Mark iv to roadster?

[guitardude05]

i have a chance to get a roadster combo but get rid of the mark iv. can anyone who's owned both give me your take on them? i think i like that rectified sound more for rhythm, but i would miss that mark iv lead tone for solos. opinions?

 

[lockbody]

I've had both. The Roadster has better cleans, crunch, and way better reverb than the Mk IV IMO, plus if you like the recto sound for rhythm, the MK won't get you there, either. A TS9/808/Bad Monkey type distortion box and Ch3 Vintage will get you singing leads.

There's a ton of threads on this very subject if you do a search.

 

[Mark Fore]

I have both now. I loved the Roadster when I got it a couple years ago. I have been a Mark IV owner since they first came out and am on my 4th right now. I recently went back to the Mark IV because it seriously does everything (so does the Roadster though) and sounds great at low volumes. They both are great amps and if I had to limit myself to two amps they would be it... but if you are asking me to limit myself to one I would have to go with the Mark IV.

 

[Kazak]

I am currently going through a very serious case of GAAS, and have a RoadKing S1 combo, Mark IVA, LSS, 5:25, StudioPre, and I have a VHT Sig:X on the way.

The point is, I am trying to do side by side comparisons of as many amps as possible and so far the Mark IV is still the all around winner, the one I would not part with under any circumstances. Don' get me wrong I really like all the amps for the variation they provide, but this is my third Mark IV and this one is not going anywhere.

I have done this with my guitars too, had about 20 a while ago and I am now down to 5, which I am really happy with and not gassing for guitars at all. Would still like to get down to 3.

My recommendation is keep the Mark IV if you possibly can. Go out on a limb if you have to to swing the Roadster, they keep their value so it unlikely you would loose anything by doing an A/B comparison.

Good luck with your hunt for "the amp"!

 

[guitardude05]

yes thats what im scared of... losing the mark iv and then all of a sudden missing it. do you think with the discontinuation of the of the mark iv that it's value will go up at all? all this mark 5 hubbub has got me wanting to ditch the IV.

i love the lamb of god/petrucci tones i can get out of the mark iv, but i love the cleans and tesseract tones out of a roadster.

 

[Kazak]

A six year old very good condition Short Head went on eBay last week for $1816.00 and thats when we thought it was just the short head was being discontinued. Now there are combos for 1600.00, which is more than I paid for my RK combo.

I would hang on to the Mark IV because its very unlikely to go down in value even after/if the Mark V comes out, and I do think it will. The Mark V will be expensive and I am already saving for one anyway, but I wouldn't let my IV go under any circumstances. I wish I had another Mark IV as it is. In fact if you do decide to part with it, please PM me.

 

[guitardude05]

your probably right. i dont think i will get rid of it. i kind of like having a discontinued product for once, one that i should hold onto for a long time. i just need to get the **** footswitch for it so i can use all channels without stopping :lol:

 

[Kazak]

I think you are right, hang on to it at least till the dust settles a bit. You can get an FU3 foot-switch here:

http://mesa.stores.yahoo.net/fcfu3.html

 

[Mystic-Creations]

I think you are right, hang on to it at least till the dust settles a bit. You can get an FU3 foot-switch here:

http://mesa.stores.yahoo.net/fcfu3.html

Not cheap by any means!