School me on which Mark I want...

[firefly1235]

I actually want a IIc+ just like everyone else, but I can't freaking afford one :lol:

I'm not terribly worried about rhythm tones, I've never had any trouble finding a nice chunky chording tone out of an amp I've plugged into, lead tones are another story. I want "that" lead tone, the so called "violin tone" that gets associated with IIC+'s. I play all kinds of music, most blues, 80's rock and instrumental rock, but no matter which genre I play I always try to dial in the smoothest, most vocal tone I can, which Mark will get me closest to my holy grail??

 

[zodiac272]

you might like the mark IV. or if you want to spend less than $1200-$1400 then a mark simulclass III would work, maybe a green stripe, but any stripe is good. Early no stripe could have 105 PT. If you end up getting something used that you aren't happy with, no worries, you should be able to flip it without losing much money, if at all, which you could consider a "rental" cost.

scott

 

[THTH]

If you can't swing a IIC+ check out a III or a IV.

A comparison of a friend's MkIII and my MkIV went like this:

MkIII red stripe simul - more open, capable of real edgy/aggressive tones, brighter, with a great sustaining lead tone.

MkIVB - more compressed, smoother, darker, with a slightly more liquid lead tone.

I would be happy with either playing 80's rock/metal or instrumental tunes. I think the IV can cover more ground style wise, but it depends how good you are at setting up Mesa's. My friend commented that the lead on my IV reminded him of George Lynch's solo tone on the Lynch Mob CD's. Definitely try both if you can, there are some major sound and function differences between both.

 

[Fronzil]

obviously comes down to the III or IV..only two things that need to be talked about are your budget, and if you need a multi channel amp with individual EQ or just more like 1 or 2 channels with shared EQ.

 

[igfraso]

Remember that there is also a Vol2 mod for the Mark III that will cost you only $50 if you want to also have an independent setting for each channel (yet, EQ is still shared).