I got the Mark IV in today.
1st impression:
The footswitch wouldn't change channels. I'm thinking that I got burned. Then my one working brain cell goes, 'Wasn't there a knob on the back?'
Sure enough, the footswitch started working when I turned the switch to 'Footswitch.'
Good thing I named our company Intellectual Lighting & Audio. Dumbass Electric was already taken.
I've tried all of the settings for Triode, Pentode, Simul-A. Really versatile. I don't think that I've had the amp loud enough to really see what the overall differences are between the settings. I will have to crank it and get a better idea.
So far, I have just played it through an old Rectoverb Series 1 cab that I turned into an extension cab. It has a Weber Thames speaker in it, which I highly reccomend.
It sounds great. Everything my DC is, and much more.
The thing that I noticed the most is that R2 on this amp has WAY more crunch than I could get with my Version B Mark IV that I had a few years ago. It actually might work for some ZZ Top or AC/DC stuff. No sustain, but lots of crunch.
Here are my questions:
1. Are the knobs that pull out supposed to feel loose?
Mine are really wobbly when you move the knob from side to side. I'm wondering if they are just old and feable.
2. What power tubes are you guys using?
Mine has STR 430's in the 'Class A' sockets & STR 454 in the Class AB sockets. I really like the 430's, they sound very nice. I might try the 454's in the Class A sockets to see if they will sweeten up a bit, in Simul, they sound harsh to me, but I don't have the amp dialed in yet either.
On my other Mark IV, I really liked the EL-34/6L6 combo & 4 6V6's. Both of those combos sounded very good to me. I just had no crunch in R2 and it bothered me enough to sell the amp. It was a B stock directly from the Mesa factory, they said the only thing wrong was the blemish on the Red Aligator leather. It had a big dark spot on it.
3. What preamp tubes are you guys using?
I know this is discussed on the Mark IV thread, but it seems like there was some experimenting that was going to happen and I wanted to see if there were any updates.
It's funny too, I pulled it out of the box, put the power tubes in and dialed it in according to what I thought it should sound like. Then I looked at the manual. My settings were exactly what the 1st set of settings said to use for a starting point. Maybe (all digits crossed here) it won't be that hard to dial in afterall.
Any advice would be very appreciated.
1st impression:
The footswitch wouldn't change channels. I'm thinking that I got burned. Then my one working brain cell goes, 'Wasn't there a knob on the back?'
Sure enough, the footswitch started working when I turned the switch to 'Footswitch.'
Good thing I named our company Intellectual Lighting & Audio. Dumbass Electric was already taken.
I've tried all of the settings for Triode, Pentode, Simul-A. Really versatile. I don't think that I've had the amp loud enough to really see what the overall differences are between the settings. I will have to crank it and get a better idea.
So far, I have just played it through an old Rectoverb Series 1 cab that I turned into an extension cab. It has a Weber Thames speaker in it, which I highly reccomend.
It sounds great. Everything my DC is, and much more.
The thing that I noticed the most is that R2 on this amp has WAY more crunch than I could get with my Version B Mark IV that I had a few years ago. It actually might work for some ZZ Top or AC/DC stuff. No sustain, but lots of crunch.
Here are my questions:
1. Are the knobs that pull out supposed to feel loose?
Mine are really wobbly when you move the knob from side to side. I'm wondering if they are just old and feable.
2. What power tubes are you guys using?
Mine has STR 430's in the 'Class A' sockets & STR 454 in the Class AB sockets. I really like the 430's, they sound very nice. I might try the 454's in the Class A sockets to see if they will sweeten up a bit, in Simul, they sound harsh to me, but I don't have the amp dialed in yet either.
On my other Mark IV, I really liked the EL-34/6L6 combo & 4 6V6's. Both of those combos sounded very good to me. I just had no crunch in R2 and it bothered me enough to sell the amp. It was a B stock directly from the Mesa factory, they said the only thing wrong was the blemish on the Red Aligator leather. It had a big dark spot on it.
3. What preamp tubes are you guys using?
I know this is discussed on the Mark IV thread, but it seems like there was some experimenting that was going to happen and I wanted to see if there were any updates.
It's funny too, I pulled it out of the box, put the power tubes in and dialed it in according to what I thought it should sound like. Then I looked at the manual. My settings were exactly what the 1st set of settings said to use for a starting point. Maybe (all digits crossed here) it won't be that hard to dial in afterall.
Any advice would be very appreciated.
