Mark III vs Mark IV???

[lookslikemeband]

Hey Gang -

I am wondering about the tonal differences (and ease of use) between a Mark III and a Mark IV.

My MarkIV has gozillion options, and I was wondering if the Mark III is more of a "plug and play" amp like my Rectos??

Thanks!

Lance

 

[Bullen]

I have a red stripe Mark III and I have had two Mark IV amps during the years.
They are a bit different, but at the same time they are from the same family so they can sound a lot like each other.

In my opinion the Mark III is a bit brighter and more agressive in the highs. The low end is a bit different. The Mark III is capable of a huge low end without getting muddy. The Mark IV is tighter and more focused and sometimes feels a little stiffer. The Mark IV has a different and very focused midrange which makes the amp thicker with more "weight" behind the notes. The Mark IV has a smoother high end as well in my opinion.
The clean and crunch sounds are similar on both amps, but it´s definatly easier to get three great sounds on the Mark IV since the three Mark III modes share all the controls.

The Mark III has less features but as far as "plug and play", I would say not really. It´s hard to get three great sounds on the Mark III at the same time. A good clean and a good lead works pretty good and a great crunch and a great lead is very easy.

For versarility, the Mark IV is better.
For sounds, I think I like the Mark III better for heavy distorted rhythm sounds as it´s a bit more aggressive and has a huge low end chunk. I also feel that it´s tone is a bit more organic, less stiff and more "real" on both clean and distorted sounds.
I prefer the Mark IV for lead sounds because of the great smooth, liquid vibe the lead channel has. It´s got a thick sound with a good biteand a great sustain. I would say it´s a bit more modern sounding than the Mark III. The clean and crunch are very good also.

You can´t really go wrong with either amp. Both are great.

 

[Aart]

+1,

The mark III i heard sounded almost the same on clean and crunch, but the lead was different, it had more gain, but it was not as tight and chuggah chuggah as my mark IV. I play stuff like metallica and Pennywise, and for rythm sound with a real tigh low end i prefer the mark IV, for more grit in the sound i would choose the mark III, but the Mark II has a shared EQ for all the channels, so you cant get a good sound from all 3 channels atr the same time.