Bag End Stack S15D/S15XD + What Head?

[FooHead]

Howdy all,

I play in your typical bar rock cover band. Loads of fun for a weekend warrior. My main head is a Tech21 Landmark 300 with the footswitch that combines ch1 and ch2. It works great with my BE's, I can get a nice tubey old school sound with just a hint of grind, kinda like just before the tubes start to distort. That's the sound I like, not really into the modern hi-fi clean tone.

So, that being said...and GAS kicking in for some of the new lighter and smaller heads...wondering what head would do me better? My short list of amps to try is:

Markbass LM2 - thinking this may be too clean for me or will the VLE and VPF filters do the trick?
TC Electronic RH450 (classic 450 would prolly do me)
Mesa Walkabout.

I'm not really a pedal kind of guy so would like to try and avoid that angle if I could. Are these reasonable ones to look at? I know the local stores here have these 3. Are there others I should hunt down? New GK stuff is hard to find here.

Thanks for your $0.02

[sleepytime]

Originally Posted by FooHead

Howdy all,

I play in your typical bar rock cover band. Loads of fun for a weekend warrior. My main head is a Tech21 Landmark 300 with the footswitch that combines ch1 and ch2. It works great with my BE's, I can get a nice tubey old school sound with just a hint of grind, kinda like just before the tubes start to distort. That's the sound I like, not really into the modern hi-fi clean tone.

So, that being said...and GAS kicking in for some of the new lighter and smaller heads...wondering what head would do me better? My short list of amps to try is:

Markbass LM2 - thinking this may be too clean for me or will the VLE and VPF filters do the trick?
TC Electronic RH450 (classic 450 would prolly do me)
Mesa Walkabout. <-- This one

I'm not really a pedal kind of guy so would like to try and avoid that angle if I could. Are these reasonable ones to look at? I know the local stores here have these 3. Are there others I should hunt down? New GK stuff is hard to find here.

Thanks for your $0.02

See above in red.

[jasper383]

I use that stack, and use the Little Mark II. No issues whatsoever. Loud, flexible, reliable.

It is very clean, but with the VPF and VLE both at about 10PM, the sound "woolies up" well. I use an old Boss overdrive pedal sometimes, too, and that helps dirty things up.

I would think the GK MB500 head would be a good choice for you; the GK heads are grindier than the Mark Bass heads, in general.

[57pbass]

I have almost the same Bag End stack ( S15D + S15D ).....I use the Eden WT 550 which is 500 watts @ 4 ohms. I am very happy with this set up. I have been using this for several years with my Nash P Bass...

there is one in the TB classifieds for a great price. I have used the Walkabout head which is one of my favorites with the Scout combo.... it did not have the power I like when using the Bag Ends..it's only 300 watts @ 4 ohms....

[RickenBoogie]

I can only imagine how sweet the Walkabout would sound through that pair of 15's. If you really care about bass tone, that mesa amp is the best sounding, (even if it's got less power) than ANY Mesa bass amp.

[JGR]

I have a pair of the S15D's and they do sound great with my Tech 21 gear. Some of the best results I have gotten were with a GK2001RB and 800RB. If you are looking to go light, I would go with the new Fusion or the MB500 as my first choice. Their GK/BE seem to have very complimentary voicings.

[babebambi]

I like all three of these heads with the 15's stack.
But I have no idea how the Tech21 sound like,
thus I have no reference point as to what you are into.

With no built-in control on the XD's HF, the VLE on the LM2 is very handy.
However, those filters will not make the LM2 any less "clean".

Originally Posted by FooHead

Howdy all,

I play in your typical bar rock cover band. Loads of fun for a weekend warrior. My main head is a Tech21 Landmark 300 with the footswitch that combines ch1 and ch2. It works great with my BE's, I can get a nice tubey old school sound with just a hint of grind, kinda like just before the tubes start to distort. That's the sound I like, not really into the modern hi-fi clean tone.

So, that being said...and GAS kicking in for some of the new lighter and smaller heads...wondering what head would do me better? My short list of amps to try is:

Markbass LM2 - thinking this may be too clean for me or will the VLE and VPF filters do the trick?
TC Electronic RH450 (classic 450 would prolly do me)
Mesa Walkabout.

I'm not really a pedal kind of guy so would like to try and avoid that angle if I could. Are these reasonable ones to look at? I know the local stores here have these 3. Are there others I should hunt down? New GK stuff is hard to find here.

Thanks for your $0.02

[drnknmstr]

LMII + the occasional use of a VT Bass pedal. I had a similar setup and loved it.

[christw]

I know you want to avoid pedals but the LMII will provide a clean tone to a woolier Ampeg-like tone. A VT Bass can pick up where the LMII leaves off and make it sound like you have an SVT set to 11. Trust me, I've had to set my SVT to 11 before. I know what it sounds like and it is at least a 95% approximation if you use it right.

[FooHead]

So with the Markbass you'd go with a VT pedal instead of a sansamp bass driver? What about something like a Fulltone Bass Driver?

Would you run it out of the effects loop or just straight into the front input?

I really want to try a Walkabout, the local shop here has a used one but they want over $800 Cdn for it!

[FooHead]

Sooooo....
Local music store here lent me a LM2 and a VT Bass pedal for the weekend. After about an hour of messing around all I can say is...Wow, this is an impressive set up! Sound wise it's pretty much what I'm after.

I tried a bunch of stuff and this was my fav of the lot. They didn't have a GK MB Fusion though, apparently they are hard to get.

Has anyone compared the LM/VT to a MB Fusion?