Tried Markbass,too Wolly....

[Makatak]

Hi , I like my Hi-Fi tone and im in the market for a portable Class D amp , I tried a Littlemark 250 but found it a little " wooly ", even with the vintage dial down and Hi-fi up . theres a Ampeg PF come up or would that be too Vintage as well ? [ it will be a no-try before purchase ] ,I tried a Genz Benz in a store but didnt like the Hiss on standby/low volume.Any other suggestions ?Thanks

[fenderhutz]

You had the one of the knobs turned up too far. There is a vintage emulation circuit on that amp you should have had it off. Saying a MarkBass can't do hi fi is like saying an Ampeg SVT can't do rock. Those amp are known to do hi fi well.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by Makatak

Hi , I like my Hi-Fi tone and im in the market for a portable Class D amp , I tried a Littlemark 250 but found it a little " wooly ", even with the vintage dial down and Hi-fi up . theres a Ampeg PF come up or would that be too Vintage as well ? [ it will be a no-try before purchase ] ,I tried a Genz Benz in a store but didnt like the Hiss on standby/low volume.Any other suggestions ?Thanks

You should always start with the MB heads with both filters off and the EQ at noon. They are anything but wooly. Warm, yes, but even and full range, and very clean.

With the Genz stuff, even though all these amps have some inherent low level 'hiss' when idling, my guess is that might have been a tweeter dialed up too loud.

That being said, if by 'hi fi', you mean huge lows and sizzly highs', the GK stuff (MB500/MB800) is probably close to what you need... very wide and bright.

I have quite a few clips of the Markbass LMII and F1/F500 on my Youtube channel, set literally 'neutral'. If that is what you heard and still think it is wooly, then our ears are just different and that is cool. If, on the other hand, you think 'that is not what it sounded like when I tried it', you might want to give all this stuff another try before deciding

[stflbn]

My Markbass F500 I have for sale is anything at all but 'Wooly'. Wooly is something it does not do.

[fenderhutz]

I will add don't use a MarkBass cab but try that head on another cab. MarkBass cabs do not sit well with my ears. I strongly disliked MarkBass heads until I found a cab that matched it well, and it wasn't a MarkBass cab.

[bass4worship]

You can also try a Carvin BX500 great tone if you want hi-fi.

[JimmyM]

Clean and hi fi is way more about the cab than the head IMHO. All bass heads will do clean.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

I will add don't use a MarkBass cab but try that head on another cab. MarkBass cabs do not sit well with my ears. I strongly disliked MarkBass heads until I found a cab that matched it well, and it wasn't a MarkBass cab.

Another good point... don't attibute the sound of an entire rig just to the head.

[Craig_S]

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

MarkBass cabs do not sit well with my ears.

The problem is your ears. <-- (this means I'm kidding)

Dial back some of the upper mid-range and you'll be just fine. I run my SA450 pretty flat through my 104HF. When I play through it without a band, I cut the upper mids a bit.

[jasper383]

Originally Posted by KJung

You should always start with the MB heads with both filters off and the EQ at noon. They are anything but wooly. Warm, yes, but even and full range, and very clean.

Most of the time, when I come across a Markbass head in a shop, the VLE and VPF filters are up all the way, or sometimes at noon with the rest of the EQ knobs. A recipe for scoop and wool.



I wonder how many sales MB loses because of this?

[KJung]

Originally Posted by jasper383

Most of the time, when I come across a Markbass head in a shop, the VLE and VPF filters are up all the way, or sometimes at noon with the rest of the EQ knobs. A recipe for scoop and wool.



I wonder how many sales MB loses because of this?

+1 Not sure of where the OP had them set. He said, VLE dialed down and VPF dialed up, but even a touch of VLE and especially with too much VPF (i.e., approaching noon or more) and you get a boomy, well, 'wooly' mess wth most cabs and basses.

[fenderhutz]

Yeah both knobs up would sound like a scoop of sheep hair.

[Russell L]

+1 ya'll. My Little Mark III head can do hi fi even through an Ampeg 810 cab. I tried it.

[paul_s]

Originally Posted by jasper383

Most of the time, when I come across a Markbass head in a shop, the VLE and VPF filters are up all the way, or sometimes at noon with the rest of the EQ knobs. A recipe for scoop and wool.



I wonder how many sales MB loses because of this?

It's funny because the dial even has a "0" on the counter-clockwise setting, that people still have this problem. Makes you wonder how much people read what dials do versus just turning them for how they visually look!

[Freddels]

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

I will add don't use a MarkBass cab but try that head on another cab. MarkBass cabs do not sit well with my ears. I strongly disliked MarkBass heads until I found a cab that matched it well, and it wasn't a MarkBass cab.

I'm just the opposite. I didn't like the Markbass amps until I tried them with the bigger Markbass cabs.

[Russell L]

Originally Posted by paul_s

It's funny because the dial even has a "0" on the counter-clockwise setting, that people still have this problem. Makes you wonder how much people read what dials do versus just turning them for how they visually look!

That's true. When I got my first Markbass combo, I didn't look closely enough at the VLE and VPF knobs, thinking automatically that noon was "no filtering." Then, I took a second look. OFF is all the way counterclockwise.

[Marley's Ghost]

Originally Posted by Freddels

I'm just the opposite. I didn't like the Markbass amps until I tried them with the bigger Markbass cabs.

I have been digging my LMII for 3 years now, but the total awesomness has not been apparent until I started running it with 2 NY604 cabinets.

This rig is truly amazing. Running the VLE/VPF at noon brings 8X10 deep plush tones, plus can get some bark and punch by boosting minds. Gonna run this baby at a private party gig tonite!

[ErnieD]

those 604 cabs are so cute.

Actually, I played thru one awhile back at a GC and was pretty blown away at what they can do. I use mostly use a115, 212 or a 410 non-MB cab at gigs. Wonder how two of those 604's woulda done me with my LMII or F1?

Aren't there MB 804 cabs out there too? Great stuff.

[Laurent]

Despite the numerous posts claiming otherwise, I agree with the OP the Littlemarks are quite woolly. I generally like woolly as I love tube heads but in this case to my ears it even sounded syrupy. I had the strange impression with this head that it had been overly calibrated to deliver some seductive ear candy and I could not take it. Too colored in many ways. You might love it if it's your thing and many people do.

I instead settled on a Markbass F500 that I have used for a couple of years now. I have been really thrilled with this head. The tone is great, the portability is amazing, the power is ample. To my ears the head srtickes a great balance between woolly and modern. It's not tone neutral but it's well balanced. It's not as stern/fast hitting/clinical as a Puma and not quite as burly/rocking as a TC Electronic head.

The F500 should be on your list of heads to test.

[Russell L]

Thinking back to last night, I had a wonderful tone with my LMIII and 151P cab. Not wooly at all, but just right. A nice round tone with some edginess, or "sponginess," but not too much. It fit with classic rock and old-time pop stuff. With the gain at 2:00 and master at 9:30, the only changes from neutral were:

Low mids 1:00
High mids 10:30
VLE 2:00

That's it. I was playing my American Jazz, sometimes with both pickups, sometimes just the neck pickup. Tone pot was wide open. It was a small room that sounded pretty good, acoustically. We were at medium-low volume because of the room size, plus it's a restaurant/bar. The only trouble I had was when the keyboard player got too low with his left hand. (Why do they not get it?).



















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