Mesa Mark Series Appreciation Thread

[MASS DEFECT]

For the past 8 or so months, the prices of the Mark IV around me dropped considerably. Before people would be asking $2400-2700. Now I see Craiglist and FB Marketplace listings for $1500 for combos/non-mint heads and $2000-$2200 for clean ones. And they sit there for months.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

For the past 8 or so months, the prices of the Mark IV around me dropped considerably. Before people would be asking $2400-2700. Now I see Craiglist and FB Marketplace listings for $1500 for combos/non-mint heads and $2000-$2200 for clean ones. And they sit there for months.

Shit I wouldn't buy a Mark IV for that much either when you used to be able to get them for 1k all day just 5 - 6 years ago

 

[MASS DEFECT]

Shit I wouldn't buy a Mark IV for that much either when you used to be able to get them for 1k all day just 5 - 6 years ago

Honestly, all the YouTuber/Influencer hype is to blame for all the crazy gear prize fluctuations. Rather than supply/demand.

 

[DarkstarII]

Yeah, in my area (Michigan), I see the same thing -- decent looking Mark III & IV's sitting on FB Marketplace in the $1,800 to $2,200 range. Pre-COVIDs, those were $1,200 to $1,400 all day, and Mark IIIs were $1,000 or less. Heck, I distinctly remember a DGR Mark III in Flint on Craigslist for $700, but it needed some work...(this was around 2014/2015). God I should have bought that! But I'm very happy with my JP2C... it's the GAS man, I tells ya!

 

[MoistTowelette]

It's been a couple months or so since I got my Mark III+ red stripe and I'm still in love with it. It's the best sounding Mark I've owned. It does need a bit of volume to sound its best but that's what my powerstation is for.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Honestly, all the YouTuber/Influencer hype is to blame for all the crazy gear prize fluctuations. Rather than supply/demand.

Yeah it was a perfect storm of Youtube + Covid lockdown. It really fucked with the used market. Also Reverb seemed to have a hand in it as well. People on reverb can be insane lol.

 

[kmanick]

do a Mark IV search on Reverb, the asking prices for IV's and especially III's now is ridiculous.
I had a mint red stripe III back in 2008 that I could only sell for $750.00

 

[TedEH]

I had a mint red stripe III back in 2008 that I could only sell for $750.00

Every day there are more reasons I wish I had a time machine.

 

[CanserDYI]

Every day there are more reasons I wish I had a time machine.

I'd go back in time and kill whoever invented LED headlights.

 

[MoistTowelette]

I'd go back in time and kill whoever invented LED headlights.

I would kill the guy who made webp format for pictures

 

[KnightBrolaire]

I'm mildly curious if a MKVII is worth it considering I have a MK3C+.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I'm mildly curious if a MKVII is worth it considering I have a MK3C+.

Unless you need the separate crunch and clean channel, nah lol. You already have one of the most pissed-off Mark amps you can get.

 

[metaljohn]

I bought my IV in 2020 right before prices shot way up. Definitely my favorite amp of all time. It's also the only one I've seen with a Rhinoliner headshell. I think it was covered from a combo, because it also is missing the reverb tank. It sounds great with my V30 Recto cab, but sounds way better with this Mark cab I picked up a little over a year ago. It has C90s on top and the crappy Eminence on the bottom, which I'm swapping out for Redbacks(not an EV12L fan)

 

[DarkstarII]

I’ve been hunting for a good Mark-series metal grill 4x12 for a few years now. Very nice @metaljohn.

 

[MASS DEFECT]

Pardon the wayward Dual Caliber. Sold a lot of amps and these are what I have left. IV is still the king of the High Gain Channel. Channel 3 is just my grail tone. But the JP2C and Mark VII are also great Marks. Currently, playing the VII alot since it has the best Ch2 Crunch channel. Way better than EVH Blue crunch channel that I used to like a lot. If the IV had this crunch channel in R2, that would rule. It is also easier to gig with the Cabclone IR.

The JP2C is hard to dial a nice Metallica tone. It always has a thick, grinding midrange that is hard to dial out, but it lends to an instant Petrucci sound---especially when you have a guitar with Petrucci pickups (DiMarzio Crunch Lab, in my case). It also is the best amp from these choices to do modern metal downtuned stuff since it has a fat midrange. People will say it tends to sound boxy. Sure, but most of those people also use very middy sounding pickups. Your mileage may vary.

 

[DarkstarII]

As a DC-5 owner myself, no pardon needed! Hard to believe the 7 channel 2 sounds better than the EVH blue channel — you try the Stealth? That blue channel is just perfect . I hear you on the JP2c being a tad hard to dial ‘tallica toans — I’m going to throw a PEQ into the loop to try and dial a more accurate Justice tone. I’m scooping the shan’t out of both channels 2 & 3 and I get a great Heathen sound.

 

[MASS DEFECT]

As a DC-5 owner myself, no pardon needed! Hard to believe the 7 channel 2 sounds better than the EVH blue channel — you try the Stealth? That blue channel is just perfect . I hear you on the JP2c being a tad hard to dial ‘tallica toans — I’m going to throw a PEQ into the loop to try and dial a more accurate Justice tone. I’m scooping the shan’t out of both channels 2 & 3 and I get a great Heathen sound.

Yeah i had the EVH Stealth 50W. That blue channel was awesome. Red had too much gain it sounded too squishy. With the Mark VII (and by extension the baby Mark V25 and 35) crunch channel, you can dial out the honk or put more bottom end without losing definition. I couldn't do that with the EVH Blue unless I put an eq in the loop.

Crunch on the Mark V90 was a bit stiffer than the VII and the mini Vs.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

View attachment 139319

Pardon the wayward Dual Caliber. Sold a lot of amps and these are what I have left. IV is still the king of the High Gain Channel. Channel 3 is just my grail tone. But the JP2C and Mark VII are also great Marks. Currently, playing the VII alot since it has the best Ch2 Crunch channel. Way better than EVH Blue crunch channel that I used to like a lot. If the IV had this crunch channel in R2, that would rule. It is also easier to gig with the Cabclone IR.

The JP2C is hard to dial a nice Metallica tone. It always has a thick, grinding midrange that is hard to dial out, but it lends to an instant Petrucci sound---especially when you have a guitar with Petrucci pickups (DiMarzio Crunch Lab, in my case). It also is the best amp from these choices to do modern metal downtuned stuff since it has a fat midrange. People will say it tends to sound boxy. Sure, but most of those people also use very middy sounding pickups. Your mileage may vary.

Props for using the superior Mesa/Boogie logo on everything.

Also yeah the MkIIC+ always seemed to be a bit too thick for my taste. The IV can be thick too, but it's a different kind of thick. The IIC+ and it's variants seem to have a strong low-mid emphasis while the IV can be dialed in to be tighter. The Shred switch on the JP2C seems to help tighten things up a bit more at least.

The VII is def a bucket list amp though

 

[Hollowway]

I would kill the guy who made webp format for pictures

 

[PuckishGuitar]

Since grabbing a V:35 I’ve moved from the 5150 camp towards the Mark. Crunch on that is just amazing, works great with and without a boost with just a few adjustments. I prefer the IV mode on the second channel, the IIC mode doesn’t have quite the oomf I want (or not dialing it in right!), while the Xtreme is too over the top. None of them are bad, but just don’t hit the level of pissed off I like. Definitely makes me interested in a real IV if prices ever get reasonable again.

The VII has me interested also as a companion to V, but I don’t think I’d get as much out of it since I mainly just want to play metal with it. Unless the channel 3 modes are superior to what I have? Change my mind?