on a Mark IV head. This may be a dumb question but is there anyway to tell if a head has been converted from a combo? Besides obvious asthetics of course but this one looks legit.

The reason I ask is that the handle on this one looks like all the ones i've seen on the combo's ( same as the Mark V handle I think )
Any pic I find of the head version has the flat style handle.

I have the serial number-013055 if that helps. Am I able to contact Mesa to find out?

Sorry if this seems stupid but i'm a noob so any info or help would be appreciated

 

[STP1972]

Call Mesa they can tell you for sure

 

[diesil]

Yeah, thats exactley what i did after this post, I would have done that first but I read a few posts saying Mesa didn't have records back that far but I emailed them last night and I had a reply first thing the morning and they confirmed it left as a head.

Anyway i'm off now to buy a Mark IV.....

 

[Retu]

Anyway i'm off now to buy a Mark IV.....

Thats a right thing to do

 

[diesil]

Ok, i'm the proud owner of a MKIV...I realise it's gonna take a while to dial in but I can't even get close to a good tone yet. i played a MKIII blue a few weeks back and it sounded great within a few minutes of tweaking, and it was through a cheap crappy Marshall cab.

I'm running through a recto 4x12 stock with a Dean DM Zero and it sounds muddy and not tight at all which is what I was expecting-similar to the III-am I wrong to expect that?? I know the III is renound to be more aggressive.

I've played around with as many combinations as possible but keep in mind I can't blow the windows out where I am so i'm running the following settings which prob sound the best so far.

Any input from you guys would be great.

Lead Gain 8 Pull
Treb 8
Bass 5
Mid 6
Mas Lead 2.5 Tried In and Out
Mid Gain On
Output 3
Class A
Tri
Tweed

 

[diesil]

Oh and EQ pretty close to V

 

[Rob Lockwood]

In my experience the IV is quite a lot smoother and less aggressive than the III, I have had both and much prefer the IV for the vocal lead sound, but for heavier rock/metal I can see that the III may be preferred. But try turning the bass down. There is a lot of bass available on these and the sound tends to get 'flubby' above 4 as the tone controls are placed before the drive part of the circuit. I like to set the other controls first then fine tune the bass by turning it up from 0 whilst playing on the lower strings till there is just a bit of muddiness then backing off a bit. Usually ends up around 2 to 3. You may get away with even lower and then you can add some back in by maxing out the bottom EQ slider. Makes a big difference! Also I suggest experimenting with the presence control both pulled and pushed in.

 

[THTH]

For a smooth full sound and starting point, try something similar to this on the lead channel:

Tweed Power = Loud enough to play with a metal band (If while using tweed power the distortion is low or weak on the Lead Channel, check preamp tube 1. Some 12AX7's including Mesa's don't perform well here in V1, I use an EH 12AX7)

Simul Class = All 4 Tubes ON, is great with 2 EL34's and 2 6L6's.

Pentode = Clearer, less compressed than triode, more high frequencies passing through on high strings

Reverb OFF = 0

Lead Gain:7-8 Pull Fat pulled - Fattens up the sound quite a bit
Lead Treble:6-10
Lead Bass:0-3 - Never exceed 4 or you will have flubby attack
Lead Mid:5
Lead Drive:6-8 Pull Bright pushed In - Pulling bright simultaneously with Pull Fat will create feedback at high volumes
Lead Presence:3-6 Pushed In - Pulling out the presence knob reduces the midrange
Lead Channel Master Volume:2-5
Lead Voicing: Harmonics - Less midrange, a more dynamic feeling on the strings
Set Graphic EQ LAST to a "V" shape with the middle 750 slider just above bottom white line(higher when with a band to cut through the mix), adjust bass and treble frequencies to your guitar's voice
OUTPUT LEVEL:1-5 - over 3 should be very loud

My guitars scream with these settings, adjust gain and drive when going from blues/classic rock to metal. Too much gain creates fuzz. Higher drive settings create smoothness and a slightly darker character. Have fun and experiment, the Mark IV is a great amp with many sounds.

 

[diesil]

Thanks, you were both right about lowering the bass - it did help but still not there yet....

 

[tsmez1]

It took me a while to also dial in what I wanted on my mark iv. I finally gave up and just searched for some presets that sound like *whoever's guitar" it got me going. Never let your Mark IV go! I did last year... *face palm