mesa boogie mark iv

[aramism]

ok my recently purchased used 1995 mesa mark iv just arrived last week and last night was the first night i really spent some time with it in my studio.


man, what a fucking gem. holy shit. this little beast can wail!!!

it is a short head with 4 6L6 ( i didn't wanna screw around with putting the 2 EL34's on outside socket even though i heard the simul-class sounds wicked ) and it is so sick.

i have a mesa road king head so i'm used to the rectifier tone from that but the mark iv has such a better lead tone it's not even funny. i haven't even began to tinker with it and i'm sure i can find better tones in it since it's pretty complicated to dial in but so far i like what i hear. the distortion is so creamy. i tried it with every diff guitar i have (all 4) and it sounds great. somehow i feel it has so much more character than any modern high gain amp. it has a true characteristic that so unique and just can't be duplicated. if anyone here likes the type of distortion that the lamb of god guitarists feature then you know how sweet this amp is. i know most of you guys here like krank and peavey 5150 amps but i think the mark iv is just a great amp for lead playing as well as for metal. i love my road king and mesa rectifier tone but this amp really has won my heart over for it's lead tone. the mark series lead tones rule!!!

 

[Mood Bender]

I have a Mark III that's fabulous for lead... it'll sustain all day

 

[Curran]

yeah I dig this head as well, I scored a rack mount version a few months ago and love it for everything. I do set it up with the el34's on the outside and the 6l6's inside. I reloaded this bad bear with the groove tubes and it sounds so MANLY!!!!
Love Curran

 

[Exocaster]

The Mark IV is a bad motherfucker of an amp.

Try this: Simul/Class, Full Power, EL34s in the outside slots.
Lead channel:
Bass 3, Mids 5, Treble 8, Lead gain 8- fat pulled, Lead drive 6, presence 3
Graphic: Boost 80 hz, cut 250 hz, leave 750 hz flat, slight boost at 2200, boost 6600 hz.

If you need stupid tightness, slam the front end with a boost- SD-1, TS9, or equivalent.

 

[aramism]

i have all 6L6 on it for now.


does anyone know how lamb of god sets theirs up? i love that metal tone they get. i also love the lead tones that john petrucci gets out of his mark series amps and i know he uses all stock mesa 6L6's...


i'm not sure about lamb of god however.



i spent all day today playing with it more. i got is sounding GODLIKE with my ibanez 7 string (dimarzio blaze/ air norton 7)


it just sounds so beefy yet articulate at the same time. it's got the balls of any modern amp and the sweet vintage clarity of an older one... best of both worlds so to speak.

 

[Ronnie_Rocker]

mark IV is a very good amp. i have had 2 heads and one combo.

 

[aramism]

using a whirlwhind splitter box i split my guitar into both my mark iv head and my road king head...

i ran them into one mesa road king 4x12 (stereo cab) and it sounds awesome. wow. i had the mark iv set fairly gainy but sounding more beefy without much sizzle but very "beefy" and i had the road king on the modern mode very sizzling type. the two tones (mark iv ran into 2 c90 drivers the road kign ran into 2 v30 drivers) sounded great in the room. i am going to mic it tommorow and see how it sounds tracked...

 

[aramism]

ok so i've had this thing for like a month now and i finally have everything set up in my new studio room (got bigger room than last) and i've become like 400% more used to playing around with it than when i first got it. it still will take time before i fully understand all the ins and outs of it but i've manged to really find some UNREAL lead and rhythm tones that lurk in the LEAD channel of that bad boy.


and like my first post i am just so shocked at what a great amp it is. i thought i had found tonal nirvana in my mesa boogie road king but the mark iv is really winning me over. it is so loud that thing also. at 2 on the output it is already too loud for bedroom levels. i finally got enough control to take the volume to about 6/7 and it really sounded good. really good.