Who uses a Mesa Mark IV?

[somata]

i know there are a few people on here who use the mark iv, i'm gassing pretty hard for one, and am basically looking for some clips to flesh out my ideas as to what this amp is capable of. i play a pretty eclectic mix of things, experimental/noise/ambient and technical death/grind (along the lines of cephalic carnage or creation is crucifixion) are the two main interests i have as far as perfoming live, and the mark iv seems to cover a lot of tonal ground (i'll probably add a dist. pedal for the crazy high gain stuff)

so, yeah, i guess i'm looking for testimonials and clips, or even bands that use the mark iv, so that i may make my obsession complete...errrr, i mean have enough information to make an informed decision...

[bduersch]

I've had a Mark IV for several years now, and I have alternated between using it as my main amp and a backup amp. (I was looking for some sound clips, but it turns out that everything I've recorded has been with my Triaxis/2:90 rig.) I started out with a Triaxis, bought the Mark IV to scale down, went back to the Triaxis, and have since experimented with other combos (Egnater TOL100, Marshall TSL122). One thing I am sure of... no matter what amps I have around the house, the Mark IV will always be one of them.

Some things I like about the Mark IV:
- several power amp settings (full/tweed power, pentode/triode, class A/simul-class) allow you to kick it down to 15w for bedroom playin'
- footswitchable EQ can be used to drastically reshape the sound (turning it into a virtual 6-channel amp), give a volume boost for soloing, or a little of both
- enough gain in the LD channel that I don't need an overdrive pedal
- enough push-pull knobs to keep me from getting bored
- relatively easy to interface with MIDI rack gear (everything can be switched by 1/4" relays)

Things I dislike about the Mark IV:
- wish I could get it as a 2x12 combo
- sometimes I wish R2 had a little more gain
- shared EQ controls between R1 & R2 a little limiting at times
- global reverb control across all 3 channels--would prefer one control for each channel

One thing to be aware of... you can get a Mark IV combo with either a Celestion Custom 90 or EV 200w speaker--they are pretty drastically different animals. Obviously the EV has a lot more headroom. I think the Custom 90 is a little looser and warmer, while the EV is tighter and punchier. Personally, I like 'em both, so I use a Mark IV widebody combo (with a Custom 90) along with a Thiele 1x12 ported cab (with a EV 200).

All in all, despite my gripes, I still think the Mark IV is one of the best sounding, most flexible amps I've ever played. I still prefer it over my Egnater (where the shared EQ's are a bigger issue) and Marshall.

--B

[somata]

excellent info! thanks so much. i'm looking for the head version so the speaker won't be an issue...

[Drew]

Originally Posted by bduersch

- enough push-pull knobs to keep me from getting bored

hahaha, sick thing is, that just may be why a lot of guys stick with mesa.

the mark-IV series KILLS for lead guitar. For heavy rhythm stuff, you can do it, and I've heard some good recorded tones, but I was never 100% happy with it. Granted, I never owned one, just spent some serious time playing with them in music shops, and this is one of those amps that you can literally spend years tweaking before you really feel like you've hit what you're looking for. But, for what I was looking for, a Nomad 45 was a more practical answer- the second channel was very nearly as good as the Mark for lead, and the third channel modern mode is, to my ears, better than a rectifier for heavy rhythm. It doesn't hae that fuzzy, super-saturated edge to it- i mean, you can definately voersaturate the channel if that's your thing, but I could never find a happy medium between "enough gain to sound really dark and deep" and "clean enough so you didn't JUST hear gain." Idunno, that's a horrible way to describe it...

So, check the nomads out too- I preferred the 45 for the slightly lower wattage (and price tag ) and the two poweramp modes (although, the best cleans to my ears are from normal, but the best lead sounds are from extreme- wish that was channel-assignable, like the new rectos), but the 100 will also give you 6L6's int he poweramp, with the option to run el's if you so choose... Not to mention that footswitchable EQ. And the one thing the Nomads have on the Mark is the footswitchable channel boost...

Um, sound clips... i had something over at the tabcrawler forum, but be forewarned, I'm recording on a 5-year old laptop, my recording setup blows.

-D

EDIT- link attached: http://forums.tabcrawler.com/attachm...;postid=167575

Like i said, between the $30 radio shack mic and a soundcard that eats bass, it's a little rough, but you get the idea...

[somata]

lamb of god is the band that comes to mind for great high gain mark iv sounds (esp. on "as the palaces burn") steve from neurosis also uses a mark iv, but gooses the high gain a bit with a dist. pedal...although the neurosis sound is a bit more washy and organic than what i'm after. any other examples? i want nice, tight, tubey and articulate. the stuff i'm playing right now with the band is pretty technical, so the mark iv's lead abilities (although i'm not playing "leads" but rather "notey" riffs) are a huge plus. i actually just went to the shop and played one, and i think i'm sold on it. there were some other people in the amp room so i couldn't crank it, but at low volume i was able to dial in a good high gain sound that was pretty similiar to my rack sound, but with a bit more oomph. i felt like i could tell that a killer sound was burbling under the surface if i could have turned it up a bit more. speaking of which, that thing seems like a loud mofo. i should also mention that i will be running it with a g-major, so i can goose things a bit with the parametric eq and program boosted presets. i'm also thinking of adding an axess grx-4 to add a boost/dist. pedal.... oh man, i've got it bad...

[The_Grindfiend]

For what it's worth, and even though it's not super-gainy, I think The Offspring's Smash tone is by far the best rhythm tone I've ever heard.

[bduersch]

Actually my setup was using the Mark IV with a G-Major, so I can wax poetic about that all day!

The Mark IV is capable of being a pretty loud amp... I believe it's pushing 85 watts when it's configured for Full Power/Pentode/SimulClass. Next time you check it out, try setting it for Tweed Power (on the front), Triode & Class A (both on the back). It'll lower it to 15 watts, which will give you mountains of distortion at a relatively low volume.

I know John Petrucci used Mark IV's for a while--I think it was on the Images & Words album. Although I know he's also used the Triaxis, Rectifiers, IIc's, Road Kings, Lone Stars, and just about everything else Mesa has made as well, so I don't know if I could say "listen to song x on album x for a good example of Mark IV tone".

--B

[Mikael Jurman]

I've had mine for a couple of years now and I love it. I agree with bduersch on the pro/con of the Mark IV. What I'd really like to see is a true solo button on the foot switch, so I could have two separate master volumes. I might get mine modded to that in the future. for now I'll enjoy it as is.

Mikael

[bduersch]

Originally Posted by Mikael Jurman

I've had mine for a couple of years now and I love it. I agree with bduersch on the pro/con of the Mark IV. What I'd really like to see is a true solo button on the foot switch, so I could have two separate master volumes. I might get mine modded to that in the future. for now I'll enjoy it as is.

I've actually cheated to get a footswitchable solo boost on mine, but it only works because I generally do not use my FX loop. I have a DOD resistance mixer plugged into the FX loop, with the control set to about 70%. So it's a bit backwords... I play normally with the FX loop engaged, and when it's time for a solo, I disengage the FX loop. It's a simple trick, but obviously only works since I don't have anything in my FX loop right now.

(I actually learned this trick from reading a Marshall TSL manual... they suggest a similar trick for creating a solo boost on a TSL122 with a footswitchable FX loop.)

--B

[Drew]

Originally Posted by bduersch

Next time you check it out, try setting it for Tweed Power (on the front), Triode & Class A (both on the back). It'll lower it to 15 watts, which will give you mountains of distortion at a relatively low volume.

Even then it's pretty loud, though.

-D

[somata]

bduersch-

you don't use the g-major's boost function with the mark iv?

i've found with my rack set-up that i've been able to tweak a bit more gain out of my preamp with the g-major's parametric eq...would this translate to the mark iv do you think?

thanks again for all the great replies!

[bduersch]

Originally Posted by somata

you don't use the g-major's boost function with the mark iv?

i've found with my rack set-up that i've been able to tweak a bit more gain out of my preamp with the g-major's parametric eq...would this translate to the mark iv do you think?

I guess I should clarify... when I was using my Mark IV as my main amp, I used the G-Major in the FX loop for a volume boost. (I've never used the G-Major's parametric EQ at all--I bought mine in the early days before the EQ was added in, and thus always forget about it being there.)

These days, however, I've been using my Egnater as my main amp, so it's connected to the G-Major pretty much all the time. Thus I resort to "alternative methods" to get a solo boost on the Mark IV.

--B

[somata]

ahhha....gotcha!

[somata]

ok, another follow-up question, that i'm guessing bduersch can clarify...

is it possible to use the g-major's relays to switch the mark iv? from what i can gather it seems like, by using insert cables (stereo to 2 mono) that i could switch between the 3 channels and then one other function (probably eq to approximate 6 channels )

i'm torn between waiting for one to turn up used in my price range or financing a new one... if i can switch channels via the g-major, i could swing a new one, but if i'll need another device for midi controlled switching (ie-axess grx-4) i may have to cut costs and go used...

[bduersch]

The Mark IV has seven separate relays for R1, R2, LD, EQ, Simulclass/Class A, FX loop, and reverb. The problem is that the G-major can only switch 2 relays at the same time, so you could only use it to switch between two channels.

When I used the Mark IV with my rack rig, I had a Rolls RP93 Patchwork along with the G-major. So I used the Patchwork to switch R1, R2, LD, and EQ on the MkIV, then used the G-major to switch FX loop and reverb.

--B