Mark IV Crazy Cool!

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mysterblues

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Just purchased my first Mesa!! Mark IV-Holy crap! Within 20 seconds of plugging in I knew I have the best amp of any I have had! Used to play Fender Supers and Twins, Have had Marshalls, Hughes and Kettner, Rolands, Ampegs, and so on. Still love my Musicman 210 HD 130, but the Boogie is immediately noticeably a better quality sound. I play semi hollows through this with vintage Gibson pups and I really don't think I will ever need another amp!!! Although, the reverb does not work--Any suggestions?
 
More than likely the reverb is an easy fix, either it's plugged in backwards or the tube is shot. The springs or the wires in the tank might be broken, but that is rare, even rarer is the potentiometer is shot. In a month you'll love that amp even more than you do now, they grow on you. Read up on tubes, that's where you'll be headed when you want "more & better."
 
Ha! OP and I each got our first mesa the same week - I also with a mark iv (mine is the A version with markering on the chassis indicating a "born on " date of 06/90 )

I too have reverb issues. First previous owner had unplugged one jack, now lots of reverb noise. Pulled tubes today and lo and behold there is a 12ax7 in the preamp v4 which even has marker written beside it to put a 12aT7 there - wonder if that's my fix... Ordered a mesa replacement off of sweetwater (free shipping)
I know ax's and at's are nearly the same but due to the nature of the mark iv gain stages I would think that would be the cause of thr reverb humming

Anyways I love this amp. I ..... Think about it during the day.... I may have a ..... Problem :)
 
mysterblues said:
Just purchased my first Mesa!! Mark IV-Holy crap! Within 20 seconds of plugging in I knew I have the best amp of any I have had! ?

I'll let you know how my Mark IVa sounds through a Two Notes Torpedo in a few weeks. I've never been able to turn mine up enough to really hear it in its glory.

Some say, to truly appreciate the Mark IV, you need a 4x12 bottom, and a big big room. Hopefully I can experience that in a virtual sense.
 
tonedover said:
Ha! OP and I each got our first mesa the same week - I also with a mark iv (mine is the A version with markering on the chassis indicating a "born on " date of 06/90 )

I too have reverb issues. First previous owner had unplugged one jack, now lots of reverb noise. Pulled tubes today and lo and behold there is a 12ax7 in the preamp v4 which even has marker written beside it to put a 12aT7 there - wonder if that's my fix... Ordered a mesa replacement off of sweetwater (free shipping)
I know ax's and at's are nearly the same but due to the nature of the mark iv gain stages I would think that would be the cause of thr reverb humming

Anyways I love this amp. I ..... Think about it during the day.... I may have a ..... Problem :)
Tonedover, did your new tube solve the noise issue? (Just curious)
 
congrats!
I had an "A" and foolishly sold it 2 years ago, but I just found a really clean "B"
that is being delivered today. :D
 
After some time now getting to know the MarkIV, I have decided that the lead channel is unnecessary, at least for me. I don't play anything that needs that much gain. I wish the footswitch was smaller. Can the channels be switched with regular on/off switches via the jacks in the back panel, anyone know? I like the first and second channel a lot. And my pedals sound decent that way.
 
Yup. You can use simple on/off footswitches with the jacks on the back in order to switch the channels, turn EQ on/off, etc.
 
Tuna141 said:
Yup. You can use simple on/off footswitches with the jacks on the back in order to switch the channels, turn EQ on/off, etc.



Thanks Tuna! Where in Mass? I grew up in Worcester
 
Tuna141 said:
Yup. You can use simple on/off footswitches with the jacks on the back in order to switch the channels, turn EQ on/off, etc.

Just make sure you set your channel select dial to EXTERNAL SWITCHES if you go that route!
 
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