Mark 4 combo vs Single Rec purchase

[Great Ant]

Hey guys,

Dilemma
I'm about to buy my first Mesa and after months of looking I've found a single rec head for 1K (Aus) and also a Mark 4 combo for 2K.

Sound wise
Our band plays electronic, ambient doomish rock with tiny bits of metal thrown in. I don't like too much distortion in this band but i am a metal head at heart and do enjoy writing metal at home. I wouldn't use any more distortion then say Tool.
I've played a Mark 5 on Mark 4 mode and a Dual rec. (I'm keeping in mind that the dual may sound quite different from the single and the mark 4 mode might be totally different.) The Mark's leads sounded the most amazing to me, hands down. I didn't have any pedals in it but i could tell that it would all work out well there. But, i think i was digging the rhythm sounds of the rec.

What i want
Practicality. Combo's seem easiest to work with. Tone wise it's hard. I want to capture that perfect mix for the band and also my own home use (Metal) I could put a TS in front of the Mark and could get a good rhythm. I also would have to look for a cab. (probably a 1x12)

Could you guys give me your opinions on the situation. Price wise and quality of amp wise. Including ranges of tones and versatility.

Cheers

 

[zodiac272]

hey,

if you say the mark IV lead channel wins hand down, then the clean channel will also win. not even close there. the mark will be much more versatile, but maybe harder to dial in. but once you do... The mark may not have all the bottom end of the recto, but it will be tighter and more articulate.

as far as a 1x12, get a boogie thiele with an EV-12L in it and you will have a classic boogie stack. the thiele will work great with the combo and give all the bottom you need. It will almost sound like a 4x12.

plus the mark may be harder to find later if you get the recto.

I would go with the mark, but that's me

scott

 

[Great Ant]

In terms of bottom end, do you think if i run a TS through the mark I will be rocking?
If i could get a tone as close to Tool with the mark i would be laughing. Do you think it's possible to do that? I know that he played a Dual at one stage.

Cheers

 

[Neptical]

Out of the box, that Single Rec is a straight up rhythm amp - no doubt about it, unless you add something like an Xotic BB Preamp in the front of the amp for your leads. If your looking for rhythm and leads out of the box, then the Mark IV is the amp. The IV won't have that bottom end girth to it that the Rec has, but the IV is much tighter and defined. I'm not really sure what a TS in front of a IV sounds like..but I've heard plenty of them in front of the Recs, which is popular. The Rectifiers were pretty popular for that whole sludge-doom-stoner rock scene, which is what your going for...like the ole Kim Thayil tones. I don't know..I'd have to say for versatility, the Mark hands down.

 

[SonicProvocateur]

+1 on what Nep and Scott said. The Mark's cleans are the better of the two (more chime and sparkle), hands down, and the lead is more liquid, but doesn't have the slack and chug the Recto has. It is far more tight and focused, it can't be dialed in for the recto sound, but it certainly has serious gumption. If the Tool tone is what you crave and you live on the lead channel, go for the Recto, it's clean channel will be just fine for whatever pedals you throw at it. The Mark is a more all around amp made to hit all the points. Some famous heavy rhythm sounds of the Mark IV are going to be Lamb of God (Ashes of the Wake) and Whitechapel. That's about the heaviest I know of since alot of people associate the IV with a variety of tone like Dream Theater (clean, midgain, and high gain). You can pretty much sneeze and hit a Recto Tone: Everything from Coheed and Cambria, Killswitch, Godsmack, Alter Bridge and of course Adam Jones (who mixes it with the Diezels).

Hope this helps!
Jay

 

[Great Ant]

Yeah i hear what you guys are saying about the differences. I do really dig the liquid lead and how articulate the mark 4 is, but i also dig the harshness of the recto. I just love that slight distortion sound i hear from them. I feel that a more versatile amp will suit me better. Someone made a good point saying that it would probably be harder to pick up a mark 4 down the track, and I've only found one so far in all my searches! I think I'd have a lot more success picking up a Rec later on.

 

[Neptical]

Someone made a good point saying that it would probably be harder to pick up a mark 4 down the track, and I've only found one so far in all my searches! I think I'd have a lot more success picking up a Rec later on.

+1 on that. I'd have to agree. There are so many used Recs on the market that they're not going anywheres too fast. :lol:
Unless you're talking about the older 2-channel Blackfaces. Those are becoming extinct.