Sometimes the wife is right

Ron Plichta · #1 12-23-2010, 09:46 PM

I was trying to decide what stuff I was going to sell the other day and I was playing my MarkBass CMD102P amp. My wife was listening and commented that it was the deepest-sounding of my amps. I kinda found that hard to believe especially since one rig had 4 tens and the other one was two 10s and a 15. Besides, I had it in my mind that I was getting a Mesa M6 Carbine. I decided to put the MarkBass up for sale to help pay for the Mesa.

Well I went to GC and was playing the M6 with the PH410 and then the PH212 cabinet. I was loving it until I tried the MB combo with a 15" extension cabinet. A few knob tweaks later and I realized that the wife was right. The MB was deeper. All it needed was the extension cab and some adjustments to add some emphasis to the low end.

The bottom line was that instead of all the headache associated with having to sell my old stuff, all I had to do was pick up another cabinet and I was good to go.

I think I need to take the wife gear shopping more often.

rpsands · #2 12-23-2010, 09:53 PM

Good story that emphasizes how rarely people with professional gear really need to change everything

SactoBass · #3 12-23-2010, 10:09 PM

Great story! And following the wife's recommendation is extremely smart........and strategic! After all, if the wife says you needed another cab, then oh well, I guess ya just gotta buy it, eh?

Btw, I own a Markbass combo (the Jeff Berlin 15" combo) and the matching NY151 extension cab that goes under the combo. It is a fantastic rig!!

OmnitzGarima · #4 12-23-2010, 10:16 PM

Yes, honey, you're absolutely right, I could use a new cab!

Does she have a sister?

Ron Plichta · #5 12-23-2010, 10:19 PM

The rig I wound up with is the older version CMD102P and a Standard 151HR cabinet. What surprised that turning the VLE filter to 9:00, adding a slight bit of VLE and setting both mids at about 1:00 got me in the ballpark of what I wanted sonically. I'll tweak that a little more, but those settings worked for all my basses. My 4003 sounds killer with the rig!

Ron Plichta · #6 12-23-2010, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OmnitzGarima

Yes, honey, you're absolutely right, I could use a new cab!

Does she have a sister?

Yes, she has a sister, but she plays for the other team.

OmnitzGarima · #7 12-23-2010, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Plichta

Yes, she has a sister, but she plays for the other team.

I could say that I was a lesbian trapped in a man's body.

Ron Plichta · #8 12-23-2010, 10:27 PM

Did I also say she's a cop?

OmnitzGarima · #9 12-23-2010, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Plichta

Did I also say she's a cop?

I was going to make a joke about handcuffs, but I think I'll pass.

Crabby · #10 12-24-2010, 10:36 AM

My wife would not set foot in a music store but its funny how every once in awhile she will suggest that I take a break from life and go check out gear. As far as trying to A/B test gear with her its a lost cause, she could not tell the difference between rigs when I tried to have her pick a favorite.

Buying a new rig when the old one is top shelf is a problem many of us struggle with here on TB all the time. Spending 50% more money to get a 5% improvement in tone doesn't seem to make a lot of sense a lot of the time but we all tend to get sucked into the vortex!

gillento · #11 12-24-2010, 10:39 AM

Maybe the wife is right, but...... is deeper sounding necessarily better?

I for myself prefer rigs that have more mids/low mids to rigs that have more lows.
They just sound better in the overall mix and allow me (and the other guys) to hear myself better.

plangentmusic · #12 12-24-2010, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Plichta

Yes, she has a sister, but she plays for the other team.

Even better.

Ron Plichta · #13 12-24-2010, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gillento

Maybe the wife is right, but...... is deeper sounding necessarily better?

For me, yes. And later on I looked at the frequency response specs. The MB went down to 40hz while my other rig was 57hz. That's a nice thing to have when playing 5-string basses.

gillento · #14 12-24-2010, 10:47 AM

Then everything should be fine

I suppose you have sufficient experience with the "bedroom/alone" vs. "in the mix" sound.

I had a M6 myself, but for my taste it was too deep sounding, whereas with my Markbass SA450 I can always dial in the right mid content.

Ron Plichta · #15 12-24-2010, 10:56 AM

There's a difference between "depth" and "volume" Depth is needed to help the low frequencies, especially on a fiver. That's what my wife heard - the B string sounded stronger on the MB.

FWIW. I tend to run my amps mostly flat, which is what tripped me up on the MB in the first place. It needed just a slight mid bump and a little tweak of the VLE to get it where I liked it EQ-wise. The 15" added some body to the sound.