How do I tell?? I just got it off ebay and the amp sounds excellent, I love it. I doubt it really matters much, but I'm just curious about it's age and want to know if it's a IVa or IVb?? what are the defining characteristics? The serial #: IV-007978
Is my Mark IV a A or B revision??
- Thread starter rgx612a
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OK, thank you. My Mark is a IVB then. 8) It's a cool amp, and i'm really liking it. There are certain things it does better than my previous old Mark III... which is a good thing. Different for sure, but also similar in many other ways. The lead voicing on it is a bit more modern sounding than the mark III and .50 cal+ I had. The controls are very touchy, but in a different way than I am used to.
Any tips on settings, people?? It seems to dial in a similar way to the III, treble high, bass low, graphic in a V. The treble control is crucial, but very touchy and can make things a bit oversaturated above 8 and man, the controls are SO damn touchy. I have to tweek them when I change guitars. I've never played an amp so versatile and with so many features, and that responded so much to my guitars tonal qualities. I may have to put some different pickups in my guitars??
Any tips on settings, people?? It seems to dial in a similar way to the III, treble high, bass low, graphic in a V. The treble control is crucial, but very touchy and can make things a bit oversaturated above 8 and man, the controls are SO damn touchy. I have to tweek them when I change guitars. I've never played an amp so versatile and with so many features, and that responded so much to my guitars tonal qualities. I may have to put some different pickups in my guitars??
When you say that the tone controls are touchy, how touchy do you mean? Do you mean, for example, that change the treble from 7 to 7.25 makes a big tonal difference? For what it's worth, my Mark IV is not nearly that sensitive - except on the master volume. That is one of the touchiest MVs I have ever used!rgx612a said:
Yes, I would agree that the master volume seems to have an aggressive taper to it. Setting above 3 and the amp is close to full power. Depending on speakers used (if they can handle the maximum output), the sound will become compressed above 5. (warning: excessive flub may occur if you have a combo with the MC90 or are using V30 loaded cab. With EV or FANE speakers you can really push the volume hard. The FANE studio speaker was the only speaker I have ever used in the combo that did not break up after 8.
I would recommend downloading the manual from MESA if your amp did not come with it. There are sample settings in there that are useful. There are also pull switches on the presence controls of the RHY2 and LEAD that will tone shift the character for use with higher volume settings (does a bass cut).
I enjoyed my Mark IVb for the 15 years I owned it as I did the Mark III for the some odd 23 years of use.
I would recommend downloading the manual from MESA if your amp did not come with it. There are sample settings in there that are useful. There are also pull switches on the presence controls of the RHY2 and LEAD that will tone shift the character for use with higher volume settings (does a bass cut).
I enjoyed my Mark IVb for the 15 years I owned it as I did the Mark III for the some odd 23 years of use.
+1 on down loading the manual from Mesa's site. Their amp manuals are some of the best that I have ever seen. Lots of good hints in there. Lots of good scoop on how the controls interact. It's the type of manual that you need to read through several times before everything can soak in.
I downloaded the PDF and then printed it and put it in a 3-ring binder (with all of my other Mesa manuals). When I was first learning to drive the Mark IV, I put the binder on a music stand so I could read it and try things out at the same time.
The sample settings that they have are some very good starting points.
Plus, the manuals are just plain fun to read!
Finally, and you are probably already aware of this, once you get a good grip on how to control the Mark IV, dial it in using your ears, not your eyes. I use some fairly unconventional settings and get some very nice tones from my guitars. For example, with my SG on channel 3, I set mids at 10, bass at 2, treble at 6. For the right song, that setting puts the SG right where it needs to be in the mix.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for reading.
I downloaded the PDF and then printed it and put it in a 3-ring binder (with all of my other Mesa manuals). When I was first learning to drive the Mark IV, I put the binder on a music stand so I could read it and try things out at the same time.
The sample settings that they have are some very good starting points.
Plus, the manuals are just plain fun to read!
Finally, and you are probably already aware of this, once you get a good grip on how to control the Mark IV, dial it in using your ears, not your eyes. I use some fairly unconventional settings and get some very nice tones from my guitars. For example, with my SG on channel 3, I set mids at 10, bass at 2, treble at 6. For the right song, that setting puts the SG right where it needs to be in the mix.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for reading.
