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Little Mark II, please accept my apology.

#42
It's a sale on certain items, spend this much, get this much off:

Check the main page: Link Removed

The list of "included brands" doesn't include MB, but on the product page for the LMII, it has the "Back to School" sticker on it.

Add another item for a penny and you break into the $100 off bracket. :)
 
#43
boing said:
It's a sale on certain items, spend this much, get this much off:

Check the main page: Link Removed

The list of "included brands" doesn't include MB, but on the product page for the LMII, it has the "Back to School" sticker on it.

Add another item for a penny and you break into the $100 off bracket. :)
Click to expand...


And get free plus an additional 5 bucks off rack ears to keep that LMII from walking off your cab.

Also if you a a .99 cent connector and don't want the rack ears it's 500 shipped, new, with a full warranty.
 
#52
fenderhutz said:
I haven't been the biggest of fans of the Mark Bass heads. I owned a LM II for about a week and it sounded thin and papery with the cabs I owned. Avatar 410, Ampeg 410HLF, and Nemesis 212. I did however like the Ernie Ball HD-500 (which I owned for a good while)
Click to expand...

I remember trying out the Markbass stuff at GC when they first got them in and remember being not that impressed. I thought they sounded decent but I didn't feel that they were all that, if you know what I mean.

Moving forward to last week. I was in GC and they had the LMII on sale. I took a look at the pysical size compared to the available power and thought it would be a nice head to use at rehearsals just so I don't have to haul my GB GBE1200 beast over there. I picked one up. I was wanting a Shuttle 6.0 but the MB was a better deal and I had the cash with me right then, so it was kind of an impluse buy. Hey, GC has a liberal return policy, so nothing lost if I didn't like the LMII.

Used it yesterday at practice through my main cab which is an Ampeg 410HLF. I think there are way more articulate cabs than the HLF but that cab (for me at least) gets the tone I like for the stuff I play (original hard rock).

The LMII sounded good with that cab using my 08 MIA P bass which I had also just bought. I ran it pretty much flat at first but ended up boosting the low to about 1 o clock and dropping the upper mids to about 9 o clock and leaving the highs flat. I left the VLE off and ran the VPF at around 12 or 1 o clock. I think I had the master volume about a third of the way up and the gain set for no clip on the LED.

The rig sounded good, but for the stuff I play 500 watts would be the bare minimum power so the LMII was just keeping up. There was no way I could have turned up the head any more from where it was at without losing headroom. Possibly tweaking the tone some more would get me some more headroom and I plan to experiment with it. Let me make it clear that in no way did the LMII crap out at any time. The tone and punch were there but I know I was at the limit of what the amp could do without breaking up.

The LMII is a great sounding little rig and is a breeze to haul around. I just tossed it in my cord bag and there you go. This little amp is going to be my go to rig for smaller gigs where I don't need the 1200. I going to pair it up with possibly a 212 cab that will give me a nice portable rig.

Any ideas on a cab?
 
#53
60bass said:
The LMII sounded good with that cab using my 08 MIA P bass which I had also just bought. I ran it pretty much flat at first but ended up boosting the low to about 1 o clock and dropping the upper mids to about 9 o clock and leaving the highs flat. I left the VLE off and ran the VPF at around 12 or 1 o clock. I think I had the master volume about a third of the way up and the gain set for no clip on the LED.
Click to expand...

Wooah thats a _lot_ of VPF!

Never got mine above 9 o clock, any more than that and I found it scoops the mids so muych that you cant here the notes just whump and clack....

Horses for courses though :)
 
#54
60bass said:
I remember trying out the Markbass stuff at GC when they first got them in and remember being not that impressed. I thought they sounded decent but I didn't feel that they were all that, if you know what I mean.

Moving forward to last week. I was in GC and they had the LMII on sale. I took a look at the pysical size compared to the available power and thought it would be a nice head to use at rehearsals just so I don't have to haul my GB GBE1200 beast over there. I picked one up. I was wanting a Shuttle 6.0 but the MB was a better deal and I had the cash with me right then, so it was kind of an impluse buy. Hey, GC has a liberal return policy, so nothing lost if I didn't like the LMII.

Used it yesterday at practice through my main cab which is an Ampeg 410HLF. I think there are way more articulate cabs than the HLF but that cab (for me at least) gets the tone I like for the stuff I play (original hard rock).

The LMII sounded good with that cab using my 08 MIA P bass which I had also just bought. I ran it pretty much flat at first but ended up boosting the low to about 1 o clock and dropping the upper mids to about 9 o clock and leaving the highs flat. I left the VLE off and ran the VPF at around 12 or 1 o clock. I think I had the master volume about a third of the way up and the gain set for no clip on the LED.

The rig sounded good, but for the stuff I play 500 watts would be the bare minimum power so the LMII was just keeping up. There was no way I could have turned up the head any more from where it was at without losing headroom. Possibly tweaking the tone some more would get me some more headroom and I plan to experiment with it. Let me make it clear that in no way did the LMII crap out at any time. The tone and punch were there but I know I was at the limit of what the amp could do without breaking up.

The LMII is a great sounding little rig and is a breeze to haul around. I just tossed it in my cord bag and there you go. This little amp is going to be my go to rig for smaller gigs where I don't need the 1200. I going to pair it up with possibly a 212 cab that will give me a nice portable rig.

Any ideas on a cab?
Click to expand...
I would suggest laying off the VPF a bit. The VPF boosts lows a good bit, plus you were boosting them with the EQ. But having the VPF up that high really cuts out low mids where the body of your tone is. Try running it around 9 o'clock or less, if you even need it at all. You'll get much more power back and should have a thicker tone.
 
#55
Eublet said:
I would suggest laying off the VPF a bit. The VPF boosts lows a good bit, plus you were boosting them with the EQ. But having the VPF up that high really cuts out low mids where the body of your tone is. Try running it around 9 o'clock or less, if you even need it at all. You'll get much more power back and should have a thicker tone.
Click to expand...

I'll try it tonight and see what happens. I looked at the settings yesterday after I got the amp back home, so it's possible that some of the knobs might have gotten bumped. I wasn't watching too close at practice but rather just making a few adjustments here and there till I got close to what I wanted. I can't remember if I boosted the VPF after bumpimg the low end or not, but I probably boosted it after. The strings on the bass were new so it was pretty bright sounding.

The LMII really surprised the durmmer and guitarist. They were like, "hey where's your amp?" I told them the LMII was it. They both voiced comments about how much punch and power it has for such a small footprint. It ran totally cool the whole time.
 
#56
60bass said:
I'll try it tonight and see what happens. I looked at the settings yesterday after I got the amp back home, so it's possible that some of the knobs might have gotten bumped. I wasn't watching too close at practice but rather just making a few adjustments here and there till I got close to what I wanted. I can't remember if I boosted the VPF after bumpimg the low end or not, but I probably boosted it after. The strings on the bass were new so it was pretty bright sounding.

The LMII really surprised the durmmer and guitarist. They were like, "hey where's your amp?" I told them the LMII was it. They both voiced comments about how much punch and power it has for such a small footprint. It ran totally cool the whole time.
Click to expand...
Well, the VPF also boost the upper end a lot, which you were also cutting with the EQ. I'd suggest trying to find your basic tone without the filters first, and then season that just a bit with some VPF or VLE if you choose.

Really, the VPF is for those wanting a more modern, scooped tone, which doesn't sound like what you're after, but i could be wrong.
 
#57
Eublet said:
Well, the VPF also boost the upper end a lot, which you were also cutting with the EQ. I'd suggest trying to find your basic tone without the filters first, and then season that just a bit with some VPF or VLE if you choose.

Really, the VPF is for those wanting a more modern, scooped tone, which doesn't sound like what you're after, but i could be wrong.
Click to expand...

I kind of use a scooped tone somewhat. I like a tone that has lots of bottom and then I usually leave mids flat around 800 to 1k or cut them if I think it sounds too nasal, and then roll on highs till I get a nice finger snap or pick ckick. Tonight I'm all about leaving everything flat with no VPF or VLE and cranking it till hurts just to see what it sounds like.

The bass I was using is a new 08 MIA P with a Maple neck. I haven't played a M neck P in many years and I'm used to the darker sound of my Rosewood board P's. The thing just sounded really bright to my ears, so I rolled on lows to try and fatten it up. In retrospect, boosting the VPF probably just added to the brightness.

A new bass coupled with a new amp = search for what works tonewise. Hey that's half the fun of new gear. The other half is relieving some GAS pain ............. at least for now. ;)
 
#58
60bass said:
I kind of use a scooped tone somewhat. I like a tone that has lots of bottom and then I usually leave mids flat around 800 to 1k or cut them if I think it sounds too nasal, and then roll on highs till I get a nice finger snap or pick ckick. Tonight I'm all about leaving everything flat with no VPF or VLE and cranking it till hurts just to see what it sounds like.

The bass I was using is a new 08 MIA P with a Maple neck. I haven't played a M neck P in many years and I'm used to the darker sound of my Rosewood board P's. The thing just sounded really bright to my ears, so I rolled on lows to try and fatten it up. In retrospect, boosting the VPF probably just added to the brightness.

A new bass coupled with a new amp = search for what works tonewise. Hey that's half the fun of new gear. The other half is relieving some GAS pain ............. at least for now. ;)
Click to expand...
The VPF cuts lows just under 400 hz, which can really subtract from the bottom end fatness you might be looking for. It might be best to leave the VPF alone, and instead cut high-mids on the EQ to get the amount of scoop you want. Let us know how it all works out for you.

With my Skjold preamp, I have been boosting lows and low-mids a bit, probably around 200 or 250 hz, which makes the bottom nice and fat. Then I use the VPF around 8 or 9 o'clock, which makes things a bit to bright for my ears, so I set the VLE around 9 o'clock. It's a very modern sound, but thanks to the active preamp on my bass it's still fairly fat on the bottom. I can then dial in more or less bite by simply turning the VPF a bit. Works great for me.
 

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