No Mark IV's to test in any stores

[Jak0lantern01]

The heading says it all. No local GC's, and I tried the only other authorized shop that is within reach in NYC, nothing. Do these places having something against the Mark line? I can't something without testing it first, it's really the sort of thing that can quickly push me away from Mesa products. Is everyone else just blindly buying these on the word of others?

 

[siggy14]

Where you located? GC in rockville MD had a Mark IV 1x12 combo two weeks ago when i was there. You can always unplug the 12 inch speaker and feed the output to a 4x12.

The heading says it all. No local GC's, and I tried the only other authorized shop that is within reach in NYC, nothing. Do these places having something against the Mark line? I can't something without testing it first, it's really the sort of thing that can quickly push me away from Mesa products. Is everyone else just blindly buying these on the word of others?

 

[Jak0lantern01]

I'm in New York. Two GC's on Long Island and Rudy's in NYC, none have the Mark.

 

[ToneAddictJon]

I had to put an add up looking for a used one on CL to get the chance to play one first hand, then I went home with it
They don't seem to be pushed by stores like the recto series, not sure why but my local stores always have a few rectos and lonestars in but not a single mark, and noone that works at the stores seems to appreciate the mark series.

 

[phillyred79]

I think I bought one of the last combos in the MidWest today. I was talking to someone who allegedly was talking to someone directly at Mesa who said they make about 30 Mk IV heads and 50 combos a year or vice versa. So.. Who knows if this is all BS or what.. I'm glad I got mine though!

 

[phyrexia]

Mesa wants every dealer to have an amp from the Mark Series in stock, and most of the time they choose the (much) cheaper Mark I. The Mark IV is an expensive amp and is a difficult sell (much like a RK).

Couple that with the learning curve of the controls of the IV, and it's a lot easier to sell a DR than a IV.

 

[recto-robbie]

Your right, GC is useless for a MarkIV unless ordering one but a couple weeks back I found a smaller neighborhood Mesa dealer who says he tries to keep at least one of every currently made Mesa in stock.
I believed him because of all the Mesa's being made I remember only
2 or 3 he didnt have for me to try out when I was in the store.
He did have two MarkIV's,, both combos, wide body and regular, the regular had paper work on it already because someone put money down on it. I went into the store specifically to try the MarkIV because I was ready to trade my ROV for it,, I spoke to the owner before even going into the store.
Although the MarkIV was very nice,,, I am very glad in this instance to have been able to try before I bought. I wound up leaving the store after about 3 hours of messing with mostly the MarkIV but just about every Mesa he had. I decided I originally made a great purchase with the ROV and kept it.

 

[Platypus]

Maybe a nice NY member of this board with a MarkIV would offer to let you try them out. The first two shops I went to in Chicago both had Mark IV's..

It's one of those amps where once someone plays it who knows how to dial it, they leave the store with it. I was told in both different shops not to get the Mark IV because "it's too hard to dial in and sounds like crap," which is funny because the moment I dialed it properly I'd have bought it had they had the model I wanted.

The Mark series is vastly misunderstood by Mesa's own dealers it seems.

 

[phillyred79]

Maybe a nice NY member of this board with a MarkIV would offer to let you try them out. The first two shops I went to in Chicago both had Mark IV's..

It's one of those amps where once someone plays it who knows how to dial it, they leave the store with it. I was told in both different shops not to get the Mark IV because "it's too hard to dial in and sounds like crap," which is funny because the moment I dialed it properly I'd have bought it had they had the model I wanted.

The Mark series is vastly misunderstood by Mesa's own dealers it seems.

Yeah... I think ALL Mesa dealers should refer to each model's owner's manual and use the suggested settings for demoing or the 'Instant Gratification' settings because most people are too intimated to go beyond the simple EQ settings. It's really ashame.. First time I ever plugged into a Mk IV I probably sounded like sh!t, but I ended up buying one anyways because I knew the amp had all the potential in the world. And, once you're a Mesa owner it becomes much easier to dial in any other amp.

 

[boogiemonster]

I was lucky enough to find a dealer who brought one in for me to try from another one of their stores in another city. (It was a head) After trying it out I ordered a widebody combo. It is a shame, but the Mark IV looks so unassuming compared to the DRs, RKs, and Stilettos. Someone could mistake it for an F series if they didn't know much about Mesa amps. As stupid as that is I think looks has a lot to do with why dealers don't bring them in regularly.

On the other hand, it makes me feel like my amp is special because I know I got one of the "real" boogies. Yeah, not that a DR isn't a real Mesa but you know what I mean.

While I'm ranting... the biggest myth about the Mark IV is that you have to spend hours tweaking it to find a good tone. :roll: It's true that the Mark IV has so many tweaking options that you could spend hours finding different nuances of its basic tones, but you can dial in some good ones pretty quick and easily. When I was trying out the head, I flicked on R2 cranked the gain to about 7 set the EQ to emphasize the mids and played a few chords. The sales guy looked over at me in astonishment and said he couldn't believe you could get that kind of tone out of a Mesa.

 

[stompboxfreak72]

Amen to this thread ! I have been killing to test drive a Mark IV for years. I have 4 GC's within driving distance of my home and I have never even seen a Mark series amp of any kind. I ended up buying a Single Rec as my backup to my DR because I could not get one to try. I wish I had bought one blind now. Oh well........ my bonus comes next month. Maybe i'll splurge.

 

[srf399]

I bough an Apple computer last year and everyone thought I was nuts! And I can tell you that everyone who has seen my computer has switched or is in the process of switching to a mac. The MKIV is the same way. Lots of people will tell you made up horror stories about them but there is a reason that MESA still makes them after 18 years!


When I got my MKIV I took home 4 different Mesas and brought them all back because what you heard playing them in the store was what you got. I took them home and I'd already heard everything...and they actually sounded better in the store than in my basement. I bought the MKIV because it was the original boogie sound that I liked and I also had read a lot of articles on the MK series and talked to Mike at Mesa for about 20 - 25 minutes and he said and I quote ("you can get pretty much any sound out of a MKIV with the right combination of settings, tubes, and speakers") Well I had to commit to buying the MKIV before even trying it out cause they wouldn't bring it in from one of their other stores unless I did. The salesman ran it down like it was a pig/lemon amp. I took the amp home and played with it for 20 minutes and it was 10 times better sounding than it was in the store. Every time I use it it gets better. It stays consistent. What I like about the MKIV is that no matter what the acoustics of a room do you can compensate with the amp due to it's extreme flexibility. The MKIV is a Mark series amp with controls for all the variables within the amp. So you're basically getting the structure of the MKI, II, & III with more control over all the circuits within the amp. So rather than having the amp modded Mesa just put switches and potentiometers in the circuits they knew guys would want to mess with. It's basically a MK series lab station! And it overwhelms a lot of meat and potatoes type players who want plug & play. The thing is once you set what you like you basically have 3 different sounding amps with every variable in between. Huge upside! I rarely change my settings now except to make up for a shitty sounding room. Before I had to live with it...now I can still get MY sound no matter what. I know I've gone off on a rant but the MKIV is one of the best sounding amps ever made and anyone who tells you otherwise is intimidated & scared of it! Trust me if you ever take one home....it's not going back to the store.

 

[phillyred79]

Well said srf399!!

 

[oyster]

Everything you said is true with the exception of "anyone who tells you otherwise is intimidated & scared of it". Putting down everyone else who disagrees with you and characterising them that way, is naive at best.

Here's an example of a valid opinion that happens to differ from yours. :wink: You obviously really like your amp and all of its flexibility, and I won't deny you that - I think the flexibility is great too. I really wanted to love the Mark IV especially after all the rave reviews I heard, I special ordered it blind. Once it arrived, I devoted a good deal of time to understanding it and carefully listening. No intimidation here, actually I found it fairly intuitive and well laid out. I was able to generate a wide variety of acceptable sounds from it but in the end, I guess I just had an honest dislike for the core tone and feel that was always present.

The Mark IV Mutual Admiration Society often gets a bit out of control. :wink:

 

[lockbody]

Everything you said is true with the exception of "anyone who tells you otherwise is intimidated & scared of it". Putting down everyone else who disagrees with you and characterising them that way, is naive at best.

Here's an example of a valid opinion that happens to differ from yours. :wink: You obviously really like your amp and all of its flexibility, and I won't deny you that - I think the flexibility is great too. I really wanted to love the Mark IV especially after all the rave reviews I heard, I special ordered it blind. Once it arrived, I devoted a good deal of time to understanding it and carefully listening. No intimidation here, actually I found it fairly intuitive and well laid out. I was able to generate a wide variety of acceptable sounds from it but in the end, I guess I just had an honest dislike for the core tone and feel that was always present.

The Mark IV Mutual Admiration Society often gets a bit out of control. :wink:

+1

I never found it hard to get sounds out of at all. You just got to love that Mark tone to love that amp.

 

[MasterTrax]

Hi,

It's a shame, because here in S.E. Texas there is a lonely Mark IV at my local music store which I KNOW has been there, brand-new and gathering dust, for over three years. It's a big store and lots of amps including Mesas come and go, but not the Mark IV. I bet it's still on sale for the 2003 or 2004 price, too. I seem to remember $1649.00 or $1699.00, something like that....

Good luck in your search.

 

[phillyred79]

Hi,

It's a shame, because here in S.E. Texas there is a lonely Mark IV at my local music store which I KNOW has been there, brand-new and gathering dust, for over three years. It's a big store and lots of amps including Mesas come and go, but not the Mark IV. I bet it's still on sale for the 2003 or 2004 price, too. I seem to remember $1649.00 or $1699.00, something like that....

Good luck in your search.

Post the store's name, number and other pertinent info! I'm sure someone here would love to know about that! I'm guessing it's a head for that price? I'm surprised the price ain't any higher considering the heads alone go for $1849 now. I wonder if store owners raise the price on already in stock gear when the price list gets updated?

 

[CoG]

Yeah, there's a really nice hardwood&wicker Mark IV combo at the Long&McQuade here in Ottawa and it's been here a looooong time.

It's Cdn$2750 though, which is close to a month's take-home pay for the average guy, plus another $300 in taxes.

There's a store in town and another in Montreal that stock a ton of boutique amps and I think most of the 'enthusiast' types in town are going for those, so I bet that Mark is gonna get real lonely.