Fractal Talk

[FractalAudio]

I can't play that lick like Leon but here's the amp vs. the model (preamp only) with James' settings:
https://www.fractalaudio.com/tmp/mark_iv_comp.mp3

It's a crazy amount of gain and everything is a noisy mess as a result but you get the idea.

 

[paisleywookiee]

FWIW, I really like the Mark models on the Axe3. They've never sounded "wrong" to me in the way that the JVM models did. They just sound like a different flavour. The Mark V compares very favourably to my real Mark V - yes, there are sonic differences, but again, nothing that sounded "wrong".

I use the Mark V models now, all the time for my Mark tones, because it's the easiest to dial in.

 

[James Freeman]

I can't play that lick like Leon but here's the amp vs. the model (preamp only) with James' settings:
https://www.fractalaudio.com/tmp/mark_iv_comp.mp3

It's a crazy amount of gain and everything is a noisy mess as a result but you get the idea.

Yes, zero difference.

Cliff, what revision is your Mark IV?

 

[FractalAudio]

Mine looks like the top picture.

 

[Orvillain]

Which one is yours @James Freeman ?

 

[James Freeman]

Which one is yours @James Freeman ?

 

[JiveTurkey]

Which one is yours @James Freeman ?

 

[- ★ - BROCKSTAR - ★ -]

I was going to reply to this with the mandatory "Marks are hard to dial in", "they're sensitive to guitars & playing style" and "what sort of maniac runs gain and overdrive that high with the fat switch on!" but I don't have a life so I did a quick A/B with my Mark IV Rev B and the equivalent model in the Axe-Fx FW 28.05. Disabled the Axe power amp and ran it into the fx return of the Mark to take out the GEQ/power amp//presence/load variables so it's really just comparing the preamps. PRS Custom 24 with a JB in the bridge.

First 2 clips are the preamp settings @James Freeman posted. Next two have the gain at 6, fat off & bright on which is my go to tight/dry recipe.

I like both and both sound pretty identical. However in a mix the 2nd one (the fractal) would fit better along with a band. The 1st one (the real amp) is a bit too bass heavy for my liking but could be fine as well if the bass was down a little, but that is just me.

 

[dk_ace]

I made a fool of myself, I'm not a stranger to that either, I know you're all good people and remember all the other times I was useful.
Still, the model doesn't sound like Leons amp and neither sound tight enough for that Metallica chug.

Hetfield used a very early v30 cab, supposedly the very early v30s sound different than everything that came after. I don’t have one so I can’t say one way or another. He also used an additional external graphic EQ (I can’t recall 100% but I think this was before the amp). Plus there’s whatever happened downstream of that for processing after the mic. So, you can probably be pretty judicious with your use of eq blocks to dial in his sound and not be far off from what he/they actually did.

Personally, I’ve always had better luck getting album tones by starting with what they used and then if that didn’t get me there ignoring what they used and finding anything else that could get me there simply using my ears. The latter is usually more effective for me. At a certain point though, if I can’t figure out how to attack the guitar the way the original player did sometimes there’s a percentage of accuracy I just can’t get to, ymmv.

D

 

[FractalAudio]

Schematic of both Revision A and B.

You should remove this post. Mesa doesn't take kindly to people posting their schematics and you risk this forum getting a cease-and-desist.

 

[James Freeman]

You should remove this post. Mesa doesn't take kindly to people posting their schematics and you risk this forum getting a cease-and-desist.

Done, unquote.

 

[Orvillain]

You should remove this post. Mesa doesn't take kindly to people posting their schematics and you risk this forum getting a cease-and-desist.

Probably doubly true these days with the ol' Gibbo at the helm !

 

[laxu]

Probably doubly true these days with the ol' Gibbo at the helm !

Repair authentic!

 

[James Freeman]

Have you ever seen an amp with a broken headstock? Anything is possible...

 

[aflynt]

When I worked at a shop that was a Mesa dealer in the early '90s, the MK IVs we had varied a lot sonically. I bought one that sounded particularly good and stupidly sold it. Most of the other ones we had in sounded kind of flat and farty and were unfriendly to dial. Mine seemed to hold together a lot better and had nicer harmonic overtones. I think maybe they weren't really engineered in a way that was conducive to repeatability in performance.

-Aaron

 

[2dor]

Have you ever seen an amp with a broken headstock? Anything is possible...

Murphy Labs edition lol

 

[aflynt]

On a side note, happy new Fractal Day to me!

-Aaron

 

[DrewJD82]

tiny movements in the pots will cause drastic changes.

This is just as much the Mesa Mark signature as the tones are and why making adjustments mid-song at a gig was a fool’s errand as well. I used to pinch those sliders between my thumb and finger while mounting my hand on the amp to move those damn sliders millimeters instead of centimeters.

If I still owned one, or when I buy a VII, I might get a 3D printer just to make some protective covers that can attach to the face of the amp to protect the knobs during a gig. One with my perfect settings and then one to just cover/protect it while traveling.

 

[James Freeman]

If I still owned one, or when I buy a VII, I might get a 3D printer just to make some protective covers that can attach to the face of the amp to protect the knobs during a gig. One with my perfect settings and then one to just cover/protect it while traveling.

So basically what you're saying is that it's a hard life on the road out there and the last thing you need is your carefully sculpted tone to suffer?

 

[FractalAudio]

This is just as much the Mesa Mark signature as the tones are and why making adjustments mid-song at a gig was a fool’s errand as well. I used to pinch those sliders between my thumb and finger while mounting my hand on the amp to move those damn sliders millimeters instead of centimeters.

If I still owned one, or when I buy a VII, I might get a 3D printer just to make some protective covers that can attach to the face of the amp to protect the knobs during a gig. One with my perfect settings and then one to just cover/protect it while traveling.

+1000.

I vehemently disagree with people requesting that the EQ sliders behave the same as the amp. They're far too touchy. The only reason the amp is like that is because linear taper sliders are readily available. The ideal taper would be an 'S-taper' but those aren't easily sourced.