Do you guys notice that whenever you get a kick-*** tone out of your Mark IV and then the next day you go and play it again the tone seems different, somedays even better, somedays feels like it lost some gain. It might be my tubes but the tone seems to change slightly day to day when I keep it at the same settings. The manual said something about your ears "adjusting" to the sound but I'm not sure. Do you guys feel this too?
Mark IV Owners : Mainly Metal Players
- Thread starter fpoon
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It happens. It could be the tubes getting properly warmed finally after playing a while and dialing in as compared to a quick warm up before you start. It could be your ears adjusting. It could be the power in your wall. It could be where you play physically. It could be the temperature in your room. I think it has something to do with your mood too. This happens with every amp.
Boogiebabies
Well-known member
You forgot gravity and the strength of Earths polarization at the precise time you found your tone. If we have a good day of balanced polarization, our tone will be good. If the polarity starts to pull towards the negative south pole, too much solar radiation can get mixed in with the the ion particles in your power amp tubes and your tone will suffer.
Some guys, like Eric Johnson would go home in the middle of a recording session for three days because of this. EVH would put Lead covers on his 6CA7's and run the variac at a slighly lower voltage during heavy ion storms.
Some guys, like Eric Johnson would go home in the middle of a recording session for three days because of this. EVH would put Lead covers on his 6CA7's and run the variac at a slighly lower voltage during heavy ion storms.
Forget not the coriolis effect on tuning your guitar . Many do not take this into account , as it applies to northern or southern hemispherical centripidal force . It will beat your intonation like a colorado rental car if you ignore its effects . More important when your on tour, of course .
lesterpaul
Well-known member
true..interesting to note that my favorite brew contains amyloglucosidase,which,when ingested in copious amounts,totally renders the coriolis effect useless..at least it sounds that way to me 
lesterpaul
Well-known member
yes, I believe you are correct,sir....fizzy,bizzy,big, and bouncy
brilliant!
brilliant!
Boogiebabies
Well-known member
Who hit the improbability drive?
Hamster/Lemon/Vogon/Cup of Coffee/Dung Beetle/Boogie Board !!!!
Hamster/Lemon/Vogon/Cup of Coffee/Dung Beetle/Boogie Board !!!!
musicman10_1
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I'm starting to feel weird.
psychodave
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Tone changes will most definitely occur with voltage changes. When your amp is sounding great, test the voltage from the wall socket. When it is sounding crappy, test it again. I bet there is a difference. When the voltage shifts so does the power tubes bias 8)
Shep
Well-known member
House hold power might have something to do with it..
JOEY B.
Well-known member
fpoon said:
This has been going on for years with my MkI. I swear, the **** thing gets a brighter tone as the amp temp rises. Quite the opposite of high frequency hearing loss after about an hour of loud volume. This amp is a head version with no fan, and it gets mighty warm. I noticed this phenomenon again last Saturday night. When I first started playing, I had to bump up the pres. control a couple of notches. After about 2 hours, I was back to my normal 3-4 range on that knob. All of this with the EV thiele plugged in. I've noticed it with a 4x12 Celestion loaded cab as well. Anybody got an idea of what might be happening. :?: Could it be that large glasses of Amber Bock draft enhance the high frequency hearing? :lol: :lol: :lol:
JOEY B.
Well-known member
JOEY B. said:
The last sentence was a bit of a joke aimed at the earlier posts. This amp performs the same phenomenon regardless of sobriety. Even the speaker cable end gets very hot. My amps that have a cooling fan do not act this way, at least not to this extreme.
I used to have speaker cables get hot back with the Marshalls I used. I thought it was weird. It never affected anything though. I did often wonder if it would melt and short though. I remember seeing guys top plastic vents get melted from the heat from the tubes too. So I can relate to a hot head.
Maybe install a fan. They aren't that expensive. It might keep your temp and tone from changing as much. My Mark IV with its fan never really gets hot. The speaker lead never really heats up either. The same can be said about my DR though and it doesn't have a fan.
Maybe your bias drifted? Then over time while your amp heats up the tone starts changing? Maybe you need new tubes and that is why things are getting hot? Could it be your amp needs servicing?
Maybe install a fan. They aren't that expensive. It might keep your temp and tone from changing as much. My Mark IV with its fan never really gets hot. The speaker lead never really heats up either. The same can be said about my DR though and it doesn't have a fan.
Maybe your bias drifted? Then over time while your amp heats up the tone starts changing? Maybe you need new tubes and that is why things are getting hot? Could it be your amp needs servicing?
JOEY B.
Well-known member
The amp was at Petaluma last year for a reverb addition and complete checkup. It has been a heat machine for nearly 20 years that I know of, through several sets of pre and power tubes, still the same effect. The fan addition is something that I have been considering.
Random Hero
Well-known member
This happens with every amp, don't worry about it. Like the guys said, could be the voltage, could be your ears. I find I have days on end where it sounds great, then all of a sudden, one day, it won't sound quite as good. I take it that by the lost gain thing, you mean that it feels like it has a "cleaner" sound, and less saturated? I've had that in the past, thinking it was my preamp tubes and whatnot, came back to it the next day, it was sounding thicker than ever again. It can be annoying sometimes.
If you've found settings you really love though, resist the temptation to drastically mess with them on the off days, the tone will come back 8) However, with that in mind, it's always fun to tweak, right?
If you've found settings you really love though, resist the temptation to drastically mess with them on the off days, the tone will come back 8) However, with that in mind, it's always fun to tweak, right?
