Mesa Marks...again

[ninjaraf]

Yeah, yeah, shut up Raf. I've been sending Bill links to Mark IVs and JPs that I might want to buy lol. I miss having a Mark series, and I'm pretty sure the last IV I got from GC had a problem, and that was disappointing, so I just kinda stopped looking at them for a while. I just texted Bill saying I might lean toward a JP because it was my cousins rig, but the IV had a more balanced tone overall from my videos. The JP has the extra EQ and shred mode, but I did feel the low end wasn't quite where I wanted it. I never really had those complaints with the IV, but I think my memory of the IV might be a bit skewed lol. Anyway, I've seen up to a $1k price difference between the 2 amps, and I can't decide if that difference is worth getting a JP over a IV. Thought he JP does come with the fact that they're not ancient yet lol...and my IVa did have to go back to Mesa twice, so that was a pain. So here I am bugging you all about the same shit I've been bugging you about for a decade lolol...Give me some outside perspectives here!

[spawnofthesith]

Marks are the best amps as far as I'm concerned I love them all. Haven't tried the JP but it seems pretty baller. Obviously I'm partial to the IV as well...

[macaronisalad]

I've not owned a Mark, but am interested in one at some point. I don't know enough about the different models to have a preference, but I know I don't want one of the small (25 or 35 watt) ones.

Because I don't have a preference like that I would be inclined to go newer. (V, JP, 7, or 2C+ reissue)

[Beef]

From what you’re writing it sounds like you liked the IV more from a tone perspective? Why don’t you play another IV first to see if the sound lives up to what you remember?

lol on a related note I just sold my III yesterday because I really haven’t been using it and have been in purge mode. If I ever got another mark I’d probably hunt down a I reissue anyway.

[spawnofthesith]

lol on a related note I just sold my III yesterday because I really haven’t been using it and have been in purge mode. If I ever got another mark I’d probably hunt down a I reissue anyway.

[Beef]

Hahaha I still have a bunch of amps and also ended up picking up something pretty epic recently so had to off a few things to help offset the cost. And like I said I just haven't been using the III. Purging stuff actually felt pretty good though.

[spawnofthesith]

Hahaha I still have a bunch of amps and also ended up picking up something pretty epic recently so had to off a few things to help offset the cost. And like I said I just haven't been using the III. Purging stuff actually felt pretty good though.

Nice what did you get?


I'm actually eyeballing a "relatively" lower priced purple stripe locally.... just a 60 watter non-GEQ which is a bit of a bummer but I was testing the Mesa GEQ model in the HX stomp with my IV and V to see how that might compare. Sound and feel were a bit different from the actual GEQs, and not quite as good but it was actually a lot closer than I expected. Close enough that I could probably make due with using that with a non GEQ unit given how much lower the price is than any III i've seen in years

I'm not exactly in buying mode at the moment. But it's already been sitting for a month, if its still around in another few weeks I might not be able to resist

[ninjaraf]

Yeah I always lean toward the IV for tone but the one I got recently was lack luster. Pretty sure it had an issue. Also…trying any of these isn’t really an option without buying. They don’t have shit here where I can go try a IV lol. I also worry about long term reliability on the IV. I’ve had 4 of them over the years and only 1 didn’t have some kind of problem. They’re getting old and it’s not something I’d want to worry about as much long term. Though I guess the new ones will be old eventually too.

I hated the cleans on the IV too LoLoL. also like the features on the JP. It’s tough because they all sounds pretty close and all have sounded great. So it’s tough to make a choice between tone, price, reliability…we all know tone is the most important though lol.

I’m also considering where I’m getting it from. GC has a great and easy return policy haha.

[spawnofthesith]

Yeah I do like GC for used amps with that return policy, has come in handy for me before lol. I feel like pricing on their current crop of IVs is junk though, and looks like GC has at least one JP2C for only marginally more than what most of the IV listings are at

Surprised you didn't like the cleans on the IV. Marks in general (at least with the III-V I have experience with) are straight up my favorite clean tones of any amps ever

[ninjaraf]

Yeah it always seemed anemic. The JP clean is killer though. VII and V too LoLoL.

Yup, I’ve been looking around at all the sites. Prices are stupid. Which also is another reason to co spider the JP.