• 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.

Markbass F1 coming...

#21
A power conditioner won't make bad power good power. At best it'll clean up spurious signals that can make noise, but any power strip with noise filtering will do that. But it's not going to make 107 volts 120 volts.

F1's a killer amp. I preferred the LMII but can't argue too much against the F1.
 
#22
DougD said:
I've had my F1 for a while now. And I couldn't be more happy:) It gives me what I want tone wise, and will fit in the pocket of my Road Runner gig bag:) I have found that it does NOT like bad power. It shut down on me at a gig once because the rooms power was all jacked up due to remodeling. I bought the ears and plan to rack it with a good power conditioner and see what happens next time I play there. Oh and just to ease your mind, My key board player and guitarist had the same problems that night, so it wasn't only the F1. The F1 sounds great with my GS112's Acme B2 and 1580:)
Click to expand...

+1 to JimmyM's comment. A power conditioner will not help this situation, and as you point out, the F1 actually is NOT particularly sensitive to 'bad' power (i.e., any more than any other amp, as you found out with your guitarist and keyboard player). Don't add the weight and cost of a rack and a power conditioner, since it's just wasted money, weight and space. If the issue was due to remodeling, then the next time you shouldn't have any issues.
 
#27
jnewmark: still have the M6 and I use it for most of my electric bass jobs.
I use a Mesa Walkabout Scout, or Walkabout head and LDS2x8 for most of my DB work.

I still have an eden wt800b, and Thunderfunk TFB550b, but they're get sparse workouts anymore...
 
#28
bongomania said:
Yeah I think he and Jeremy are trying to catch up with Tom B.!
Click to expand...
Sheesh! There's no use even trying. Tom not only owns everything made already, but now he's getting it for free since he started Bass Gear Mag! There are two lessons to be learned here:

1. Study hard in school and get a college education

2. If you want lots of nice gear, don't try to be a musician for a living ;)
 
#31
Cool thread.

So if the LM2 and the F1 have the same pre, do I understand correctly that the main difference is that the F1 has a digital power amp?

Can we expect the new LM800 products (which I understand also have digital power amps) to be a bit more aggressive?

The combination of a tube pre and a more aggressive amp with 800W sounds pretty appealing :)
 
#32
CaptainWally said:
Cool thread.

So if the LM2 and the F1 have the same pre, do I understand correctly that the main difference is that the F1 has a digital power amp?

Can we expect the new LM800 products (which I understand also have digital power amps) to be a bit more aggressive?

The combination of a tube pre and a more aggressive amp with 800W sounds pretty appealing :)
Click to expand...
If it has the same preamp, then geez, that digital power amp must make a huge difference. To my ears they don't even sound like they come from the same company.
 
#34
Spaldo said:
i bought my F1 about 3 months ago...sounds as good through my 1x12 cab as it does through a 2 x 4x10 stack. and it fits in my gig bag...try doing that with a vintage SVT!

i love bowing my upright through it with the VLE at 12 o'clock....sweet
Click to expand...

Right here is what I don't get about the whole ultra light-weight head phenomena. If I was carting a DB and 2 4x10 cabs to a gig I really don't see how shaving a few lbs off the head is going to help a great deal.

IMO of course.

* In fact- if I had a head that was as small as my wallet I'd probably spend about the same amount of time trying to find the damn thing down the back of the couch.
 
#35
Spaldo;
I know Macmrkt and some toher guys like the F1 for DB...if anyone else here is using theris for that, I'd like to hear about it whether you liked or...or not...;)
 
#37
JimmyM said:
A power conditioner won't make bad power good power. At best it'll clean up spurious signals that can make noise, but any power strip with noise filtering will do that. But it's not going to make 107 volts 120 volts.

F1's a killer amp. I preferred the LMII but can't argue too much against the F1.
Click to expand...

I had a good power strip. You know the kind used in home entertainment centers? Didn't make a bit of difference in that situation. I was talking about scoring a real power conditioner, not the cheap imitations they are hawking these days. But like I said, I was freaked and I would have bought anything to keep that from happening again:)
 
#38
DougD said:
I had a good power strip. You know the kind used in home entertainment centers? Didn't make a bit of difference in that situation. I was talking about scoring a real power conditioner, not the cheap imitations they are hawking these days. But like I said, I was freaked and I would have bought anything to keep that from happening again:)
Click to expand...
Maybe you should travel with your own industrial generator ;)
 
#39
Inexpensive 'power conditioners' and 'surge protectors' really aren't the ticket. First of all, if you think about it, AC power is rather noisy-it's composed entirely of 60hZ sine waves. Your amp chops this up into DC before it gets used, so it's irrelevant.
Surge? Rare to see damaging surges, except in the case of a lightning strike, in which case you're hosed anyway.
The real enemy is undervoltage, or 'brownout.' This will cause an amp to push too much current through it's circuits, overheating or even burning components. These inexpensive surge units have no effect on this, at all. But the better amp designs are internally protected from this-they'll shut down in an undervoltage condition. The only way to eliminate undervoltage is with a large, expensive, heavy battery-powered UPS device.
 
#40
Jeff Scott said:
I had a LM II for a little over a year and it was a great amp, I really wanted an F1 but they were not being imported at the time I bought the LM II. I got my F1 at the end of '08 and compared the two amps before selling the LM II; to me they were virtually identical soundwise, but of course I saved weight and size with the F1...
Click to expand...

Really? That's good to know. I love my LMII but that awful bulk and weight is just getting to be too much. ;)

Just goofing - sorry. :smug: Tickled as I am with what I got, I'd be lying if I were to say I was never tempted to try something even smaller & lighter.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back