This isn't so much of a question but an observation and maybe a little lesson on tweaking amps.
I just got a Mark IV yesterday and I have probably put 10 hours on it. No joke!
On my way to pick it up (looong drive to Wisconsin!) I was listening to lots of Dream Theater and early Metallica, both of which rely heavily on the Mark series sound. I was excited by what I thought would essentially be a shredder metal amp which might encourage me to speed up my playing a bit. It even looks menacing! Stealth Black all over, jammed with knobs and an EQ, and even yellow orange and red LEDs. Nothing too friendly looking about it!
After lots of playing, I have actually found the Mark IV to be a killer VINTAGE style amp, with more in common (I would guess) with a Mark I or II and of course a Fender Princeton. This isn't to say I cant get crushing metal tones but I LOVE the amp with the EQ off and using that one big *** knob instead! Looks really are deceiving on this one. In fact its almost cute just how little it is! The sound quality is startlingly huge however!
The clean is fantastic. I always have liked a brighter clean with a big Fender bottom end which this amp delivers in spades since it is at its core a Fender Princeton. The RHY 2 channel is still a bit of an enigma to me. Occasionally its too clean, too dirty, too bassy, too trebly but mostly "morphs" from SRV dirty strat rhythms to barely-overdriven Trey lead sounds. I say it morphs because this amp changes sounds SO much. Either from me twiddling knobs or just my mood changing how I play, RHY 2 sounds different all the time which can be annoying if they were mostly bad sounds. Since many are good sounds it keeps me inspired which is something my former amp just couldn't do.
The lead channel is fantastic for vintage stuff. I absolutely love the EQ off here occasionally. It brings back all the mids and smooths out the sound very well. I am using a guitar that is set up like a Brian May Red Special and the Mark IV just nails the Brian May sound, given you use the proper pickup selection.
With the EQ in, I get instant Metallica (or other heavy metal sound) but frankly it's just not as fun as the other sounds. Plus everyone and their mother uses the Lead channel + EQ for everything so I figure there needs to be someone out there using it much more sparingly.
I am using this amp mainly as just a combo. I have an Egnater 4x12 with V30s, however, the sound doesn't really get "better". It gets louder and some bass frequencies aren't attenuated as much but the Mark definitely doesn't NEED a cab. I have had some amps that without a decent cab, it wasn't worth turning on. I should also mention I did a bit of power tube swapping. The amp originally came with 6L6s and I was having issues dialing out some flubby bass on RHY 2. I tried 2 EL-34s and 2 6L6s and it got much better. Finally I stocked it with 6V6s and I think that may be the ticket! Much more manageable output and much less mud.
Another thing I should mention is I am AMAZED at how good this amp sounds turned down! Sure it sounds better the louder it is but I love the fact that I can bring a 1x12 Fender princeton with all the goodies anyone could ever ask for down to my apartment at college!
I now see why people think so highly of this amp and Im sure I can recommend one as more than just a metal amp.
I just got a Mark IV yesterday and I have probably put 10 hours on it. No joke!
On my way to pick it up (looong drive to Wisconsin!) I was listening to lots of Dream Theater and early Metallica, both of which rely heavily on the Mark series sound. I was excited by what I thought would essentially be a shredder metal amp which might encourage me to speed up my playing a bit. It even looks menacing! Stealth Black all over, jammed with knobs and an EQ, and even yellow orange and red LEDs. Nothing too friendly looking about it!
After lots of playing, I have actually found the Mark IV to be a killer VINTAGE style amp, with more in common (I would guess) with a Mark I or II and of course a Fender Princeton. This isn't to say I cant get crushing metal tones but I LOVE the amp with the EQ off and using that one big *** knob instead! Looks really are deceiving on this one. In fact its almost cute just how little it is! The sound quality is startlingly huge however!
The clean is fantastic. I always have liked a brighter clean with a big Fender bottom end which this amp delivers in spades since it is at its core a Fender Princeton. The RHY 2 channel is still a bit of an enigma to me. Occasionally its too clean, too dirty, too bassy, too trebly but mostly "morphs" from SRV dirty strat rhythms to barely-overdriven Trey lead sounds. I say it morphs because this amp changes sounds SO much. Either from me twiddling knobs or just my mood changing how I play, RHY 2 sounds different all the time which can be annoying if they were mostly bad sounds. Since many are good sounds it keeps me inspired which is something my former amp just couldn't do.
The lead channel is fantastic for vintage stuff. I absolutely love the EQ off here occasionally. It brings back all the mids and smooths out the sound very well. I am using a guitar that is set up like a Brian May Red Special and the Mark IV just nails the Brian May sound, given you use the proper pickup selection.
With the EQ in, I get instant Metallica (or other heavy metal sound) but frankly it's just not as fun as the other sounds. Plus everyone and their mother uses the Lead channel + EQ for everything so I figure there needs to be someone out there using it much more sparingly.
I am using this amp mainly as just a combo. I have an Egnater 4x12 with V30s, however, the sound doesn't really get "better". It gets louder and some bass frequencies aren't attenuated as much but the Mark definitely doesn't NEED a cab. I have had some amps that without a decent cab, it wasn't worth turning on. I should also mention I did a bit of power tube swapping. The amp originally came with 6L6s and I was having issues dialing out some flubby bass on RHY 2. I tried 2 EL-34s and 2 6L6s and it got much better. Finally I stocked it with 6V6s and I think that may be the ticket! Much more manageable output and much less mud.
Another thing I should mention is I am AMAZED at how good this amp sounds turned down! Sure it sounds better the louder it is but I love the fact that I can bring a 1x12 Fender princeton with all the goodies anyone could ever ask for down to my apartment at college!
I now see why people think so highly of this amp and Im sure I can recommend one as more than just a metal amp.
Glad you're enjoying it though.
