Metal-brutal, tube and non-tube amps, what's out there?

[Mokaccino]

Last night was my first band practice with the Mark IV...

I was playing through a Mesa Boogie 4x12, it was massive! A bit too bassy/dark but I guess those cabs are like that. All I can say is MASSIVE sound, great tone overall. Before last night, I had spent like 60 minutes with the amp - which is not enough for such a complex tone building tool - but I managed to get a very good tone in like 4 minutes. But I can do better, the eq is one powerful feature and I'll have to spend time with it, tweak and compare.

All in all, I made a good decision even though I forked out more than expected. But it's worth it by a mile. Or two!

 

[petejt]

Last night was my first band practice with the Mark IV...

I was playing through a Mesa Boogie 4x12, it was massive! A bit too bassy/dark but I guess those cabs are like that. All I can say is MASSIVE sound, great tone overall. Before last night, I had spent like 60 minutes with the amp - which is not enough for such a complex tone building tool - but I managed to get a very good tone in like 4 minutes. But I can do better, the eq is one powerful feature and I'll have to spend time with it, tweak and compare.

All in all, I made a good decision even though I forked out more than expected. But it's worth it by a mile. Or two!

Congratulations on your MarkIV!

You'll find that you can use it for both bands, so don't worry about selling the dirt pedals.

I wrote some quick tips on TGP about these amps. You'll find them handy. The most important thing though is keep that bass knob LOW, like no higher than 2, particularly when cranking the gain. You can always add bass with the graphic EQ, presence (try pulling the knob out or pushed in), and also pull out that Lead Gain knob.

Different levels of Lead Gain and Lead Drive will alter the character and texture of the distortion. Turning them up doesn't just increase the gain.

 

[Mokaccino]

Last night was my first band practice with the Mark IV...

I was playing through a Mesa Boogie 4x12, it was massive! A bit too bassy/dark but I guess those cabs are like that. All I can say is MASSIVE sound, great tone overall. Before last night, I had spent like 60 minutes with the amp - which is not enough for such a complex tone building tool - but I managed to get a very good tone in like 4 minutes. But I can do better, the eq is one powerful feature and I'll have to spend time with it, tweak and compare.

All in all, I made a good decision even though I forked out more than expected. But it's worth it by a mile. Or two!

Congratulations on your MarkIV!

You'll find that you can use it for both bands, so don't worry about selling the dirt pedals.

I wrote some quick tips on TGP about these amps. You'll find them handy. The most important thing though is keep that bass knob LOW, like no higher than 2, particularly when cranking the gain. You can always add bass with the graphic EQ, presence (try pulling the knob out or pushed in), and also pull out that Lead Gain knob.

Different levels of Lead Gain and Lead Drive will alter the character and texture of the distortion. Turning them up doesn't just increase the gain.

Thx man!!

Yeah, bass has to be very low - that's why we have a bass player, right?! - and the cab makes a difference too. But last night i had the chance to try it with a 4x12, so I did. I like what I'm getting from the combo but the cab gives you massive results, big big sound as my bandmates told me.

The graphic eq is a powerful tool, I left it on almost all night.