Mark VII vs IV

[Bad.Seed]

I was just wondering what happened to the VII. It kinda died off fast

My guess is the price tag. Stopped hearing about the JP2C as well after the price hikes.

 

[GJgo]

I don’t think this applies to every amp, but does to the mark series…. And rectos. Really Mesa in general, and I love Mesa. An example that the new is better than old IMO is My Uber ultra that I like more than any revision… and I’ve owned them all.

I will say that I do agree the VII is the best thing since the IV. The jp2c and V were boxy messes IMO.

The JP was absolutely a boxy mess- but live, I'd take it any day of the week over the VII.

I will say the VII is the most organic amp since the IV. Even though it doesn't move any air.

 

[ClintN667]

You know I pretty much stay on the lead channel on my mark iv whether I'm jamming with someone or playing at home. Honestly the rhythm channel is pretty fun too IMHO. I like to take an 808 or sd1 and give it a little more grit and it kinda does that EJ, Andy Wood type tone. I wouldn't use it for let's say classic rock type stuff but it has an application for me. I've read that Napalm Death used the Mark IV on suffer the children with a rat so I'm going to play around with the rhythm channel and a modified rat.

I would like to get a Mark III at some point. I've had some really good deals slip through my fingers on those.

I would like to grab a VII sometime down the road. I have 2 amps on my shopping list ahead of that though (JSX and a Recto/tremoverb). I'm also tempted by the Synergy stuff too.

Well for now I have my IV packed up and RMA requested so I'm sending it to Mesa to get some love. They quoted me 4 to 6 weeks so hopefully I can get it back before Thanksgiving.

 

[GJgo]

If you listen carefully on good monitors you (or at least I) can hear everything I'm talking about here. It's the same story on every gain channel on the VII so don't get hung up on that.

 

[ClintN667]

My guess is the price tag. Stopped hearing about the JP2C as well after the price hikes.

As far as the price hikes I wonder if the prices will come back down any? Seems like the demand has gone down across the board so I'm sure they would like to keep the supply down. Seems like everything went up at least 20 percent here lately. I don't expect it to go back to precovid but it would be nice to drop back a bit.

 

[Bad.Seed]

We spoke on this earlier, but for me, it's the IV no question. That's not because I think the VII lacks anything, I just think the Mark IV is a special amp. I currently have one of every mark from III to the VII in house and every time I cycle through them for fun to see how they compare, I land on the IV Rev B being the one I prefer and it's by no small margin, either.

The VII will be super versatile with tons of features and multiple great tones, but if I'm deciding purely on the one ton I gravitate towards, it's the IV for me hands down

 

[TotallyRadGuitars]

I know you don't need yet another voice saying keep the IV, but I'll just tell you when I got my V (this is long before the VII came out), I sold off my IV because I felt that the lead channels were similar enough, and that the V's ch1/ch2 was better anyway.

I came to regret this and ended up hunting down another IV, by this time escalating in price substantially, and paid through the nose to get another nice/minty one like the one I sold. There were a few unique sounds in Ch2 on the IV that I really missed that the V didn't do, and I never used the IIC or Extreme modes on the V anyway.

The V is a fantastic amp and if I could only have one or two amps, I guess I'd have to keep that one over the IV. I just found that since I have a bunch of other amps, anything the V did on channels 1/2 I preferred different amps for. The IV's lead channel I prefer the split gain/drive controls, and I missed RHY2 with the contour pulled, something the V could not even approximate. Of course, another player might have kept the V, it is unique in having a real tube rectifier, switchable on Ch1/2, as far as Mark's go...

Anyway I know that's not exactly what you asked. If you can afford to have both amps for an extended period - I mean a few months, so the honeymoon new-amp period goes away - that's the best way to do it. Just don't want you to sell your IV especially after it comes back serviced and ready to rock, and later regret it.

 

[Bossman415]

Keep the IV. Sonically, they hold up well for their age and are already starting to jump in value.

The VII will drop in value as more used ones pop up. You can always wait and score one cheaper in the not too distant future.

In regards to how the IV's stack up in the lineage of Marks, I'd put them right up there behind the IIC+.

I haven't played a V or VII, but own pretty much every Mark from IIB's through JP2C, including III's & II's modded by Mike B.

Please take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. I've heard good things about the VII, but ditching a IV for the new kid on the block .

 

[stephen sawall]

The IV is more raw than the VII.

 

[Racerxrated]

I think the VII sounds really good, but as Gjo said if big power sections are important to you, keep the IV. There's a difference between an amp that gets loud, but has no thump...like say an EVH. They get loud but they don't 'push' you so to speak, or hit you in the chest at volume. That's a thing that I really enjoy when I can crank my amps..they all have that 'push'. The older amps for the most part have that; the newer production amps don't. At least most of them.
If I were you, I'd keep the IV and find a way to grab a VII and compare...then slave the VII to the IV to get that thump the VII doesn't have.

 

[skoora]

The V I had for many years definitely had thump and push.

 

[Jimty]

I haven’t tried different Marks, so this thread’s an interesting read - definitely making me happy that I picked up a Mark IV a couple of weeks ago though.

 

[jbru91]

We spoke on this earlier, but for me, it's the IV no question. That's not because I think the VII lacks anything, I just think the Mark IV is a special amp. I currently have one of every mark from III to the VII in house and every time I cycle through them for fun to see how they compare, I land on the IV Rev B being the one I prefer and it's by no small margin, either.

The VII will be super versatile with tons of features and multiple great tones, but if I'm deciding purely on the one ton I gravitate towards, it's the IV for me hands down

What's the main difference you hear between the Rev IV A vs B?

 

[GJgo]

To my ear, the IVa and IVb was the gradual step transition between the raw organic II and III, and the compressed V and JP. If you were to A/B the well, A and B, the B starts the slide towards more compression & it's also a bit darker. Keep in mind the difference really is small, though. Personally I prefer the IVb and if the IIB+ Coli didn't exist the IVb would be a desert island amp for me because it does this metallic chug thing that no other Mark can do, records well and sits well live (for a Mark). See chug here-



However the loop modded IIB Coli does exist, and mine sits tonally closer to a IV than any other Mark- neither of them have the boxy mids of the IIC+, III, V or JP. Think of a IV with more rawness and double the power, and there you go.

 

[psychodave]

The JP was absolutely a boxy mess- but live, I'd take it any day of the week over the VII.

I will say the VII is the most organic amp since the IV. Even though it doesn't move any air.

I changed the preamp and power tubes in my JP2C. Made a MASSIVE difference. Of course I used NOS pre's and Sylvania 6L6's.

 

[marvcus]

Strum the IV on CH3 lead (1) near the bridge/tremolo and (2) as you would regularly. Do you hear a discernible difference? Is there a thinner tone as you strum near the bridge?

No. No dynamics. Too much compression. That’s partly why I got rid of mine.

 

[MetalHeadMike]

I changed the preamp and power tubes in my JP2C. Made a MASSIVE difference. Of course I used NOS pre's and Sylvania 6L6's.

I changed the preamp and power tubes in my JP2C. Made a MASSIVE difference. Of course I used NOS pre's and Sylvania 6L6's.

I must be the only one on this forum that doesn't notice significant difference between tubes (power & pre). I've swapped tubes in over 60 amps and it's been subtle to null. Not saying there isn't an effect when swapping, but to my ears it's very very subtle in most cases. Same goes for bias. I've biased between colder than a witches tit to hotter than hell and don't notice much difference so I always decide to go 60-65%.

 

[Baked Bean]

Another vote for keeping the IV. I haven't played a VII but you definitely made the right decision to keep the IV over a JP2C.

 

[Racerxrated]

I must be the only one on this forum that doesn't notice significant difference between tubes (power & pre). I've swapped tubes in over 60 amps and it's been subtle to null. Not saying there isn't an effect when swapping, but to my ears it's very very subtle in most cases. Same goes for bias. I've biased between colder than a witches tit to hotter than hell and don't notice much difference so I always decide to go 60-65%.

Vintage amps seem to react better than new production to tube swaps, for the most part anyway. And, I only really notice when the volume is very high.

 

[Bad.Seed]

What's the main difference you hear between the Rev IV A vs B?

The IV is a little darker, has the right aggression in the mids without being grating, and overall is just the thickest of the Marks I've tried without being boxy or bloated sounding. It just seems like the right balance of what makes the Mark stuff awesome, IMO