New Amp Day: Mesa Mark IV

[SonVolt]

I was bad. Really bad. I was supposed to be out Christmas shopping for my wife over the weekend. Traffic was utterly horrendous so I decided to stop by the local Fender shop to see if they had anything cool before I made my way to the mall. So I walk in and make my way to the amp room and there sitting on the floor was a used Mesa Mark IV wide-body combo in remarkably good condition. This isn't an amp I usually see on the used market in stores so I had to pinch myself to make sure it was real. Unsure of what to do next I grabbed a guitar and plugged it into a 4x12 - and commenced to **** thy pants. **** all in them. The Lead Channel on this amp is a fire breather. It's more open than my Mark V, more raw sounding, less compressed. The gain has way more growl to it. Talked them down $100 and walked out the door with it. Shame on me.

I'm going to call Mesa today and see how much a new head-shell will cost me to convert it. I hate combos.

The pic is the amp sitting in the backseat of my truck before I got it home and cleaned all the dust off of it. It's in mint condition now that the dust is gone.

 

[bgh]

Enjoy it! I love my Mark IV. Best amp I ever owned.

 

[sduck]

Wow! It looks great!

 

[Markedman]

It was about this time of year last year when I went into a pawn shop with my wife promising her I wouldn't buy anything but walked out with my first ever Boogie, a Mark IVB with EV and Road case for $650.00. It changed my life. Wife got her diamond ring that day, I got a new reason to pay more guitar.

 

[SonVolt]

It was about this time of year last year when I went into a pawn shop with my wife promising her I wouldn't buy anything but walked out with my first ever Boogie, a Mark IVB with EV and Road case for $650.00. It changed my life. Wife got her diamond ring that day, I got a new reason to pay more guitar.

$650? Damn - I payed $1,200 for this Mark IV.

 

[sduck]

That's actually about the right price for these. Once in a while you hear about people getting great deals like the 650$ one, or people saying the "average price should be 800$" or whatever, but the real person on the street price is around 1200$ these days. That's what I paid for mine on ebay.

 

[dodger916]

yea...the Mark IV. Hadn't played mine seriously for over a year while fiddling with an Orange Dual Terror. What an eye-opener to hear that Lead channel again! Time to send it to Petaluma for a thorough going-over. What an amp!

 

[HBob]

Nice one! Congrats!

 

[MkIII Renegade]

Classic tube guitar amps will outlive us all. Unlike some things, old amps do NOT become "obsolete" just because new generations have come after them. A MkIV will always be a MkIV. 8)

 

[topcat0399]

And I'm so glad my Mark IV is MINE MINE MINE!.


Congrats on you and yours.

 

[bandit2013]

Happy New Year and enjoy your Mark IV(b).
I have had mine since 2000. I paid $1599 for it new when I bought it.
This would be one amp that would be hard to let go. Even though I have a Mark V half stack, I still enjoy the Mark IV combo just as much. Besides that, it is killer thought the 412 cab. Just as incredible with a 1x12 extension cab, or just by itself.

Mine still looks like new. Sounds even better now with age as it did when I first got it.

Congrats on picking your BOOGIE. :shock:

 

[SonVolt]

Well I hate to say it but channel 3 smokes my Mark V... It's no contest. Ive had my V for 3 years now and always rolled my eyes at the IV snobs.

(they were right)

 

[JOEY B.]

Well I hate to say it but channel 3 smokes my Mark V... It's no contest. Ive had my V for 3 years now and always rolled my eyes at the IV snobs.

(they were right)

"Snob" is a dirty word on this board, be careful. The lead channel in the IV can be fine tuned more than the Mark V. This can be a good AND bad thing. If you find yourself constantly tweaking your lead channel, it is possible to paint yourself into a bad tone corner. At this point you will have to back up and punt, starting all over again on your quest. Rinse and repeat, as they say. :wink:

 

[hirah]

congrats. the mark 4 is a great amp. I also have a carvin legacy and a marshall tsl100. the mark 4 holds its own. I just finished rewiring it tonight.
funny part is I bought the imbuya hardwood combo for $750. sold the footswitch for $150, and the combo shell for $350.
so I think I got one of the best deals around on a mark 4. I think I paid around $300 for the simul-sat.
here's a pic

 

[MkIII Renegade]

congrats. the mark 4 is a great amp. I also have a carvin legacy and a marshall tsl100. the mark 4 holds its own. I just finished rewiring it tonight.
funny part is I bought the imbuya hardwood combo for $750. sold the footswitch for $150, and the combo shell for $350.
so I think I got one of the best deals around on a mark 4. I think I paid around $300 for the simul-sat.
here's a pic

If I could get prices like that consistently, I'd buy 5 of each and sell some of the spares! :shock:

I had a TSL100 and couldn't bond with it. Had a nice crunch sound, but too much high end screech and not enough girth for leads, the EQ wouldn't adjust enough to correct it and I don't believe in relying on pedals for the fundamental tone. I even had my TSL modified slightly to tame the top end, but it still wasn't enough. I guess I just have Mark series midrange lust in my blood, I am positive I'll have at least 1 more Mark before 2014 is over (a Mark IV and possibly a backup Mk III). 8)

 

[Jimmer_5]

Happy new amp day!!

It's nice to read all this love for the Mark IV. I've had mine for over 15 years, and considered selling it when I played a Mark V (mainly because of the improved Crunch channel). I still feel like the Crunch channel on the Mark IV is not very useful, but I love the Lead channel enough to make up for it. And DAMN that thing is loud!

It's kind of funny - a few years after I bought my Mark IV, I bought a Marshall JCM600 combo in an attempt to simplify - I was young and frustrated wit hthe complex setup of the Mark IV. Now that I'm a little older and a touch wiser, I have come to appreciate all the options the Mark IV offers - and I find myself wanting independent channels and EQ's on other amps.