Well I picked up the combo from the store on Saturday afternoon but couldnt get it going until Sunday morning (sleeping one year old son!). My main concern was would this combo have enough headroom without an extension cab plugged in. Sunday morning rehersal comes around and after about fifteen minutes EQíng, I was set to go. I was playing my Stingray 5 into my pedalboard, using a SABDDI as the link out to the amp and XLR out to FOH, as I wasnt sure if the XLR in the head was pre or post EQ.
With the combo in the monitor position on the floor in front of me, the first thing I noticed was how clearly I could hear my bass. I started with everything at twelve o clock and ended up turning the gain and master back to about eleven o clock, as the combo was PLENTY loud on its own (without ane extension cab), to the point of blasting the drummer. The piezo tweeter has a nasty hiss when the highs are above 12 o clock, so I backed this back to about 10 o clock, with everything else flat, and this fixed it. The tone shaping options VLE (Vintage Loudspeaker Emulator) and VPF (Variable Preshape Filter) are very effective, but I found the VPF dial added the hiss back into the tweeter, so I turned it off. But the VLE is great, adds some nice warmth to the tone without being overbearing - I ran this at about three o clock.
Playing with this combo at my feet was great - the clarity and definition of the sound was amazing, with plenty of headroom left to spare. I had my head down qute a bit admiring the tone and the great looking orange speakers! I was playing in a band with a loud guitarist and drummer, keys, percussion, acoustic guitar and three vocalists, and found it to be easier for me to hear myself than when I have played the same room with my ABM500 head and two 410 cabs. Being only 20kg made the load in and out with the combo much easier too.
As of this morning, I am a fully fledged Markbass owner, dropping two clams on it at my local music store. I feel this amp is going to serve me well for the majority of my playing over the next few years. My only problem now is - what to do with my existing rig (Ashdown ABM500 head, Sovtek 410 cab, Hartke 115 cab)? My wife is also asking this question!
