Mark IV users...please read

[NJVenom]

I love my Mark IV, 3 channels, clean as glass or face ripping distortion, and everything in between... My "problems" are related to the volume of this little 1x12" combo. Literally, i do not (actually i cannot) turn this amp up past 3 or 4. It is way too loud. :twisted: I do have it set on "tweed" mode, and i have the vols. set even between the channels.
Does anybody know of a modification to so it ain't sounding like an angry wolverine every time i do a show? my singer complains, my other gtr player complains, that I am too loud and all-encompassing. Sometimes it has to do with the room, amp placement etc...next show we do with a soundman & full PA, i'll go w/ the direct out, and try to get a good mix thru the monitor. But we also do shows where the only thing
goin' thru the pa is vocals. Just the amp volume alone is sufficient.
Is there a volume knob w/ a different rating i can install- something more gradual, so when i turn up or down, there is less of a level jump?
maybe its just my combination of ...well everything! my hands, the pick i use, pickups, pedals etc...
i've been told that i even piss too loud...
I do not want to be known as that friggin too loud gtr player...but there is a certain level of volume that i need - we all need - to sound right. i do not want my stage volume to be so loud it turns into a competition, where my singer ends up singing too hard coz he can't hear himself properly. Im sure we've all went thru this...
Any ideas?
patrick

 

[stephen sawall]

This is what most people do and what I do .....

Run the master volume lower. I run mine on 2 most of the time. If I ran it on 4 it would piss off most people at gigs. The master volume on the IV sounds very good set low.

 

[MrMarkIII]

You don't mention what speakers or cab(s) you're using, so...
Load it up with 6V6s. The manual explains all.
And tell your bandmates to man up. :lol:

 

[212Mavguy]

Weber MASS attenuator. Worth every penny. Your amp will sound much better than low master volume setting and you won't kill anyone anymore. If your amp is rated for 100 watts get the 200W rated MASS. 50 watt use the 100W MASS. Don't think 6v6's are the best solution at all. Neither is a too low master setting on the amp.

I love mine, 100W for my Maverick and I got a custom one with a TRS balanced out, no more micing, the out goes right to the sound board or to a direct box. That line out has full dedicated tone stack... vol, treb, mid, bass so you can control your front of house tone and just have the sound guy set for unity gain and flat tone controls on the board. There is a toggle to add back the presence lost from strong attenuation settings, but it can also be compensated for in the amp's tone stack(s). Plus, you can order your custom unit with the optional footswitch to turn on/off attenuation as desired. Your attenuated tone will be very full and girthy, with better sustain than you're used to. Excessive attenuation for too high of a master volume setting will muddy up your cleans, though. Set it for attenuating as little as possible without compromising your fave tone and master volume settings. If the amp sounds great at a 3-4 MV setting, don't go up higher.

 

[zebpedersen]

60W Mark III instead?

Or a Studio Pre and a 20/20 power amp?

 

[Geiri]

I agree with the above posts. When I have late night practice at home with everyone sleeping I have the master just below 2 and the channel master at about 2 also. I run fullpower and this is still quiet enough to not disturb the family but still retaining the balls and the voice of the amp.

At live setting try this, master vol just above 2 and then find the sweetspot by using the channel master. This way you should be able to use the fullpower setting. I find that tweed mode cuts the balls from the amp.

 

[njsurf]

I run my master just below 2. If I ran it at 3 or 4 it would be way too loud. Since most of the distortion is coming from the preamp tubes I still get a great sound at a moderate level.

Best of luck, Jeff

 

[stephen sawall]

I would also recommend using the power amp switches to get the 8 different voices (tweed,Class A,pentode)..... use them to get the voice and point of breakup instead of a volume adjustment. Sure these switches change volume levels but it is not the way I use them.

 

[JAZZGEAR]

This is what most people do and what I do .....

Run the master volume lower. I run mine on 2 most of the time. If I ran it on 4 it would piss off most people at gigs. The master volume on the IV sounds very good set low.

This is good advice.....the only time my Master ever went anywhere near 3 let alone 4 was at an outdoor gig. 2 is pretty much the happy spot on the IV.

 

[miqueas92]

Is the problem that you can't hear yourself in the mix at lower levels¿¿
I have mine at about waist high on top of the carry case, it's behind me and that works well.


I turned mine up to 10... once!! :twisted: :twisted: :evil: :mrgreen:

Mick

 

[Fronzil]

all my channel volumes around around 1.3-1.5.....full power / triode/class A lately...I can run the main output on 4 during gigs no problem...i prefer to crank the power tubes as much as I can

 

[kdorsey]

This is a simple and common problem for any Boogie combo owner. The solution...more speakers. Wait, don't scoff at this without listening to the logic. I play a MkIII combo with a single EV 12" and when driven hard, it is freakin' loud. (As a sufferer of tinnitus from just this sort of thing, it's bad) By adding additional drivers, if playing at the same master volume level, you reduce the individual load on one speaker. Instead of all that sound energy being generated from one point, it's distributed between all the speakers (if all speakers are the same). Plug in a 2x12 cab with the same speakers as your combo and see for yourself.

I find that using 2 - 2x12 Boogie cabs yields fantastic results with my MkIII. It smooths out the tone and spreads the sound field out which really drives the natural resonance of my PRS. I'm no louder than if I was blasting thru a single 12" speaker, but people don't complain since it's not so piercing. In fact, it's quite the opposite...my drummer is complaining that he can't hear me now!

I have a Marshall Power Brake and have used it for 20 years, but when using the pair of 2x12 cabs, I don't need it.

 

[Mark Fore]

Sometimes I think all you guys work for speaker/tube/hum eliminator/cable companies the way extra gear is offered up as a solution any time someone asks a simple question! Yeah, more cabs would help, but it is not a necessity. Remove the wheels and put that sucker on the ground if it's a 1x12 combo. That will get you some more girth. And then...

Turn that s&*t dooooooown! Why do you feel you have to have it up at 4? Channel masters at 3 across the board and master never above 2... MAYBE 2.5. There is no better tone, regardless of the cabinet in that situation. The rest is just semantics.

 

[ryjan]

I agree. I keep my channel volumes at 3-4 and the master hardly ever goes over 2. I think this is more psychological than anything. "The knob is broke because I can't dime it!"

 

[mrd]

Good tones are attainable at low volumes, but to say that there aren't usable tones past master volume of 2.5 or 3 is just... silly. Sorry! If you can afford to play loud, do it. It sounds better. Plus, it's more fun when your cab is making your pants flap in the wind, too :twisted:

 

[stephen sawall]

all my channel volumes around around 1.3-1.5.....full power / triode/class A lately...I can run the main output on 4 during gigs no problem...i prefer to crank the power tubes as much as I can

If you have channel volumes or the master down you are not driving the power tubes or power section. Both need to be up to do that.

 

[mrd]

all my channel volumes around around 1.3-1.5.....full power / triode/class A lately...I can run the main output on 4 during gigs no problem...i prefer to crank the power tubes as much as I can

If you have channel volumes or the master down you are not driving the power tubes or power section. Both need to be up to do that.

^this.

Power tubes amplify the signal from the pre-amp. If the pre-amp signal is low, then the power tubes don't get much to work with and thus don't really get driven too hard. They merely spit out what is given to them, adding not much character to the tone (when compared to how much they COULD add if you jacked it right up.)

I really think more people around here need to turn their freakin' MKIVs up to 10 just once, to understand what these things are capable of :lol:

 

[Fronzil]

all my channel volumes around around 1.3-1.5.....full power / triode/class A lately...I can run the main output on 4 during gigs no problem...i prefer to crank the power tubes as much as I can

If you have channel volumes or the master down you are not driving the power tubes or power section. Both need to be up to do that.

oh, it was my understanding cranking the channel volumes pushed the preamps, and that's where lots of your gain is from, whereas the main output pushed the power tubes, and gave less gain and just more natural breakup...either way, i feel it sounds way better with the channels low, and the main output high...that seems to be the consensus with most of the long time IV users around here too.

 

[stephen sawall]

oh, it was my understanding cranking the channel volumes pushed the preamps, and that's where lots of your gain is from, whereas the main output pushed the power tubes, and gave less gain and just more natural breakup...either way, i feel it sounds way better with the channels low, and the main output high...that seems to be the consensus with most of the long time IV users around here too.

The power-amp is always running full open. All power-amps are this way. The only way to get the poweramp to overdrive is to get enough signal into it for it to overdrive.
The channel volumes and master are both right before the power amp, both are really doing pretty much the same thing ..... regulating the output of the preamp. One just sits before the other.
The channel volumes are right before the effects loop and the master right after. Both need to be up to overdrive the power section. As one feeds the other. The master and channel volumes do not turn up anything .... they only attenuate.
There is no right or wrong .... just set it up to sound the way you want. I like the tone/sound of the channel volumes in the 4~8 range best myself. Too be honest I never noticed that consensus you refer.

The signal chain is like this ....

preamp - channel volumes - master - poweramp.

 

[mrd]

Stephen is right... don't think of the master volume knob as the "power amp" volume knob... think of it as the MASTER volume knob, IE: it controls the volume of ALL the channels. The idea is that you set all your channels how you like them and if you need it to be louder, just turn up the master volume, instead of turning up all three channel knobs.

BTW, channel 1 sounds great if you dime it ... so does channel 2... and channel 3. :lol: