Mark IV questions,,compare it to my ROV

[recto-robbie]

Hello all,, I have to admit right now that for a month or more I have had some thoughts of looking into a Mark IV.
I own a rectoverb series 2 combo which sits on top of a recto 2x12 cab.
I think this rig is great but I have to say Im having a hell of a time finding the lead sound I have in my head.
From reading these forums I take it, the Mark IV will help tremendously with a great lead sound
I found a store which has a Mark IV widebody combo in stock but happens to be a far drive for me. I would love to get some opinions from you guys before making that journey for naught.
I would like to know what type of gain or distortion is the Mark IV capable of?
On my rectoverb I actually use the modern channel the least. I spend most of my time in the raw and vintage modes with the gain never really exceding 2 oclock or so. These settings are still very aggressive.
I need a decent clean, I love to play the blues, but I spend most of my time playing rock and metal, however I never venture into the new metal you hear today because I dont listen to it.
Im looking for a sweet lead tone that will handle the blues and pretty much most hard rock and metal lead work you would have heard from the 60's-90.
Can the Mark IV get a metallica rythem sound? How about maiden,,preist or Dio, zeppelin, sabbath, AC/DC?
I know these bands dont all use boogie gear and Im not really looking for an exact sound of any of them,, but with my ROV im able to achieve sounds very close to all, but the lead sounds are proving hard to accomplish. Just not smooth,,missing something.
So if you can help me with any suggestions at all id appreciate it greatly.

By the way,, how do you guys think the 2x12 recto cab would work with the Mark IV combo???? Id assume not the best possible choice but workable you think??

 

[Russ]

A Mark IV will certainly get the tones you are after. I would say that the Stiletto might do better for traditional Marshall tones though. The Mark IV will give you some of the smoothest liquid leads you will find in a current Mesa. The gain/distortion you can get out of the Mark IV is plentiful. The nice part is that the amp stays tight and tracks very well. Though you might have serious amounts of gain dialed in the amp is very articulate and the knobs and sliders are more sensitive than you would think. The Mark IV can certainly dole out the Metallica. They used them from the Black album up through until they switched to Rectifiers. I play Maiden and Priest on my Mark IV. I liked my JCM800 2210 better for classic metal but the Mark IV is no slouch either. I would say a classic Marshall will get you better Zep, Sabbath, and AC/DC but you can still manage to get passable tone for these sounds from a Mark IV. It just takes dialing the stuff in. Again, a Stiletto might be better for Marshall type tones. Take some settings with you and try out that widebody before it is gone. Seeing a Mark IV in a store is kind of rare. The 2x12 Rec cab should be fine with the Mark IV. Some guys actually run this as their rig. I personally like a Thiele or the Tradtional 4x12 cab. I am trying to get a hold of an old vertical 2x12 halfback cab though. I might settle for the 4x12 version if I can't find one.

 

[jbird]

Sounds like you'd dig on the Mark IV! I'd get a head version for that 2x12 though! :idea:

 

[mrd]

I run my MarkIV through a horz. 2x12 recto cab, and the thing is a monster. Somehow, the 2x12 is more focused and punchy than when I play it through my 4x12. It just sounds like an absolute beast :twisted:

 

[clutch71]

recto-robie, Someone getting GAS? We've talked a lot off board on the difference between ROV and DR's! Hey man good luck and get in the car and go check out that Mark IV! I haven't had a chance to check one out or seen one in 6 months of wanting to try one.

My 2c, go with a two rig system (your ROV and a Mark IV) and channel switch between the two, Keep the 2x12 cab and decide where it fit's in or add a second 2x12 down the road! One thing I'm finding is that one amp just won't do it all, at least for me anyway.

Take care man and let us know!

 

[recto-robbie]

hello again and thanks for all the suggestions,,
I need to really ask another question about the Mark IV that seems to be on my mind a lot.
Ive read through this forum and just about every review in harmony central and I keep reading about how **** hard this thing is to play with all the knobs and adjust the knobs to get your sound. Im hearing its very fickle. It seems many people give up on it because of this.
Is it really that bad?
I can see from the pictures there are many knobs and switches.
I, by nature am one of those guys who likes to play around with those knobs,,, but is it really that hard to find the settings you like? Does it seem hard to keep the sounds you find?
I know when I go and look at the amp there will be no way in hell I will be able to mess with it long enough to even understand half of what it offers you. Which means I will most likely have to bring it home with me. Problem with that is I plan on trading my ROV for it and would hate to make a big mistake.
Thanks again for any help here.

 

[recto-robbie]

sorry, I forgot to ask another important question, How well does the Mark IV accept pedals in front of the amp? Like overdrives?
And how about the effects loop,, is it a bit funky like the ROV's parallel loop?
I have a great deal of money invested in nice pedals and would hate to take a big hit on all these too.
Thanks again

 

[metalmm785]

It's not that hard to set-up really. Initially, it's a bit intimidating but once you get past that, you won't have a problem. Also, The amp take pedals very well on the front, though, I haven't played with the loop yet to tell you the truth.

 

[mrd]

The amp is a bit tricky, I would say. The main reason for this, I think, and this applies to all Mesa amps I've used, is that the knobs are **** sensitive and they actually DO something. This means that even a few degrees of turn alters the sound drastically. And furthermore, certain knobs' effectiveness is based on the position of other knobs. So you can't just turn one thing and be done with it, you have to think about the entire circuit when you are tweaking the knobs. My suggestion, read the manual. Mesa always has very in-depth explanations of what each knob does to you tone and how the other knobs affect it, as well as what is considered "too high". They also have cool suggestions for finding some neat tones, like running some knobs very very low and others very high, etc. Don't let something small like this discourage you from the MKIV!

 

[recto-robbie]

Alright, my G.A.S situation is settled,, at least for now.
I had the day off work today so I decided to make the drive.
This place is a smaller type neighborhood store which is a boogie dealer.
I walked in and the owner asked if he could help me out and I told him I would like to check out some amps. He led me to a seperate closed room, opened the door and holy ****,, amp heaven,, nothing like your typical guitar center or sam ash, which is what im used to. He asked me what I was looking for specifically,,I told him the Mark IV. Nice amp he says,,, here it is,,,2 of them matter of fact,,we try and have at least 1 of every model in the store at any given time. He wasnt bullshitting. I got a guitar from him and he said enjoy and closed the door behind him.
I must have played the Mark IV for at least an hour before I started looking around. This was my first chance to actually see all the different amps in person that boogie currently sells. I plugged into a stilletto,, trident, ace, duece,, dual rec, road king, mark 1, 5:25 combo and head in orange, 5:50 combo and head, He also seemed to have all the lonestars sitting there but didnt try any, about 6 of them. There were a few others I didnt try because of price or lack of interest,,,Hell he even had some Orange rockerverb 30's and 50's which I tried but wasnt for me. I had amps warming up in every direction,,,sweet.
I must have spent a good 3 hours or more in that room all alone. Eventually I went back to the Mark IV becausse thats what I went there for. Let me say,,, there was not a bad amp that I plugged into. I enjoyed the mark IV. He had 2 sitting there, one had 4 6l6's and the other had two 6l6's and two el34's so I tried the later. I must have played around with every knob and switch dozens of times. I got some great sounds out of it and somewhat suprised I thought the rythm channel 2 was great unlike what I keep reading about it. After trying all these amps, some more and some less,, believe it or not I feel like I made a wise decision buying the ROV a few months back. I cant really say that any boogie amp is better than the next because what I learned today is besides the obvious differences like stilletto el34 sound compared to the recto sound compared to the lonestar sound all these amps seem to offer more or less options. The Mark IV is loaded with options, quite unbelievable really, while the much smaller 5:25 with relatively few options in its own right is a sweet amp. There was not one amp that stood out to me that made me think its better than the next. They are all great amps and for me right now I think the ROV suits pretty much all I need.
Personally I think the Mark IV's lead sound is smoother and tighter than my ROV but not in a jaw dropping way and to me I personally think my ROV's cleans, bluesy sounds and high gain rythm are on par or even excede the Mark IV in some ways.
So for now im sticking with my ROV until those hard to ignore thoughts of G.A.S. overtake me again.
Until next time gents,,,and a many thanks for all your help and suggestions.

 

[Russ]

To each their own but I am glad that you took some quality time to play the Mark IV. Most think 10 minutes at GC is enough. To be honest it took me months to fully understand the amp. I even reread the manual last week and I am still learning about the amp. You might want to revisit the amp with some actual user settings or even the instant gratification settings. I can understand that the ROV might be your cup of tea though because we are all individuals with differening tastes.

 

[oyster]

I have a roadster which I love, but I got GAS bad last month for a Mark IV after all the glowing reviews I hear on the forum. I had special ordered it, and before it arrived I familiarized myself with the owners manual and once it came in I spent one or two hours with it exclusively, (I know how to tweak amps don't worry about that), and then went back and forth between it and a dozen other amps for 2-3 more hours (various marshalls, orange, other mesas, etc.). Long story short, I had a similar experience to yours...I really wanted to love the Mark IV a lot more than I actually did. I couldn't find a really good classic "barely overdriven crunch" sound for example, and I thought some of the other sounds didn't compare favorably to "the sound in my head" that I thought I could get from it. Nothing was really doing it for me (especially as compared to Roadster) but oddly, the last amp I tried actually blew me away on the spot (a Soldano HR50+) so I went away with a Soldano rather than a MarkIV! Just goes to show, you do need to really try these amps out, use your ears, and tone is a very personal thing.