Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
I don't Get It...
- Thread starter ScottW
- Start date
Care to elaborate on that?
For the record, there's nothing wrong with Celestion speakers. Maybe the cabinet design wasn't optimal for the particular driver being used, but I don't think you can fault an entire brand of drivers based on their use in one manufacturer's cabinets. As an example, my Schroeder 15+L's are loaded with Celestion Neo's and they sound fantastic and are able to get stupid loud.
Just because you can make a great guitar amp doesn't mean you can make a great bass amp. It's more than putting a bigger speaker into a bigger box!
Gibson make the guitars my favourite guitarists play and obviously know what they're doing when it comes to working a bunch of wood, frets, hardware and electronics into a musical instrument. While Gibson guitars took the world by storm their basses have, for most people, always missed the mark and have ended up as niche instruments that a few individualists love but have never been huge sellers.
Marshal are the same, they're a company who have never quite seemed to 'get' bass. I wish they did because their factory is not far away from me and my guitarist gets his Marshall amp serviced just by taking it straight round to the factory - gets great customer service
Marshal are the same, they're a company who have never quite seemed to 'get' bass. I wish they did because their factory is not far away from me and my guitarist gets his Marshall amp serviced just by taking it straight round to the factory - gets great customer service
+1
I felt the same way about PRS bass gear. Great guitar stuff, but they never seemed to quite hit the mark with their basses.
I felt the same way about PRS bass gear. Great guitar stuff, but they never seemed to quite hit the mark with their basses.
As I understand it, the early Plexi Marshalls were based around tweed Fenders whcih were based around basic tube amp designs from World War II.
Had a 80's Marshall SS bass amp and try as I might, I could not get a great tone out of it. Looked cool though.
Ya, and apparently he couldn't get all the same parts, which led to Marshall's signature tone. Works great on guitar but doesn't quite translate to bass IMHO.
Seems that folks are only talking about vintage or older Marshall bass amps here. How about the new MB stuff, is it "crap" just by association?
I'll try, but remember I'm talking about speakers from 35+ years ago. The two D140s sounded a lot better than the four Celestion 15s, and everything else was the same. I've never heard of anyone raving about his bass sound using the old Celestion 12s or 15s.
Marshall just wasn't that popular with bassists back then. IMO that was for two reasons; they were expensive and didn't sound good enough to justify their price.
Both times I saw Berry Oakley with the A Bros he had a Marshall stack. Shortly afterwards it was gone in favor for a Sunn (I think) rig.
If Celestion makes good bass speakers now, that's great; but it wasn't always like that.
When I wanted a big cab I wanted a Ampeg so I saved up my money and bought a 8x10 which I got for $600 basicly new from GC just was a floor model and had 1 good rip in the tolex, we superglued it back up and now its almost imposable to find, but befor this I had a fender rumble 15, which was great just not enough power for my rock band, but its all just a matter of prefrence to what you like Iv always wanted that fat hit you in the face like a sledge hammer tone so I went with ampeg, and If the marshals give you the tone you want,(And dont light on fire when you turn em on haha) I say buy them, cause if you dont and get something your not sure you wanted your gona be kicking yourself for it in the long run
- Jun 18, 2007
- 48
- 3
- Disclosures
- endorsing artist: ampeg, dimarzio, dean markley, jim dunlop
i think once you enter the market for yourself, and play through many "larger" amps and cabs, you will get a better understanding of the tone you are looking for. it may be a marshall, it may be a red kustom tuck and roll with 2 15's. who knows? i think what you are seeing online are the reviews of people who have made their choice as far as amplification. i have used marshall bass gear and i may once again, there is nothing wrong with it for my application. i will give you my impression and stinky butt opinion. i own, play and really like the sound of the ampeg svt and the mesa boogie 400+. i also really like the sound of lemmy kilmister's marshall in motorhead (but do not wish to replicate it!).
This is business, so the name is what sells, not the quality. I'm not talking about the elite players who know what to listen for, I'm talking about the masses of players who go to the store first, grab what they heard of, then learn later what the instrument is about. If a non-musician knows a musical brand, that name is worth it's weight in gold (e.g. Fender). Marshall has been very good about branding and putting it's name out in front.
Instead of coming in and asking about a certain product that's being hyped in stores, you might want to look through the posts and find what the experienced players play and brag about.
Instead of coming in and asking about a certain product that's being hyped in stores, you might want to look through the posts and find what the experienced players play and brag about.
This is my rig.
It's a Marshall MB4210 combo (2x10 + horn) sitting on an old Peavey 1820 (1x18 + 2x10) 450 watts @ 2 ohms.
People will tell you something's no good without having ANY knowlege of it firsthand. People will also tell you something's no good if it's not Ampeg or other "rich people" brands. Just because something costs $1200 doesn't mean it's my sound.
I did my homework before I did my shopping, and I rolled the dice on the Marshall combo. I'm happy. Between the two channels (modern and vintage), blending option, built in compressor, and the active eq on my ESP, my rig sounds good.
And it BANGS.
I won't say opinions are like ********, cause not all of em stink. In fact, this is my first post on this forum but this is DEFINITELY one place I come when researching anything bass-gear. I will read opinions all day, and they can be informative but not be MY opinion.
No, this isn't the rig I'd run out and buy if money were no object, but I'm not rich and I still need good, full bottom end and crisp clean highs, and I've got em.
It's a Marshall MB4210 combo (2x10 + horn) sitting on an old Peavey 1820 (1x18 + 2x10) 450 watts @ 2 ohms.
People will tell you something's no good without having ANY knowlege of it firsthand. People will also tell you something's no good if it's not Ampeg or other "rich people" brands. Just because something costs $1200 doesn't mean it's my sound.
I did my homework before I did my shopping, and I rolled the dice on the Marshall combo. I'm happy. Between the two channels (modern and vintage), blending option, built in compressor, and the active eq on my ESP, my rig sounds good.
And it BANGS.
I won't say opinions are like ********, cause not all of em stink. In fact, this is my first post on this forum but this is DEFINITELY one place I come when researching anything bass-gear. I will read opinions all day, and they can be informative but not be MY opinion.
No, this isn't the rig I'd run out and buy if money were no object, but I'm not rich and I still need good, full bottom end and crisp clean highs, and I've got em.
ok,first off,i've never seen ANYONE on here ever talking bad about marshall bass amps...further more,even talking about them at all..,don't worry though,i mean there's no way people here hate them as much gibson!!
but i thought their bass amps looked pretty nice,and i was very curious to how they sounded.i'll wait till i try one myself to pick sides on that...
but i thought their bass amps looked pretty nice,and i was very curious to how they sounded.i'll wait till i try one myself to pick sides on that...
I've tried running bass through a number of higher-gain Marshalls to no avail. It was just fun to try. I wanted to see if there was any compatibility. There wasn't.
I had a Peavey Windsor that would roar though. Aggressive and in your face grit. I sold that off when in desperate need of cash to some a-hole who agreed on $250 and showed up with $225 to screw over a desperate college student. I abhor people who take advantage of others.
I had a Peavey Windsor that would roar though. Aggressive and in your face grit. I sold that off when in desperate need of cash to some a-hole who agreed on $250 and showed up with $225 to screw over a desperate college student. I abhor people who take advantage of others.
I owned a SS Marshall Bass head and matching 410+115. It had one good sound, but it was still like mashed potatoes, only with salt and pepper----no butter. Just my own experience. Neither one of my G-K heads are $1200 but at one outdoor gig I had the old Ampeg V4-B standing by incase I needed more power than the G-K 800rb. The 800rb did the duty solo and so many people came up to say how much they loved the Ampeg sound! I just replied "You mean the one that is not even powered up?"
- Feb 27, 2005
- 3,218
- 125
- Disclosures
- Full disclosure, I'm a certified Fender technician working in a music store that carries Fender, Yamaha, and Ibanez products among others.
I played through a few Marshall bass combos at the winter NAMM show. They were Ok, but that was it. The tone I got was basic, and to my ear, boring. I could wander over to any number of other bass combos in the same price range and get something much more interesting. It was almost like something was muffling the bass, and removing all character from the upper mids.
Every one of 'em I played was LOUD, though. They had that part down, for sure. They just didn't get my motor runnin'. I got the impression they may have been designed with the idea that the bass player wouldn't ever be able to stomp on the guitarist, ever, no matter how much they turned up.
Every one of 'em I played was LOUD, though. They had that part down, for sure. They just didn't get my motor runnin'. I got the impression they may have been designed with the idea that the bass player wouldn't ever be able to stomp on the guitarist, ever, no matter how much they turned up.
Ha! That's awesome.
I had a GK head I ran through an Ampeg 410 and I wasn't happy. I sold em off.
I almost went with an Ampeg B2r, but honestly the Marshall did what I needed it to do and gave me more options as far as cab setup. And I was already looking at the head and found that it came in a combo with 2x10's and a horn. BAM. It handles 350 watts on it's own, 450 with a 4 ohm extension cab.
They need to make more heads that can handle a 2 ohm load.
I love my Peavey but it's a 4 ohm cab and I wanted at least another 2x10 + horn to go with it, hence the need for a head that can handle a 2 ohm load. So I found both in one package for $399 used with 2 year warranty.
I had a GK head I ran through an Ampeg 410 and I wasn't happy. I sold em off.
I almost went with an Ampeg B2r, but honestly the Marshall did what I needed it to do and gave me more options as far as cab setup. And I was already looking at the head and found that it came in a combo with 2x10's and a horn. BAM. It handles 350 watts on it's own, 450 with a 4 ohm extension cab.
They need to make more heads that can handle a 2 ohm load.
I love my Peavey but it's a 4 ohm cab and I wanted at least another 2x10 + horn to go with it, hence the need for a head that can handle a 2 ohm load. So I found both in one package for $399 used with 2 year warranty.
