Does anyone own the Markbass R500?

Unfortunately, these haven't been widely distributed in the US yet. But I'm really looking forward to trying it. I only briefly tried an SD800 and thought it sounded similar to the LM II, but I didn't really wind it out. However, I know one or two of these gearhads on here have tried it. Tom Bowlus' name is sticking in my head for some reason.

 

I played one briefly at the local GC last week. I didn't spend a lot of time with it but I liked what I heard. I'm basically one of those "tube-in-the-preamp" guys so it interested me.

I didn't fiddle with it exhaustively (I was there to audition cabinets) but I hope to get a little further ahead money-wise later this year and I'm definitely going to take a closer look. I also liked the fact that the tone controls were simple enough for an old guy like me. If it'll do what I want I'm gonna lose the 50 lb. rack case.

I expect to be at GC later this week and if I get the opportunity I'll fool with it some more.

 

They had one on the floor of the Clackamus GC last week. How far are you from Portland? FWIW, I preferred the less expensive LMII.

 

Worst that happens is you eat a little shipping to return it. Please write a review when you get it.

 

I'm always a little bummed when amp companies think that us rock bassist only want "simple" controls. I would have liked to see MB keep their usually eq section in this amp. As it is, I find the EQ to limiting.

 

Buy an EQ if you want Markbass then. I play rock and I want simple controls

 

I really liked the model they had at NAMM, though I am not sure if the preamp didn't change somewhat, relative to the production model. I could have sworn that the R 500 at NAMM had the same 3-tube preamp as the Classic 300, but it looks like the production unit has one preamp tube. Still, I'd love to spend some more time with one. I, for one, did not find the EQ too limiting (at least not on the unit I heard).

Tom.

 

Bear in mind this was during an admittedly quick test/comparison, though I was already very familiar with the LMII, having owned one for a month. I compared both heads into a MB 15 cab with a MB 210 cab on top. Cabs sounded fine for the purposes of comparing these two heads. Basses were an American P and a J, both with rounds.

I was mainly interested in the tonal differences in the heads, they have more than enough power for my needs. I didn't find the eq of the R500 limiting, to the contrary I found the higher frequency center of the bass control more useful than the 40 Hz control on the LMII. I also didin't miss the LMII's VLE, which as another poster pointed out in a different thread, seems like a variable low pass filter.

So did the R500 sound/feel like a nice tube amp? To me, no. My main impression is that with the R500's drive on the lower end of the scale, the overall tone of the R500 was not as clear as the LMII. Dialing in additional drive didn't seem to add harmonic complexity, the tone just got less distinct, murkier. Again, that's my main impression from a short demo/comparo a month back. I might give it another listen, I was really curious/hopeful (who wouldn't want a flyweight 500 watt tube amp?) about the R500. I came away thinking that a LMII (with a nice drive pedal) would be a more flexible (you could switch the drive settings on & off) and cheaper solution for a rock player than a R500.

To the OP, if you get an R500, I'd like to get your impressions on how the tone compares to your GBE1200.

 

When I played the R 500 that they had at NAMM, I was definitely able to get some overdrive out of it, so this might be a different preamp section, after all.

 

I tried using an EBS ValveDrive going into my LMII and it helped the tone a lot IMO. The trick is keeping the drive down low enough so it doesn't sound like a distortion pedal. If set low enough, it did seem to add some of that "harmonic complexity" that helped the LMII sound more like a tube amp. ( I guess at that point, it almost is)

 

EBS Valve Drive...interesting...maybe I'll try that in the near future.

 

That's a great box, BTW.

 

Ya, if you can get it! My Microbass II took me two months to get. I hope EBS has gotten their distribution act together since then.

 

Perfect Bass has them in stock, and on sale right now...with free shipping! Adds a cool twist to the LMII sound.
Also, the TA503 comes out in a few months. I was told that sound is somewhere between a LMII and a R500.

 

Dude I own and r500 with an epifani 2x10 and i love it i play blues and some jazz finer style and i love it the great thing about not having the vpf and vle is that it is all analog and tubed pre as well as no compressor so you get a nice bit of drtyness if you drive it but i dont but it is great!! pure tone!!!!

 

i have owned an r500 for about a year and a half and i love it. i gig fairly often and (beside my current money issues) would not trade it for the world... with that being said i find it necessary to sell some of my equipment, this being a biggy. it is in perfect condition and i think it still has the gc extended warrenty (that i believe is transferable). i will look that up later. pm me if you are interested at all.

 

I put a DHA VT-1 EQ tube bass driver into my SA450, and it gets *very* close to producing a convincing all tube tone - that, and the fact that it's obviously footswitchable makes me almost prefer having an amazing SS amp like the MarkBass but with the option of switching in big fat tube clean or big fat tube distortion if desired.