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Markbass F1 coming...

#61
::::BASSIST:::: said:
If you want to add a bit (or alot) of colour, try using a Tech 21 SABDDI, the newer VT pedal is supposed to be great too.

My colour (mostly) comes from my DiMarzio Model J pickups, which are not transparent at all. These pickups have balls an elephant would be proud of. If the pups have colour & the amp adds colour and cabs add colour it can sometimes add up to a real schmozzle... ie too much colour. I like to hear the tone of my bass more than anything. However, I am not saying my amp and cabs are not coloured at all. They are... but less so than most other gear I've tried. I think its fair to say that the sum of the parts play a big role in the final outcome of what tone is produced.

Edit: sorry for the derail Chef!
Click to expand...

Cheers! The SABDDI I tried, and it was cool, but it just wasn't for me. I'm intrigued by the VT - I see Jimmy thinks highly of it.

I'm still laughing about the elephant. :)
 
#63
JimmyM said:
I love going round and round on this subject with you because you put up so many arguments against what I say about the LMII, even though we both agree it's the best solid state amp going, and even though after all this time you still don't feel me at all.

OK, so here's why you can't push me back on this...From the time I was 17 until I was 37, the only two gigging amps I owned were a V4B/810 and an SVT/810. Had an Acoustic 136 combo back then, but it was relegated to practices because it was vastly inferior to my Ampegs and not much lighter. So I come from a tremendous background of using tube amps for 99% of my gigs.

You, OTOH, come from a background of using nothing but solid state your entire career. You have said many times that you hate tube amps, and so your entire frame of reference is based on almost all solid state with sporadic tube amp usage, if at all.

There is a certain tonality that I associate with tube amps, especially Ampegs. I can't put my finger on it, but I know it when I hear it. In the 10-year span that I quit using tube amps regularly, and before I tried the LMII, I have tried every major solid state and hybrid amp out there with the exception of the Aguilar DB750. Do you know how many of those amps gave me the tonality I was looking for? In the words of Dean Wormer in Animal House (and Eric the Midget from the Stern Show): ZERO...POINT...ZERO!!! Closest I ever got with with an SWR SM-500 and SM-900, but even that didn't sound anything like what I wanted to hear. It had certain aspects, but it was very much a solid state sounding head.

The second I tried the LMII, I knew it had the tonality I was looking for, and many AB tests against my B-15N confirmed it. The LMII is the ONLY SS amp I've tried that has it, save for the other Markbass models based on the LMII's circuitry. Yes, it's very clean, but so is an unpushed tube amp. And while there are similarities in the tones of a clean tube amp and a clean SS amp, I can easily tell the difference blindfolded.

You say there's a quickness to the attack in the LMII that totally separates it from tube amps. I say you're mistaking overdriven tube amp mush for the classic tube amp sound. Ain't nothing mushy about my SVT at lower volumes. I submit to you that a tube amp at medium clean volume sounds a lot like an LMII at a medium clean volume. It's not identical, but it's about 90% there, which is a lot more than I can say about any other solid state or hybrid out there that I've tried, even Ampeg's. And it sure seems like quite a few people who are used to the Ampeg tube amp tone agree with me. Not all of them, of course, but enough to know that I'm not just hearing things.

Now if you REALLY want to nail Ampeg tones from clean to screamin' in the inexpensive SS department, the Sansamp VT is a better way to go because it nails the tones and it's $150 new. But if you just want a clean Ampeg tube tone and you want it in a 6 lb. SS amp, I will heartily recommend the LMII because as of yet, it's the only one I hear it in. Again, I won't say it's identical, but if it's close enough to keep me satisfied when I can't use my SVT or B-15, it should be close enough for most Ampeg lovers.

Your frame of reference is completely different from mine, and that, to me, is the beauty of the LMII. It can please someone who wants a good "modern" solid state tone as well. But even though I like arguing this with you, it does bum me out that you don't think I'm hearing what I'm hearing, or you sell it short by saying I'd hear the same in most SS amps. You don't have the background with Ampeg that I do, so you really don't know what I'm hearing that makes me think that. So next time, instead of pushing me back, maybe you should think about my extensive onstage time spent with Ampegs and realize that maybe, just maybe, I know what I'm talking about.

Either that, or you're going to have to put up with more of these long, boring posts from me ;) Peace out, my brother!
Click to expand...

Again, for those using an Ampeg the way you are (relatively soft volume and within its capability of putting out totally clean tone), I can see many different solid state amps working well (the AG500, some of the Mesa stuff, the DB750, etc., etc., etc.). For those who post that they enjoy the 'changing character' of a tube amp as the gain and volume settings are changed, they will (as we've seen in many posts) be disappointed (hence ALL the guys running a VT pedal, etc. before their LMII).

Also, for those using a more 'vintage' cab (sealed with no tweeter for example), you wouldn't even be able to hear the differences in the low end and ESPECIALLY the top end that REALLY separate most ss amps (including the LMII) from most tube amps, especially the Ampegs, since those cabs have a very constricted frequency range.

I continue to feel it is 'unhelpful' to the general TB community to describe the LMII as 'sounding like a tube amp'. I agree though, as I've said before, and as you've posted above, you can make an SVT kind of sound like an LMII or other warm solid state amp if you run it really low:smug:

If you would qualify your many posts saying the LMII sounds just like an SVT run a specific way, as you did above, I would have no (or at least less of an) issue.

Now your comments on the F1 and SD800.... not so much.

Edit: and PS, I used a V4B for years back in the day. This has nothing to do with 'back in the day' IMO, but rather accurately describing the performance of this gear for other TBers.
 
#65
DougD said:
KJung! JimmyM! Am I going to have to seperate you two? Don't make me stop this car!:)
Click to expand...

Nah... nothing personal or nasty here. Just a disagreement on description. IMO, through these types of polite and respectful disagreements, the truth usually emerges, and as you can see, we are actually both saying similar things about, in this case, the LMII, as long as the caveats are put in place:).
 
#75
KJung said:
Again, for those using an Ampeg the way you are (relatively soft volume and within its capability of putting out totally clean tone), I can see many different solid state amps working well (the AG500, some of the Mesa stuff, the DB750, etc., etc., etc.). For those who post that they enjoy the 'changing character' of a tube amp as the gain and volume settings are changed, they will (as we've seen in many posts) be disappointed (hence ALL the guys running a VT pedal, etc. before their LMII).

Also, for those using a more 'vintage' cab (sealed with no tweeter for example), you wouldn't even be able to hear the differences in the low end and ESPECIALLY the top end that REALLY separate most ss amps (including the LMII) from most tube amps, especially the Ampegs, since those cabs have a very constricted frequency range.

I continue to feel it is 'unhelpful' to the general TB community to describe the LMII as 'sounding like a tube amp'. I agree though, as I've said before, and as you've posted above, you can make an SVT kind of sound like an LMII or other warm solid state amp if you run it really low:smug:

If you would qualify your many posts saying the LMII sounds just like an SVT run a specific way, as you did above, I would have no (or at least less of an) issue.

Now your comments on the F1 and SD800.... not so much.

Edit: and PS, I used a V4B for years back in the day. This has nothing to do with 'back in the day' IMO, but rather accurately describing the performance of this gear for other TBers.
Click to expand...
Well look, obviously the LMII and VT are not going to behave like a tube amp with the changing tone with volume thing. I have never said otherwise. Nor will they give you the big warm sassifaction of playing a tube amp. I have also never said otherwise. What they WILL give is a major part of the tonal equation way more than any other SS devices, and if I had heard that in any other SS devices, I would have acknowledged it a long time ago.
 
#77
Chef,
I gotta tell you I love my F1, I have it going through my Berg NV610 and it has a variety of sounds..almost all of them are great.
This Amp has a FAST live sound that seems to favor a bit of a mid projection.
IT belies it's size as it is able to rattle the walls if needed.
Let me know what your impressions are when you put it through it's paces
 
#80
At my last show, 3 bands used my rig (F1 + 2 Bag End S12's stacked vertically). It had such a small footprint and was so loud. I used to think that the bass frequency was too low, but it worked out quite well. A mild (1:00) bass boost added "gravitas" to my somewhat bass-shy speakers; I kept the rest flat. Punchy as all get out, but works for mellow songs too, once I turn down the tone on my basses. I'm still amazed by this head.
 

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