34 6L6 party! Mark Fest in my garage last night.

[Shawn Lutz]

My only Mesa/Boogie amp is a DC-5 widebody combo. Its a 2 ch wE/Q 50w 6L6 amp and best $575 I ever spent on a tube amp. I use it with widebody 3/4 back oversized Mesa cab....stacked 2x12's. Great little amp

 

[thisguy]

I have a fully-loaded blue stripe but I've wanted a Mark IV for forever!

I thought these videos were interesting for comparing different Marks.

 

[NewWorldMan]

Has anyone ever A/Bd the same head in short vs. long head configuration & noticed any difference? I'm guessing no, but wanted to ask.

I have a short and long head IIC+, short and long head IVA, and until recent a short and long head III (now only have the short). No differences.

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

Has anyone ever A/Bd the same head in short vs. long head configuration & noticed any difference?

Not at the same time... but I don't recall any huge differences.

With the compression & really high gain of the JP I've wondered if I could open up a little rolling a 12AT7 through it- like how the Mark V guys have figured out to do. Even if it does, it's still the saggiest of the bunch- only thing more saggy is the Recto in tube rectification / spongy mode.

Really? I wouldn't call the JP2C "saggy"... by any means. Old style 3 channel Dual Recto or Bogner XTC... those are saggy amps IMHE. With the bass around 9:00 and the 6600 slider at 75% to the top... it's pretty tight sounding... then shred mode will tighten it even further. The MKIV is more aggressive, edgey, and toothy overall for sure though. But it is a bit more compressed too. The trade off.

 

[psychodave]

Halebox the + and ++ are incredible but it's just a different flavor. If you're a classic rock guy I'd take that IIB all day long. It was so damn open. The Stones toured with a IIB Coli back in those days, for example.

I've read many guys say they prefer their IV to their C+ and I've always wanted to experience this, and now that I have, I get it. I think the ++ is "better" but that IV was just BRUTAL. There's definitely tonal room for both those amps.

I'm deciding on a Mk III++ coli or a Mk IIB coli with the loop mod..gives the loop the same as a C+ which gives it more gain and a bit smoother. I'll be able to try the IIB+ (as my friend calls it) in a week.

Had a IIB coli a year ago but it had some issues so I returned it to GC. Shoulda kept her, it was only 800 bucks. It really sounded great but was a little tubby in the low end.

That Mark III++ coliseum is a monster amp. When I owned it, I brought it out to a friend's house, who had all of the top amps) and his jaw hit the ground after hearing it.

 

[psychodave]

Halebox the + and ++ are incredible but it's just a different flavor. If you're a classic rock guy I'd take that IIB all day long. It was so damn open. The Stones toured with a IIB Coli back in those days, for example.

I've read many guys say they prefer their IV to their C+ and I've always wanted to experience this, and now that I have, I get it. I think the ++ is "better" but that IV was just BRUTAL. There's definitely tonal room for both those amps.

I've owned a Mark IVa and Mark IVb at the same time. The A was much better IMO. The B was quite a bit brighter. I also owned a Mark IVa and a 2C++ at the same time. The A is killer, but I ended up selling it since I prefer the 2C++ a lot more. The 2C++ has a lot more gain to it and has such a good feel.

 

[Mailman1971]

I had a lot of Mesa amps.
Sent a Mark III to Boogie and had the III++ Mod done on it.
Wicked good.
But overall My FJA Modded Dual recto just beat it out. Could nail that tone and then get really fucking heavy
Its by far my ultimate Mesa.
Like a cross of the Best Mark you heard and then mix in some Recto.

 

[GJgo]

There are so many nit picky dynamic differences between all the Marks, and at this point I've played most all of them except a Mark I and a Mark V. One of the things that really gets me the most between them is the difference in ATTACK!. My III and that IV have a lot more attack than the IIB, IIC, IIC+ or the JP2C. I think there's definitely room for one of each version.

After that I see the differences in compression vs. open-ness. With the JP I feel it's a lot more compressed than the IIC+, and without all the push pulls it's kind of a 2 trick pony. Granted they are really good tricks, but with all the compression and lack of P/P options you really can't dial in a sound that is classic / dirty but not aggressive.

I sold both my IIIs to finance the IIC++ so I'm fresh out of attack.

So I just bought a IVa on Reverb.

I pretend like I'm gonna sell the Tremoverb sometimes but I doubt I will. It has my favorite cleans of all of them, and with a boost has a pretty good grind as well.