First Ever Rig

[robthegaff]

Hey guys, I'm planning on upgrading from a 15" 100W combo. After reading reviews and having some experience trying the brand (at very low volume) in a local shop im interested in some type of Markbass head. This would be something along these lines.

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I play a passive jazz bass primarily, and am open to alternate brands of head, or even combo suggestions.
I would also be interested in hearing peoples opinions of a good cab, as I said I played a 15" but found it a bit sluggish at times and the bass overpowering.
Ive been playing bass for a few years, but have not really looked much into the specifics of gear like this, so any advice would be welcome and appreciated.

 

[MikeGee]

That's a lot of amp right there. I have the Little Mark3. Same size power section but solid state pre amp. You are gonna like it.

I got a Gallien Krueger Neo410 to go with mine. Very nice setup. Loud and bassy.

 

[TheNightLife]

i have an lm3 and ive had my head hooked up to quiet of few different cabs and theyve all sounded great with that head. right now i have my lm3 hooked up to my 72 ampeg svt cab. if i were you i would look into the markbass lm3 aswell. both aehds sound awesome.

 

[robthegaff]

Ill definitely look into both heads. I think I tried the solid-state, it was sweet. So you think 4 10's would be the way to go with a markbass head?

 

[TheNightLife]

yea man i would go with a decent 410 cab. or a 215 cab lol. but a 410 cab should do realy good. just remember that the markbass heads dont go past 4ohms. so if you want to just use one cab and one cab only then make sure its a 4ohm cab. if you want to run c2 abs then each cab must be 8ohms each.

 

[robthegaff]

Okay, so if I get a 4 ohm cab I wont be able to use it with another cab.
Anything else potentially disasterous about heads and cabs I should know? Ive been reading up on it, but there's quite a lot of detail and contradictory rules of thumb out there :O
Thanks for the advice everyone, I really appreciate your opinions

 

[Enron Hubbard]

My first real bass rig was one of these with the matching 2x15 cab. It was pretty cool.

 

[grifff]

Okay, so if I get a 4 ohm cab I wont be able to use it with another cab.
Anything else potentially disasterous about heads and cabs I should know? Ive been reading up on it, but there's quite a lot of detail and contradictory rules of thumb out there :O
Thanks for the advice everyone, I really appreciate your opinions

I hope this will clear things up. With that head putting out 500 watts at 4 ohms here is your cabinet options:

One 4 ohm cabinet getting 500 watts.
Two 8 ohm cabinets each getting 250 watts.

There are other possible combination's but those are the most common. I love my Markbass head.

 

[robthegaff]

Thanks a lot grifff, all the reviews ive read for markbass have been very positive so I think in the near future I will buy one of the range after I learn a bit more about heads & cabs. Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

[robthegaff]

Actually, should the head wattage be higher than the cabs or vice versa if they cant be equal?

 

[MIJ-VI]

^ Some useful reading: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=166225

 

[robthegaff]

That was a lot of help Mij-Vi thanks
after evaluating my finances, i think ill test out an orange bass terror and see how i like it, put it with two 8 ohm ashdown cabs, maybe a 410, and a 115.
Anything wrong with doing this? Im just freaking out im going to fry the thing the second i try to turn it on.

 

[TheNightLife]

That was a lot of help Mij-Vi thanks
after evaluating my finances, i think ill test out an orange bass terror and see how i like it, put it with two 8 ohm ashdown cabs, maybe a 410, and a 115.
Anything wrong with doing this? Im just freaking out im going to fry the thing the second i try to turn it on.

no theres nothing wrong with doing that. orange bass terror is an awesome amp lol i love that little thing. i would play with either 2 410 cabs or 2 15 cabs. but hey im not you lol. give both a shot and see what you like. after all its your ears and your taste so give it a shot.

 

[IbanezATK]

That was a lot of help Mij-Vi thanks
after evaluating my finances, i think ill test out an orange bass terror and see how i like it, put it with two 8 ohm ashdown cabs, maybe a 410, and a 115.
Anything wrong with doing this? Im just freaking out im going to fry the thing the second i try to turn it on.

I personally wouldn't mix speaker sizes.

 

[IbanezATK]

And I'll also add... BUY USED HERE!

 

[philtoler]

I have just bought an Orange Bass Terror to go with my Orange OBC115 which is the best cab I have ever played, by far, of any speaker size. The Bass Terror amp is good - very powerful indeed and you can get the full 500w into one 8ohm cab using the impedance selector switch. I had Ashdowns before when the ports were on the front. IMO they are not so good now they have put the ports on the back. The OBC115 has a big front facing port so the sound projection is brilliant.

 

[robthegaff]

Thanks a lot guys, just 1 question, i am discussing this with the drummer in my band, and he brought up something i havent found the answer to,
"I hope this will clear things up. With that head putting out 500 watts at 4 ohms here is your cabinet options:

One 4 ohm cabinet getting 500 watts.
Two 8 ohm cabinets each getting 250 watts.
"
does this mean i couldnt just use one 8 ohm cab with a 4 ohm head, I thought the cab would just take less power since it has a higher impedence.

 

[RickenBoogie]

Yes, you CAN use one 8 ohm cab. You'd just get less power from the amp, unless it's true that the Orange Tiny Terror bass head has an impedance selector, in which case you'd select 8 ohms, and get full power. Either way, no problem.

 

[robthegaff]

Thanks a lot RickenBoogie, i think ill go with the orange head, it looks like i can source a used trace elliot 1028H for 300-350 euro too, so that might be nice