Thinking of a new amp: Mark IV, Mark V, Dual Recto Multiwatt

stephen sawall":36jfw3ms said:
Beyond Black":36jfw3ms said:
stephen sawall":36jfw3ms said:
With most of the Mesa stuff you need to take photos or detail notes of settings. I started doing this several years ago. When I find a sound I like I make record before I change anything.
Occasionally I go thru the entire list. It's like having a catalog of great sounds and shows me where I was at and how my taste has changed over the years.
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That’s a good idea. Three months ago when I got bit buy the Mark IV bug, I was taking pics of the settings of YouTube vids that I liked, since I heard that they were so hard to dial in if you’re not familiar. Shortly after, I bought one, and referred to these settings and had instant killer tone, and was able to navigate the amp pretty quickly. I never had to refer to notes for an amp before. :LOL: :LOL:
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With all the knobs and switches on the Mark IV it's the only way to do it. No one could remember that stuff.
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I did the same thing. Because if you don't, the tone gnomes fuck with your settings.
 
stephen sawall":3j1rijia said:
Beyond Black":3j1rijia said:
stephen sawall":3j1rijia said:
With most of the Mesa stuff you need to take photos or detail notes of settings. I started doing this several years ago. When I find a sound I like I make record before I change anything.
Occasionally I go thru the entire list. It's like having a catalog of great sounds and shows me where I was at and how my taste has changed over the years.
Click to expand...
That’s a good idea. Three months ago when I got bit buy the Mark IV bug, I was taking pics of the settings of YouTube vids that I liked, since I heard that they were so hard to dial in if you’re not familiar. Shortly after, I bought one, and referred to these settings and had instant killer tone, and was able to navigate the amp pretty quickly. I never had to refer to notes for an amp before. :LOL: :LOL:
Click to expand...
With all the knobs and switches on the Mark IV it's the only way to do it. No one could remember that stuff.
Click to expand...

I also find that taking a picture of the settings on my Mark IV gives me the confidence to tweak a bit as I know I can always go back to what I had. Without that I may end up with some new settings and not be able to get back to where I was.

Hope I can get to recapping my mark IVA soon. Not going to be a fun job, but don't want those brown caps exploding. Ironically the new ones I got are Brown. :doh:
 
blackba":35sf9swq said:
stephen sawall":35sf9swq said:
Beyond Black":35sf9swq said:
stephen sawall":35sf9swq said:
With most of the Mesa stuff you need to take photos or detail notes of settings. I started doing this several years ago. When I find a sound I like I make record before I change anything.
Occasionally I go thru the entire list. It's like having a catalog of great sounds and shows me where I was at and how my taste has changed over the years.
Click to expand...
That’s a good idea. Three months ago when I got bit buy the Mark IV bug, I was taking pics of the settings of YouTube vids that I liked, since I heard that they were so hard to dial in if you’re not familiar. Shortly after, I bought one, and referred to these settings and had instant killer tone, and was able to navigate the amp pretty quickly. I never had to refer to notes for an amp before. :LOL: :LOL:
Click to expand...
With all the knobs and switches on the Mark IV it's the only way to do it. No one could remember that stuff.
Click to expand...

I also find that taking a picture of the settings on my Mark IV gives me the confidence to tweak a bit as I know I can always go back to what I had. Without that I may end up with some new settings and not be able to get back to where I was.

Hope I can get to recapping my mark IVA soon. Not going to be a fun job, but don't want those brown caps exploding. Ironically the new ones I got are Brown. :doh:
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If you recap it let me know how it goes. I have a Mkiv that could probably use them.
 
I have a Mark IV and a KSR Orthos MK2. Plugged straight into the amp at lower volumes the Mark IV wins out. Having said that I absolutely adore my KSR Orthos and as far as amount of variety the Orthos can do pretty much any genre I thow at it. I try some weird settings with random songs and I can pull it off.

I just sent my Mark IV in for routine maintenance. Just got the email today. Unfortunately Im broke AF due to having to move so I gotta figure out how to swing paying for it and getting it shipped back without provoking my wife.
 
swamptrashstompboxes":1aec7wmk said:
I highly recommend the tremoverb if you go Recto, unless you want a triple.
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Unfortunately no Tremoverbs available locally. Shipping on amplifiers is way too expensive, and then I'd have to deal with customs. Add to that the high risk of shipping damage and the cost of returns, the hassle of communicating with the seller, etc, and I prefer to just shop locally for amps. Which really sucks, because the prices overseas are sometimes much, much lower. Guitars are a different story and I don't mind buying online, but for some reason, they are cheaper here.

ErikT":1aec7wmk said:
If you really dug the Triple maybe just grab another? They can be had for $800-$1000 (at least around me). Even the Rev G's are usually the same price.

I hear you on apartment jamming bro, haha. Do you have any load boxes? Total life saver.
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I have a Fryette Power Station, which is a good loadbox and an even better attenuator, so no issues with being able to play at home, thankfully!

I'm always surprised by the price of used Mesa Boogies in the US. In Europe and the rest of the world it's the complete opposite.

GJgo":1aec7wmk said:
For symphonic stuff definitely a Mark, they have much better clarity & note separation at high gain.

Based on what you're saying I'd say Mark IV for more raw (but still modern-ish) or JP-2C (for straight modern / compressed). There are things I like about the V but the gain isn't aggressive as either of the others and the 90W tone isn't as good as the 25W tone so you'd be disappointed.

R2 on the IV sucks if you're a metal guy so it's basically a 2 channel amp. It's a VERY picky amp to dial in.

The JP is probably the better choice for gigging. It's kind of a 2 trick pony, (super cleans & super high gains), but they're good tricks and fit what you're looking to do.
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I'd love to have a JP2C. Unfortunately, way way out of budget.

I've read about the R2 channel not being too good on the Mark IV, that's why I was contemplating the V. Of course, the V I saw here is much more expensive, but it's local voltage too, which usually costs a great deal more than US voltage amps in this part of the world.

Beyond Black":1aec7wmk said:
sotosprince":1aec7wmk said:
Get the mark iv and thank me later. I ve tried so many boogie amps and preamps, but the mark iv really shines. This was recorded with the drive at 3

https://hearthis.at/ultimate-metal-guit ... thrashy01/
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This 100%. Get a Mark IV. it’s a much tighter and more precision attack and gain structure than any Recto. It’ll also be much better for symphonic/death type metal. Not that a boosted Recto wouldn’t also kill at it, but a Mark IV will really excel at that.
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That sounds badass, man! Cool recording, thank you very much!

petejt":1aec7wmk said:
nightlight":1aec7wmk said:
I know, "advise me" threads are quite lame, but I really have nothing to go on and cash for just one amp at the moment.
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It's okay. At least you put effort into your opening post, with some background about your amp history and situation.

It's not like the "School me..." threads on some other thread titles that just have "Discuss" in the opening post.


I can definitely vouch for the MarkIV. However I'm interested to hear a Recto preamp through a Simul-Class Mark-style power amp. Or a Mark-series preamp through a Recto power amp. I did try that in the past but can't remember too much except that I liked it.
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Lol, thanks. I guess it just is difficult to really ask someone to help make one's mind up.

I don't have and wouldn't be able to pick up a separate power amp. Hoping for a head that delivers the goods!
 
You probably already made a decision by now but just in case, my vote is to get a IV if you need the real thing. I owned a V 90 watt alongside a Roadster and an Axe Fx II then eventually the Axe III. The V's lead channel just failed in comparison to the models of the IV and the IIC+ in the Axe. But you mentioned an apartment, and I would very strongly recommend buying a used Axe Fx II (because you mentioned financial constraints and these are going for great values and still sound amazing), and if you still want to use a real cab get a FRFR solid state amp like the Seymour Duncan PowerStage 170.

I have been very happy with going all Axe for a while now. I am admittedly getting back into buying tube amps but the only reason is there are certain amps that I want that are not in the Axe, like the Mark III, and I will be trading the Axe III in for a Neural Quad Cortex so I can make my own profiles/captures, like a Kemper, and also have plenty of great models on tap too.
 
I guess I'll be the weird one here. The Mark IV was one of the first "big boy" amps I ever owned (and I've owned several different ones since) and I've never understood why so many people love that amp so much. The cleans are lackluster, the mid gain is meh and the lead tone is uninspired. It took me about 5 minutes to find better tones on the Mark III and V than it took me in years with the IV. What's your guy's secret to getting those amps to sound so good...?
 
MatrixClaw":3tvbnslw said:
I guess I'll be the weird one here. The Mark IV was one of the first "big boy" amps I ever owned (and I've owned several different ones since) and I've never understood why so many people love that amp so much. The cleans are lackluster, the mid gain is meh and the lead tone is uninspired. It took me about 5 minutes to find better tones on the Mark III and V than it took me in years with the IV. What's your guy's secret to getting those amps to sound so good...?
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Well, master output volume high enough for starters and a ton of patience because of the fucking inconsistency of that amp, mark 4 that is.

I agree with you. I've had all 3 and now the 4 is long gone. Not even miss it.
The fat clean on the V is an incredible vintage fender clean, the 2nd ch is a league on its own, and the 4/extreme modes is where it's at.
The recto reborn.. a different beast.
 
MatrixClaw":1gt005a7 said:
I guess I'll be the weird one here. The Mark IV was one of the first "big boy" amps I ever owned (and I've owned several different ones since) and I've never understood why so many people love that amp so much. The cleans are lackluster, the mid gain is meh and the lead tone is uninspired. It took me about 5 minutes to find better tones on the Mark III and V than it took me in years with the IV. What's your guy's secret to getting those amps to sound so good...?
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IRs :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
 
Christos rock":295ronpo said:
MatrixClaw":295ronpo said:
I guess I'll be the weird one here. The Mark IV was one of the first "big boy" amps I ever owned (and I've owned several different ones since) and I've never understood why so many people love that amp so much. The cleans are lackluster, the mid gain is meh and the lead tone is uninspired. It took me about 5 minutes to find better tones on the Mark III and V than it took me in years with the IV. What's your guy's secret to getting those amps to sound so good...?
Click to expand...

Well, master output volume high enough for starters and a ton of patience because of the fucking inconsistency of that amp, mark 4 that is.

I agree with you. I've had all 3 and now the 4 is long gone. Not even miss it.
The fat clean on the V is an incredible vintage fender clean, the 2nd ch is a league on its own, and the 4/extreme modes is where it's at.
The recto reborn.. a different beast.
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Agreed! I'm not a huge Mark fan, but the V has a great tone or two on every single channel. The only channel I liked on the IV was the lead channel and there's plenty of other amps I'd rather have before I'd settle with that channel's tone.
 
MatrixClaw":13q67bze said:
I guess I'll be the weird one here. The Mark IV was one of the first "big boy" amps I ever owned (and I've owned several different ones since) and I've never understood why so many people love that amp so much. The cleans are lackluster, the mid gain is meh and the lead tone is uninspired. It took me about 5 minutes to find better tones on the Mark III and V than it took me in years with the IV. What's your guy's secret to getting those amps to sound so good...?
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As a long time mark IV owner, I really like the cleans on the IV, they are a bit different than your typical fender clean, but I like that. R2 works great with a boost or with fuzz if you keep the gain lower, but I agree its the weakest channel on the amp. I love the lead channel. I should mention that mine has a bias mod to warm up the bias, which does improve the sweetness of the amp a bit.

What I found interesting is that when I ran the mark IV into a suhr RLIR, that I found I liked the master on 3 the best. I thought I would like it cranked better, but I didn't.

Have you ever tried a reactive load with your III or V?
 
blackba":3eb1h0g6 said:
Have you ever tried a reactive load with your III or V?
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I have, but the load was/is the problem for me. The Two Notes Captor that I have does not mesh well with the Roadster, V, and IIC+ that I have used it with. They all sounded mushy, compressed, lacking detail, and more.

I am trying to decide between the Surh or Boss TAE. I am afraid I am going to have to put another amps worth of money into the TAE so I can get a close enough impedance curve of a Mesa 4x12 with V30s to feed my Mesa's into along with the option of something equivalent to a Marshall 4x12 with greenbacks here and there. Unfortunately that means I won't be able to buy a Mark III or IV to along with my IIC+ and V. But quality over quantity for now, and I absolutely NEED the best load box tones as possible for silent playing.
 
I don't like any of the Mark amps with the volume up. With most of them 2 or 3 is what I prefer. For certain sounds I might use 4 or 5. But that's unusual.
 
Man, I went through the same Mesa dance back in the early 2000's. I think I owned every Mesa available at the time over a 4 or 5 year period. Kept selling them and buying other models thinking I could "make them work".

Finally I just decided I wasn't a Mesa guy and moved on. Shortly after I found "my" sound in XXX and JSX amps.

Maybe it's just time for you to move on?
 
stephen sawall":pnjfns7f said:
I don't like any of the Mark amps with the volume up. With most of them 2 or 3 is what I prefer. For certain sounds I might use 4 or 5. But that's unusual.
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Interesting that I am not the only one. :) I will say with the Suhr RL, it so nice to be able to see where you like to run your amp without tons of volume.
 
blackba":2msl6x9i said:
stephen sawall":2msl6x9i said:
I don't like any of the Mark amps with the volume up. With most of them 2 or 3 is what I prefer. For certain sounds I might use 4 or 5. But that's unusual.
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Interesting that I am not the only one. :) I will say with the Suhr RL, it so nice to be able to see where you like to run your amp without tons of volume.
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As the years go by I find I like less gain from the preamp and the poweramp not cranked.
I get more dynamics and punch....it fits how I play better.

Either highgain or NMV amps I tend to set the knob in the 9-1 o'clock range. Less saturation and more clarity.
If I need more I tend to use a pedal.
I play a fair amount of funk, R&B and blues....along with the heavy stuff. I want to get a full range of sounds from the amp on the fly when ever it hits me.
 
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