Mark IV combo footswitch mount

Hi Guys,

New to this forum having just bought a 1994 Mark IV combo - compact version B. Absolutely love the sounds it produces and the range of different tones is great for my covers band.

Just have a question someone may be able to answer. The footswitch is meant to mount on the rear of the cabinet, but the switches for the EQ and Loop actually hit the power tubes - I've got SED Winged C valves in there which are about the same size as the normal Mesa tubes.

Has anyone else experienced this and is there a fix (I haven't found one yet)? I assume it won't be great for the power tubes to have a spring loaded switch pressed against them during transport

Cheers and thanks

I've done some research and might have answered my own question. Looking at Pics of the original STR 420's that would have been in the Mark IV when new, they look at lot shorter than the the newer 6L6's around (including the STR440's) - they were a short "coke bottle" type of valve so they probably sat above the toggle switches on the footswitch - does this sound right? Does anyone have STR420's that can give me an idea of thier height from the ceramic base?

Cheers and thanks

I don't know if this helps or not. When I first got my MK-IV, I accidentally attached footswitch upside down (with the cable pointing up). I later saw where it should have been the other way around (with the cable pointing down).

I did a quick search and found some images that show the foowswitch attached to the back of the amp:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=mesa+mark+iv+combo&view=detail&id=9702A24436A2817E9E015AF838689030ECAFD26E&first=1

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=mesa+mark+iv+combo&view=detail&id=9702A24436A2817E9E0179B15A1468D762001CE8&first=1

Not saying you don't know how to attach the footswitch. When I got mine, I had no clue which way it was supposed to go. I tried it one way and it seemed to work. Found out later that it works much better the other way.

Plus - I have the widebody version. Don't know how big a difference that makes.

Edit: I am running JJ EL34s and 6L6s.

Thanks for that - I did see those images of the mounted footswitch doing a search of google images. I have thee compact version so that might make a difference, although the Mark IV in the images was also a compact version. I'v tried to mount it upside down but it hits the bottom plate on the cabinet.

The Mark IV in the images had STR 430's so maybe that makes a difference?

Thanks for your help

Cheers