Whose played the Mode4? How does it compare to you know what...

[kev]

hey guys, how do you reckon the Marshall mode 4 compares to such big guns as the 5150 and dual rectifier? The head has gone down to £499 here! I think the deal is, USA get mesas damn cheap and we get marshalls cheap lol. To my ears its got some pretty hefty crunch to compete with the rest o the bunch ( ) and will cost £1000 less than a new rectifier. Any idea what construction it is?

 

[006]

It's crap. Yes the Rectifier is worth the grand more.

~006

 

[kev]

It's crap. Yes the Rectifier is worth the grand more.

~006

Damn lol. Plans of getting good tone cheap arent going well. Gonna be saving til christmas at this rate.

 

[guitarguru777]

You get what you pay for ....

$200 - $300 Best your gonna get is Line 6 and thats decent tone not even good tone.

$400 - $1000 Good to Great Tone Used Recto Singles, Used 5150's

Over $1500 is where the Amazing Stuff Starts stuff starts - Krank, Dual Rectos, 6505's, Engl

Good Luck In Your Search......

On a budget the used 5150's are the way to go without a doubt.

 

[Kazrog]

Actually I have a different opinion about the Mode 4. I wouldn't buy one, but the band that we share our practice studio with has one, and I've actually borrowed it for a live show when I was waiting for my 6505+ to arrive...

The amp sounds pretty spongey and lifeless by itself, but if you have a nice guitar with an EMG 85 in the bridge, a tube screamer, and a noise gate (Boss NS-2 or ISP Decimator), you can get some pretty killer tone out of it, that rivals most of the high gain tube amps on the market!

Like I said, I'd never buy one, when there's better amps out there for not much more money (Peavey 5150 and XXX for example), but it doesn't suck if you've got other good gear to use with it!

 

[006]

Or just spend $400 on a used 5150 combo. Problem solved. A band brought a Mode Four full stack to the studio once for their album. I told them we'd try it, but if I don't like it, we're switching to one of my amps. They agreed. The guitarist admitted he bought it because it was cheap, and it was Marshall, how could he go wrong? Started messing with it, sounded kinda cool. After an hour of messing with it, we got it up with some drums. Bye bye M4. This is my one and only experience with them. An hour and a half tweaking and trying to make it work in a mix, plus another hour fiddling with the amp itself to get good sounds out of it. I really don't wish to ever have to mess with another Mode Four again. But thats just my experience. If Kazrog could get a tone that he liked out of it, then I'm sure it's pretty damn decent.

BTW, I was using a TS-9 in front of it, and ran an outboard gate, not a pedal. Like I said, sounded alright by itself.

~006

 

[Exsanguis]

Like 006 said, it sounded alright on its own, but never worked in a mix. The two cd's I got at the mix stage that had tracked the M4 were both subsequently reamped with 5150's. Don't waste your time.

 

[006]

See, I was going to reamp their takes, but...I felt rather inclined to put them through some tracking torture... I mean, after all, they made me sit there and waste my time on that thing for like two and a half hours. It's funny because their first set of takes for the first three songs (the most insane and difficult to play) were perfect in every way. I mean, the vibe and precision was totally there. Made me even get into the music, it was like "holy fuck" but with a very subtle "I wish that guitar tone was worth a bottle of piss" at the end, not out loud, of course . The second set of takes for the first three were nearly as good, actually I think I'm glad I got the better groove and vibe for those songs rather than extremely clean playing. I easily cleaned that up later with some minor editing. Anyway, I vote 5150.

~006

 

[Carcass29]

I've heard the same about the Mode 4...it's crap, On the other hand, I hear that Mesa is having a closeout on the Stiletto's $899 brand new from GC...maybe check into those.

 

[SickBoy]

Kev, if you're on a budget you could consider Engl's heads with 50 or 60 watts of power, like Thunder, Fireball or Screamer. They should cost considerably less than Powerball, not to mention Savage or SE heads. Don't know how they sound, but they are supposed to be very good, at least according to the clips from www.rocksolidamps.com

Anyone tried these?

 

[fabz]

Randall Rh50T 50Watts Tube, 2 boostabel Channels, Reverb.

Compared to a small Engl i must say this thing sounds Huge.
Played a Gig last week where me and my buddie smoked an Engl Fireball (i guess it was the Fball). Ok, maybe this guy had no idea of how to get a good tone, cause i heard Engls before that sounded crushing...


Anyway:
RH50-T
This little fucker was 490 €! NEW!

Some say it sounds like a modded Jcm800 with lots of gain.


Too hot to handle - RANDALL :hotjump:

need sound samples? just tell me!

 

[cobhc]

Kev man, just save for a 6505, the heads go for £650 new, only a little bit more than a Mode4 and a damn sight better sounding!

 

[fabz]

Kev man, just save for a 6505, the heads go for £650 new, only a little bit more than a Mode4 and a damn sight better sounding!

Ya! If i had the money i'd buy a used 5105 or a new 6505 too!
But until i am rich and famous i stick with my Randall.
I recently heard that Peavey has a new 100W all tube amp coming "the valve king" i guess. for about 500€. is it any good? anyone tried it?

 

[cobhc]

the guys on the jackson/charvel forum have been talking about it, zeegler went and tried one out and said it sounds great, maybe not as much gain as a 5150, but not far off, and a similarlarly brutal tone, i'm going to go try one out next week, when my local shop has the head in. if it's any good kev, i've seen the valveking heads for £349 new without even delving much

Edit :- £275

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/options.php?id=68967

 

[006]

...I hear that Mesa is having a closeout on the Stiletto's $899 brand new from GC...maybe check into those.

*cough BULLSHIT cough*

Oh, sorry.

~006

 

[iekobrid]

*cough BULLSHIT cough*

Oh, sorry.

~006

Really? I heard the same thing from the GC guy trying to get me into a Dual Recto, but that was Sunday and their Stiletto price tags still say $1699.

 

[cobhc]

*cough BULLSHIT cough*

Oh, sorry.

~006

*sniffs* yeah i smell it too man

 

[kev]

Nice opinions on the mode 4 then ! Thats that out of the window It sounds like i would benefit most from a 5150 in this situation (tone/pricewise, although the mesa seems to have this little extra!), as i see some people even prefer it up the mesa. I hope sound control have the 6505 and dual rec in together so i can test them A/B. They always get so pissed off with people trying expensive gear tho and not buying it haha, but theres no way i shal be paying their bloody prices. If you test the valve king out cob let us know!

 

[Death Is Certain]

*cough BULLSHIT cough*

Oh, sorry.

~006

Deuce was $849, Trident was $899. Closeout deal at cost to make room for the new Stilettos coming on to the market.

 

[Mendel]

o own a Mode 4 Marshall opinion:

when you stand directly in front of it it sounds really awesome.
when you stand in front of it like on stage it sucks to much in the name of the lord.

i relly can't shred on it cause the high notes just buzz off, and it's soo hard to play pitch harmonie's on it.

i wish i bought a engl instead of this one.