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Ibanez Promethean 1x10 combo vs. Markbass Mini CMD 121P

D

Drubicle

Jul 28, 2008
19
0
Houston
#1
About to take the plunge to the ultra light world. These combos seem very close. Any impressions on the two compared? Reliability issues? Tone? Features?
I've played the markbass and think it sounds great although a tad bit sterile. Never played the promethean but it seems to have a warm sound on the fretspot youtube amp shootout. My ultimate concern is reliability. I was interested in the gallien krueger mb210 combo but have heard a handful of folks say theirs have already started malfunctioning in various ways. Price was too good to be true anyways.
I would appreciate any opinions. :-)
 
#2
I tried the Markbass combo at Guitar Center last week and it was insanely loud for its size and had great tone. Of course no one has the Promethean local. So today I am traveling for work and went to a small music store in a fairly small town and there sat two Ibanez Promethean 5110's. I got excited and grabbed one of only two 4-string basses in the entire store. First impression, it was a little muddy or too bright. I couldn't seem to find a sweet spot, but it was a cheap Washburn bass. I had the master volume barely on and it was a good practice volume. I had to turn the gain down to about 10 oclock to keep it from clipping. Then I decided to turn it up a little. I turn up the master volume to maybe 8 oclock and started to slap. It was pretty loud for about 5 seconds then it turned off. After 20 seconds it came back on. I grabbed the sales guy to tell him. He turned it up and barely played and it crapped out again. This time it didn't come back on. It just sat there clicking.

The Markbass is tried and true. If you have the money to spend on one of these things then it is the way to go. I'm going to stick with my GK for a while.

John
 
#3
I bought one of these yesterday, based on reviews I had seen online, and a quick demo in store. Although it's pretty expensive, the money is well worth it. It's amazingly portable, well made, attractive and discreet. But the sound is where it really impresses; handles anything you throw at it, I played in a bar yesterday evening and it came through fine. Very happy with my purchase. And a good plus, I could carry it away that evening and not have to worry about it being safe for the night in the bar.
 
#5
No 10 will run with a good 12 IME. The GB Shuttle combos warrant look, IMO. Their service is the best there is, and the tube of the 6 will warm things a bit. Having said that, if tone really matters and budget permits, a Mesa Walkabout will slay the rest, but it is much heavier and bulkier.
 
#6
Yes, none of those amps compare with the Walkabout. The weight isn't bad to me. 13 lbs. That's pretty good for a very generous 300 watts and all the tube tone you want.

I liked the Markbass stuff I tried recently except for the speaker cabinets. But the head itself is good. So is the GK and Prometheon. I prefer GK over Markbass but I think I'd go for the Prometheon if it came down to buying and use a GK Neo cabinet or two.

It's mainly a matter of preference based on sound to me. And if a few extra pounds and dollars don't scare you, the Walkabout wins in my opinion.
 
#7
I got the single 5110 combo, with a view to buying the second extension cab later (though maybe I won't need to!). I had to walk 15 mins to take the box back home after the gig, and although it is pretty small, I gave up and jumped into a taxi cause I was tired from gigging/drinking ;) I suppose if it's built really well, it will not be that light...
 
#14
I had a MESA Walkabout Scout, but it was overkill for what I was using it for.

I'd had a little bit of experience with the Markbass, and I'm sure it's a great combo, but the smaller size, removable head and AUX in functionality of the Promethean made me take a gamble on it.

IMO it's fantastic. I've had no reliability issues (although it's clear some people have). The protection circuit kicked in once when I was pushing it very hard in the living room to see what it could do, and hit a transient. It was insanely loud at that point - too much for any single 10" to reasonably handle.

I've used the combo for rehearsals, small gigs and open mics, and it's never let me down. It certainly doesn't feel or sound cheap - it's a quality bit of kit.

I pulled the head out last weekend and A/B'd it at a couple of gigs with my TC RH450, and truth be told, I couldn't choose between them. Different flavours of loveliness.

Of course it's a 1x10, so it has its' limits, but it pushes them a lot more than most IMO.

The only downside is the fitted case, which fails miserably because it only has a shoulder strap.

Here's a clip of mine...

 
#15
Great vid I've seen it before .... and you have one of the W.A. I have a Walkabout with 2 x Aguilar DB112s as well - so it's really useful hearing both as a reference. The small form factor of the Ibanez is appealing for rehearsals or jams. For gigs or other times I need volume I can pull out the bigger rig. I'm just wondering if I should go for the MB for a few dollars more.
 
#19
Prob just to my ears. I'm a tweeter guy and didn't really get on with the tone of the compact. The midget sounded great at low volume and as described many times before it gets loud by sounding 'angry' so not nessecarily a pretty sound at volume, but it does do volume, which for it's size/weight is just excellent. To me the compact just sounded like any other tweeterless 15" cab. Which arnt my bag. Neither are 12's to be fair but the midget is very much a tool for a job in my view and a job it does very well indeed.
 

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