Mark IV Rhy2 question

[sagelakos]

I'm new to this forum and this is my first post.
I'm interested in purchasing a Mark IV, probably short or medium head, and am a little concerned about Rhy 2. I hear great things about the clean and lead channels but very little about Rhy 2 and most things I hear about it are very negative, some say it is usless. I have a Triaxis with 2:90 and looking to scale down in size and weight.
Tone's I'm after:
Pushed clean's that are fat and warm that I can clean up by lowering guitars volume.
Buttery lead similar to Gilmour, Holdsworth and Eric Johnson.
Rhythm channel that can get close to Page's sound in Black Dog and maybe even Van Halen's rhythm tone.
Btw, I use a Les Paul and a couple of rack units for chorus, flange, delay, etc...
Sound clips would be greatly appreciated. I'd love to hear that channel maxed out to hear what the highest possible amount of gain is.
Thanks in advance,
Steve A.

 

[insearchoftone]

Hey Steve,
Welcome to the forum.
I just bought a Mark IV and love it.

The Lead and Rhy 1 channels are the best but the Rhy 2 isn't horrible, it's just different.
Check out this thread for Rhy 2 opinions.

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=7332&highlight=rhy

You will definitely reach your tone goals with this amp.
The LP is a great match with this amp.
The effects loop will be great for your rack units too.

The Mark IV is currently holding its value so if you don't like it :roll: then you can put it on ebay and get close to what you paid for it.

Hope that helps.

 

[sagelakos]

Thanks, that's great.
I guess I need to track one down and try it out.
Thanks again!

 

[Antoine]

I really like the MarkIV 3 channels, they're all fantastic... don't worry, if you like EVH brown sound, you can emulate it with RHY2, it's a killer channel !

 

[sagelakos]

Thanks.
Are you using a Mark IV for the material on your myspace site?

 

[jamme61]

R2 will drive you nuts till the end of time. Some days I'm in love, and others, I want to sell the amp. I'm new and r2 drives me insane. I think it's even worse, when everyone chimes in how great r2 is and it just takes time. Still trying and crying

 

[6L6C]

I use to have little use for my r2 till I changed the power tubes from (4) 6L6 which is the way ther shipped to (2) 6L6 and (2) EL34, no mod’s needed.

http://mesaboogie.com/manuals/Mark%204.pdf go to page 12 bottom

This setup will darken r1 a bit but not in a bad way you can still get it to shimmer no problem r3 will change also most likely find yourself backing off on the gain. These two channels do change a bit but r2 takes on a whole new life IMHO,
Thing is you can do so much with the power amp section.

Are you going to run it on tweed or full power?
Then there is the power section
Class A or simul-class with (4) 6L6 power tubes
Class A or simul-class with (4) 5881 power tubes

Class A or simul-class with (2) 6L6 power tubes & (2) EL34’s
When running class A with this setup just the EL34’s are engaged.
When running simul-class the mixture of the 6L6’s & EL34’s is sweet this is my current configuration
All the above can be run with pentode or triode
Or the last is to run (4) 6V6’s
This setup can only be run with tweed power and simul-class
All the above are available right out of the box no mod’s needed

 

[sagelakos]

I've read the manual at least a dozen times, I've also looked into the Roadster, Dual Rec, Road King and some of the others. I am, very aware of the different tube configs available which is great and I've looked at the what Eurotubes has available. I've always used his tubes with great results. I'm leaning more towards the Mark IV but haven't ruled out the Roadster. I'm not big on the infamous Mesa Recifier sound. I like big fat, warm sounds with plenty of sustain and to have the ability to dial in some bite if I need it.
I will most likely be running the Mark IV in tweed power, class A and triode. I would be retubing with Eurotubes 6L6 high gain option and probably get a couple of the EL34's to try it out.
As I originally stated, I currently have the triaxis/2:90 setup but I'm only using 4 sounds that are ok but not to die for. I have a nice fat clean sound, a more pushed, semi dirty sound kind of like a low gain Marshall, a more high gain rhythm sound that is used most of the time but I'm not entirely happy with it and a pretty good lead tone. I play in bands mostly and therefore the dirty rhythm sound is very important because I would be in there more than any other mode.
I really appreciate all the info and advice, this is a great forum.
http://www.myspace.com/steveagelakos

 

[6L6C]

sagelakos
I also had a Triaxes and 2:90 and I loved it! But I always come back to my Mark IV, they are not what you might call plug and play but once you get use to them and work with them the tone is very satisfying. Five years later the biggest thing I miss about the Triaxes is the real time control.
John

 

[insearchoftone]

I think part of the problem with rhy 2 is that some of the tone controls are shared with rhy 1.
If I setup a shimmering tone on rhy 1 then rhy 2 is useless.
If I setup a fat clean tone on rhy 1 then rhy 2 is much better.

The shared controls is my only complaint about the Mark IV.
Otherwise it's an awesome amp.

 

[sagelakos]

How would something like the new Roadster compare with the Mark IV?Specifically, the Mark IV rhythm 2 with the Roadster ch3 or 4 in raw or vintage mode? Also, can the Roadster get the Mark IV lead tone?

 

[Antoine]

Sagelakos, on MySpace webpage, only the Torna Una Volta Solo was made with the MarkIV on Lead Mode.
I use my MarkIV with 4 6L6's, and always use it in Full Power, Pentode and Simul-Class mode.
I really like the sound of this head monster, i use the RHY1 very clean, perfect for Funk or arpeggios with a little chorus.
RHY2 is very very Brown sound and remind a lot the old Marshalls, i set the gain on 5 and it do the thing very well, Vintage distortion Plexi-like.
LEAD is THE Lead sound i want it to be, so smooth, fluid and with sustain for days.
I use the MarkIV head with a Mesa Recto 2x12.

 

[jamme61]

I'm at gain 5 on R2 with the presence cranked all the way and pulled out. This has been my biggest tone find, for R2. I'm able to put the bass and mids up higher for R1 and cut some of the low end flub with the presence pulled, on R2. Also I have learned to run the main master volume at 4 or more, and my channel volumes as low as 2 and 1.5, to get my volume with the best tone. I passed on the roadster because I don't want the recto tone, and the roadster IMHO has two channels (R3#,R4) of recto. That killed the deal for me.

 

[Antoine]

I'm agree with you Jamme61, i set the channels volume low (2 or 3) and crank the Master to 4, this gives a really nice overall tone to the amp, much better than setting the channels volume high and the Master low. I too play with the RHY2 and LEAD presence knobs pulled out, the sound is much smoother this way !

 

[sagelakos]

I'm not into the recto tone either and if both those channels are only good for that then it's definately not for me. I liked the idea of the solo setting though. It's nice to be able to boost the volume on all channels instead of just the lead channel. I might be able to acheive that through my effects. We'll have to see.
How do you guy's use the eq? On always or just for different sound?

Thanks again,
Steve A.

 

[Antoine]

I always use the EQ on the 3 channels, never play without it !

 

[sagelakos]

That's good to know. It makes that much of a difference? Does it boost the gain amount at all?

 

[Antoine]

Yes it makes so much difference with the EQ, depending on how you set it, i use mine in an almost V shape, exept for the 750 Hz : just above the first line, and the 6600 Hz which is between the middle and upper line, the 240 Hz is just above the middle line.

 

[Antoine]

Oops, i forgot to say that it does not boost the gain, just change the tone !