Mesa Boogie Mark IV vs. Mark V

dm426

dm426

Member
I've not owned one, but I've played around on an older Mark V just enough to get an idea what the amp is about. I managed to get some pretty interesting sounds out of it, but it's obviously an amp which requires some time to get familiar with before one could even begin to know what it's really capable of.

Now and again I get the urge to pick up a used one just to play around with it, but I constantly hear people claim the Mark IV is much better. For those who have experience with both, did you like the Mark IV better and if so what made it better?
 
It depends on your goals. The IV has better tone in the R1 sound & the lead sound. R2 (debatably) is useless. The V is more like a Swiss army knife in that it has copious amounts of great tones on all 3 channels but it's not the best at any one of them, other than maybe the Crunch tone.

I 'd simplify it like this.

Home play? IV. (Or II)
Gigging? V. (Or a III with the R2 volume mod if you want raw & really need 3 channels that sound good)

Remember IVs are a bridge between the really raw II and III, and the compression of the V.
 
r2 is SO not useless. but you said debatable.

the first comment about the mark IV being a bit more raw, and the mark V being more polished is right on the money.
 
Had a MK 4 rev A head for years, shouldn’t of sold it argghh. Anyway compared to the 5 which I had for a day and returned it, way way more organic sound, beautiful mids. Clean is very fender like and channel 3 is liquid unlike anything else Ive played. The 5 to me sounded more sterile digital like. Should of never sold the 4. Argghh ?
 
The Mark iv is one of the best amps ever made. It sounds way more organic raw and aggressive than the mark v. The one I played was too compressed sounding. But I agree u don't like the rhythm channel on my mark iv.
 
The Mark V will have instant useable tones right out of the box and will sound the same everytime you use it, You'll keep most of the dials between 9:00 and 3:00. All the previous bugs other Mark amps had are greatly diminished. That's why Boogie hasn't come out with the Mark 6. The Mark V has it all and then some.

The Mark IV will have you scratching your head until you read the manual, and even then you'll find yourself having to reset some of the controls differently every time you turn it on. But once you play out in a band setting and see the faces on your bandmates you'll know why it's a desert Island amp! The Mark IV is what a lot of us say is the best all around amp ever made. 1 amp only, yes this is it. Channel 3 or "lead" is where the amp goes to 11 as your soloing. I heard it's called "bliss". I spend most of the time on ch.2 when playing in a band with the treble, presence, drive and gain on 10. As mentioned, ch.1 is also legendary. You can create a monster i.e. Lamb of God or set it up with 6V6 power tubes and get an amp that will rival Carr amplifier tones. I've bought three, $650.00 combo, $550.00 head, $1,100.00 Imbuya/wicker EV combo, a transition A/B model that is incredible.

Got this today -

Mark V by John Bazzano, on Flickr

To go with this guy -


IMG_2917 by John Bazzano, on Flickr
 
The Mark VI is still about five years out. I prefer the IV over the V....RHY2 with the GEQ and boost / overdrive pedal is more than usable.
 
I’ll save you a lot of time, just get a IV. The lead channel of the IV blows the V’s lead channel away. Don’t go by the Petrucci YouTube video or what Doug west says. I had acV for a year and was never happy with channel 3. It was a constant tweak fest to get it useable. Compared to the IV it’s thin and holllow sounding. That YouTube video IV vs JP2C is almost exactly my experience.
 
I just got a mark iv at the beginning of the covid lockdown. It has me considering getting rid of my KSR and just going down to a mark iv and the Ceriatone molecular then calling it a day.
 
danyeo":2wdc5zhh said:
I’ll save you a lot of time, just get a IV. The lead channel of the IV blows the V’s lead channel away. Don’t go by the Petrucci YouTube video or what Doug west says. I had acV for a year and was never happy with channel 3. It was a constant tweak fest to get it useable. Compared to the IV it’s thin and holllow sounding. That YouTube video IV vs JP2C is almost exactly my experience.
Click to expand...
Amen...
 
The V is a better amp, the IV has a better lead channel. It depends on what you're looking for out of it. I went with a V because I wanted the clean and channel 2. I basically run mine like a Lonestar with the added bonus of channel 3.

Putting a 5751 in V4 makes a pretty big difference for the V. Cuts out the piercing high end and let's you run the controls similar to other Marks, with Treble and Gain on 3:00
 
sotosprince":3e2ogrdf said:
MetalHeadMike":3e2ogrdf said:
MarkIIB with loop mod ;)
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Does this have enough gain?
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:LOL: :LOL:
Sorry don't mean to laugh, but when I had my old 2B Coliseum modded with this it was insane how much gain it added. I could have the lead drive at 4 and it's too much. But I lost the 'vintage' tone the amp had before the mod. But it was now tight as a frogs ass and a chug machine. I had an HRG C++ at the same time, and even the C++ didn't quite have the same amount of gain as that 2B loop modded Coliseum. I can't imagine another amp having that much gain.
Jeremy (GJgo) has one and it's chased away his C+. Mine wasn't quite that good but definitely killer.
 
Go get the IV. I love the feature set of the V, but it’s almost like it’s lost all the soul that the Marks used to have.

If you compare the Lead channel to RHY2, then RHY2 can sound Anemic in comparison, but that isn’t because RHY2 sucks, it’s because the Lead is so great! If you judge RHY2 based on its own merits, it’s an amazing channel in its own right. I run my RHY2 as my JCM800 channel, and it really works perfectly for this. It’s pretty amazing how I can get my RHY2 on the IV to sound like a modded Marshall. I can pull off AIC Facelift-era tones with RHY2 and tube screamer! Try it!

So, I agree with many of the statements above. If you’re going to use the amp for gigging, nothing with tubes can really come close to the tone and versatility of the V. But the IV just flat out sounds better. I think you’ll be more inspired with the IV, and for me, I’ll take tone over having a more usable RHY2.
 
sotosprince":1pvd2piv said:
danyeo":1pvd2piv said:
I’ll save you a lot of time, just get a IV. The lead channel of the IV blows the V’s lead channel away. Don’t go by the Petrucci YouTube video or what Doug west says. I had acV for a year and was never happy with channel 3. It was a constant tweak fest to get it useable. Compared to the IV it’s thin and holllow sounding. That YouTube video IV vs JP2C is almost exactly my experience.
Click to expand...
Amen...
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:rock:
I read one of Dan's posts long ago, and decided to try a JP2C thinking I would sell the SRG C+ I had at the time. A shop in the twin cities had one, and as luck would have it also a used Mk IV. Neither made me think I could sell the C+ but I could dial in the IV to be closer than the JP. Had more of a pleasing thing going on in the tone vs the JP. Both amps sounded great though and the JP is the choice for a gigging player. Kinda like comparing a vintage 2 channel Recto to a multi watt..the 2 channel has better tone, but the multi sounds great too and has everything you need to play out.
I'd vote IV.
 
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