MarkIV = Unforgiving amp!!

[lookslikemeband]

I play through a Mark III and I have no problems with sloppiness at all, everything is sounding clean and tight. So maybe my technique is getting good (or my ears are getting bad) ..but this thread really made me feel good about myself...lol
now please don't burst my bubble. :lol:

No, dude, that's a good thing! That was my point.

As a singer / guitarist - I hardly ever look at the neck except to "solo" (more of a rhythm player myself).

But when I added the MarkIV - it made me REALLY focus on playing tighter.

So you must be rocking it!!!

 

[musicman10_1]

As Mesa's product literature indicates, these amps are instruments themselves, and as many have said, it takes a little time to adjust your playing to make everything sound right. My Mark IV has certainly helped me improve my technique and has caused me to focus much more on my picking and muting.

I have a delay pedal in the loop and when I am in need of a little "help" I just engage the pedal to give my sound a little ambience - OR, I pour myself another drink and play on!!

 

[fpoon]

I feel the clean channel out of all 3 channels truly makes you focus more on your playing especially how hard or soft you strum the strings. Maby it's just the way I set it up but if I strum it differently the sound changes making me focus on getting the "right" sound to come out.

 

[MusicManJP6]

I have a delay pedal in the loop and when I am in need of a little "help" I just engage the pedal to give my sound a little ambience - OR, I pour myself another drink and play on!!

That's a very good point! I love creating an 'atmosphere' with effects. OR to help cover up inadequate playing... lol.

 

[guitarded]

I think quite the opposite. I think it is making my playing sound better and it seems easier to play and sound good than other amps I have used. It has a way of smoothing out some of my poor picking habits, and slight off timing. I have a Epi Valve Junior practice head which is very unforgiving IMHO, and I have also used a PODXT for some live work, and that was really unforgiving on certain amp models.

Last night at practice, I decided to use my MarkIV to show it off to the bandmates.

Not only is it dripping with killer tone (and loves my pedals).... I must say it is VERY unforgiving.

You get sloppy - it announces it to the whole world!

It made me focus a lot more on my technique than I have in a while - which is a good thing!

I'm thinking it's only going to make me a better player.

 

[guitarded]

That would be me and I have to say this comment is right on the money. It is almost too easy now. I still practice with my modeler cause practice should be "work".

Especially now a days the modelers (pods and so on)are the in thing, they can sound pretty good under the right conditions but do not or shall I say respond very little to the dynamics of your playing. So someone use to playing a modeler and then jumps to a Boogie is usually freaked by the feel.

 

[Tre4J]

I have a friend with a marshall DSL and I brought my mark iv over to his place and set up a nice lead tone I came across on my mark iv and I played it and it sounded smooth and liquid and midrangy...then I let him try, hoping to sit back and enjoy the sound of the amp being played...but no such luck. I guess tone IS in the fingers. He isn't much of a lead player anyways, I think thats what the problem was.

But I got to hear him bust out on loud volume mark iv heavy riffing tones while I adjusted the settings which gave me a mark iv fix.

You guys are right, it can be a very unforgiving amp. It is very articulate and dynamic. I think it's helped my playing too in the short time I've had it.

 

[lookslikemeband]

Agreed. As you can imagine - I mean "unforgiving" in a GOOD way!!!

If you play well, it sounds killer!

You know the old saying - "s**t in, s**t out"

 

[Anonymous]

Owning a Mark III made me realize how much of your tone is in your fingers. When I first got the amp, I fiddled with the knobs FOREVER to try to get it to sound good, and I was wondering why I couldn't get good tone out of it. So then I focused more on my playing and I realized that I wasn't letting the notes ring out as much as I could, my vibrato was off, and I was, of course, sloppy. After fixing all that in my playing, I can say that I have never had better tone. I'm truly in love with the Mark's now, and I feel confident that I will die with this amp.

 

[Rectumfryer]

I was thinking the same thing....

 

[guitarsawicki]

Yeah !!!. Other guitarist of my band can't get get good tone with my settings. He's not a guitarist really but a very good keyboard player.

 

[fpoon]

Exact same situation I had when I first got the Mark IV and when I let my friend play it. I couldn't understand how to achieve the tones I wanted and my friend sounds awful with the settings I have now even though it sounds amazing when I play it. Basically it takes some time to truly understand the beast.