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Light/powerful enough combo: is MarkBass the only option?

Feb 24, 2009
844
17
Due to some fairly serious knee problems that needed surgery twice, i'm switching over to light amps...i've found a perfect fit with my Epifani UL cabinet and my MarkBass F1 head, but i was thinking about buying a combo to use at home, that could also be powerful enough to use at a small gig or at rehearsal in a pinch, if something goes wrong with my main set up.
I know MarkBass has a few decent products that answer to that demand, but is there anything else out there worth looking into?

Thanks in advance for suggestions! :)
 
Carvin MB-12 has neo speakers and is very light. Sounds great. value-for-money. I use one to gig both double bass and electric bass. If I need the lowest 1/2 octave extension, I stack it on a 1X15. XLR out, side out, versatile semi-parametric tone stack, etc. Also comes in 1X10, 2X10 & 1X15, and separate head configurations.
 
My SWR Working Pro 12, three years old now, has been a workhorse. It's about 46 lbs., but extremely durable and powerful; I get PA support everywhere, but it is super clean as a stage monitor and kicks out surprisingly well on its own. Even the sound guys like the XLR out. I use it for pretty much everything.
 
EVERYONE has a lightweight head and cab these days except for Hartke, and they're working on one. My lightweight rig of choice is a Micro VR stack. Not the highest power mini-rig out there, but more than enough for my purposes and sounds like a mini-SVT.
 
Markbass isn't the only option, but its the best option.


I would have to disagree,,,,, as a long time Mark Bass user/owner I switched over to GK and am very happy.

Yes,,, Mark is great gear,,, but so is GK,,,, and the Gk stuff while being just as good and in some cases better than Mark cost far less than Mark Bass products.

I also like the Gk tone much more than my past Mark Bass gear.

Just my opinions of course.

Cheers
Davyo
 
Well i checked the two music stores in my city and basically there are 5 options:
- MarkBass Mini CMD 121P: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
- MarkBass CMD 102P: Invalid Link Removed
- MarkBass Mini CMD 151P: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
- MarkBass CMD 151P Jeff Berlin: Invalid Link Removed
- Ampeg Portaflex PF500+PF115HE: http://www.ampeg.com/products/portaflex/splash.html

They are all in the 700 to 1000 euros range, what would you guys pick and why?