Mesa Boogie Mark IV 4 - Full Demo

[SteinBach89]

Rhythm 2 sounds pretty badass to me too.

[mrgrsmitty]

Were you using either of the overdrive pedals when you demo'd the Lead channel?

I'm just wondering if there's enough gain on channel 3 for fluid/legato solo stuff...(without any pedals in front of the amp)

[Deathz0r94]

I just.....

[homersimps1]

Nice setup and tones!

[Orfegas]

what's the best mesa for a pink floyd or a led zeppelin kind of style?Thx in advance

[Gyro911]

I just got this amp. I owneded almost every other type of mesa such as the triple rec, DC50,caliber .50 and even the Mark III which sounded great but, found the tone a bit fat. The Mark IV by far blows them all away. its gain is so razor sharp precise and saturated that no other amp can sound like that. I got the metallica tone right away with much effort. Cant figure out why they dont us this amp instead of the dual Rectifiers The mark IV nails their 80's and the recs dont

[wakomaniac45]

man that channel two really does sound great, excellent work comerade

[ILikeJuice]

Gotta agree with you on the huge difference a speaker cab makes. I hated the Mark V when I tried it, then again I tried it thru the open back combo, and some closed back V30's. I have an Express now and I love it, thing is, it HAS TO be thru a Thiele, otherwise it sounds like shit. I'm going to have to revisit the MKV. I hope I don't like it. I don't have $2,000 to spend...

[benthemiester]

low volume?.. BLASPHEMY!!

[TheDarkMaster85]

mark iv plus ts9... the perfect coupled!

[Gyro911]

@TheDarkMaster85 you dont need boost pedal with the mark IV. The graphic EQ does that much better then any shitty tube screamer

[ToLiveIsToDie01]

holy shit thats sounds good haha ive had such bad luck with amps but i have a feeling my next will be a mesa mark 4

[Ambassadeur77]

I have Mark IV too and I like this demo because of it's difference to my sounds and settings. This Crunch channel is bottom to mod it anyway you like it. Your sound is perfect atleast listening this vid. Lead is so damn tight. Mark IV is best Mesa ever!

[muzapstar]

Mark iv A or B?

[mrbeatdoctor]

Version B

[SteveHubbardGuitar]

very nice!

[bladzerok]

HI, first i have to say it was a great demo of the mark IV, you made a great use of the CH 2!

What was the pedal you used for switching the GCX presets?

And also, how do you managed to switch channels on the GCX controller? thank you for response. =D

[bladzerok]

oh, wait, got all my answers, thanks anyway :)

[RSRop0]

Metallica's ridiculously over the top scooped rhythm tone on those early albums is almost completely obsolete. The best metal producers out there, like Jens Bogren and Andy Sneap, ramp up the mids and treble and let the bass and kick drum do their damn job for once, which is fill out the low frequencies. The rhythm guitar shouldn't have much bass in a metal setting like you guys are talking about. It sounds good with just the guitar, but how often do you ONLY hear a rhythm guitar anyway...

[SwampAshHSS]

the bass on the mark IV is still within the guitar frequency spectrum.

[TeaBaggins]

please help me, do you know how i could make my mark 4 sound metal? (ie lots of distortion, and screamin harmonics, like ones you have)

[jaymz9191]

ADA mp1 preamp+Mesa Mark IIC+Mesa 4X12

Black Album tone rocks!!!!!!!

[WizzardOfGlue]

AJFA tone sounds waaaaay better

[VaiLaiho17]

i use a mark iv through a boogie cab in my rig, as this guy said it can play vai and satch very nicely do to its warmth, but at the same time u can get that metallica chunk and bottom end for metal, its an amazing amp. imo if u want the metal sound its very very tight and the leads scream with that mark iv tone.

[aligatorsandwitch72]

i have been running into the G major all around the internetz, what does it do. Is it a midi switcher, an effects processor, or what?

[Scoredon88]

effects, lots of em..T.C Electronics G Major..google it

[youztuber5000]

effects processor, and its a pretty good one especially for the money

[kevenharbour]

Nice video... by the way I've got a question... Which of these 2 amps are the best: Mesa BoogieMark IV or Road King... What should I have first... I'm in a band, I wanna play live, record with it and have the same sound of Metallica, Dream Theater, Megadeth, Disturbed, Bullet For My Valentine, Vai and finally Satriani lol XD

In conclusion, which is best for my type of music?

[mrbeatdoctor]

Try them both...the mark 4 has more sonic versatility but it needs pedals and out board gear to get to there but the roadking or any recto has a more aggressive sound if you want that. The mark 4 has plenty of brutality but will cover the satch and vai and rock better so I own it.

[Gyro911]

@kevenharbour Mark IV all the way, rectifier only sound good lout but the road king has way to much bottom so it doesnt appear very versatile

[kevenharbour]

@Gyro911 Thanks but it was an old comment (10 months lol XD) but thanks i didnt know the difference between the rectifier and the road king... But what should I buy the Mark IV or V? Mark V is maybe more versatile because you have all Marks series and other new sound but it doesnt have a midi jack, input or output (i dont know if its the right term for that)

[Gyro911]

@kevenharbour If you can afford the Mark V i would go with that. It can get the mark IV and Mark IIC+ tones as it has switches specifically geared to that sound as well as an extreme setting to get an even more over the top tone. It seems like the swiss army knife of great amps, wish i can get that but, i dont feel like blowing close to 2 grand so i just compromised and spent half that on a mark IV. So far its the best amp ive ever owned as it gives me an exact metallica tone

[julienvervaecke]

@kevenharbour the mark iv sound better than the recto or roadking + the sound is more articulated just a better amp for lead and soloing + more sonic possibilty with all the switch and the pull knob just an incredible amp the sound of pretrucci at his best

[soccerfreak27]

is this wut metallica used on kill em all n ride the lightning?

[boomxpassion]

on the black album.. on kill em all they use Marshall's 2203 and in ride too.. in the justice tour they start to use the Mark IIC+ and only use the Mark IV in the Black album tour and the album ..... then they start to use Mesa's triaxis and dual racktifiers

[jressell]

No, they used the IIC+ on MOP.

[boomxpassion]

i don't say MOP :| obyously that i say AJFA and then Black album

[jressell]

lol

[jressell]

No, lol.

[alexl1001]

Damn, Dude! That amp sounds great! You play well, too. Thanks for the Demo. Enjoyed it.

I've been looking in to Boogies lately, but don't know what to get. A friend suggested the Mark IV to get that J. Petrucci tone. I like the boogies, but when ever I try them out I never get such a good sound. Not sure why.

[oOoMagicFingersoOo]

I heard that an ENGL POWERBALL is better than a Mesa. Is it true?

[stonehouse1]

no.

no.

no.

[mrbeatdoctor]

No, they are just different. There are people who love both and pros who swear by both. I prefer and own the Mark 4 but they both have their problems as any amp does.

[liamwri]

Completely different amps.

[benjamiescott]

Great Demo, the sound is killer. What pedals are you using infront of what channels etc.. would you mind just quickly listing please? Was j/w how it would sound without any pedals for boosts etc..

[penrod92]

Nice review, I like the little welcome home(sanitarium) part bro. =D

[tony18144]

Great Sound!! I am using a BBE Sonic Stomp to add some clarity and weight back in the my Mark IV when I'm playing at low volumes. What are you using to maintain such a great "turned up" tone at bedroom volume?

Thanks, Tony

[Sickindian5]

How much dbx changes overall tone i mean how is it like when you are using gate or compressor?

Does it colour the tone or you would recomend it?

[The3RDdanGLeR]

Ye Brus!!. I been surfin all the mesa tone tests and your rig sound heap big good. Thumbs up.@@@@@

[fretfirestarter]

boogie's the best imo.i made the switch in the early 90's and never looked back.sounds great.

[Krysonomous]

How would you compare the sound of a Mark Series to a Rectifier?

[InTheFlesh77]

Mark is very tight and compressed, i find the rectos to be punchier, but the bass is a little flubby

[iLikechevelle]

how do you run el34s and 6l6's in the same amp? Do you have to bias them separately in the same power section? Is it because of the simul-class you can do that?

[punkdude543]

it is because of the simul-class.

[iLikechevelle]

so you can go 2 el34 for 50 watts and 2 6l6's on another setting and the for full power you use all four like on the road king?

[punkdude543]

well not exactly. on class A power, it only uses the two outside power tubes. so if you are running two el34s on the outside, then yes, it runs two el34s at 50 watts. if you're running all 6l6, its just two 6l6 tubes at 50 watts.

[iLikechevelle]

no I mean full 85 watts (in this case). Like a 100 watt recto using all 4 6l6 tubes.

[SmelMyFinger]

Great demo bro. Love your finesse with those bends and vibratos. You are a youtuber that can actually play!

[vaisatchatrucci]

NICE tone brother! I too love the BB with my Mesa :) nice job...

[quinnafer]

Hey, are you running el34's with the 6L6's?

Or just 6L6's?

[mrbeatdoctor]

All 6l6

[edguyrocks]

Dude...a lot of mark iv tones out there I don't care for....Yours....awesome. Thanks for the post.

[mrbeatdoctor]

I choose the dbx because I have everything in my rack, I get 2 channels, and I only use the comp on clean and blues settings so it doesn't have to be the best, most transparent compressor on the planet.

[rokinrandy]

Hey,

Awesome tone man.. I'd be up at 4 am jammin if I had that rig right now..I'm shopping for a compressor."Pedal or rack",I dunno yet..

I was wondering about the looping options using a rack compressor? I'm trying to understand how you have your compressor gate looped. Are you running mono. in this manner;

guitar>compressor dbx input A >compressor dbx output A> dbx gate input B>dbx gate output B>then the rest of the rig ?? because I'm diigin your sound.

[mrbeatdoctor]

The dbx has a comp and gate on each channel, so I'm just using the gate on channel 1 and I'm just using the compressor on channel 2. This way I can choose which guitar sounds have either/or/both. If you just have pedals on the floor or don't need the gate I would choose Keeley's pedal compressor. It sounds great but it is about $200 for the 4 knob even used.

[Sickindian5]

how do you control chanels on the amp?

[mrbeatdoctor]

The GCX has 8 loops and I use 3 to send to the switching jacks on the back of the amp head. The channel switching is in my presets so via midi each preset has all channel and effects setup changes.

[Sickindian5]

First of all its a very nice vid! pleased to hear your tones.

Now the asking part : What are your settings on xotic and what version of amp you have got a or b?

[mrbeatdoctor]

The amp is an early version B with an attached power cable. With the xotic BB I usually run the volume at 10:30 and the gain at 10:00 with the bass slightly boosted 1:00 and the treble cut barely 11:58

[Sickindian5]

and thats the part where i dont know what to think as i got A version and it has got a bit weaker 2nd chanel but i will try to check those settings as soon as i will get BB preamp.

Thanks

[petejt]

Forget the new MarkV, just hold onto or get the MarkIV!

[JEKJazzer]

NICE VIDEO! Very creative use of pedals with the amp for great tone! Five stars. Great playing, too.

[BleedingInto]

Great tone.

[Szartard]

Oh my god I'm gonna go try your settings on my Mark IV.

[AndyVerok]

this is what i call SOUND

[techdeckin2day]

what kinda rack case is that?

[mrbeatdoctor]

I really don't know, but I got it for $60 on craigslist which is also where I found the amp. It is thick heavy wood so its much safer than an SKB case although harder to lift, but it has no label so I assume that it was made by some no-name custom rack shop.

[techdeckin2day]

oh thanks, can you reccomend a rack case to me im looking to start up with rack effects, one about your size in the video

[JuicyOverdrive]

How'd you hook up the Mark iv to change channels with that midi switcher thing?

[mrbeatdoctor]

The Mark 4 uses 1/4 cables to activate switching jacks on the amp and the cables go to the GCX which relays the channel on each preset.

[JuicyOverdrive]

<3 my mark iv

[acejcra]

What year is that Mark IV, I got mine used and it looks like yours.

Great video by the way.

[jeffysuh]

hey did you ever used g force before

how is it in live situation....?

[lazychump]

i really should invest in the bb preamp.

[HotSh0t602]

Great demo man. Mark IV's ftw.

[stevehungary]

yeah, welcome home sanitarium!!!

[RickSpyder]

Great tones keep it up

[steriliuz]

cool. my triode just hum. hope it's something wrong with my power amp

[mrbeatdoctor]

Also, try the 57 capsule at the edge of the speaker facing the coil which would make like a 45' angle with the grill. Getting the mic more off axis will reduce the proximity bass effect and clean up the low end.

[gonzatricio]

Hey! i have a question can you control a 4 channel amp with the gcx and a midi controller if the amp is not wired via midi?

like a roadking being switched by the gcx with a midi controller?

thx

[mrbeatdoctor]

The GCX is the perfect solution for switching a 4 channel amp and it will still leave you 4 loops for pedals. An amp that was wired for midi wouldn't need a switcher because you could just run midi straight through the amp. Almost all mesa products use switching jacks(triaxis is midi)and need a switcher like GCX or Bradshaw to one button switch through channel/pedal/effect presets with midi.

[gonzatricio]

Thank you for your last reply it was very useful...Would you suggest an rjm rg-16? to do the switching instead? it's got 8 loops and 8 channel switching functions.. have you heard of it?

[bs12055]

I've had a RG-16 for about 6 months and love it. I can run my fender and rivera amps with it, and still have 8 loops to use. RG-16 can make a custom cable for just about any amp so you don't have to use up loops for amp switching. And everytime I've called with questions, the owner, Ron, got on the phone. I've not used a GCX, so can't compare the two.

[HedgeHogRon]

I have a RoadKing II and use the RJM RG-16 with a ground control Pro... Best move I ever made, EXTREMELY easy programming, you will be up and running in minutes

[afxwinter]

Wow that's some badass tone. I'm running a Mark III through a thiele cab and can't get the same chug-chug sound you're getting in your bottom end without it sounding BOOMY through my SM57. Any suggestions?

[mrbeatdoctor]

Well...I haven't gotten a great sound out of the EV and a 57 yet either and that was why this is my only video with a camera mic. I love 57s on guitar but this is really a tricky speaker to mic. One mic which I've never tried but have heard sound great on this cab is the Sennheiser e609.

[mrbeatdoctor]

I get most of the gain from the BB and have the rth 2 input at 7 which is right after the gain dropoff and the treble is at 7 which goes against the ten and ten theory which many people have for that channel.

[petruccirocks02]

I have a Mark IV Hardwood Short Head through a Recto 4x12, and I use a BB Preamp too. Thats pretty neat that we have the same setup almost. Do you remember your settings on the BB and the RHY 2 channel? I can never get my RHY 2 to sound that good. Awesome tone, man!

[mrbeatdoctor]

The gain and level are both slightly less than 12:00 and the treble is straight up and the bass is slightly more than 12:00. I have to balance the best rth 2 sound with the BB and the best rth 1 for low gain blues. The speaker cab may actually be the biggest difference. Also, I haven't been using the fat on the input and I use the presence pull on the master of rth 2 because I think that it sounds more "Marshallish".

[LPFan3118]

Awesome dirty tone!