Favorite Mark Series Boogie

[stephen sawall]

I would be interested in how this same poll would be over at TGP ? I see more talk about the Mark amps there than anywhere.

 

[anomaly]

I haven't played every model and stripe, but one of the best amps I've personally owned was a Mark III simulclass Red stripe head. That was a great amp.

 

[anomaly]

Kinda kicking myself, could have had a Mk IV head last year for 700. No foot switch though, but obviously a great price...

Ya, you are a real dumbass for not getting that. Sorry, but it's true.

 

[stephen sawall]

There was a IV here last week on CL without the foot switch for $600.

 

[Racerxrated]

Kinda kicking myself, could have had a Mk IV head last year for 700. No foot switch though, but obviously a great price...

Ya, you are a real dumbass for not getting that. Sorry, but it's true.

Thanks Captain Obvious...

 

[psychodave]

Tough call. I like the 2C+, Mark III and IV.

 

[thiswaythatway]

I just scored a Mark IV. The price was already great but I may get it for a really sick price because the guy said a tube blew on it.

I know the red stripe III is supposed to be really close to the IIC+ but when I had a IV and IIC+ together I thought they were pretty close. Hey, one time I fired up blue stripe III next to a IIC+ I had and a few guys liked the III better.

 

[stephen sawall]

Congratulations

I have been playing mine for hours tonight.
I detailed cleaned the entire amp.... all the pots, jacks, switchs & tubes and it brought back a lot of punch and articulation.

 

[Stumplegriltskin]

I would be interested in how this same poll would be over at TGP ? I see more talk about the Mark amps there than anywhere.

If a mod chimed in and someone disagreed with him, they'd get banned and the thread would get locked.

 

[thiswaythatway]

I would be interested in how this same poll would be over at TGP ? I see more talk about the Mark amps there than anywhere.

The majority hates Mesa over there. You know you don't identify with the TGP crowd when their ideal setup is a Fender Twin and a Tele. Or if you ask a Gear Pager what guitars he owns he will say "Both Kinds! Fender and Gibson".

 

[psychodave]

I just scored a Mark IV. The price was already great but I may get it for a really sick price because the guy said a tube blew on it.

I know the red stripe III is supposed to be really close to the IIC+ but when I had a IV and IIC+ together I thought they were pretty close. Hey, one time I fired up blue stripe III next to a IIC+ I had and a few guys liked the III better.

Nice score. I keep wanting to get another IV, but I really don't need it. LOL

I've owned a black dot, purple, red and green stripe and the were all awesome. Only one I regret selling was the black dot. That amp had the tone. It also had a 105 transformer and a lot of 2C+ parts. Sounded modern, but still had a touch of vintage in its sound. Like a cross between both versions.

You played my modded coliseum for a few minutes, that amp is a beast. Too bad you didn't get to dial it in for yourself.

 

[stephen sawall]

I agree...... But there is a crowd of Mesa users over tgp now. Much more than there was a a few years ago..... Even the people that are using Mesa there are going after much different sounds than we would be interested in. I pretty much only hang out on the giant fuzz thread.

Lately I have found myself very into my Mesa amps again (IV & Tremoverb).
I really like the Lead channel without the GEQ for lead playing. I messed around with the GEQ till I found a sound I liked with RHY2 & Lead that was a little lower in volume than the Lead without the GEQ for rhythm. The clean channel no GEQ.
After trying everyone's settings I could find on the internet I found a few things I liked and fine tuned a balance of the four sounds from the FU3 foot controller.
Taste change over the years..... I am getting the amp to where I am now.

 

[some dude]

I had a Mk III red stripe. Very pissed off sounding amp. I loved the sound but the shared EQ felt constricting. At first I didn't mind it because I only cared about the lead channel, but once I started experimenting and learned how good R1 could sound the shared EQ drove me up a wall. I eventually traded it.

I currently use (and voted for) a Mark V. Also a very pissed off sounding amp. I really like the sound and I've purposely avoided comparing it to other Marks because I don't want to get hung up on the differences. I found a big improvement when I pulled the stock JJs and replaced them with old Russian 2s (EHX) I have on hand. More bass, clearer mids and treble, less upper mid, colder/industrial sound, more articulate. It made the amp sound more like my memories of the Mk III.

For me, the Mark V kills it on versatility. Even if James Hetfield drove to my house and handed me the actual MOP amp I'd probably still gig the V because that sound is only a small portion of what I use this amp for. My ch 3 sound is currently closer to old Offspring than Metallica these days, which IMO is pretty easy to obtain out of the Mk V.

 

[thiswaythatway]

I had a Mk III red stripe. Very pissed off sounding amp. I loved the sound but the shared EQ felt constricting. At first I didn't mind it because I only cared about the lead channel, but once I started experimenting and learned how good R1 could sound the shared EQ drove me up a wall. I eventually traded it.

I currently use (and voted for) a Mark V. Also a very pissed off sounding amp. I really like the sound and I've purposely avoided comparing it to other Marks because I don't want to get hung up on the differences. I found a big improvement when I pulled the stock JJs and replaced them with old Russian 2s (EHX) I have on hand. More bass, clearer mids and treble, less upper mid, colder/industrial sound, more articulate. It made the amp sound more like my memories of the Mk III.

For me, the Mark V kills it on versatility. Even if James Hetfield drove to my house and handed me the actual MOP amp I'd probably still gig the V because that sound is only a small portion of what I use this amp for. My ch 3 sound is currently closer to old Offspring than Metallica these days, which IMO is pretty easy to obtain out of the Mk V.

I think The Offspring used Mark IV's or III's on those 90's albums. I never liked them that much, too goofy, but I liked their aggressive guitar tone.

 

[some dude]

I think The Offspring used Mark IV's or III's on those 90's albums. I never liked them that much, too goofy, but I liked their aggressive guitar tone.

I think they started with IIIs and progressed to IVs. I was a fan of Ignition... They started loosing me after that.

Sounding like Offspring was never really my goal. It just sort of happened as I tried to not sound like Metallica every time I plugged into a Mark.

 

[psychodave]

I think The Offspring used Mark IV's or III's on those 90's albums. I never liked them that much, too goofy, but I liked their aggressive guitar tone.

I think they started with IIIs and progressed to IVs. I was a fan of Ignition... They started loosing me after that.

Sounding like Offspring was never really my goal. It just sort of happened as I tried to not sound like Metallica every time I plugged into a Mark.

I don't think I sound like Metallica at all... even when using an EMG.

 

[stephen sawall]

I think it was 1990 the last time I was close to a Metallic timbre....

 

[thiswaythatway]

It's pretty damm easy to get the MOP on pretty much any Mark series. Just dump the 750 slider, treble on 10, gain up. HOWEVER, i saw a closeup of Hetfields settings and I was like WTF!!!!!

 

[some dude]

Wanting to sound like Metallica was the whole reason I bought a Mark in the first place. It took me a few years to find my own voice. I'm less metal, more hard rock these days.

 

[stephen sawall]

I bought my first Mark years before Metallica used them. I agree with danyeo about the settings they use. It confused me and several of my friends. The settings in the photographs do not sound that good on my rig. I have tried them on a III & IIC+ also and did not work for me.

I spent this week trying every setting I could find on the internet and most of them did not sound all that great on my rig. But I did find a few that I tuned in that are great..... It was a good learning experience that helped me find sounds I did not know was in there.

Having used Fryette a lot for the last eight years I wanted to get as much clarity and definition out of my IV as I could. Getting the midrange more cutting and the bass much more focused.
My clean sound did not change much..... But the way I am RHY2 & Lead with and without GEQ is completely different from how I had usually used them.