MESA BOOGIE MARK IV Owner’s Manual The Spirit of Art in Technology 1317 Ross Street Petaluma, CA 94954 USA
Hello from the Tone Farm... YOU, the smart player and all around intuitive human, have put your trust in us to be your amplifier company. This is something we do not take lightly. Our reward is that we’ve made a classic amplifier and by choosing this amplifier, you have become part of the MESA family...Welcome! Our goal is to never let you down. Your reward is that you are now the owner of an archetypical guitar amp bred of fine all tube amp heritage...
MARK IV Table of Contents PRECAUTIONS REAR PANEL: OVERVIEW _____________________________ 1 A.C.
Your MESA/Boogie Amplifier is a professional instrument. Please treat it with respect and operate it properly. USE COMMON SENSE AND ALWAYS OBSERVE THESE PRECAUTIONS: Do not expose amplifier to moisture, rain or water, direct sunlight or extremely high temperatures. Always insure that amplifier is properly grounded. Always unplug AC power cord before changing fuse or any tubes. When replacing fuse, use only same type and rating. Avoid direct contact with heated tubes.
MARK MARK IV Operating Instructions Overview: Congratulations for choosing the MARK IV as your new musical voice. You have purchased a handbuilt instrument of the finest quality and craftsmanship. In 1984 Mesa/Boogie introduced the world’s first “Tri-Modal amplifier - the MARK lll - with separate modes for Clean Rhythm, Crunch Rhythm and Lead Overdrive. Now the MARK IV concentrates six years of intervening design experience into a masterful new instrument which promises years of musical enjoyment.
FRONT PANEL: First familiarize yourself with the layout of the Front Panel and plug in the FU-3 footswitch which is located on the underside of the chassis towards the middle and about mid way forward of the Rear Panel. It’s not necessary to unplug the footswitch after use, simply use the handy fasteners on the left and right side of the cabinet and attach the unit for storage and/or transport. Make sure the footswitch cable is connected properly.
CONTROLS: RHYTHM 1 GAIN: PULL BRIGHT 43 98 10 Setting the RHYTHM 1 mode adjusts the input sensitivity for the clean RHYTHM mode. With most guitars, this mode stays clean until around 8 where it begins to overdrive. Use the R1 MASTER to control loudness if you want slight overdrive at low volumes. This mode was very carefully designed to provide great rhythm sounds, from the best of vintage, Fender-type (clean or solo) to a more modern, shimmering “funk rhythm” sound.
CONTROLS: (Continued) 9 87 PRESENCE CONTROLS 87 6 54 321 65 4 3 21 0 10 9 0 10 76 PULL SHIFT R1 PRESENCE: This control adjusts frequencies higher than those found on the TREBLE control. There are so many different sounds that RHYTHM 1 can produce, you must experiment using your guitar and your ears. Try settings such as low on the TREBLE control, high on the PRESENCE control...and the opposite...as an experiment, both with and without the BRIGHT switch.
CONTROLS: (Continued) 9 8 9 87 98 21 10 21 0 10 0 0 10 43 43 R2 TREBLE R1 +R2 MID R1 +R2 BASS 3 21 RHYTHM 2 TREBLE: This control along with RHYTHM 2’s PRESENCE control should be worked with together to produce the desired gain and brightness of the mode. Setting the TREBLE higher, as always, increases the gain of the mode and allows increased distortion and sustain. Lower settings allow the MID and BASS controls to become more dominant adding warmth to the 6 5 4 5 6 sound.
CONTROLS: (Continued) LEAD GAIN: (Continued) There are also some great singing, slightly distorted sounds that come from low settings of Gain and Drive with FAT pushed in. “Onset of Clip” and “threshold of distortion” are phrases often used to describe these sounds, which reveal the true blue beauty of the MARK IV’s all-tube lineage (see the traditional blues setting on the Sample Settings sheet further back in this manual).
CONTROLS: (Continued) 98 0 PRESENCE CONTROLS 10 98 10 21 21 PULL BRIGHT MASTERS 0 10 21 43 32 1 0 9 8 76 43 43 98 LEAD BRIGHT: The importance of this switch is a must to understand. At low to medium playing volumes, the LEAD BRIGHT adds desirable sizzle, and gain in the highs to the overdrive sound and contributes to a “big easy feeling” as well. At high volumes the LEAD BRIGHT can cause real problems, such as excess squealing and noise.
CONTROLS: (Continued) GRAPHIC EQ: (Continued) EQ back out of the circuit, the straight tone sounds to flat. Don’t worry! It’s just “hearing hangover”. All the MARK IV’s modes were developed without using the EQ so that it could be an accessory - not a necessity. OUTPUT LEVEL: This control adjusts the playing loudness of all three modes equally. Once you’ve got the sounds set up as you would like them, using this one control will allow you to work louder or softer venues.
REST AREA REAR PANEL MKIV (MONO) SIG. PATH FX SEND SATELLITE SEND RETURN RETURN HARMONICS CLASS A CLASS A/ SIMUL FX LOOP RHY 2 LEAD VOICING POWER AMP 43 2 RECORDING SIMUL-CLASS RHY 1 MID GAIN 1 0 10 EQ LEAD EX SW FT SW EXTERNAL SWITCHING JACKS OUT SPEAKERS (STEREO) LEVEL 43 2 SATELLITE RIGHT SLAVE (D.I.
REAR VIEW MKIV (Continued) 76 8 GRAPHIC EQ SATELLITE 10 9 REVERB 210 REVERB & REVERB FOOTSWITCH: REVERB is a simple depth control which activates the rich all-tube, three-spring analog circuitry. Even though many players have more modern digital reverbs and delays, there is still something quite pleasant about this natural-sounding, REV FTSW. traditional Reverb system that we think you’ll enjoy.
REAR VIEW MKIV (Continued) EFFECTS LOOP SECTION: (Continued) be able to footswitch in the effects mid-way through a LEAD mode solo, for example. Remember that the MASTERS double as effects send controls and the OUTPUT LEVEL also works as an Effects Return control. AUTO RHY 1 AUTO RHY 2 RECORDING 43 2 FX LOOP ON FULL TIME 65 LEAD RHY 2 AUTO ASSIGN SWITCHES LEFT LEVEL RIGHT (STEREO) OUT FX SEND 3 8 76 54 210 SLAVE (D.I.
REAR VIEW MKIV (Continued) SIMUL-CLASS / CLASS A SWITCH: 8 76 10 9 8 76 CLASS A MID GAIN OUT 3 210 54 PENTODE SPEAKERS LEVEL LEAD VOICING 3 210 54 POWER AMP This switch selects between two-tube and four-tube operation in the power section. In the CLASS A position, only the two end power tubes are active, producing around 30 watts before clipping when operating TRIODE, or 50 watts when in PENTODE.
REAR VIEW MKIV (Continued) TRIODE SIMUL-CLASS HARMONICS PENTODE RHY 1 LEAD EX SW FT SW MID GAIN CLASS A EQ CLASS A/ SIMUL FX LOOP RHY 2 LEAD VOICING POWER AMP POWER TUBE SUBSTITUTION: (Continued) ohm speaker should be plugged into the 4 ohm jack.
REAR VIEW MKIV (Continued) TRIODE SIMUL-CLASS PENTODE CLASS A/ SIMUL FX LOOP HARMONICS LEAD VOICING POWER AMP EXTERNAL SWITCHING JACKS: These jacks allow remote (usually MIDI-programmed) operation of your amplifier’s functions from an external switching source, such as the Mesa/Boogie MIDI Matrix. In each case, the switching is accomplished by connecting (“shorting”) the jack’s tip to its ring.
MARK IV Factory Sample Settings Clean / Crunch / Lead 4 R1+R2 MID LEAD MID 5 R2 TREBLE LEAD DRIVE 6 2 PULL SHIFT 3 PULL SHIFT 7 PRESENCE CONTROLS 3 3 LOOP EQ FULL POWER ON 3 2 3 5 SILENT RECORDING (PULL) 21 LD R2 R1 PULL BRIGHT MASTERS 5 PULL FAT INSTRUMENT 8 7 5 R1 TREBLE R1+R2 BASS LEAD TREBLE LEAD BASS RHY2 GAIN LEAD GAIN RHY1 GAIN INPUT 5 PULL FAT 10 PULL PULL 0 6 (RHY 2 OPTIONAL) PULL PULL BRIGHT PULL 3 OUTPUT LEVEL 80 240 750 2200 6600 TWEED POWER
PULL SHIFT PULL SHIFT 6600 PULL SHIFT PULL SHIFT MARK IV PULL BRIGHT MASTERS 240 750 2200 6600 PULL SHIFT PULL SHIFT SILENT RECORDING (PULL) PULL BRIGHT MASTERS 240 750 2200 6600 EQ LOOP FULL POWER TWEED POWER STANDBY EQ LOOP FULL POWER ON PULL BRIGHT MASTERS 80 240 750 2200 6600 TWEED POWER STANDBY MARK IV SILENT RECORDING (PULL) PULL SHIFT PULL SHIFT TWEED POWER STANDBY MARK IV SILENT RECORDING (PULL) PULL SHIFT PULL SHIFT PRESENCE CONTROLS FULL POWER ON OUTP
PAGE 17 Power Tube Substitution: 6V6's in Tweed & Simul-Class in all 4 sockets. 5881's in all 4 or Class A Sockets. EL-34's in Class A sockets only.
TUBE NOISE & MICROPHONICS You may occasionally experience some form of tube noise or microphonics. Certainly no cause for alarm, this quirky behavior comes with the territory and the Tone. Much like changing a light bulb, you don’t need a technician to cure these types of minor user serviceable annoyances and in fact, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to cure tube problems...
DIAGNOSING PRE-AMP TUBE PROBLEMS: Because your amplifier is an all tube design, it is quite possible that you will at some point experience minor pre-amp tube noise. Rest assured - this is no cause for alarm and you can take care of the problem yourself in a matter of minutes by simply swapping tubes. Let us begin by saying; It is a “very good” idea to keep at least a couple of spare pre-amp tubes on hand at all times to insure uninterrupted performance.
BIAS ADJUSTMENT: (Part of a continuous series) NOTE: An article written by Randall Smith that we thought you might find interesting. CATHODE ( ) GRID ( , ) SCREEN GRID ( ) Here’s a question we often hear: “Why doesn’t Mesa put bias adjustments in their amplifiers?” BEAMCONFINING ELECTRODE ( ) .. ..... . ... . ... .. ... PLATE ( , ) Structure of a 6L6 / 5881 Beam Power Pentode. Well, there’s a short answer and a long answer to this question.
BIAS ADJUSTMENT (Continued) And that’s right. Tubes don’t effect the bias setting, but the bias setting does effect how the tubes work. But how it effects the tubes is difficult to measure. When you set the bias (whether it’s by selecting the right resistors, as we do, or adjusting a trimmer — which is quicker) what you are doing is establishing the correct amount of idle CURRENT that flows through the power tubes.
BIAS ADJUSTMENT (Continued) Some newer amps have LED indicators connected to the circuit which will turn on when the right threshold of current flow has been reached. This is an improvement, and almost worthy if you’re willing to except resistors and lights added into your amplifier’s audio path — which we aren’t. The other “advantage” of this system is that it allows some amp manufacturers to avoid matching their power tubes.
FRONT VIEW: MARK IV EQ pt# 588535 R1+R2 MID LEAD MID R2 TREBLE LEAD DRIVE POT pt# POT pt# POT pt# POT pt# PULL SHIFT POT pt# POT pt# POT pt# 240 750 2200 6600 TWEED POWER MARK IV LED pt# EQ SWITCH pt# POWER SWITCH pt# 601073 JACK pt# AUTO RHY 2 SATELLITE EQ SWITCHES ALL 3 pt# POT pt# LEFT RIGHT (MONO) SIG.
MESA BOOGIE The Spirit of Art in Technology Thank you for trusting MESA/Boogie to be your amplifier company and we wish you many years of toneful enjoyment from this handbuilt all tube instrument.
The Spirit of Art in Technology (707) 778-6565 FAX NO.
