MESA/Boogie Mark IV

[tomsalvojazz]

Well, I did it. I had no choice. I had this desire to go and mess around with a Mark IV at the store, and I wound up bringing it home. Now, I REALLY didn't need another amp, mind you, but I had this tone in my head... acutally, it was three tones - a vintage clean, jazzy tone, a tone somewhere between Allan Holdsworth and Eric Johnson, and my old friend John Petrucci's lead tone from back around Images and Words, which he got out of the Mark IIC+.

I've just started to explore some of the nuances. As if that weren't time-consuming enough (yes- I did NOTHING else this weekend - it was GREAT!!!), each of my three TAs interact with the amp totally differently! Now I'm driving myself NUTS trying to decide which is my favorite guitar/amp setting combination.

So, now I'm wondering what your collective experiences are with the Mark IV. Any big fans out there?

Also - here's an interesting question - who leaves the casters on an amp when playing -vs- removing them?

[pluto]

I owned the mark IV head. I loved the thick, robust cleans, as well as the second channel. I didn't care too much for the third channel which was a little too compressed and mid thick IMO. Generally speaking, I thought it was very good channel switching amp. Versatility is its strength. However, the one thing that bothered me about the amp was the amount of tweaking it took. It's a tweaker's delight, but I got tired of doing that, so I sold it and ended up using part of the money to buy a Marshall JMP 2204, which conversely is a perfect match for idiots like me with zero patience.

[Stys]

The MKIV and F-30 heads through a Boogie Thiele cab have been my main amps for years. All my Anderson's excell through these amps with my T Classic sounding fantastic through channel 2 of the MKIV. Great amps!!

[tomsalvojazz]

Nice!

I've been having fun tweaking, although it certainly does take some patience. For me, it's a matter of selecting through a wide variety of good sounds. I've had other amps which were much simpler and straight-forward, and struggled to try and tweak my way away from a bad tone, to no avail.

This is still pretty new, so I'll see how I grow into it.

Meanwhile, as a result of this acquisition, I have an as-new Koch Twintone that I will be selling. Anyone who is interested can let me know here, or email me! (The Twintone is a great amp - I actually have two, and will be selling the one that is virtually brand new)

tomsalvo@optonline.net

[Mark Dunn]

Well, I did it. I had no choice. I had this desire to go and mess around with a Mark IV at the store, and I wound up bringing it home. Now, I REALLY didn't need another amp, mind you, but I had this tone in my head... acutally, it was three tones - a vintage clean, jazzy tone, a tone somewhere between Allan Holdsworth and Eric Johnson, and my old friend John Petrucci's lead tone from back around Images and Words, which he got out of the Mark IIC+.

I've just started to explore some of the nuances. As if that weren't time-consuming enough (yes- I did NOTHING else this weekend - it was GREAT!!!), each of my three TAs interact with the amp totally differently! Now I'm driving myself NUTS trying to decide which is my favorite guitar/amp setting combination.

So, now I'm wondering what your collective experiences are with the Mark IV. Any big fans out there?

Also - here's an interesting question - who leaves the casters on an amp when playing -vs- removing them?



The Mark IV is my first choice back line amp, whenever I do fly dates. Swiss Army Amp....the closts you can get to a multi amp setup, even more so than a Road King....in my humble opinion.

Regarding the casters, I have not noticed too much of a difference with 1 x 12 combos, in taking them off. I guess it would depend upon the floor. Just remember that what is coming out of the amp is the same, it's the environment change that would possibly make you hear a difference.

[jimmieb]

Great Amp! For me I could almost get as many bad sounds as good one! Until I got used to the many knobs and stuff. Very versatile, but it took me more time to dial in than my Triaxis. Still you can't do much better than a TC chorus and a Mark IV clean channel... It's the definition of shimmer!

Jimmie B

[Stys]

Has anyone tried EL-34's in their MKIV? I have not tried them yet but plan to order some EL-34's from Boogie soon.

[tlp1]

Has anyone tried EL-34's in their MKIV? I have not tried them yet but plan to order some EL-34's from Boogie soon.

I like the 5881's. Rounder sound.

[tomsalvojazz]

Well, so far, so good with the Mk IV. I'm expecting a Heritage H 555 any day now, and I can't wait to hear what it sounds like through the Boogie! Hopefully, I can get that Larry Carlton vibe going.

The Twintone does a nice job with the EL-34s. I'm not familiar with 5881s, but it will be a while before I get bored with this amp and need to start experimenting with tube choices...

I haven't had to transport the Boogie yet, but I did notice that, if I "hug" it with both arms and lift it that way, rather than by the handle, it seems a little more manageable, so we'll see.

I'm thinking of getting a nice padded cover for it. Studio slips looks like they have a lot of options.