Is a Mesa Mark IV for me?

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bloozeman2002

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Hello,

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I am looking for an amp that will do the Warren Haynes tone well, and be versatile. Mesa is obviously the most versatile tube amp out there. I hadn't considered the Mesa to be the amp for this style until I heard this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp3Iu0jLsKk

Is this an easy tone to get? The last time I messed with a Mesa, it was a new Mark V and I couldn't dial it in to my liking. I spent a LOT of time on it with no luck. I'll be the first to say that I do not fully understand it. I'd find a sound that I liked at home, then at practice is was a squealing crappy mess. I got my butt handed to me by a Marshall JVM410 that I don't even really like. I'm a hardcore vintage Marshall guy, but the volume is a problem with a new project. I have an opportunity at a used Mark IV and I am tryingg to decide.
 
With the quality in that recording that could be almost any amp.

If you had trouble dialling in a Mark V you'll likely find a Mark IV even more frustrating.

If Warren Haynes is what you're after I'd look at what amps Warren Haynes is actually using.
 
Well....Mesa rules!
I have about 12 tube amps and mostly Mesa, Marshall, Fender, Hughes and Kettner, Peavey and Orange
My opinion for best amp by far for recording and also,for playing gigs is.........Mesa Mark V 25
Why? All 6 voicings can switch between 10 or 25 watts
1. The clean is more rounded and more sonically 3D than either of my fenders....I have a deluxe reverb and the Mesa on clean channel sound so much deeper and harmonically rich
The spring reverb is tube driven and better than the fender ...you don't sound like your in a cave
2. The fat channel is great for just at the edge of breakup blues..think blackface
3. The crunch channel is my favorite...you can take it from clean with dirt to honestly a face
Melting smooth metal sound ....and in each of the 3 voices you can dial in more sound with the 5 band eq. And the mid channel past 12 gives more mid gain.....
The dirty channel also has three voicings
1. Mk iic.....the renowned cascading gain that is fat and clear
2. mk Iv......more rectifier sound with a tighter bass line
3. Extreme. Self explanatory ....metal and more metal titanium
But the cool feature on the back....a built in cab clone to run DI without the need of a speaker
And a head phone jack....and a switch to,choose between open or closed back cabinet sound.
And the whole tone monster weighs 16 pounds.....
I can power 2 4x12 cabinets with ease...did I say loud...loud ..there I said it..
If this amp doesn't fill your wildest sonic dreams nothing will!
 
I've had two Mark IVs: a wide combo sold for a head for portability. I loved it, but as screamingdaisy mentions, they can be tough to dial-in. My biggest complaint: I'd get a great tone dialed-in today, but tomorrow it would sound meh, so I'd tweak and tweak to get back the tone I loved. I realize this can be a function of my ears, but I don't seem to have that same issue with my DC-3 or my '66 Fender Pro Reverb. I record a good amount of my original music, and there are moments recorded with the Mark IV that are perfect.
 
i strugled to get my tone through my Mark IV at bed room level as with my 2*12 cab Live !

but when you know where tone is, after some time it was easy and quick to tweak it perfect !

wouldn't switch to the V i used sometime ! Mark IV lead is king of the hill !
 
I just picked up a used Mark IVb 112 combo and I'll echo the "this is a tweaker's amp". I traded my wide body Electra Dyne for it, and the IV is definitely capable of an astonishing amount of great tones (and equally many terrible ones). I have the V:25 as well and I think the IV gives you the ability to really dial things in a lot more, but the V:25 is very hard to make sound bad.

Using a tired car analogy I look at the IV as the last of the "manual transmission" Marks. Moving to the V they added in a lot of "automatic" help. Which is convenient and great, but takes away elements of the amp at the same time. Sometimes you want to fight a bit.
 
chriselkjar said:
I just picked up a used Mark IVb 112 combo and I'll echo the "this is a tweaker's amp". I traded my wide body Electra Dyne for it, and the IV is definitely capable of an astonishing amount of great tones (and equally many terrible ones). I have the V:25 as well and I think the IV gives you the ability to really dial things in a lot more, but the V:25 is very hard to make sound bad.

Using a tired car analogy I look at the IV as the last of the "manual transmission" Marks. Moving to the V they added in a lot of "automatic" help. Which is convenient and great, but takes away elements of the amp at the same time. Sometimes you want to fight a bit.

Here we drive out only manual transmission , its a matter of what you are used to
 
These amps work great at low volume, you just add more bass and presence. When the amp is turned up past bedroom level, the bass knob should start going lower or off if you play metal. They have a different feel than an earlier Mark or a Marshall/Fender amp but once you're used to the difference and can dial it in with ease, it'll be your "go to" amp because it can do so much more. It is one of those amps that doesn't translate well from bedroom to gig with similar settings, after gigging with it a few times you'll see what I mean. But it does do both bedroom level and outdoor gigs extremely well.
 

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