Intro/Mark IV combo + 1960 cab... which outputs?

[Rufuss Sewell]

Hi, this is my first post on this forum so I guess I'll start with my Mesa Boogie story.

My buddy left his Mark IV at my studio for a few years, and I used it to record every once in a while and was always very happy with it. Eventually he took it back, so I bought one of my own. I'm personally into metal, and had heard that Metallica used Mark's on ...And Justice For All, so I figured it would do the job. I already knew it had a great clean and rock sound.

I bought a combo, but I was never really able to get the sound out of it I was looking for. I thought it might be for lack of a 4x12 cab. So a bit later I bought a Marshall JCM 800 1960 cab to go along with it, but to my dismay, couldn't really get a desirable Metal tone out of it either.

This week I finally decided to try and trade it out with a Dual Rectifier. In Austin there's usually guys who bought Recto's but want to trade for Mark IV's. I figured before I offered the trade I'd change the tubes and called the Boogie tech support for advice. They had me look at my current tubes where I discovered I had 5881's instead of the more "metal" 6L6's. Hmmm... was this my problem?

Sure enough I switched out the power tubes and it was like having a whole new amp. The 5881's were probably spent and not right for my style. The metal settings offered on The Boogie Board have helped quite a bit too. So I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm now in heaven and will not be trading my Mark IV.

But I do have a question. As read in the manual you can plug two 8 ohm speakers into the two 4 ohm outputs. But my 1960 is 16 ohm. It seems like it would make sense to plug the 1960 into the 8 ohm out and the 1X12 from the combo into the 4 ohm out. This would make the load half for each speaker. Does this sound right? I've been using it set up that way today and everything sounds great, so as long as I'm not endangering any of the components I'd like to keep it this way.

Thanks!

 

[Russ]

That would be the proper ohm load and proper outputs to use. I had the same question months ago. It sounds good like that too. If you want to use solely the 4x12 I would rewire it to 4 ohms. You can get the more modern stereo switch input jack and wire it up standard and it will allow you to use it as a 16 ohm cabinet still should you decide to do so but it will allow you to run it at 4 ohms from the 4ohm jack as the sole speaker. I would not plug the stereo inputs that are 8 ohms into the two 4 ohm jacks because of possible crossover power. I would however use the 16 ohm jack to use it in conjunction with an 8 ohm speaker as you described though if I wanted to use more than one speaker. You can also get 4 of the 8 ohm speakers and wire the cab for 8 ohms on a mono input jack. I wouldn't hesitate to use your setup like it is though. I do.

To further support your claim about the 5881s v the 6L6s there is definitely a difference in feel. I can only imagine your face once you changed tubes.

Don't forget you can use the Lead channel as one hell of a Rhythm channel. You will just need to use an OD or Boost to get you outfront to solo. This actually gives you more of a 6 channel amp as it allows you a stronger signal for all 3 channels should you desire. Granted it is an additional button to have to push but i think of it as akin to a simple doubling of the versatility of the amp as far as channels go. Even the newer Dual and Triple Rectifiers have a solo feature, so why not have it on your Mark IV?.

 

[Rufuss Sewell]

Cool, I'm glad this config works. I like it quite a bit.

My band is kind of Tool meets Pink Floyd with an evil Mariah Carey singing. For the most part the R2 can handle my Rhythm needs during the rock parts. When I need either a solo or ultra metal riff I can switch to the Lead channel with EQ. The metal riffs need to be loud anyway so this should work well. We have one practice before our first show this Thursday, so I'll try to make everything work before then.

I also have to go back and record all of my guitar parts with the Mark IV. I've been reduced to tracking with N.I. Guitar Rig 2 up 'til now. Since everything was tracked direct through my LA-2A I should be able to re-amp pretty easily.

 

[uberscott]

Evil Mariah Carey eh?! This I've gotta hear!!

 

[Rufuss Sewell]

We've got some VERY rough recordings up at www.EstrumMusic.com

This is our MySpace page. And these are basically scratch recordings of these songs. We've been recording an album for the last few months and will be ready to put out some real recordings pretty soon. The real recordings will have lots of cool vocal harmonies... and also plenty of Mark IV.

 

[uberscott]

That's a helluva singer you've got there! :shock:

Let us know when you get your album done, the rough cuts sound really good!

BTW I run an early '80s 1960 cab with my MKIV head and so far there have been no problems. I had a quick look in the manual and it says 'Mis-matching on the high side is always preferable, if you have no choice'. So at the moment I'm running it at the normal 16ohms into the 8ohm jack.

 

[Rufuss Sewell]

Hey, thanks a lot man, I'll definitely do that.

 

[Rufuss Sewell]

WOW, had my first practice with the Mark IV and it was truly amazing. The other guitarist in my band sounded better too because we each have our own niche now.

Our first show is tonight... wish us luck!

 

[Rufuss Sewell]

Welp... the show went really well and I'm officially in love with my Mark IV. Pretty amazing considering I was feeling pretty luke warm about it before I put in the 6L6's. I never thought of myself as much of a tone junky, but the difference has been SO huge.

Thanks again guys!

 

[srf399]

I agree with the OD suggestion. I got a old Ibanez TS-808 and it is amazing with the MKIV and I HATE OD pedals! Also just so you have covered the bases with the MKIV you might want to try putting a nice set of JJ's EL34's instead of the 6L6's in the two outter tube sockets. Just try it so you know what it's like. I tried it and didn't care for it a lower volume but one day I was playing with a band and thought I'd try it as I was playing at a louder volume and I couldn't believe the difference. It is totally subjective but It gave my amp more growl and smoothness at the same time. Actually R2 with the OD is a deadly lead channel as well. I used very little OD... and basically use it as a solo boost and it gives the amp a little more bounce and life... as do the EL34's