Should I get rid of my MarkBass for an Orange?

silentmike · #1 06-28-2011, 11:41 AM

I've had a MarkBass CMD 102P for nearly two years now. While I still really like it, I tried out a Squier Jaguar bass through an Orange terror bass and that thing was awesome! It kinda got me wondering if I should sell my MarkBass for the Orange and either the 210 or 212 smart power cabs. I really like that my MarkBass is one unit and where it sits in the mix live, but then I really like the styling of the Orange gear and a tube at the front end is something that I've been hankering for, for quite a while.

What do people think? Should I make the swap? How well does the Tiny Terror sit in the mix? I play post rock/shoegaze in my band and my main bass is a Mustang if that helps people out.

RickenBoogie · #2 06-28-2011, 11:43 AM

Only YOU can answer this question,...seriously. Just remember, "the grass is always greener", etc.

silentmike · #3 06-28-2011, 11:50 AM

Yeah, that's what I thought... If only I had the funds to buy the Orange gear and test drive it in a band situation!

jgroh · #4 06-28-2011, 11:51 AM

Well, besides the money of course, you have nothing to lose to sell your MB for an Orange. If you dont like it, sell it/take it back and buy another MB or something else.

pasta4lnch · #5 06-28-2011, 11:57 AM

my buddy was a solid MB user - switched to Orange and is totally happy. Me - I'm very satisfied w/ my LMII, see no need to change. . .ymmv

can you bring your set up and a/b them side by side?

atrapp · #6 06-28-2011, 02:26 PM

I've had the Terror Bass for a few years now, I use it mainly for Worship and occasionally I'll use it to drive one of three aggies gs112's as a very dirty channel with the other aggies driven by a Thunderfunk 750. I've bought a few MB products over the years and returned them all, just never dug the tone.
With the Terror you can get very loud over driven tone while it will not stay hifi clean near as loud, which works cool for me. I also like the looks of the Terror Bass, it's just spiffy cute!
This is not an anti Italian thing... they make very cool cars, clothes and wine!

countrybass007 · #7 06-29-2011, 08:50 PM

I always thought the Mb gear was a bit midrangy. The Orange has a better rumble on the bass end. My rig is actually a combination of Orange and PJB gear, which gives me a sound I'm really happy with.

Jeff Scott · #8 06-29-2011, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atrapp

This is not an anti Italian thing... they make very cool cars, clothes and wine!

Hmm, I get you don't like Italian women.

Jeff Scott · #9 06-29-2011, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silentmike

...I tried out a Squier Jaguar bass through an Orange terror bass and that thing was awesome!...my main bass is a Mustang if that helps people out.

Have you tried your Mustang through it?

yamaha · #10 06-29-2011, 10:04 PM

I use Markbass almost exclusively now, but I did get quite an itch a while back for the Terror. I is a very nice head, and super fun. But after the initial few times of awe with it, I found it not as easy to do all kinds of music with it. Markbass will do Black Sabbath pretty well all flat, but it will also do Sway and Fly me to the moon. IMHO, the only other head as capable of reproducing anything somewhat flat is the new Aguilar micros. The TC stuff also, but more button turning is required.

silentmike · #11 06-30-2011, 07:08 AM

Thank you everybody for the feedback!

Right, so here's the progress report:
I went to my local shop yesterday with my 'stang and they had no Terror Bass heads in stock so I couldn't try one out

. However, I did try out an AD200B that they had (going through an Orange 410). I must admit though, I wasn't totally sold. It was very nice, but I couldn't quite find the sonic sweet spot to match where my MarkBass sits (based on memory). Does anyone know how similar the two are? Obviously the AD200B is totally valve, so there is going to be a difference with the output stages, but I'm guessing the tone stack is similar? And they both have 12AX7s in the pre-amp.

If this is the case, I'll have to check out the new Ampeg portaflex stuff in the near future, particularly the pf500. I completely forgot about it when I made the thread. Alas, they had also sold out of these when I went in yesterday too! However, having played Ampeg stacks live (they have a full 810 + nice head in most venues in Japan! It's awesome!), I know that the Ampeg sound does fit in with my band.

At any rate, I think I'm going to keep stewing on it for a bit longer and see if I can play all of the options. I'm playing a short UK tour in August as well, so now probably isn't the best time to get a new amp!

On a side note, I also had a quick go with a Short Scale Jag yesterday and I was very impressed with that! I might have to get that to cure some of my GAS for now!

Quote:

Originally Posted by yamaha

I use Markbass almost exclusively now, but I did get quite an itch a while back for the Terror. I is a very nice head, and super fun. But after the initial few times of awe with it, I found it not as easy to do all kinds of music with it. Markbass will do Black Sabbath pretty well all flat, but it will also do Sway and Fly me to the moon. IMHO, the only other head as capable of reproducing anything somewhat flat is the new Aguilar micros. The TC stuff also, but more button turning is required.

TBH, I'm not particularly interested in keeping the EQ flat. If I have to twiddle knobs to find my tone then that's fine with me. The knobs are there to be used!

Also, Aguilar stuff is a massive pain for me to find. I'd need to make a 200+ mile round trip to even try any equipment out. And that would probably mean going to London... Thanks for you take on the Terror though!