Next amp

[Trace]

I'm not that crazy of a guitar player. I've been playing, I guess almost 3 years now. I know a fair bit of theory granting me the knowledge to play a few different styles and I've figured it's time to get serious about my equipment. In particular getting a tube amp, even more specific a Mesa. Well, I've pretty much settled that my next amp is going to be the Mark IV. I've played through most of Mesa's prestigous line including Lone Stars, RKs, Dual Recs (I did NOT like the DR other than its growl), and the F series. Well, after tweaking around with the Mark IV I realized that it's incredibly versatile. I like the A series better to be honest. Sounds closest to the IIC+. However, I don't know a crazy load about tube amps. I'm not sure what an effects loop is, I don't know anything about Ohms and speakers, and I don't know where to start when it comes to retubing your amp to find the sound you want. I do know what a hot/cold bias is, but how do you adjust your bias? Does the preamp always travel through to the power amp? And how can I really tweak the amp to find what I want using these things? And some questions of the Mark IV in particular: What's the difference between the short and widebody combo besides size? Why do most prefer the EVM or C90 over the V30s? Last of all, if I didn't know these before, should I go back and try these amps out before setting my mind on the Mark IV?

I'm not 100% sure if this is the right forum, or if any of my questions makes sense but if someone could answer any of these I'd be seriously thankful.

 

[chris_EIT]

Hey dude, hows it going?
Ok I'll try to answer a FEW of your questions.
1. The effects loop has Out and In, the out goes from your preamp to any effects then from effects to power amp In. That's basically that. ALL preamps must go to a power amp one way or another. The Mark IV has a Slave out which is used to go into other power amps (I believe this is correct). As for Speaker Ohms. Just make sure you match your amps Ohm rating with a cab rating or make sure the cab has a HIGHER rating not lower. With a lower rating you will kill your amp because it's pushing out more power I guess than the cab can take and so the transformer will go, and your tubes. The mark IV and all mesa's i think are biased permanently, they DON'T need to be re biased. Ummmm what else... As for tubes, start with the standard Mesa tubes, find a good tone and then try other tubes next time. Widebody and short are only different in that the short body has the EQ and MidGain/ Harmonics button on the back but the Wide has them on front. (Most people go for the short so that it can be rack mounted). As for the EVM and V30 I guess it's just preference. The v30's are pretty mid voiced and the Mark IV is REALLY mid voiced, so I guess people don't need the v30's because it's just over the top mids.
Hope this helps and I hope I'm right. If I said something wrong someone PLEASE correct me
Cheers dude

 

[Trace]

Thanks a ton bro, I really appreciate the help.
One more q to anyone out there, how can I find out the Ohm rating on an amp if I were to be looking at one?

 

[chris_EIT]

all amps have the ohm rating above or below the speaker out jack
the mark iv has 3 out jacks though, one 8ohm and 2 4 ohms. The reason for this is because u can run 2 8ohm cabinets from the 4 ohm jacks, 1 4ohm cab from 1 4phm jack or 1 8ohm cabinet from the 8ohm jack. It's a bit tricky its all physics. the 2 4ohms are in series so the total ohms is 4 + 4 = 8. XD If its parrallel 4ohms then u can have 2 4ohm cabinets but as for mark iv its in series

EG: Speaker out -------4ohm ------4ohm-------<Series

Speaker out--------40hm--------
| |
--------4ohm-------- <Parralel (Some amps are different)

Hope that added a little more for ya

 

[Trace]

Totally clarified, thanks dude.