MAK4 RIG ALMOST COMPLETE... Sneak review (PICS!!)

[Ventura]

Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaayzeus!! People!! If you are at ALL thinking about the Mak4, holy shyte!!

So I've been running it through the Fryette 2/90/2 (by the way, this is what I expect out of a poweramp - dead quiet, powerful as all hell, 2U in size, top notch quality in every aspect - build, fan, pot tension - bloody perfect), an ART4x4 power conditioner, and currently - till tomorrow - going through my Diezel G12K100 FL 4x12.

This pre a F'N SICK people!!
Clips to follow once the Fryette Deliverance is prepped and ready to go (tomorrow, currently getting broken in) as well as pics!!

Makoplex channel nukes SO many of the plexi rebuilds out there - kerrang x 20 ! ! ! ! !
Dorado is just insane.
Crunch is incredible.
Clean - wow, what can I say?? A clean that stays clean, crisp and clear all the way up the volume scale...beautiful articulation, pick sensitive, super rich.

ACTUAL REVIEW will be in a couple weeks when this thing's been put through its paces as a "whole rig" (Deliverance included), but for now, I'm very pleased thus far with this set up. And bear in mind, this ain't no honeymoon wanking, I've been toying with this thing since before Christmas

Nice work Andrew, seriously seriously nice work!!
V.

 

[killertone]

Right on. Haven't heard a whole lot about these since they came out. Seems a lot of people bought them and then immediately sold them. Cool to hear that is that killer. Can't wait for the full review and clips.

 

[Ventura]

All I can say is it's been a long road for me to get the rig to come together... Finally got everything last week, and the 4x12 is needing a serious burn in, so that's going on right now in an ISO room

The Fryette 2/90/2 is probably a real smart choice for this preamp. The "voice" option really lets you open up the mids and highs which would otherwise, potentially, sound a bit brittle and icy through the KT88's. The depth and presence work wonders too. I mean, you've read my pre-pre-previews on this preamp, I was running it through the Diezel VH4S. It was pretty sweet, but with this new poweramp, it's grown some new legs and man, new lungs too. I just don't want to do the review until the whole thing is sorted out with cab etc.

Hard for me to resist though - this preamp is f*ckin' nuts. VERY little noise, excellent bass/lowend taper and response, barely any hiss, and gobs of terrain to cover. Considering I was matching some Fortin style tones this evening, along with a mess of custom plexi rigs, I can't see how this preamp would go anywhere - and I'm not even a plexi fan at heart. Get me into Dorado territory and this thing is nuts. And BTW, for those of you who have it, let me say this, the Fryette 2/90/2, set up you EQ on Makoplex or Dorado, through the ax into "woman tone" mode (neck pup, 2 on the tone) and then hit the poweramps "voice" buttons. How's THAT grab ya!!! Kinda takes me to a place called Herbert's house

Back to it - just took a finger/ear break
V.

 

[killertone]

Awesome, man. Sounds like fun!

 

[JTyson]

Thats killer, I'm sure the longer you waited, the better it was gonna have to be
Nice to have your expectations met

 

[threadkiller]

Can't wait for the full review. Glad your still digging it after 2 months of honeymoon. The speaker break in is a smart move. IMO it makes a big difference. Andrew told me mine would ship last week but haven't heard from him some maybe this week. I'll give you my .02 when I get it in and have a chance to test. Any effects, if so where are you nunning them? I like a little reverb and delay at times and was going to place them after preamp. Thanks.

 

[Digital Jams]

Right on. Haven't heard a whole lot about these since they came out. Seems a lot of people bought them and then immediately sold them. Cool to hear that is that killer. Can't wait for the full review and clips.

Most of those guys were forum attention whores, would not put much weight into that trend

 

[MichaelG]

Right on. Haven't heard a whole lot about these since they came out. Seems a lot of people bought them and then immediately sold them. Cool to hear that is that killer. Can't wait for the full review and clips.

Most of those guys were forum attention whores, would not put much weight into that trend

Exactly. A bunch of MAK4 preamps (or any other amp for that matter) being sold by a bunch of known flippers simply means that the next amp in line needed to be paid for.

I LOVE my MAK4 too. I'm saving up for a Fryette 2/90/2 but in the meantime am running it through a Mosvalve 962 and even through that cheap thing it sounds friggin great! That is with the stock JJ preamp tubes and none of the additional "fix" mods posted by Andrew.

 

[RedB4Black]

Right on. Haven't heard a whole lot about these since they came out. Seems a lot of people bought them and then immediately sold them. Cool to hear that is that killer. Can't wait for the full review and clips.

Most of those guys were forum attention whores, would not put much weight into that trend

Says the guy with nearly 18000 posts.

 

[killertone]

Right on. Haven't heard a whole lot about these since they came out. Seems a lot of people bought them and then immediately sold them. Cool to hear that is that killer. Can't wait for the full review and clips.

Most of those guys were forum attention whores, would not put much weight into that trend

True. That is why this is interesting to me seeing as the OP has had the pre for quite a while now and he still digs it. Those are always the most valuable gear reviews for sure.

 

[steve_k]

I must say the price is reasonable for that preamp. Was tempted for a while, then it passed. I hate having that many options available at any one time. But, for a $900 preamp and a used VHT power amp, you can have a good mix of tube tone for cheap, relatively speaking. Does it switch with an analog switch or MIDI?

Steve

 

[RedB4Black]

Right on. Haven't heard a whole lot about these since they came out. Seems a lot of people bought them and then immediately sold them. Cool to hear that is that killer. Can't wait for the full review and clips.

Most of those guys were forum attention whores, would not put much weight into that trend

True. That is why this is interesting to me seeing as the OP has had the pre for quite a while now and he still digs it. Those are always the most valuable gear reviews for sure.

I thought I read somewhere where Andrew tweaked it after the first batch. I thought it was a cool pre-amp, but I felt it was lacking a little on the low-end for my tastes (being used to the Herbert, Uber and Nitro). From what others have posted, I think this was addressed in subsequent versions - along with some other things. Otherewise, I thought the amp was pretty cool, though I really only spent time on the Dorado channel through a 2/90/2. I think mine is on it's 4th attention whore owner after I owned it last summer.

 

[killertone]

Right on. Haven't heard a whole lot about these since they came out. Seems a lot of people bought them and then immediately sold them. Cool to hear that is that killer. Can't wait for the full review and clips.

Most of those guys were forum attention whores, would not put much weight into that trend

True. That is why this is interesting to me seeing as the OP has had the pre for quite a while now and he still digs it. Those are always the most valuable gear reviews for sure.

I thought I read somewhere where Andrew tweaked it after the first batch. I thought it was a cool pre-amp, but I felt it was lacking a little on the low-end for my tastes (being used to the Herbert, Uber and Nitro). From what others have posted, I think this was addressed in subsequent versions - along with some other things. Otherewise, I thought the amp was pretty cool, though I really only spent time on the Dorado channel through a 2/90/2. I think mine is on it's 4th attention whore owner after I owned it last summer.

My experiences with Mako products has been terrible so I am always interested in other folks experiences with their gear. It seems that all of his products need to be tweaked in some form or fashion and that was exactly what happened when my buddy got a Dorado a few years ago.

Some people love his stuff though so maybe I have just had some bad examples through my hands.

I am definitely interested in hearing some clips of V's through his 2/90/2 and Deliverance cab.

 

[Ventura]

I must say the price is reasonable for that preamp. Was tempted for a while, then it passed. I hate having that many options available at any one time. But, for a $900 preamp and a used VHT power amp, you can have a good mix of tube tone for cheap, relatively speaking. Does it switch with an analog switch or MIDI?

Steve

It channel switches via - get this - RJ45 cable. That's right, network cable... Easy to buy, cheap, and simple. The small footswitch is really, well, small, so it takes up no space whatsoever on a board or the like. Just perfect size to get yer toe or ball of your foot on.

As for the rig, I am FINALLY playing it through the Fryette Deliverance 4x12. Honestly, I think I made the right choice with this cab - it's definitely looser than what I'm used to, considering the VH4S through the Diezel G12K100 is VERY tight, dry and uber surgical (compressed but still like a freight train, ya know??), and that's what I've been using as my go to amp AND cab for this Mak4. ANYWAY, so now it's all good - Fryette 2/90/2 is a beauty amp, quiet and super powerful - nice features too, the depth and presence are a given, but the "voice" option really opens up a lot of sonic possibilities (if I may be so bold as to say, it's a lot like the +/- cut feature on the Herbert). But the cab?? I'm guessing it still needs a little breaking in (it's been in ISO for about 30 hours, doing repeat patterns and shit), but it's nice. REAL nice. It's got a gnashing gnarliness to it, if that makes any sense - that wasn't apparent using the Diezel 4x12. So again, it's taken a real dry, tight, percussive preamp; matched with a dry, tight, percussive poweramp, and really given it some teeth to chew with. Andrew at Mako said the Dorado would shine with KT88's, and the Makoplex would shine with EL34's (found in the Fryette 2/50/2). He did say the LAST thing you wanna do is getting ANY power tube saturation with the Mak4, apparently sounds like ass, so I opted for the bigger headroom KT88 loaded 2/90/2 and man, it's really outstanding!! And for what it's worth, I can't imagine the Makoplex channel sounding better than it already does - but the Dorado and the Crunch are to die for through this cab now!! Seriously unique, but touching on a lot of classic foundations at the same time. I've said it before, the Makoplex can get Fortin and Marsha and FJA style tones out of it (especially with the help of the "voice" option on the poweramp) - not identical - but close enough that it oughta stave off any "off to get modded" notions out of the box. And the Dorado is simply one pissed off sounding channel - loads of gain - but still focused and pretty articulate note for note. The Crunch, shit, this was a filler channel??? No way. SOLID channel, and again, well voiced and unique.

So it goes, the doors are open with the Deliverance cab. I can see some folks sticking with the razor thump of the FatBottom, but in my particular case, the cab gives the rig some life and lungs. For those of you who've read there's bass/lowend lacking. Um, no.

There it is - my 1st day in as a full rig set up. NO complaints. Maybe just some dust collecting on my other heavy hitters for the next couple months

Peace,
V.

 

[Ventura]

I thought I read somewhere where Andrew tweaked it after the first batch. I thought it was a cool pre-amp, but I felt it was lacking a little on the low-end for my tastes (being used to the Herbert, Uber and Nitro). From what others have posted, I think this was addressed in subsequent versions - along with some other things. Otherewise, I thought the amp was pretty cool, though I really only spent time on the Dorado channel through a 2/90/2. I think mine is on it's 4th attention whore owner after I owned it last summer.

My experiences with Mako products has been terrible so I am always interested in other folks experiences with their gear. It seems that all of his products need to be tweaked in some form or fashion and that was exactly what happened when my buddy got a Dorado a few years ago.

Some people love his stuff though so maybe I have just had some bad examples through my hands.

I am definitely interested in hearing some clips of V's through his 2/90/2 and Deliverance cab.

According to Andrew, December was the month where he secured an excellent source of consistent, solid, quality and reliable 12AX7's to use in his preamp. Secondly, he tapered the bass to be bigger. Thirdly, he modded the noise issue out of the preamp - he "assumed", ahem, everyone who used this preamp would also have a ISP or the like, not the case. Nevertheless, the preamp is the most recent iteration - and as for communications with Andrew, he's been hot on the scene ever since I received it - "how does it sound", "what's the bass and hiss like", "what poweramp", "how's it sound through the 2/90/2", "how's it sound through the cab". I tell ya, if for nothing else, he's been ace on customer service.

So, sad to read there've been some shit experiences out there with peeps and Mako - I'm sure it goes for a lot of smaller companies, sadly. But I think he's really listened to his clients, and made the changes necessary to move forward. I'm really rather blown away by this preamp. Sure, ya, it's $900 - sounds cheap - but then you've got your poweramp and cab to contend with...ends up being the same as a head if you ask me. In my case I'm particular, the cab needed to be matched to the rig - just so happened Fryette was a contender, as was Mills Acoustics. I got a better deal with Fryette, roll of the dice.

CLIPS will be coming in the near future, as will some pics... I'm still so enthralled with the channels and the tones, I'm not even sure where to begin "recording" as there are so many sweet spots in the EQ

Soon come Brethren, soon come!!
V.

 

[steve_k]

I must say the price is reasonable for that preamp. Was tempted for a while, then it passed. I hate having that many options available at any one time. But, for a $900 preamp and a used VHT power amp, you can have a good mix of tube tone for cheap, relatively speaking. Does it switch with an analog switch or MIDI?

Steve

It channel switches via - get this - RJ45 cable. That's right, network cable... Easy to buy, cheap, and simple. The small footswitch is really, well, small, so it takes up no space whatsoever on a board or the like. Just perfect size to get yer toe or ball of your foot on.

As for the rig, I am FINALLY playing it through the Fryette Deliverance 4x12. Honestly, I think I made the right choice with this cab - it's definitely looser than what I'm used to, considering the VH4S through the Diezel G12K100 is VERY tight, dry and uber surgical (compressed but still like a freight train, ya know??), and that's what I've been using as my go to amp AND cab for this Mak4. ANYWAY, so now it's all good - Fryette 2/90/2 is a beauty amp, quiet and super powerful - nice features too, the depth and presence are a given, but the "voice" option really opens up a lot of sonic possibilities (if I may be so bold as to say, it's a lot like the +/- cut feature on the Herbert). But the cab?? I'm guessing it still needs a little breaking in (it's been in ISO for about 30 hours, doing repeat patterns and shit), but it's nice. REAL nice. It's got a gnashing gnarliness to it, if that makes any sense - that wasn't apparent using the Diezel 4x12. So again, it's taken a real dry, tight, percussive preamp; matched with a dry, tight, percussive poweramp, and really given it some teeth to chew with. Andrew at Mako said the Dorado would shine with KT88's, and the Makoplex would shine with EL34's (found in the Fryette 2/50/2). He did say the LAST thing you wanna do is getting ANY power tube saturation with the Mak4, apparently sounds like ass, so I opted for the bigger headroom KT88 loaded 2/90/2 and man, it's really outstanding!! And for what it's worth, I can't imagine the Makoplex channel sounding better than it already does - but the Dorado and the Crunch are to die for through this cab now!! Seriously unique, but touching on a lot of classic foundations at the same time. I've said it before, the Makoplex can get Fortin and Marsha and FJA style tones out of it (especially with the help of the "voice" option on the poweramp) - not identical - but close enough that it oughta stave off any "off to get modded" notions out of the box. And the Dorado is simply one pissed off sounding channel - loads of gain - but still focused and pretty articulate note for note. The Crunch, shit, this was a filler channel??? No way. SOLID channel, and again, well voiced and unique.

So it goes, the doors are open with the Deliverance cab. I can see some folks sticking with the razor thump of the FatBottom, but in my particular case, the cab gives the rig some life and lungs. For those of you who've read there's bass/lowend lacking. Um, no.

There it is - my 1st day in as a full rig set up. NO complaints. Maybe just some dust collecting on my other heavy hitters for the next couple months

Peace,
V.

Finding the optimum power amp for a given preamp is sometimes a costly task....

Steve

 

[Gsxrbusa]

Sounds pretty fuckin killer man.

What type/stlye music do you mainly play (if you could categorize it)?

 

[Ventura]

Sounds pretty fuckin killer man.

What type/stlye music do you mainly play (if you could categorize it)?

A lot of original stuff, but sometimes when ya nail a tone EQ'ing an amp, ya can't help but play some of the music that's associated with it (ie: Rhoads, AC/DC, Tool, AIC, VH, etc. even if I'm not a huge fanboi of some of the bands or their songs). But if I had to talk about my original stuff, it's heavy, aggressive, punchy and weird - odd timings, lots of speed/stop/chugga. There's a lot of Deftones in it, and believe it or not, soloing and such, I tend to lean on the tone and styles of Slash'esque, pretty simple, boxed blues scales on the neck, and so forth. Some tapping and open drone for textures...but overall heavy, a bit dark, and thick.

What does this new rig have me play?? Well, I've gone through about 5 of my 8 guitars just trying different pups and tunings. The Lester '57 with '57 Classic pups sounds awesome, the Hamer loaded with Riff Raffs, awesome, and the ESP loaded with Painkillers, awesome. There's this really nice lengthy churning chord decay when sustained in the Makoplex setting...it just keeps going and going, bubbling and burbling along. Wicked shit. Got a Deftones vibe to it. Helmet'esque. The Dorado is scary...very hot and searing and almost sounds as though the amp's gonna snap mentally at any moment, I like it.

So - songs and styles - Tool, Velvet Revolver, Alice In Chains, Queens of the Stone Age (Go With The Flow, fuckin' brilliant little ditty), Deftones, SOAD, Chillis when I'm in a funkdified mood, ISIS, Foo Fighters, STP, APC, you know - a lot of the heavier but not uber-nu-metal-cookie-monster stuff. I like a certain punch in the gain department, I like it gnawing and thick and rich for a lot of my music. And ya, when I'm noodling, I usually have my amp set to a near break up mode, and get into straight up rockin' blues (SRV, Hendrixy stuff) with simple riffs that crack up the signal to get that sweet sound. A lot of my shit is atonal, because I like messing with chromatic convention, and it sounds like utter shit until it's paired with the bass lines and the rest of the package (most certainly the drums too). I was weened on (hey, there's another influence, Ween!!) Frank Zappa and 70's & 80's metal, and then the alt/grunge styles of the 90's. And still throw classics into the CD player like McLaughlin and DeLucia and DiMeola and so forth - right along with Zeppelin. But the Zappa kinda got me into weirder sounds, and to this day, if I can play something a little bent in place of a standard chord or note, I will.

Used to jam with an incredible classically trained guitarist, guy was just , and a mutual friend who was awesome on keys, bass and sax - believe it or not. I was able to track the drums, as that's my original calling, but where I am now, no body to jam with. So I have this virtual studio set up - bass, drum software, the whole DAW biz, recording shit, ISO room, etc. but it actually - at times - takes the fund (and fun, that musta been a Freudian slip HA!) out of it, ya know?? Whatever... I'm just glad to play, which I'm going to do right now - again

V.

 

[Ventura]

I must say the price is reasonable for that preamp. Was tempted for a while, then it passed. I hate having that many options available at any one time. But, for a $900 preamp and a used VHT power amp, you can have a good mix of tube tone for cheap, relatively speaking. Does it switch with an analog switch or MIDI?

Steve

It channel switches via - get this - RJ45 cable. That's right, network cable... Easy to buy, cheap, and simple. The small footswitch is really, well, small, so it takes up no space whatsoever on a board or the like. Just perfect size to get yer toe or ball of your foot on.

As for the rig, I am FINALLY playing it through the Fryette Deliverance 4x12. Honestly, I think I made the right choice with this cab - it's definitely looser than what I'm used to, considering the VH4S through the Diezel G12K100 is VERY tight, dry and uber surgical (compressed but still like a freight train, ya know??), and that's what I've been using as my go to amp AND cab for this Mak4. ANYWAY, so now it's all good - Fryette 2/90/2 is a beauty amp, quiet and super powerful - nice features too, the depth and presence are a given, but the "voice" option really opens up a lot of sonic possibilities (if I may be so bold as to say, it's a lot like the +/- cut feature on the Herbert). But the cab?? I'm guessing it still needs a little breaking in (it's been in ISO for about 30 hours, doing repeat patterns and shit), but it's nice. REAL nice. It's got a gnashing gnarliness to it, if that makes any sense - that wasn't apparent using the Diezel 4x12. So again, it's taken a real dry, tight, percussive preamp; matched with a dry, tight, percussive poweramp, and really given it some teeth to chew with. Andrew at Mako said the Dorado would shine with KT88's, and the Makoplex would shine with EL34's (found in the Fryette 2/50/2). He did say the LAST thing you wanna do is getting ANY power tube saturation with the Mak4, apparently sounds like ass, so I opted for the bigger headroom KT88 loaded 2/90/2 and man, it's really outstanding!! And for what it's worth, I can't imagine the Makoplex channel sounding better than it already does - but the Dorado and the Crunch are to die for through this cab now!! Seriously unique, but touching on a lot of classic foundations at the same time. I've said it before, the Makoplex can get Fortin and Marsha and FJA style tones out of it (especially with the help of the "voice" option on the poweramp) - not identical - but close enough that it oughta stave off any "off to get modded" notions out of the box. And the Dorado is simply one pissed off sounding channel - loads of gain - but still focused and pretty articulate note for note. The Crunch, shit, this was a filler channel??? No way. SOLID channel, and again, well voiced and unique.

So it goes, the doors are open with the Deliverance cab. I can see some folks sticking with the razor thump of the FatBottom, but in my particular case, the cab gives the rig some life and lungs. For those of you who've read there's bass/lowend lacking. Um, no.

There it is - my 1st day in as a full rig set up. NO complaints. Maybe just some dust collecting on my other heavy hitters for the next couple months

Peace,
V.

Finding the optimum power amp for a given preamp is sometimes a costly task....

Steve

This and an appropriate cab. I am blown away with this cab. Could it be it's the only cab I have that isn't V30 or Celestion based??
V.

 

[lespaul3013]

Man this Mak4 seems super nice...but I'm still GAS-ing for a Mark V...how does this compare to an amp like that?