About Mark IV

hey guys,

I recently got a mark IV and i think its just awesome, I have a few questions regarding it:

1. whats the key to getting a great clean tone? kind of like the intro of pull me under, if thats even possible

2. like the first question, whats the key to getting a good crunch tone? similar to metallica mop tone or black album tone.

3. can anyone post some soundclips/settings to a really nice crunch and clean tone?

thanks guys

I can't offer you much help on the amp settings.... but I CAN tell you this:

If you're talking about Dream Theater's "Pull me under".... then add some simple chorus in front of the clean (a cheap Boss CE-2 should do it).

It'll make it SEEM more clean and defined, and you'll get that intro sound....

Just my .02

Good luck!

Lance

I'm not familiar with "Pull Me Under" tone but, can offer a suggestion regarding the IV's clean tone.

I really didn't like the Mark IV's clean tone when I first got my amp. It sounded too mid-rangy and sterile for my taste (I like the my Mark IIC's clean much better - it's brighter and more Fendery).

I found that when I swapped out the SPAX7 in V1 for an EI Gold, my clean tone improved greatly. It seemed to shift the nasal mid-rangy tone upward some. This seemed to liven up the clean and make it less sterile sounding.

If you want to mess with your clean tone, you may want to try some preamp swapping. I know this got me closer to the tone I was looking for.

Here are some clean clips done with my Mark IV.

http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com/Members/000125640_000029323.mp3

http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com/Members/000125640_000029328.mp3

My clean tone settings change a lot depending on the room, but I love the clean channel of the Mark IV. Just spend some time tweaking it and you'll find some great sounds.


For crunch sounds on the lead channel, it pretty much stays at:

Lead drive 8 (pulled out)
Lead gain 8 (pulled out)
treble 7
mids 10
bass 4
presence changes a lot depending on room and volume (pulled out)

Then I shape my sound with the graphic EQ. I've found that I have much better luck boosting the low end with the graphic EQ and leaving the bass knob down rather than the other way around. I also boost the mids a lot on the amp, and then scoop some out using the EQ as well.

Here are some crunch clips

http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com/Members/000125640_000029332.mp3

http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com/Members/000125640_000029327.mp3

http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com/Members/000125640_000029325.mp3