Why do most people only preamp volume at 3-4 on Mark IV?

[Herbie the Rad Dorklift]

Why not louder? Get more preamp saturation!

 

[ANIMATED SUSPENSION]

To get more POWER amp saturation ! It depends on how loud you play and the gain/drive settings. There's no fast rule, if it sounds good, fine, Thiago Whatsisname (sorry can't remember his surname ) on the Database/Youtube has his on 5 I think. Sounds awesome !!! No GEQ either. :shock:

 

[Herbie the Rad Dorklift]

Well yeah But you can flip it onto tweed power and whack them both up!

 

[bryan_kilco]

no matter what I do, I can never seem to be able to crank the channel to more than 3-4 and the master output is always at about 2.

anything over that is TOO loud. even in Tweed.

 

[Herbie the Rad Dorklift]

When I gig I'm usually on tweed power, 5-6 preamp for lead channel, 6-7 for rhy1, and 4 for rhy2. Simul class, Master on 5!

 

[mr_fender]

I'm pretty sure the preamp volumes (Channel Masters) won't cause any more preamp clipping. These are voltage dividers located after the clipping stages. They simply determine how much signal is allowed OUT of the preamp section and don't cause any more boosting in the preamp section. The Master volume control (Output Level) determines how much signal is allowed INTO the power amp section. Preamp volumes also determine the level sent to the reverb section and FX loop. If you run them too high, you can run into clipping issues with stuff in the loop. Mine are usually around 3-5 depending on gain settings for each channel. As stated above, I've never needed to run the amp any higher than 4 or 5. This beast is LOUD!!!!!!

 

[scottywompas]

When I gig I'm usually on tweed power, 5-6 preamp for lead channel, 6-7 for rhy1, and 4 for rhy2. Simul class, Master on 5!

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Dude that's freakin loud.

 

[Herbie the Rad Dorklift]

When I gig I'm usually on tweed power, 5-6 preamp for lead channel, 6-7 for rhy1, and 4 for rhy2. Simul class, Master on 5!

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Dude that's freakin loud.

We play 300-500 capacity places, so I like crank it 8)




I also like turn my amp up loud.

 

[Octavarius]

When I gig I'm usually on tweed power, 5-6 preamp for lead channel, 6-7 for rhy1, and 4 for rhy2. Simul class, Master on 5!

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Dude that's freakin loud.

We play 300-500 capacity places, so I like crank it 8)




I also like turn my amp up loud.

Ever heard of miking the amp? :shock:

Even John Petrucci doesn't usually put his Mark IV's higher than channels at 3/4.5 and Master at 3, and he plays at ... well, rather big venues. :lol:

 

[Herbie the Rad Dorklift]

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Dude that's freakin loud.

We play 300-500 capacity places, so I like crank it 8)




I also like turn my amp up loud.

Ever heard of miking the amp? :shock:

Even John Petrucci doesn't usually put his Mark IV's higher than channels at 3/4.5 and Master at 3, and he plays at ... well, rather big venues. :lol:

We do mic them

John Petrucci uses about 23 more speakers than me.

 

[Herbie the Rad Dorklift]

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Dude that's freakin loud.

We play 300-500 capacity places, so I like crank it 8)




I also like turn my amp up loud.

Ever heard of miking the amp? :shock:

Even John Petrucci doesn't usually put his Mark IV's higher than channels at 3/4.5 and Master at 3, and he plays at ... well, rather big venues. :lol:

We do mic them

John Petrucci uses about 23 more speakers than me.

 

[bryan_kilco]

but arent most of those speakers dummys?

 

[tiktok]

The MkIV is crazy overpowered for most people's use. I run mine ClassA/Triode in Full or Tweed mode and the master on 4, and that's as loud as any soundman or band I've dealt with wants. I love the way SimulClass sounds, but it gets way too loud too quickly to be useful for me.

I've always dreamed of a MkIV with a scaled down EL84 power section, since I love the flexibility of the preamp and like the tidy combo package. The speaker could be lighter in that case also.

 

[bryan_kilco]

The MkIV is crazy overpowered for most people's use. I run mine ClassA/Triode in Full or Tweed mode and the master on 4, and that's as loud as any soundman or band I've dealt with wants. I love the way SimulClass sounds, but it gets way too loud too quickly to be useful for me.

I've always dreamed of a MkIV with a scaled down EL84 power section, since I love the flexibility of the preamp and like the tidy combo package. The speaker could be lighter in that case also.

I honsetly cannot imagine playing any sort of show with the Master Output on 4. That just seems WAYYY too loud.

 

[bryan_kilco]

The MkIV is crazy overpowered for most people's use. I run mine ClassA/Triode in Full or Tweed mode and the master on 4, and that's as loud as any soundman or band I've dealt with wants. I love the way SimulClass sounds, but it gets way too loud too quickly to be useful for me.

I've always dreamed of a MkIV with a scaled down EL84 power section, since I love the flexibility of the preamp and like the tidy combo package. The speaker could be lighter in that case also.

I honsetly cannot imagine playing any sort of show with the Master Output on 4. That just seems WAYYY too loud.

 

[bryan_kilco]

The MkIV is crazy overpowered for most people's use. I run mine ClassA/Triode in Full or Tweed mode and the master on 4, and that's as loud as any soundman or band I've dealt with wants. I love the way SimulClass sounds, but it gets way too loud too quickly to be useful for me.

I've always dreamed of a MkIV with a scaled down EL84 power section, since I love the flexibility of the preamp and like the tidy combo package. The speaker could be lighter in that case also.

I honsetly cannot imagine playing any sort of show with the Master Output on 4. That just seems WAYYY too loud.

 

[tiktok]

I honsetly cannot imagine playing any sort of show with the Master Output on 4. That just seems WAYYY too loud.

My individual channel volumes are between 4 and 6 though.

 

[tiktok]

I honsetly cannot imagine playing any sort of show with the Master Output on 4. That just seems WAYYY too loud.

My individual channel volumes are all between 4 and 6, so it might not be as loud as you're thinking. And remember--Triode, Class A into a single 12.

 

[Octavarius]

We play 300-500 capacity places, so I like crank it 8)




I also like turn my amp up loud.

Ever heard of miking the amp? :shock:

Even John Petrucci doesn't usually put his Mark IV's higher than channels at 3/4.5 and Master at 3, and he plays at ... well, rather big venues. :lol:

We do mic them

John Petrucci uses about 23 more speakers than me.

JP only uses two of six 4x12" cabs. Rest is just for show.

 

[EirikBrandal]

I feel that the tone gets much fatter with the preamp volume above 4, but it gets muddier as well. So I run my preamp at 4 and output at 3. I'm also lucky enough to have a hotplate.