The Mark IV thread....!!

[Shep]

Honestly - after owning Fender's, Marshall's and Boogie's; I think the MKIV is one of those amps that will go down in history as a defining piece of gear. Once you get the hang of it, it's a great amp - but I think most will agree it's not for the impatient or beginners. It takes time to dial in "your" tone, but when you get there it's Nirvana (not the band; the spiritual concept!).

Think about how the Les Paul, Strat et al are considered to be pivotal pieces of gear that shaped music history and, IMHO, I truly believe that the MKIV will be recognised for the important part it too has played in music.

Subjective rant? I hope not....

Agree .. it's one of those amp's.. and it took me 6 months to dial in my tone.. I love it..

 

[Russ]

You can run 5881's in Class A in a Mark IV. Also you can run 6V6's in Tweed Simul in a Mark IV. You can run EL34's in the outer sockets of a Mark IV too with 6L6's in Simul. Bob at Eurotubes says you can run KT66's in medium heads. I think I would still rather have my Mark IV.

 

[Platypus]

Diezels are neat but they don't sound like tube amps in my opinion.. not to say they sound bad but it's almost transistory how they play. They have a cool tone for sure but not for 4k heh.

 

[Shep]

i think that the dailing in of tonne is a big reason that so many guitarist don't have the mk IV.. I had a dual recto.. it was very easy to get that loose chunk.. but the lead channel sucked no matter what i did to it..i am a lead guitarist.. I really like smooth sweet lead tone's.. the dual recto amp's and rk's which i have played as well..sucked for.. they are a rhy guitarists amp..i think that the recto's do what they do pretty dam well.. but i think they are very limted.. i am also a Jazz guitarist.. I could never see myself playing at the basement in Sydney with a dual recto but a mk IV.. Hell Yes.. and i think that's what makes the mk IV such a great amp becasue of it's abitly to play Heavy metal/rock.. guitar lead's.. Jazz and Blues.. Very very well..

Of cousre bogner/diezel can do that two.. but how much more are you paying for the same thing..

 

[Russ]

I have been busy with other stuff lately than buying new tubes. I still want to try the 6V6's. I know ursinus loves his with 6V6's and there are a couple others that do too.

 

[Russ]

The footswitch does mount on the back of the head. The cabling can be a pain to get all coiled and stuffed in the back of the short head but it isn't too bad. With the B it isn't nearly the chore as with the A. I find it difficult to get the power cord tucked in too but I manage.

 

[devilrob1979]

Yet another fantastic reason to buy a rackmount head.

 

[psycle_1]

Just got my IV A from FedEx today.
It's one hell of an amp. I think I've finally found my amp!
I was just wondering if it was possible and/or worth it to mod it to rev. B specs.

 

[Russ]

Congrats! Glad to hear you like it.

I would get used to the A first. Then once you really know it, then go play a B. You might want to take it with you to A/B the a/b. The differences are only slight. If you have to have a dedicated satellite jack instead of going through an effects unit to use a satellite to achieve stereo then you might want to get a B. Otherwise, I'd say that the A can do 98% of what the B can do. R2 changes for B but not by much. The lead channel also changes slightly. These changes are subjective in taste. The A tends to feel more raw in the lead and R2. The A is closer to a IIC+ in the lead than the B. I think that with good tubes both amps sound good. Personally I wouldn't mod my A to a B. It would be better to just sell the A to get a B if that is what you want. The jacks and switches on the rear panel would be an abortion if you modded it too. In the B, you give up the 2 switchable loops too to get a single loop.

 

[UsrName]

I will have to try out a Mark IV myself. I like the 6V6 option as well. I have never actually played thru a Mark IV and am basing my opinion on it from my Mark III and LOG recordings mostly.

Anybody here really like the 6V6's in the Mark IV? Russ, did you ever get around to trying that out?

I really wish the RK had the 4xEL34 option...

Hey rabies, when I first got my MKIV, it came with 6V6s installed, but I swapped them out for the 6L6/EL34 combo. I've been thinking about putting them back in to see how it sounds. I got it from a blues player, so maybe it gives it that kind of sound, but I'll let you know. I do know that it knocks the wattage way down. What kind of tone are you going for?

Also, as far as recorded Mark IV tones, check out the already mentioned Chevelle albums as well as Metallica's Black album, which I'm pretty sure they used the MKIV on (except for the cleans). I originally thought Chevelle used a Recto, but they got the MKIV to sound massive!

 

[ToneAddictJon]

Ok, I bought a Mark IV B yesterday morning used for a good price, and it really is as good as everyone says it is. I have to say, before I tried it I didn't believe it. It's not as hard to dial in for me as a lot of people say, but there are a lot of options and tons of tone to be had, but I played a gig with it 4 hours after I bought it, of course the tone settings page here helped alot!! My recto is now my second favorite amp, but they are such different beasts. I'm now considering running them in tandem, that might be fun.

 

[Russ]

Welcome to the club. These amps are really great. You are right, the Mark is definitely a different beast than any Rec. The two complement each other nicely too. I have a 2 ch Dual that is a great amp but I would still choose my Mark IV over it hands down.

 

[Bullen]

I can´t wait until my Mark IV gets here. 3 months ordering time and it´s only been two weeks since I ordered it. Damn, time goes slow sometimes.

Well, at least I got my Mark III as company.

 

[Russ]

It'll be there before you know it. Just be patient and don't sweat it too much. A Mark III isn't bad company in the meantime.

 

[devilrob1979]

I got mine up and running yesterday. I can't wait until this weekend when I can let her really scream.

 

[Russ]

That is a beautiful thing there d-rob. Don't take it for granted either. I know when I get things shaking from running my Mark IV it is a thing of beauty.

 

[devilrob1979]

Nothing like tickling your feet and blowing back your pant legs is there?

 

[Russ]

Nope...

 

[WillPlayForFood]

Hey Rabies, I new here on the forum, but not to the Mark IV. You asked about switching. I run a rockman midi octopus with my Mark IV that's rackmounted currently. I use the octopus to switch all 6 possible options with the touch of one button. Channels Rhy 1, Rhy 2, Lead, EQ on/off, FX Loop in/out, Simul/Class A. I switch everything via midi. One button switches FX Loop in and out, changes channels, controls EQ on/off, and switches Simul/Class A. I even have a couple of the rockman effects loop switches to control my Keeley pedals (compressor and TS-808) that are also in the rack.

I have used this set-up with my Mark IV Long/Med head in previous years, always worked flawlessly. I just chose to go all rack pretty recently for ease of use. Live, I am running it all through a 2X12 Buzzbomb from EarCandy. :mrgreen: SWEET :mrgreen:

By the way guys, love this sticky and appreciate all the info and chat. The Mark IV may just be the amp of the gods. Bet you can't own just one!

 

[Russ]

Hey, welcome to the Board

Please do us all a favor. Being that you have had your Mark IV's (A+B) for a while, post up a description of the differences being that you can still A/B them. Try to eliminate as many variables as you can too so that there is a real world comparison. We have all tried to sum things up for people asking but the topic comes up frequently. If we are lucky, ned will make a sitcky out of it.