Mesa/Boogie Mark IV
- Thread starter Matt Smith
- Start date
jamesboyd
andy's bitch
hey bro,
yeah I use to own a mark 4 and recorded it a couple of times, I've since got a 5150 because it's a bit more modern and more 'me' but the mark4 is definately a great amp!!
The thing is on the the lead channel you have to keep the treble and presence controls around 7-9 to get the gain into the 'metal' territory, the catch with that is the bass and mid controls will barely work with those treble and presence settings- but that's where the graphic comes into play
Try cutting 240, boosting 80, cutting the mids quite a bit because it's a really mid focused amp) and cutting 6600 a bit to get rid of the sizzle.
have it in pentode mode, and full power, also have the mid gain switch on- this should give you a pretty tight metal sound-
if it's still not enough add the truty tube screamer into the equation for a bit more compression and gain.
this amp works really well with emg's!!
have fun
-j
yeah I use to own a mark 4 and recorded it a couple of times, I've since got a 5150 because it's a bit more modern and more 'me' but the mark4 is definately a great amp!!
The thing is on the the lead channel you have to keep the treble and presence controls around 7-9 to get the gain into the 'metal' territory, the catch with that is the bass and mid controls will barely work with those treble and presence settings- but that's where the graphic comes into play
Try cutting 240, boosting 80, cutting the mids quite a bit because it's a really mid focused amp) and cutting 6600 a bit to get rid of the sizzle.
have it in pentode mode, and full power, also have the mid gain switch on- this should give you a pretty tight metal sound-
if it's still not enough add the truty tube screamer into the equation for a bit more compression and gain.
this amp works really well with emg's!!
have fun
-j
Thanks James!
Yeah, I think it's a great amp as well. I've found the same thing with the treble/mid/bass knobs. I think boosting the heck out of the treble is kind of a signature of the Mark series when it comes to high gain sounds. I've never boosted the presence that high, though...do you remember if you had the presence knob pulled or not?
I've also usually used the graphic in the classic V shape, so I look forward to trying out those settings. Re: cutting the mids on the graphic, were you just referring to the 750 slider, or to the 2200 as well?
I've also never done much with it in mid gain mode, as it would squeal like a pig whenever I'd try it, but I'll back off the drive and experiment with that mode as well.
Thanks for the tips! And yeah, it does do well with my EMGs.
Yeah, I think it's a great amp as well. I've found the same thing with the treble/mid/bass knobs. I think boosting the heck out of the treble is kind of a signature of the Mark series when it comes to high gain sounds. I've never boosted the presence that high, though...do you remember if you had the presence knob pulled or not?
I've also usually used the graphic in the classic V shape, so I look forward to trying out those settings. Re: cutting the mids on the graphic, were you just referring to the 750 slider, or to the 2200 as well?
I've also never done much with it in mid gain mode, as it would squeal like a pig whenever I'd try it, but I'll back off the drive and experiment with that mode as well.
Thanks for the tips! And yeah, it does do well with my EMGs.
jamesboyd
andy's bitch
I would usually have the the presence at 7 and treble at 8, these settings seemed to give the right amount of gain and chug in the bass response.
I would always leave the 2200 slider at 0 (or middle line depends how you look at it) because I never felt it did much for the sound.
I would usually scoop the 750 slider down so that the bottom of the slider was sitting just below the bottom line.
I personally think it needs a tube screamer just for a bit of extra chunk, but there is a clip I posted on here awhile ago that was just straight into the mark4 with no effects.
peace
james
I would always leave the 2200 slider at 0 (or middle line depends how you look at it) because I never felt it did much for the sound.
I would usually scoop the 750 slider down so that the bottom of the slider was sitting just below the bottom line.
I personally think it needs a tube screamer just for a bit of extra chunk, but there is a clip I posted on here awhile ago that was just straight into the mark4 with no effects.
peace
james
Ermz
¯\(°_o)/¯
jamesboyd
andy's bitch
www.angelfire.com/alt/xcaptainx/cypher_test_.mp3
that's it I think
just left click and it should start downloading, or maybe right click and save as, I forget
peace
james
that's it I think
just left click and it should start downloading, or maybe right click and save as, I forget
peace
james
Ermz
¯\(°_o)/¯
Cheers. Had to use GetRight for the download because Angelfire don't like remote linking. Nice sound too, definately one of the better on-board gain sounds I've heard from an amp.
Andy Sneap
Metal Guru
Mark 4, yeah, skinlab disembody album , + didnt James use that on the black album, he commented on the recent documentary that it was the mark 4 tracked twice with a thickener track......
I liked it anyway, cool distortion, not too fizzy
I liked it anyway, cool distortion, not too fizzy
Genius Gone Insane
http://www.¯\(°_o)/¯.com
Andy Sneap
Metal Guru
actually it wasn't in the movie, it was "the making of" dvd that came out a couple of yrs ago,- not the year and a half one.
As for the movie, I left the cinema shaking my head the other night. Strangely enough I thought Mustaine and Newsted came across as the most down to earth guys on there. When Jason was saying at the end "you know when you've done the right thing" his expression was priceless. Made me chuckle anyway.
It's weird seeing into the Metallica bubble like that, obviously, its a huge organisation, but you can't help feeling we've lost em for good.
Its interesting to see, kinda disappointing seeing a once great band like that, and its very obvious to see why St Anger ended up the way it did.
As for the movie, I left the cinema shaking my head the other night. Strangely enough I thought Mustaine and Newsted came across as the most down to earth guys on there. When Jason was saying at the end "you know when you've done the right thing" his expression was priceless. Made me chuckle anyway.
It's weird seeing into the Metallica bubble like that, obviously, its a huge organisation, but you can't help feeling we've lost em for good.
Its interesting to see, kinda disappointing seeing a once great band like that, and its very obvious to see why St Anger ended up the way it did.
Cooperman
...to the rescue!!!
Andy's refering to the black album DVD in the "Classic Albums" series. The British Steel and Hysteria DVD's in that series are also good.
SKOM is certainly an interesting documentary. I walked away with mixed feelings. The story really revolves around James and his rehab. From that point of view I thought it was a great story of him getting through that. But everything else you get to see about the band definitely makes you wish for days long gone.
SKOM is certainly an interesting documentary. I walked away with mixed feelings. The story really revolves around James and his rehab. From that point of view I thought it was a great story of him getting through that. But everything else you get to see about the band definitely makes you wish for days long gone.
Andy Sneap
Metal Guru
Andy Sneap
Metal Guru
OK, here's a little clip I recorded this afternoon with the Mark IV. Let me know what you guys think. Miked with one SM-57 into a Great River MP-2NV. Ignore the drums, I just played them manually with a drum machine real quick for the sake of this demo. No bass, and only two guitar tracks.
http://www.theocracymusic.com/MarkIV.mp3
http://www.theocracymusic.com/MarkIV.mp3
Andy Sneap
Metal Guru
just managed to get a second hand KM86, you could say its recorded the best and worst snares in rock history Guess they're pushing the boundaries in both directions
Guess they're pushing the boundaries in both directions
As for the black album, James said he used the Mark IV on the demos, but in other interviews he said he used the same Mark II C+ he'd used on the previous couple of albums for actual tracking. He used it in conjunction with an ADA MP-1 preamp somehow, I wish I knew the specifics.
I've been trying for the black album rhythm sound for years, as it's my favorite guitar sound of all time. Puppets, Justice, etc. get all the attention in terms of guitar sounds, but to me the distortion on Black is just so smooth and huge. I can get close with my Mark IV, as it's easy to ALMOST nail that sound, but there's still just a little something missing--it's trickier than it seems.
James also always used a studio-quality parametric EQ to shape the sound, though I'm not sure if that was instead of the Boogie's graphic EQ or in addition to it. I assume he needed to pull out specific frequencies that weren't on the Boogie's graphic. They also used around 8(!) mics for that sound. I don't know anything about the processing.
I've been trying for the black album rhythm sound for years, as it's my favorite guitar sound of all time. Puppets, Justice, etc. get all the attention in terms of guitar sounds, but to me the distortion on Black is just so smooth and huge. I can get close with my Mark IV, as it's easy to ALMOST nail that sound, but there's still just a little something missing--it's trickier than it seems.
James also always used a studio-quality parametric EQ to shape the sound, though I'm not sure if that was instead of the Boogie's graphic EQ or in addition to it. I assume he needed to pull out specific frequencies that weren't on the Boogie's graphic. They also used around 8(!) mics for that sound. I don't know anything about the processing.
Oops, I forgot to add that supposedly on all those albums, James ran the Mesa into the power amp section of a Marshall. I've never seen that quoted from him or Bob, but everyone else seems to act like it's common knowledge, so who knows.
