New old amp day (Mark IV)

[7enderbender]

Hello everyone,

So I finally picked up a nice Mark IV combo yesterday. Hardwood, wicker, revision B - just what I was looking for. As expected, dialing in my preferred tones is tricky but even after messing with it for half an hour I was happy with what I was getting.

Next big step now for this smaller "B rig" (my main one currently is a Triaxis/2:50/G-Force rack) will now be to figure out my effect situation. I'm still on the fence if I'll go pedal board with this one (something I abandoned back in the 90s since I don't like hitting multiple buttons to go from one tone to the next) or build a second, small rack (4u) with another G-Force.

But I'm open to other ideas. To cover my basics I'd need a good delay (ideally dynamic a la 2290 plus dual delay options), chorus, EQ, compression, and a good noise gate.

Questions:

What are the specs for the Mark IV effects loop? What level of buzz is normal in the Rh2 channel? I'm used to having things dead quiet in my rack so I may have to find a good noise gate at least or do my DBX compressor trick that I do in my rack as well. Anyone using the newer Decimator II pedal with amps like these?

 

[LuizPauloDT]

Congrats!

Tap dancing should not be an issue if you invest in a switching device such as the carl martin octa switch and many others.

About the decimator, I use a Decimator 2 G String with my pedalboard (g system + NDR + a couple drive pedals) in 4CM with Road King II or TriAxis + 20:20 successfully. You can't go wrong. It's the "state of the art" in noise reduction.

 

[7enderbender]

I'm pretty close to a decision how to wire everything up (small rack, adding a Strymon Timeline pedal). But can I just say how much I love that orange channel on this amp? It's a revision B Mark IV. Who can tell me anything about this channel? Is it it's own animal or is it based on a previous Boogie amp design?

 

[JRN1979]

Congratulations on your New Old Mark IV! I am also in the same boat, picked up a New Old Mark IVa combo, this past weekend. I previously had a Roadking Series 1 that I sold a few years ago, just to big and it was easier to let go since the sound was exactly what I was looking for. The MarkIV on the other hand, is an incredible amp! I was able to dial in some great sounds fairly quickly. It is amazing the different tones you can get by just adjusting the gain in a channel leaving everything else alone. I imagine it will take some time to fully discover everything this amp can do but it should be a fun journey.