Frustrated with Drop B tuning on the MKIV

[screamingdaisy]

A open back cab is not very tight. I recommend taking both guitars and your amp to try out some different cabs. 2x12 and 4x12. This should make a big difference. The lower you go the more problems you well have.

Another option (since he says he plays mostly at home) is a 1x12 Thiele cab.

http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Guitar%20Cabinets/COMPACTcabs/Thiele-1x12-LG.htm

 

[stephen sawall]

I had a Mesa 1x12 Thiele cab. Wish I never sold it. Great cab.

I would say the thing to do is try a few with your stuff.

 

[tony777]

Or a 4x12 at home, you might get divorced, but what the heck :twisted:

 

[zebpedersen]

The Rectifiers were designed with drop-tunings in mind and voiced accordingly. A Mark Series, particularly the IV, is designed with jazz, blues, rock, country..... in mind. Yes, it can do drop-tuned metal (just ask Lamb of God, Metallica...and even Petrucci with a 7 string) but is it just me that thinks drop B is perhaps just a step too far for this amp?

Your bass, gain and drive are key here, and none are that close to being full-up at all - I really think you should consider a different amp, particularly seeing as you've only listed here the settings for your lead channel, it's clearly the gain that you seek, and a dual- or triple-Recto will give it to you in spades, whereas this Mark is struggling to do a job it just wasn't designed to do.

This is the biggest nonsense I have ever read on this forum. My MKIV can do my baritone with drop G tight as hell with tons of distortion, a recto can never be as tight as a mark amp.
Raise your treble and lower your bass, then add the bottom end you need on your GEQ.

I'm not trying to ruffle anyone's feathers here mate, but you ask for an opinion and you get an opinion, just don't get angry with a different point of view.

I guess it's different definitions of 'good tone' - and in my humble opinion, anything below C that I've ever heard on a IV sounds like cack, and I'm as entitled to that opinion - and to voice it as a suggestion in an open discussion - as you are to your view that your IV sounds totally bitchen in drop G. I hope the OP finds the second half of your post more useful than the first.

 

[Fronzil]

some things aren't really a matter of opinion man..mesa will even tell you that the Mark IV is 'tighter' and more compressed then the rectos..it can handle low tunings..very easily...not saying you haven't heard em sounding like **** in low tunings, but chances are the people didn't know how to set them up right for lower tunings.

 

[mr_fender]

The tone stack (knob eq) on the Mark series amps is at the front of the chain, a.k.a. pre-gain EQ, like most Fender amps. In order to keep the bass notes tight, you have to run the bass control very low. Pushing too much bass into the input of any amp will make it fart out and sound like crap. That's why most distortion and overdrive pedals have a really whimpy bass output. Marshalls and the Rectifier series are post-gain EQ amps, with the tone stack at the end of the preamp circuit. That's why those amps can handle much higher bass settings than Mark series amps. With the Mark IV you get the graphic EQ, which is post-gain, to help shape the overall tone of your sound.

Pre-Gain EQ shapes the signal going into the preamp section, while Post-Gain EQ shapes the signal coming out of the preamp section. When the amp is distorted, Pre-Gain EQ is better for controling the harmonic content of the amps distortion, i.e. different shades of grit and grind. Post-Gain EQ is better at shaping the overall tone of the sound, like the way you would with the EQ on a car stereo.

Bottom line, run the bass low on the pre-gain EQ, and push the bass up higher in the graphic EQ to compensate. The Mark IV is one of the tightest, most defined sounding amps you can buy. If you can't get a tight sound out of a Mark IV, the problem is elsewhere (speakers, guitar, pedals, player, technique, etc.)

 

[Shep]

your settings are most likely up Sh!t creek with a P@@ paddle! the mk IV is So good with any tuning. Just take Chevelle there Sound is HUGE!

Don't lose hope you have a Amazing piece of gear!

 

[kenkamm]

Thanks everyone, you guys rule. I have been experimenting with the tone knobs and EQ settings a lot in the past week or so. I do have the bass knob set between 3 and 5 typically. The problem I'm having is that I already have the EQ set to a pretty deep V curve because that gives me the scooped sound I'm after. Reducing the bass knob then results in a thin sound. This may be exacerbated by the fact that this is just a 1x12 combo. I don't have the money for a new cabinet right now. Even a used Theile isn't in the budget right now.

My biggest issue remaining is the nasty metallic thrash I get when I strike the strings without palm muting. Ernie Ball Not Even Slinkies helped with that a bit, but I don't know if the remaining thrashiness is a result of the amp settings or the fact that palm muting must always be employed to some degree at all times when tuning down to b on a standard guitar. If I sort-of strum it, it doesn't sound clean like my standard tuned guitars.

Thanks again,
Ken

 

[tony777]

I am absolutely sure that a 4x12 cab is what you want, and solves all your problem, so start saving 8)

 

[kenkamm]

Well I also prefer to sleep on a bed, not a couch or outdoors! The 4x12 is going to have to wait.