Interesting Mark IV reverb observation

[primal]

I have been very critical of the Mark IV reverb (I have complained about it here repeatedly), but just recently I noticed something.

When I originally purchased my Mark IV, I bought from a guy who told me the thing sat in his closet for the better part of 5 years. He also had disconnected the reverb tank from the circuit he hated it so much. So basically what this tells me is that the reverb for the major part of this amps life had not been used at all.

I get it home, hook up the reverb and absolutely hate it. It had this stiff, springs clanging artifact to the sound that I just couldn't get past. I don't disconnect the tank, but I stop using it and start hooking up an external digital reverb.

Well, time goes buy and I decide to start giving the Mark IV reverb a second chance. And again, I immediately hate it. I keep messing with the settings trying to come up with something usable, but I just could not come to like it.

Well, out of probably nothing more then pure laziness, as I am playing I keep the reverb on anyway. There is no switch on the footcontroller for it and I would have to reach in behind the amp to turn it off which is close enough to the wall to make it a slight pain(kind of like watching a crappy tv show because you can't find the remote and are to lazy to walk up to the tv and change the channel).

Over time I start noticing that the clanging artifact sound is no longer present. The reverb actually starts sounding pretty good. Not great, but very usable. Pretty much as good as any other standard spring reverb out there. I start thinking maybe I got used to it but after comparing back and forth with my Roadking 1, the reverbs sound very comparable. And they didn't sound comparble in the beginning.

Then today I read this from MusicManJP6 in a thread about the ElectraDyne reverb

New reverb tanks don't sound as good as old ones. They have a break in period and will sound better and better as they loosen up.

Now, considering the history of this amp and the fact that the reverb was pretty much never used for the lifetime of the amp, I'm wondering if the reverb tanks chosen for the Mark IV really just required a little more break in then other tanks?

Has anyone else experienced this?

If your someone who hates the reverb on your mark IV, you might want to force yourself to play with the reverb on for a while to try and break it in.

 

[MesaDCLP]

How long would you say that it took before you noticed an improvement? Just curious how long the breakin period could be. A couple of hours or a couple hundred...

 

[primal]

I'd say it was over a period of a few weeks, maybe a couple hours each day.

 

[MesaDCLP]

Well after 2 years, I guess mine is broken in, ha! I like it and use it frequently. I have an additional footswitch hooked up to turn it on and off. I also have it set on 10 and just use it for the lead channel usually. Sounds smooth and ambient to me.

 

[primal]

I use it often now as well. Especially on the clean channel.

I have a footswitch that I have hooked up, but I seem to get a slight hum when I use it. When the reverb is turned off with the footswitch, there is no hum, but when I use the footswitch to turn the reverb on, there is definately a constant hi pitched hum in the background, barely audible on the clean channel but very apparent on the lead channel.

I have often wondered if it is actually the type of footswitch I have.

My footswitch has a red LED on it. When I have used it as a punch in punch out with my Tascam, the light on it lights up when I punch in and turns off when I punch out.

The LED never lights when I plug it into the reverb slot of my Mark IV. But I wonder if it is this LED circuit that is causing the hum.

 

[njsurf]

What type of foot pedal is everyone using to control the reverb on their Mark IV?
Can you use any kind.
I have a foot pedal from an old fender amp. Will this work/hurt the amp?

Thanks for any help.

 

[lerxst88]

What type of foot pedal is everyone using to control the reverb on their Mark IV?
Can you use any kind.
I have a foot pedal from an old fender amp. Will this work/hurt the amp?

Thanks for any help.

does that pedal click when you push it down? some kinds are just momentary and will work but you have to hold the button down. otherwise should be fine!

also to the guy with the LED issue i think it would be because there was voltage coming from the mixer however there is little (or none at all) coming from the mesa's reverb jack so theres nothing to light the LED

 

[Fronzil]

i play a late 90s mark IV B...not sure how much the verb was used..i dont mind it on the clean, and just a bit on rhym 2 wasnt bad..but cranking it on rhym 2 or using it on lead channel, i did find it eats tone..ill have to play with it more and experiment..good thread.