Grateful Dead Music Forum

Yesterday i fulfilled a long standing goal of owning a Mesa Mark IV amp. I bought it "used" at Russo Music outside of Trenton, NJ (I can't say enough good stuff about this place; top end gear and a great staff of knowledgeable, and friendly guys). Anyway the amp was technically preowned but it's in new condition I don't think it was ever played, it still has the inspection and warranty tags, and no wear. Anyhow a great deal on a really nice amp.

I'll cut to the chase, the Mesa has a built in Effects loop and I'm wondering if I can "share" my GCX and Garcia effects between my Fender and the New Mesa. I tried it today but it didn't work. Any ideas?

Im not sure how it will work but I think it will. Do you run the GCX pro? You can always call Voodoo and tlak to them, just leave a meesage and they will get back to you and talk you through it, They are really helpful plus on hteir website they have a forum to discuss. Ive gotten alot of good avdice there as well. Good luck!

Kudos on the Mark IV, have one, looooooooooooooooooooooove it. Not sure about the FX, but my guess is it can be done.

I don't know about sharing, but I have found through personal experience with a Mk III that the effects loop is VERY hot. Some effects like that and some don't. Keep that in mind as you decide how to set up.

Perhaps this isn't the case with the Mk IV, I dunno.

Thanks guys,

Emoto wrote:I don't know about sharing, but I have found through personal experience with a Mk III that the effects loop is VERY hot. Some effects like that and some don't. Keep that in mind as you decide how to set up. Perhaps this isn't the case with the Mk IV, I dunno.

What's going on Bob? long time no jamming I hope you guys are doing well back in Boston.
yep it seems to be the case, I for the life of me can't figure out how to get the GCX in the mix but I'm still having fun trying. I have found that the loop is in fact very hot! I tried running it like a A/B switch (just the send and no return) to my Blues Jr and a EH P.O.G. and it doesn't sound right, actually I was a bit nervous about blowing the Blues Jr. so I discontinued that experiment.

I recall somewhere reading that some of Mesa's effects loops are line level vs. guitar level. And others have a mix or blend knob.

What exactly are you trying to do?

Logically, it's piece of cake:
Guitar > GCX in > loops 1-4 for dirt and envelopes and boosts, etc > Mesa's input
FX send > GCX in for loop 5 > reverbs and delays and phasers > FX return