The Mark IV thread....!!

[Spirithunter]

Here is my Mark IV setup...I do mostly home recordings...More times then not it will be direct into a LA-610 into 002R Protools.

 

[fpoon]

Cool. How is the Dime Wah?

 

[Spirithunter]

The dime wah sounds really good! I like the boost and all the different setting you are capable of doing with it. You can get into some really deep tone movements with it.
I'll be posting some clips in the near future of this setup. I just dailed in my LD channel lastnight and now working on the R1 and R2. So much great info at Grailtone. 8)

 

[Random Hero]

I have a Dime Wah too, i'm thinking of selling it actually.

 

[Spirithunter]

Hi Random Hero,

What are you thinking of getting next for a wah? I don't have a lot of experience with wah so i would curious to see how it compares to the Dime wah. Maybe i'll give another wah a shot(thinking Morley). I did have the Dunlop original wah a while back and I did not really care for that one.Back in the late 80's i had a Morley and love that one! Might pick one up again but happy with the Dime for the moment with my Mark IV.

 

[Random Hero]

Hi Random Hero,

What are you thinking of getting next for a wah? I don't have a lot of experience with wah so i would curious to see how it compares to the Dime wah. Maybe i'll give another wah a shot(thinking Morley). I did have the Dunlop original wah a while back and I did not really care for that one.Back in the late 80's i had a Morley and love that one! Might pick one up again but happy with the Dime for the moment with my Mark IV.

Hey,

Um, i'm not entirely sure yet. I might just end up modding my old GCB95 to True Bypass, or I might just go for a looper system, so that the wah is out of line when i'm not using it. I feel with it not being true bypass, it sucks tone a little bit. I used to run my guitar through a Dime Wah and Maxon OD808, but since I got the IV, I plug straight in and i'm getting the best tone i've ever had.

 

[Spirithunter]

Hummmm...now you have me thinking about tone being tampered with the Dime Wah and Bad Monkey inline.

 

[faithplusone01]

I know for a fact that the clean channel is going to work for me. What i'm curious about is the rhythm 2 and lead channels. First of all, I know how much one can tweak the hell out of this amp, and that is exactly what i'm into doing.

My musical tastes are extremely varied, basically from George Benson to John Mayer to Vai to Dream Theater to Death. My question is, will the R2 channel handle all of that? I'm sure the Lead could, but I'm one who prefers to have a very even and clear lead tone, in songs with scooped heavy tones (not nessesarily Recto material). Now for pedals, I've got an Electro-Harmonix Metal Muff that i'm using for all of the heavy stuff, my question is would I even need that with the R2 on the Mark?

Complicated question too I know but i'd appreciate if anyone here could help me out.

(Btw i'd be playing this through a 2x12 recto cab)

 

[stevehollx]

I know for a fact that the clean channel is going to work for me. What i'm curious about is the rhythm 2 and lead channels. First of all, I know how much one can tweak the hell out of this amp, and that is exactly what i'm into doing.

My musical tastes are extremely varied, basically from George Benson to John Mayer to Vai to Dream Theater to Death. My question is, will the R2 channel handle all of that? I'm sure the Lead could, but I'm one who prefers to have a very even and clear lead tone, in songs with scooped heavy tones (not nessesarily Recto material). Now for pedals, I've got an Electro-Harmonix Metal Muff that i'm using for all of the heavy stuff, my question is would I even need that with the R2 on the Mark?

Complicated question too I know but i'd appreciate if anyone here could help me out.

(Btw i'd be playing this through a 2x12 recto cab)

R2 isn't going to get you Vai/DT/Death tones. If you boost it you may be able to get it to do what you want, but really you need the lead channel for those tones. If you want a scooped rhythm tone and a singing lead tone, well, that's why the EQ is footswitchable! Scoop the mids on the lead for rhythm, and turn the EQ off on the lead channel for a mid range boost to smoothen out your solos.

 

[faithplusone01]

R2 isn't going to get you Vai/DT/Death tones. If you boost it you may be able to get it to do what you want, but really you need the lead channel for those tones. If you want a scooped rhythm tone and a singing lead tone, well, that's why the EQ is footswitchable! Scoop the mids on the lead for rhythm, and turn the EQ off on the lead channel for a mid range boost to smoothen out your solos.

Oh, well holy ****! Looks like this is definately the amp i'm looking for then! I had no idea that the EQ was footswitchable! Maybe i'll do a little more research before I ask another question next time! Thanks alot though man much appreciated.

 

[fpoon]

About the GEQ on the Mark IV. How would you explain what the 240 and 2200 sliders mean or do? Is the 240 used for further boosting the low frequency (80) and the 2200 used to further boost the high frequency (6600)? Are they kind of like mids?

 

[Russ]

Kind of. Think of the eq sliders as controlling your basic spectrum. As you move from left to right you are going from low to high. Ultimately lows are on the left most and then you have low mids and mids then high mids and highs on the right most.

 

[fpoon]

Thanks man that helped alot.

 

[RockNRoLL198705]

Hey everyone...new poster here

I became the proud owner of a Mesa Mk Iv a few weeks ago after about 2 months worth of saving money, I felt it stood out compared to The rectifier series and definitely the non mesa competition (I actually liked this amp more than the VHT Pitbull!) Anyways, I was playing with it yesterday and I noticed that after I disengage the effects loop, the volume drops significantly and it seems the treble cuts out a bit, I could be imagining that just because of the volume drop. Theres nothing connected to the effects lopp currently, I unplug all of my stuff to save the battery life, and I was just messing around before I went to sleep to try and figure out a song. I do have a cable connected to the send and return , but nothing is connected to either. Is there something wrong with the amp, or is this common? I dont have much experience with effects loops, Im used to Sunn amps and Roland...I have played other ones at the store but never brought any effects along. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Pinweaver]

Is there something wrong with the amp, or is this common?

All I can say is my Mark IVB has never done this, so I guess it's not common. I have a DD3 in the loop and it doesn't really matter if the pedal is on or off, if I engage the loop there's no difference in volume at all.

 

[GLydian]

Hey everyone...new poster here

I became the proud owner of a Mesa Mk Iv a few weeks ago after about 2 months worth of saving money, I felt it stood out compared to The rectifier series and definitely the non mesa competition (I actually liked this amp more than the VHT Pitbull!) Anyways, I was playing with it yesterday and I noticed that after I disengage the effects loop, the volume drops significantly and it seems the treble cuts out a bit, I could be imagining that just because of the volume drop. Theres nothing connected to the effects lopp currently, I unplug all of my stuff to save the battery life, and I was just messing around before I went to sleep to try and figure out a song. I do have a cable connected to the send and return , but nothing is connected to either. Is there something wrong with the amp, or is this common? I dont have much experience with effects loops, Im used to Sunn amps and Roland...I have played other ones at the store but never brought any effects along. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I also bought a used Mark IV two weeks back, Had the similar problem with loop and reverb. Replaced V2 and V4 valves and now it is fine. I think People sell used amps always put there old tubes on them just cut corners.

I called Mesa too, they are very helpful. Ordered correct tube 12AT7 for reverb with Base pot, I am going to replace R1/R2 Base Pot today. I'll upload few pictures when I am done.

 

[Russ]

So you have an A version? I would like to see those pics of the surgery.

 

[RockNRoLL198705]

I did forget to mention I bought the amp used, so after reading that I did my best to check that path out...I can't say I'm an expert on tubes, but it seems all of them glow when the amp is powered if that means anything, and all the tubes are made by mesa, so they are probably the original set. I may just have to swap them out to be sure unless theres another way to tell if any of the tubes are shot. Thank you all for all the help so far, and I'm sorry if I'm a little late on the replies, I have a busy few weeks but I am interested in solving this little quirk in a wonderful amp!

 

[GLydian]

As I promised before here are some images of my Mark IV series A internals.

 

[Shep]

does anyone know what those two IC's next to the 30uf 500v blue cap's Do?..