Mark IV: It just keeps sounding better!

[MusicManJP6]

I took the trusty Mark IV and Thiele cab to a friend's house last night along with my JP, and let me just tell you... It just keeps sounding better!

First of all, I changed the strings on my JP. They were about 3 months old or more. That's the first thing that led up to amazing tone.

Since I had just changed my strings and had forgotten to bring a tuner, my buddy hooked up his J-Station to my Mark and I tuned my JP up. Once I was done and hit the tuner bypass off button, I was surprised to find some sweet tones coming from the J Station! I checked out the Mark's settings and I was actually in Rh2! Every patch on the J Station sounded KILLER through the mark in Rh2! I couldn't believe my ears!

Lastly, I unhooked the J-Station so I could hear the Mark by itself. I switched it over to the Lead channel and thought, "what the heck", i'll try some settings i've never tried before. I tweaked my Geq a little bit and thought for a minute. I then remembered my friend with a Mark saying that the Lead treble almost acts like a gain knob because the eq is right after the preamp and treble is first in line, so it affects the tone the most. So, I turned the treble from 7.5 to 10. :shock: OMG! He wasn't kidding! The amp was on FIRE after that! It sounded freakin' phenomenal! It opened up and sounded HUGE!

I was extremely happy with the sound of my amp last night, and I thought I would share my experience. Thanks for reading!

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Mark....IV.....GAS....Rising......better....get....here....as....dealer....promised.....

:lol:

 

[WillPlayForFood]

Ah yes my brother...the Mark IV is an ever evolving, magnificent creation, THANKS MESA!!! Just when you think you are getting a bit lazy or bored with your settings, go back, ZERO everything, and start again. I guarantee you will find some other sweeeet sounds in that piece of elegance :mrgreen: It has so many nuances to explore. It's not a one setting and you're done amplifier. Just change your switches, Mid Gain/Harmonics, Class A/Simul, Triode/Pentode, Tweed/Full and you are off to the races.

By the way, I just hooked up my new/used (got it yesterday) G system with my rackmounted Mark IV and my medium head Mark IV, in stereo, each head to a Marshall 4X12 on opposite sides of the room. HOLY **** :shock: I have never really run a stereo rig before and it is the bomb! It took me the better part of yesterday to get it set up and working...not plug and play. WORTH IT!!!!

I guess I now have to get two 1X12's, so I can actually do this live. What a sound. The G system is cool...has great delays, easy to program, cool pedalboard. Haven't had time to tweak as much as I'd like. Of course, I will MAKE the time. But...after the first day, I have to say, I am pleased :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[WillPlayForFood]

Got a little excited there. Music, congrats on your tones and your extreme joy in Mark IV land 8) It does only get better

 

[phaboo]

. . .

First of all, I changed the strings on my JP. They were about 3 months old or more. That's the first thing that led up to amazing tone.

. . .

One thing that happens with a better amp is that, even with a ton of crunch on it, it still passes the sound of the guitar. New strings suddenly become a MUST!

Go buy lots of strings!

 

[MusicManJP6]

phaboo: Yeah, I really need to keep good strings on the JPs. I noticed the other ones getting corroded, and thought I'd change them, but forgot how good new strings sound!

WillPlay: I've been wanting to try the G System, but I'd have to sell all my pedals just about to be able to afford it. So, you like it pretty well?

Ibanex4Life: It will be worth the wait! How much longer you got?

 

[Boogiebabies]

I've had a JPMM 6 with the Piezo's, inlays and matching headstock since August 2002 and I have played it three times. It still has the plastic on the covers. To make a short story long, I hated the sound of it period. I could not get it to sound decent for the life of me through any amp. With the recent bridge pickup change, I though I would change the bridge to a D-Sonic and ordered it from my buddy's music store. The same day I ordered the pickup I pulled it out after a few years and changed the strings and tuned it. What the hell, let's play it through a C+. It blew me away. Maybe it aged to perfection, but now I am extremely happy with it and have a brand new D-Sonic in my closet with 10 other pickups. What the hell, at least I use the BB preamp I ordered with it.

 

[Rampage]

It is no less than astounding considering how great the Mark IV sounds and reacts to proper equalization. I absolutely love the Lead channel of the Mark IV and I can imagine how great the JP6s sound through it.

 

[WillPlayForFood]

Hey Music, yeah, so far the G system is living up to the hype. I mean, I can't say I have had it out on a gig yet, dialed in the expression pedal thing, or that I have had time to really explore. Right now, I am just getting back from the pool...it's friggin' 100 degrees here :roll:

I plan to spend as much time as possible next week getting to know this bad boy a bit better. Mine is a complicated set-up, but I have something that is working now. There is a huge, long thread on the gear page about the G system. It is helpful, yet not really focused. I think it started like back in 2005 and it is still going, 74 pages or something. You gotta weed through a lot of crap to get the good info. Anyway, the deal is, like with anything, YOU have to tweak it, with YOUR stuff, and then see if YOU like it after that. I can say that so far, with what I have, it is not disappointing.

 

[Random Hero]

I've had a JPMM 6 with the Piezo's, inlays and matching headstock since August 2002 and I have played it three times. It still has the plastic on the covers. To make a short story long, I hated the sound of it period. I could not get it to sound decent for the life of me through any amp. With the recent bridge pickup change, I though I would change the bridge to a D-Sonic and ordered it from my buddy's music store. The same day I ordered the pickup I pulled it out after a few years and changed the strings and tuned it. What the hell, let's play it through a C+. It blew me away. Maybe it aged to perfection, but now I am extremely happy with it and have a brand new D-Sonic in my closet with 10 other pickups. What the hell, at least I use the BB preamp I ordered with it.

Haha wow, so now you love it?

I love my EBMM JP, everything else feels so foreign now.

 

[Shep]

mk iv and ibanez really do it for me.. i have 2 iby's now and love them.. the jem and Jp4.. they feel so right.. and sound perfect thought the mesa's