Mark V 35 Mark IV Mode vs. Mark IV

  • Thread starter Thread starter jeff5
  • Start date Start date
J

jeff5

Active member
I own a Mark V 35 and LOVE the amp. I am considering buying a full size Mark IV too. How different tone wise is the IV mode on the 35 from a full blow Mark IV? I don't want to have redundant amps.

Not only do I love the Mark IV mode on my 35, I also loved the Lead 2 Red on my Triaxis (no longer have it....) which Boogie said was a Mark III searing lead. With the 2:90, I am thinking that was close to a Mark IV?

Thanks!
Jeff
 
In my opinion. The Mark IV lead channel is quite better than both the Mark IV on the V and Triaxis. Not taking anything away from any of the amps they-re all nice amps. I haven't had the 35w version of the V but I had the 90w version a few times. I cut my teeth on a Mark IV. I went through the whole gamut of amps, you name it Ive owned it , with some exceptions of course. At any rate I'm back to a Mark IV. I just love it.
 
It all comes down to preference, but I do not recall seeing a single person who has had hands on experience with a V and IV prefer the lead channel on the former over the latter, and the opinions usually seem to be pretty damn strong on the matter. Interpretation, you will most likely not be disappointed.

My experience between a V 90 watt and the IV model in the Axe Fx was the IV was the clear winner for the lead channel.

On the other hand, Channel 2 Crunch and channel 1 Tweed were something special though. Crunch is something many current or former V owners love and is hard to find a worthy replacement for. Channel 2 on the IV has been a let down for most, me included.

If you are going to be able to keep both, you should be very happy. I'd personally use clean on the IV, Crunch on the V, lead channel on the IV, and lead channel on the V would be a wild card.

If you want both but funds might be tough, the III is a worthy option to consider. I own a IIC+ now but my second favorite Mark is a III even though I have never actually owned one.
 
I have 2 Mark IV's, a Mark V:25 and have owned a 35w and a 90w. So yeah the Mark IV sounds the best. But the 25(and 35) are really nice too. They are nice and small, and light. They have great clean channels. I don't really like the 2C+ and Mark IV mode on the 25. I feel you have to max the bass on the EQ to get anywhere near the thump as you would on the real Mark IV. Also I think they sound compressed and somewhat thin. My favorite mode is Extreme. It has enough bottom end and sounds the most like the real Mark IV to me. If I had to sell them all I would keep my Mark IV short head. It's small and just kills on all fronts.
 
Mark IV has a better high gain sound, Mark V is better for everything else.
 
Thanks guys, I really appreciate the feedback.

I will say that, as much as I love the 35, I also feel like I have to keep the EQ sliders very bass heavy and actually trim down the 6600hz or it is way too bright either in 2C+ mode or in IV mode. This is probably due to the EL84s and being a brighter tube in general.

I had a full Mark V for a month, and my impressions were that I didn't love the IV mode on it as much as I did the Lead 2 Red on my Triaxis which I had at the time. Even though I don't use them much, I liked the clean and mid gain tones WAY better on the Mark V than any of it's high gain tones. And now I feel like I like the IV mode more on the 35 than I did on the 90.

It seems from what you are all saying I'd love a full blown IV even more. Another option would possibly be a Mark III but I think they are harder to find these days and one shared EQ might be hard to work with.
 
jeff5":2167bzq2 said:
Thanks guys, I really appreciate the feedback.

I will say that, as much as I love the 35, I also feel like I have to keep the EQ sliders very bass heavy and actually trim down the 6600hz or it is way too bright either in 2C+ mode or in IV mode. This is probably due to the EL84s and being a brighter tube in general.

I had a full Mark V for a month, and my impressions were that I didn't love the IV mode on it as much as I did the Lead 2 Red on my Triaxis which I had at the time. Even though I don't use them much, I liked the clean and mid gain tones WAY better on the Mark V than any of it's high gain tones. And now I feel like I like the IV mode more on the 35 than I did on the 90.

It seems from what you are all saying I'd love a full blown IV even more. Another option would possibly be a Mark III but I think they are harder to find these days and one shared EQ might be hard to work with.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I didn't like the Mark IV or IIC+ modes on my Mark V. I just used the Extreme, which wasn't as good as the real Mark IV either but it did what I wanted better.
 
MatrixClaw":2twd3xkj said:
jeff5":2twd3xkj said:
Thanks guys, I really appreciate the feedback.

I will say that, as much as I love the 35, I also feel like I have to keep the EQ sliders very bass heavy and actually trim down the 6600hz or it is way too bright either in 2C+ mode or in IV mode. This is probably due to the EL84s and being a brighter tube in general.

I had a full Mark V for a month, and my impressions were that I didn't love the IV mode on it as much as I did the Lead 2 Red on my Triaxis which I had at the time. Even though I don't use them much, I liked the clean and mid gain tones WAY better on the Mark V than any of it's high gain tones. And now I feel like I like the IV mode more on the 35 than I did on the 90.

It seems from what you are all saying I'd love a full blown IV even more. Another option would possibly be a Mark III but I think they are harder to find these days and one shared EQ might be hard to work with.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I didn't like the Mark IV or IIC+ modes on my Mark V. I just used the Extreme, which wasn't as good as the real Mark IV either but it did what I wanted better.
Click to expand...

Extreme mode has the most bottom end, pretty much what the other 2 modes are lacking.
 
I used Extreme rarely on my 35, it just seems too over the top. I used it a bit when I had the full Mark V too and found I liked it a bit better than the IV mode too lol.
 
Keep in mind with the mark III or IV that most are at the age where they need a recap. So I would factor that in, especially with Mesa strongly encouraging users to send them in for a recap as a few of the caps they have seen have exploded and its expensive to clean up.

As a long time mark IVA owner, I have long been curious about getting a IIC+, III, JP2C+ or one of the V's, but end the end just stuck with the mark IVA. For me I want the minimal amount of overlap from my amps, but I like as many tone options as possible, versus diving deep on one sound. So it really comes down to what type of player you are.
 
I own the Mark V:25....I like the crunch mode on channel the best. Very full sounding :rock:
 
I have owned the Mark V 25 and I didn't really think the Mark IV mode nailed it (not a bad sounding amp at all), a lot of it probably has to do with the EL84 vs 6L6 tubes. When Mesa released the Mark V 90w I felt the voicing had changed in the amp (brighter and maybe more high mids and I didn't really like it compared to the Original Mark IV).

I have owned 4-5 Mark IV's and recently bought another to keep in my collection as it has been one of my favorite amps. I also own a JP2c and was able to A/B it with the original Mark IVB and it can be dialed pretty close to Mark IV. I think the JP2c also has the similar modern/brighter voicing that the Mark V has.

The Mark IV lead channel is a little more raw sounding.
 
Do you guys feel that the Mark IV really needs a Mesa oversized cab to shine? I currently have a Friedman 4X12 with a V30/H75 in an X pattern. When I had my Triaxis and Dual Rec, the best tones were when I paired them with my Mesa cabinet. (Straight oversized, should not have sold =( )

I will say that when I had the JP2C, while able to get some great tones, I felt it was not the beefiest amp and was...smaller sounding (only description I can think of) than my JJ 100. I think the JP2C probably could have benefitted from a Mesa cab a lot.
 
Having owned the Be100 as well as Friedmans 4x12 and 2x12 (great amps and cabs) the mesa cabs will have a more modern flavor. Regarding traditional and oversized mesa cabs its more of a preference. I like both but I prefer a traditional for a mark style amp, but it’s not a deal breaker for me either way
 
blackba":1p9o5oco said:
Keep in mind with the mark III or IV that most are at the age where they need a recap. So I would factor that in, especially with Mesa strongly encouraging users to send them in for a recap as a few of the caps they have seen have exploded and its expensive to clean up.
Click to expand...

I just got my Mark IVa back from Mesa with a full recap. :thumbsup:
 
I'd advise waiting until the MkVI, which is when everyone will say the MkV was better.
 
jeff5":l7xhzq2c said:
Do you guys feel that the Mark IV really needs a Mesa oversized cab to shine? I currently have a Friedman 4X12 with a V30/H75 in an X pattern. When I had my Triaxis and Dual Rec, the best tones were when I paired them with my Mesa cabinet. (Straight oversized, should not have sold =( )

I will say that when I had the JP2C, while able to get some great tones, I felt it was not the beefiest amp and was...smaller sounding (only description I can think of) than my JJ 100. I think the JP2C probably could have benefitted from a Mesa cab a lot.
Click to expand...

I am not a big fan of G12H30 type speakers with my mesa markIVA. My favorite cab with my mark IVA is the mesa halfback metal grill 412 with Mesa Custom 90's in the top and EV's in the bottom, it also weighs a ton.

I do like V30's with the mark IVA, they work well. If you want to more optimize the Friedman cab for the mark IV, I would swap the H75's for V30s, Mesa Custom 90s or Celestion Classic Lead 80s. Which is strange for me to say cause I love Scumbacks and like the H75, just not my favorite with the mark IV.
 
jeff5":1wa6bzwm said:
Do you guys feel that the Mark IV really needs a Mesa oversized cab to shine? I currently have a Friedman 4X12 with a V30/H75 in an X pattern. When I had my Triaxis and Dual Rec, the best tones were when I paired them with my Mesa cabinet. (Straight oversized, should not have sold =( )

I will say that when I had the JP2C, while able to get some great tones, I felt it was not the beefiest amp and was...smaller sounding (only description I can think of) than my JJ 100. I think the JP2C probably could have benefitted from a Mesa cab a lot.
Click to expand...

I use my Mark IV with a Marshall 1936 with vintage 30's or my KSR 2x12 with a Creamback 75/V30 combo. It shines with both even though neither are 4x12's or Mesa.
 
MatrixClaw":i9xbt0y0 said:
Mark IV has a better high gain sound, Mark V is better for everything else.
Click to expand...

Straight up this. I will never get rid of my mkiv. Straight up.

I have Played a lot of MKV's (not the mkv35 tbh to make a solid judgment) but MatrixClaw is dead on.
 
My brother got a Mark V 35 and is going to swap it for the head version.

Im a Herbert player for 10 years and i was blown away when playing the 35 version, soon ill be getting one to:)
Soon ill be able to test the 90w version and see which one i prefer

The clean was amazing, i didnt expect this.
I enjoyed extreme mode the most, just use enough gain and not to much, it might have been his settings but what a killer channel
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top