So I switched out my Mark IV for my Splawn last night at rehearsal and got an interesting response from the rest of the band

[kmanick]

So an interesting occurrence happened last night at rehearsal. I've been working with a Whitesnake tribute project and I've been using my Mark IV, I love it, with my Mesa vertical 2X12 cab it sounds killer.
Last night I used my Splawn 50 watt SuperSport and unanimously the entire band liked it better, they said it was much more aggressive sounding, my IV sounds "polite" next to it.
I love my Splawn so I have no issue using it, but it got me to wondering is the IV that much smoother sounding than the III.
I briefly had a red stripe almost 20 years ago but I never had the chance to play it side by side with a IV.
I know how to dial in a IV (this is my 3rd one ) so it's not my settings they said it was the overall "tone" of the amp, maybe too dark? I was really surprised. My IV is "B"

 

[CoG]

for me splawns are all pretty much the opposite of the smooth, compressed mark iv sound. the marshall dna is strong. the QR I had was very dynamic and had a pronounced upper mid spike that made it kerrang! and pop right out in a mix at the price of feeling stiff/hard to play and seeming even louder than it was, and it was fucking loud. sounded killer in the room. loved it for jamming but it was painful/fatiguing to play solo and didn't record well.

 

[kmanick]

for me splawns are all pretty much the opposite of the smooth, compressed mark iv sound. the marshall dna is strong. the QR I had was very dynamic and had a pronounced upper mid spike that made it kerrang! and pop right out in a mix at the price of feeling stiff/hard to play and seeming even louder than it was, and it was fucking loud. sounded killer in the room. loved it for jamming but it was painful/fatiguing to play solo and didn't record well.

mine is a 50 watt in B+ mode full time so it's not quite as stiff as a QR, I tend to run the gain around 11:00 O clock and hit it with the Lovepedal in my Fractal FX8, and yes definitely on the other end of the spectrum sound wise. My mark IV is at Mesa right now getting a once over I'll be curious as to what EL-34's in the class slots will do , mixed in with the band.

 

[bandit2013]

I have run EL34 in the class A sockets. Not bad. I got more out of the Mark IVB when blending different 6L6 tube pairs. SED =C= 6L6GC and TAD 6L6GCSTR (black plates) sounded so sinister and aggressive, that sound I was never able to replicate in any other Simul-Class amp to this day. that includes the Mark V90 and Mark VII. Hard to tell how that would work out in a mix as I no longer have the Mark IVB, now that I am active in a group. the Mark IVB and the V90 had a different tune to them when compared to the Mark III, JP2C and the VII. the Mark III blends and dominates in a mix as that is what I used during my youth. JP2C was harder to get though the mix. Mark VII, it will cut and slice how you want it too. Were you running the IVB in lead channel in harmonics or mid gain? Been a long time since I had a Mark IVB. I typically used mine in harmonics mode unless I got too much feedback. I found the Mark IVB to be more interesting when blending different pairs of 6L6 tubes. I only tried the STR447 with the Mark IVB. It was different as that basically voices the gain structure of the amp. The TAD tubes had a unique voice to them (almost like a 6CA7 in some ways) as did the SED =C= which were bold and tight low end with top end to go with it. When compared to STR440, it was just OK. Sort of missed the STR420 coke bottle tubes. Those were similar to the =C= in some ways. Never had tried the other Mesa 6L6GC tubes as I sold the amp before they came out. Sure, a full compliment of SED =C= 6L6GC will sound great (Mesa STR454). I believe the STR454 was original equipment with the Mark IVA if not mistaken. Mark IVB came with the coke bottle STR420 tubes (at least mine did). Not much to say so this may not be all that helpful to you.