The Mark IV thread....!!

[deftone82]

Greetings,
I'm brand new to the board and pretty new to the world of Boogie in general. I've been playing for almost three decades now and have finally realized that while I have invested alot of money in guitars I've always skimped when it came to amplification. I'm generally an evening noodler these days and I gig once or twice a month with a cover band for 100 or so people.

I've been cramming as much info as possible on Boogie amps into my brain over the past couple of weeks and have come up with three candidates: Express 5:50 (like the lower power option for home use), Mark IVB (I've heard some clips of these things that sound truly amazing, and the Mark V (I guess there's plenty who love and others who've been left wanting on these when it comes to the distortion channels?)

Hi there
As the sir I quote, I'm also new to the board and to Mesa Boogie Amplification.
Although I'm not playing for three decades yet (I'm not even that old ), after a couple of years with my crappy Line 6, I thought it was time for something more serious.

I've been playing/hearing a lot of amp the past few weeks: Orange, Vox, Engl, Blackstar, Peavey, The Valve, Soldano...but almost none of them could blow me away equaly like the first time I heard a Express 5:50 combo. From that moment, my mind was going "Mesa, Mesa, Mesa....". So I started checking out the mark-series.

So at this time I'm having the same three candidates (more or less) as 'Tampabaynsx', for more or less the same reasons.
Only thing is that a Mark V, at this time, practicly can't be bought second hand, which makes it to expensive for my budget.

Next to that, I really liked the ENGL Raider and the Blackstar Series One 45watt 2x12" combo. This last one has some very nice tones! The Engl is just brutal!

So, that makes the candidates:
-MB 5:50 (new) (1800 euros)
-MB mark IV (second hand) (1400-1700 euros)
-Engl Raider (1700 euro's)
-Blackstar series one 45 watt combo (1600 euro's)

What to choose?
maybe some side-notes:
- I like the 'versatility' of the line 6. I was hoping to find that in my new amp (I think all the amps above are versatile enoug, right?)
-It must still sound 'good' (not great) at low volume, because I want to play it in my appartment...(this, I think, will be the biggest pain in the *ss)

 

[Scrapinger]

It's running the 4 6L6s right now, but I'm going to do the EL34/6L6 config here soon.
I can't wait to hear that, plus it seems like it would give me even more tonal versatility all from one head.

You are going to dig the EL34's in the class A slots. That's what I run in mine. There is just so many tonal variations from the amp, it's incredible. I can lose hours of time just trying class A/pentode-triode differences with different guitars.

Enjoy!!

 

[emperor_black]

My first post...Great forum!

Over the past few days, all I've been looking up on the net were youtube videos of playing on Mark IV and today I bought a early 90's Mark IV type A wide body head. I'm running it through a closed back custom-made 1x12 with celestion vintage 30 speaker. I also have a 4x12 with Warehouse classic lead clone speakers and am yet to work with that.

When i went over to the seller's house, he played it through a Framus 4x12 with celestion greenbacks and there it was...the lamb of god's sound! Needless to say, that evening I was a proud owner. I'm now dialing in some sounds and while I easily got a clean sound that I love, the lead sound is not even close to the lamb of god sound!

Does the Mark IV need a active pickups driven guitar? I'm running a Jackson DK2M with Seymour duncan humbuckers.

Does it strictly require celestion vintage 30 equipped 4x12 cab?

Does it require an OD pedal? I was thinking of a clean boost using a MXR 10 band eq. But it becomes very noisy at low volumes.

Thanks!

 

[Scrapinger]

Keep at. The Mark IV is a knob tweekers paradise. You'll get your sound soon enough, it's in there. I find the head has plenty o gain, but if you are looking for the "LOG" of which I am not familiar that amybe you need to try pedals.

 

[emperor_black]

With the Mark IV's fixed bias, is it still necessary to have matched pairs/quads or doesnt it matter? There are many jokers selling single power tubes. :lol:

 

[dodger916]

With the Mark IV's fixed bias, is it still necessary to have matched pairs/quads or doesnt it matter? There are many jokers selling single power tubes. :lol:

Yes it matters. You could run a matched quad or two matched pairs: one for the inner sockets and the other for the outers. The matched pair do not need to be the same Mesa color, and you have the option to run a matched pair of El34s in the outer sockets.

It's possible to create your own matched sets if you have a good tube tester that measures plate voltage draw. Also, it's sometimes difficult (and expensive) to find a set of matched vintage tubes, so the serious tube freaks will collect individual tubes and then match them.

 

[emperor_black]

Finished reading all 38 pages! WOOT!!

Its been three days (if you count a drunk friday night) and I've found my tone! I cant believe this amp is so versatile, yet so easy to dial in. however, I could not get anywhere close to my tone with my 4x12 with warehouse celestion clones. I got it with a epiphone 1x12 closed back with celestion v30. just the right amount of sizzle, and a fat tone! WOOT! So, speakers do matter a LOT.

I do have the Boss GE-7 with a bell-curve type mid-boost (no level boost) cause I use passive humbuckers and Jackson guitars. I've played at ear shattering levels in a band not long ago and I've realized that at such high levels, there is more than enough gain on the Mark IV. Since I'm playing at low to bedroom levels, the boost is vital to getting the tubey sag and feel. I'm getting goose-bumps just thinking of the tone. I'm a tweaker! But with this tone, I think I'm set. its very close to the LOG tone, but not quite there yet.

Mine is a Mark IV Type A with 4xxx serial number. However, none of the 38 pages mentioned a feature that's in the Type A that is not there is type B. At least, I cant see it in pics. The switch for graphic eq has three positions. The top has 'Auto R2', not sure what the middle does, but the lower one makes sure the GEQ cannot be switched off from the footswitch. I dont see the 'Auto R2' on the Type B models. I think the Auto R2 means even when you have the GEQ switched off, once you engage the R2 channel, the GEQ comes on. Pretty cool, but the R2 is nowhere usable for me as I play only death metal. :mrgreen:

 

[emperor_black]

um, sorry for the double post...any idea where I can get a nice cover for the medium head? And why is it called the "medium" head instead of something like regular head? was there ever a "regular" head? I know the medium head is shorter in width than, say a Marshall head. Is that the sole reason?

 

[dodger916]

um, sorry for the double post...any idea where I can get a nice cover for the medium head? And why is it called the "medium" head instead of something like regular head? was there ever a "regular" head? I know the medium head is shorter in width than, say a Marshall head. Is that the sole reason?

There is a "short head" that is not as wide and whose chassis fits in a rack, and a "medium head".

You should be able to get covers here http://mesa.stores.yahoo.net/vn-hm-hd.html or here http://www.studioslips.com/. The second link is owned by Susan Bendinelli, wife of legendary Mesa tech Mike Bendinelli.

 

[GD_NC]

Mine is a Mark IV Type A with 4xxx serial number. However, none of the 38 pages mentioned a feature that's in the Type A that is not there is type B. At least, I cant see it in pics. The switch for graphic eq has three positions. The top has 'Auto R2', not sure what the middle does, but the lower one makes sure the GEQ cannot be switched off from the footswitch. I dont see the 'Auto R2' on the Type B models. I think the Auto R2 means even when you have the GEQ switched off, once you engage the R2 channel, the GEQ comes on. Pretty cool, but the R2 is nowhere usable for me as I play only death metal. :mrgreen:

The "B" version has the same switch.

 

[kmanick]

Congrats!
I have an "A" as well and I run an MXR 10 band in the loop and a modded Sd-1 in front of it and it gets real heavy (I play a lot of 7 string stuff IE Nevermore, Dream theater , Planet X ,
LTE, etc)
I've got mine sounding great , I keep the drive at 7 and the gain on 7 and slam the front of it with my Sd-1 as a clean boost and it sounds real f'n mean.
pick up a recto cab for it, mine sounds best thru my recto cab ....by far.

 

[emperor_black]

Congrats!
I have an "A" as well and I run an MXR 10 band in the loop and a modded Sd-1 in front of it and it gets real heavy (I play a lot of 7 string stuff IE Nevermore, Dream theater , Planet X ,
LTE, etc)
I've got mine sounding great , I keep the drive at 7 and the gain on 7 and slam the front of it with my Sd-1 as a clean boost and it sounds real f'n mean.
pick up a recto cab for it, mine sounds best thru my recto cab ....by far.

I have the same MXR 10 band KFK equalizer. I have not tried it in the loop yet. I want to keep the pedals to a bare minimum. I consolidated to this amp from a pedalboard with at least 8 to 9 pedals. :lol: I feel the onboard graphic eq is very versatile and gives me a lot of tones. But I dont have to tell you that. I just got the amp a few days ago, you must have it for a long time now. If its available, I'd like to get the Thiele 1x12 cab. I've been reading a lot about it right here and its very interesting.

 

[emperor_black]

For some reason, the lead channel's eq knobs dont do much to change the tone. On the R2 channel, there's a big difference if I change the bass or treble. On the clean also, there is a big difference in sound when I change the three settings. but on the lead, there's hardly any difference between, say 5 or 10. There is a very little change though.

Could it be because I'm pushing the lead channel with a mid-boosted eq pedal? The gain and drive on the channel are around 7 and I have a slightly scooped shape on a eq pedal in the loop.

thanks

EDIT: yes, it is indeed because of the mid-boosted EQ pedal driving the front end of the amp. Once I switched off the eq, all the eq's work as expected.

 

[emperor_black]

Just added a BBE Sonic stomp the last pedal in the chain and it makes the Mark IV sound so much better. Until you turn on the BBE, you dont know what you're missing! I have the Lo contour at 11 o' clock and the Process at 1 o'clock.

When using the BBE with a distortion pedal going into a All-tube power amp, the BBE made the overall tone a little 'solid-statey'. I had to take it out of the chain to preserve the warmth of the tube power amp. I dont see that problem with the Mark IV. It improves the overall sound and I dont think I'll turn it off. :mrgreen:

 

[Jadesocket]

Hey guys, i just recently got a Mark IV and i couldn't be happier about it. But i have some questions regarding the amp. I did read the manual all the way through so dont bother asking me that.

So i know that as the volume gets higher and higher it is not advised to turn on the lead bright switch because it will start humming. But being the paranoid person i am, im wondering if its maybe humming too much like too early on. When i put the amp in Triode, Class A and Tweed power, master volume at 4.5 and output volume at about 1.5, it starts humming like a person singing. Im just wondering if this is normal because 1.5 isnt that loud (to me) and in the manual it says low - med volumes is advised for the switch.

 

[emperor_black]

Hey guys, i just recently got a Mark IV and i couldn't be happier about it. But i have some questions regarding the amp. I did read the manual all the way through so dont bother asking me that.

So i know that as the volume gets higher and higher it is not advised to turn on the lead bright switch because it will start humming. But being the paranoid person i am, im wondering if its maybe humming too much like too early on. When i put the amp in Triode, Class A and Tweed power, master volume at 4.5 and output volume at about 1.5, it starts humming like a person singing. Im just wondering if this is normal because 1.5 isnt that loud (to me) and in the manual it says low - med volumes is advised for the switch.

I think the manual means you're gonna get an insane amount of feedback at high treble settings. Yeah, it seems un-usual to me. Until last week, I had the lead-bright out and have cranked the amp in full power with master around 4 and o/p around 4. It was pretty loud and my ears were ringing. But there was no problem with the lead bright producing any sort of humming or feedback.

Also, the amp is super responsive to different controls. So, make sure the other controls are not set to very high values.

BTW, welcome to the forum!

 

[ryjan]

Hey guys, i just recently got a Mark IV and i couldn't be happier about it. But i have some questions regarding the amp. I did read the manual all the way through so dont bother asking me that.

So i know that as the volume gets higher and higher it is not advised to turn on the lead bright switch because it will start humming. But being the paranoid person i am, im wondering if its maybe humming too much like too early on. When i put the amp in Triode, Class A and Tweed power, master volume at 4.5 and output volume at about 1.5, it starts humming like a person singing. Im just wondering if this is normal because 1.5 isnt that loud (to me) and in the manual it says low - med volumes is advised for the switch.

Your gain settings will cause a bit of noise with the lead bright pulled also. I am always fiddling with mine and notice if I keep the gain below 8 and the lead drive under 5 in harmonics I can have the lead bright pulled. Forget about it if you turn up the lead drive or have it switched to midgain. Just play with the gain and drive knobs as well as the lead trebble.

 

[Jadesocket]

ok maybe my amp is just screwed up. i tried turning down EVERYTHING to 0 except the volume and master. it still makes the humming. I might have to bring it in to a shop

 

[GD_NC]

ok maybe my amp is just screwed up. i tried turning down EVERYTHING to 0 except the volume and master. it still makes the humming. I might have to bring it in to a shop

I had a similar issue that was caused by a power tube not making good contact in the socket. My IV had a low, but fairly loud, hum even with the volume at 0. Check to make sure your tube socket contacts are clean and making a good connection with all the tube pins.

 

[Jadesocket]

yea but this is only when the lead bright switch is on. ill try tightening it anyways though. thanks