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MARKBASS GEAR-How does it rate??
- Thread starter Sparty
- Start date
This was my experience as well. Love my LMII to death but didnt find their cabs to my liking. Now, I didnt go through every single offering, and its not like there were bad tones, just not my cup of tea.
I have the Traveler 102P cabs. They are pricey compared to some other manufacturers i.e. Gallien-Krueger but they are very small and lightweight and very punchy in the low mids. They cut through a mix. The tweeter adjustment is very noticeable.
I can take a 30 lb. cabinet and get the job done almost anywhere.
I throw the other one on top if I really need to make a lot of noise.
I can take a 30 lb. cabinet and get the job done almost anywhere.
I throw the other one on top if I really need to make a lot of noise.
Love my MarkBass combo 112, one of the best I've played. I use a MarkBass F1 head with a 4/10 Eden cab at church with make my Fbass sings.
This doesn't make sense. The older Jeff Berlin CMD151P combo comes in at 46 pounds and change. I'm 53 years old and I can one-hand it into the venue. The newer CMD151P Mini comes in at just over 40 pounds, it's 18"X18"X19". I can't even imagine that constituting a storage or transport issue.
However, they are gorgeous sounding, I'll give you that one.
I guess all they have now is the Jeff and the Mini, but I could swear they used to have a bigger 115 combo. Can't find it on their site under discontinued products, though.
Another + 1 for their amps and a so-so for the cabs.
My LMII is my first choise for home and band practice + it is my backup at gigs. (Well I have gigged with it, too.)
Clean, basic, flexible and convenient. Loud enough for most users, I guess.
Like someone else posted, I see no consistency in their cabs. Going from one model to the other was as big step as going from Trace Elliot to Ampeg. The single 15" models I have tried were nice in a vintage-y way, the 12" combo sounded big, all round and impressive, the various 10" boxes not so much.
My LMII is my first choise for home and band practice + it is my backup at gigs. (Well I have gigged with it, too.)
Clean, basic, flexible and convenient. Loud enough for most users, I guess.
Like someone else posted, I see no consistency in their cabs. Going from one model to the other was as big step as going from Trace Elliot to Ampeg. The single 15" models I have tried were nice in a vintage-y way, the 12" combo sounded big, all round and impressive, the various 10" boxes not so much.
As with any tonal question, its all pretty subjective. I am going to second JimmyM's statement that the cabs have this upper mid range thing going on. I like that, but could never get it to balance out with the lows the way I wanted with the LMIII head. I feel the EQ points are wrong for what I was trying to accomplish. To get the low mids I wanted out of the rig I ended up cutting the surrounding frequencies, and tonally it just wasnt working for me.
IMHO for the money there are much better options in terms of cabs. I think the heads are very clean and relativity flat, but I dont find the EQ terribly useful. YMMV
IMHO for the money there are much better options in terms of cabs. I think the heads are very clean and relativity flat, but I dont find the EQ terribly useful. YMMV
I recently played a "best of cleveland" show where there were four bands playing. It was a big stage so all the amps were onstage at the same time.
first band -- phil jones briefcase (the whole band had IEM's)
second band -- MB head with 1x15 + 2x10 MB cabs
third band --- markbass LMII with custom 15" cab
fourth band -- MB LMII with MB 15" cab
I guess they rate pretty well in cleveland ohio!
first band -- phil jones briefcase (the whole band had IEM's)
second band -- MB head with 1x15 + 2x10 MB cabs
third band --- markbass LMII with custom 15" cab
fourth band -- MB LMII with MB 15" cab
I guess they rate pretty well in cleveland ohio!
Top notch stuff. I'm still gigging a LMIII head with two Traveler 151P cabs. I have heard other bass players play my rig with both speakers at our blues jam, and I am WAY impressed with how much bottom those speakers can handle at relatively high volume. I agree, though, that the eq on the head could be different and better. Semi-parametric mids would be real nice. I'm always trying to reach for 100-200Hz, but the center frequencies don't allow it. Nonetheless, you can play the thing with everything at noon and the filters off, and sound real good!
Be careful using the VPF filter. It will make you disappear in a mix (scooped mids), and it can add too many sub lows that can make your speaker run out of excursion.
Be careful using the VPF filter. It will make you disappear in a mix (scooped mids), and it can add too many sub lows that can make your speaker run out of excursion.
I personally do not like markbass.
Compared to soem others I find their amps sound less refined and almost cheap-comparing real wood with a photofinish comes close to the impression I get when using markbass gear.
I'd have no problem using them live though and actually thought that a 1x15 combo I once found at a venue worked quite well indeed.
I just wouldn't buy one or use one in the studio if it can be avoided.
I tried loads but not all of markbass's amps and cabs and can obviously only comment o those I tried.('IMHO' 'IME')
There are lots of options to upgrade from this. Almost anything you get (including Markbass) is a step up.
I use the 210 combo (CMD102P) on every gig where I need to take an amp and often supplement it with the 115 extension cab (Traveller 151P) for bigger stages, maybe about two thirds of my gigs. I've had the combo nearly seven years and the extension cab for maybe five.
A few points that might or might not be helpful:
1) I don't particularly want my rig to contribute much character to the sound of my bass - I just want to hear it (other people differ I know, and that is fine of course). In this sense the rig is pretty much just a stage monitor. The Markbass does this just fine and I always enjoy the onstage sound.
To quickly elaborate further on my first point: it's kind of strange that the "in the mix" sound is so much of what I like about this rig, rather than the "on its own" sound. It's only when I'm playing with a band that I really appreciate just how very good this stuff sounds, for some reason. I sometimes think that if you guys heard me playing this at home or in a store, you'd have a hard time understanding what's so great about it (as would I). That understanding would be there instantly if you heard the same sound in a band situation and it's in that situation that my tone brings a big cheesy grin to my face rather than at home. I suppose this is a similar situation to the way that on some favourite recordings, a bass that sounds great in the mix can sound totally different when isolated. Anyway, moving on...
2) I've had nothing but compliments about my tone when the rig is not being supplemented by FOH support or when I use the internal DI to go through the PA.
3) All that said, I do agree that there is a slight mid-heavy voicing to the cabs, especially the 210. This only helps for me personally. I like it and it really helps me to be heard in a mix without overpowering the rest of the band onstage.
4) The EQ works fine for me, but I only ever give it pretty tiny tweaks, a lot of the time the amp is set perfectly flat. For recording, by the way, I always just go straight to the desk.
5) The tiltback feature on the combo (when used alone) is massively useful and the main reason why I prefer the combo to any head + cab option in that small gig situation.
6) Construction and build are absolutely top notch in all respects.
7) The products seemed pricey to me when I purchased them, but I'm totally satisfied with what I got for the money. I can't see me using anything else and if the need arises I'd replace either product with the current MB equivalent without hesitation. I understand that different people like different stuff, but I consider myself lucky to own what for me is the perfect setup in terms of sound, features, convenience and quality.
Is there anything I don't like about my Markbass stuff? No, nothing much (okay, maybe I'd prefer tolex to ratfur and some different options for the tweeters). Sorry if this mini-review sounds sort of uncritical but it's just what I felt when I got the stuff and still feel after several years of ownership.
A few points that might or might not be helpful:
1) I don't particularly want my rig to contribute much character to the sound of my bass - I just want to hear it (other people differ I know, and that is fine of course). In this sense the rig is pretty much just a stage monitor. The Markbass does this just fine and I always enjoy the onstage sound.
To quickly elaborate further on my first point: it's kind of strange that the "in the mix" sound is so much of what I like about this rig, rather than the "on its own" sound. It's only when I'm playing with a band that I really appreciate just how very good this stuff sounds, for some reason. I sometimes think that if you guys heard me playing this at home or in a store, you'd have a hard time understanding what's so great about it (as would I). That understanding would be there instantly if you heard the same sound in a band situation and it's in that situation that my tone brings a big cheesy grin to my face rather than at home. I suppose this is a similar situation to the way that on some favourite recordings, a bass that sounds great in the mix can sound totally different when isolated. Anyway, moving on...
2) I've had nothing but compliments about my tone when the rig is not being supplemented by FOH support or when I use the internal DI to go through the PA.
3) All that said, I do agree that there is a slight mid-heavy voicing to the cabs, especially the 210. This only helps for me personally. I like it and it really helps me to be heard in a mix without overpowering the rest of the band onstage.
4) The EQ works fine for me, but I only ever give it pretty tiny tweaks, a lot of the time the amp is set perfectly flat. For recording, by the way, I always just go straight to the desk.
5) The tiltback feature on the combo (when used alone) is massively useful and the main reason why I prefer the combo to any head + cab option in that small gig situation.
6) Construction and build are absolutely top notch in all respects.
7) The products seemed pricey to me when I purchased them, but I'm totally satisfied with what I got for the money. I can't see me using anything else and if the need arises I'd replace either product with the current MB equivalent without hesitation. I understand that different people like different stuff, but I consider myself lucky to own what for me is the perfect setup in terms of sound, features, convenience and quality.
Is there anything I don't like about my Markbass stuff? No, nothing much (okay, maybe I'd prefer tolex to ratfur and some different options for the tweeters). Sorry if this mini-review sounds sort of uncritical but it's just what I felt when I got the stuff and still feel after several years of ownership.
I like the heads, not thrilled with cabinets- don't get me wrong, they are pretty loud for the size, just don't love the tone. Seems all thump to me, without a lot of cut (at least on stage) they do project well to the audience.
A lot of Thump, really? 
For some reason that sounds real good to me! Seriously sometimes I think our standards/expectations are a little high here. E.g., I just got the bass chair in a country band and for the audition and now practice I use a LittleMark II head into an old Avatar 115 cab (no tweeter). When I told them I was looking for a new stage rig they all told me they love the sound I have and told me to try it at a gig or two first. And this through a cab I consider a practice only tool.
For some reason that sounds real good to me! Seriously sometimes I think our standards/expectations are a little high here. E.g., I just got the bass chair in a country band and for the audition and now practice I use a LittleMark II head into an old Avatar 115 cab (no tweeter). When I told them I was looking for a new stage rig they all told me they love the sound I have and told me to try it at a gig or two first. And this through a cab I consider a practice only tool.
Been using Markbass heads from the week the amazing, industry changing LMII was released to now the F500. Uber reliable, nice warm, relatively neutral 'out of the box' tone.
The cabinets are a mixed bag. I'm not a fan of the very small boxes with the cheap piezo tweeters, which tend to fail, but the larger cabs with the true compression driver tweeters and crossovers are very lightweight, high quality, and like most other brands, have large variations in tone depending on the model. Nice stuff.
If you don't need zing, the Jeff Berlin combo is still 'top of the category' to me for quality, fat, warm, tone, reliability, and portability.
The cabinets are a mixed bag. I'm not a fan of the very small boxes with the cheap piezo tweeters, which tend to fail, but the larger cabs with the true compression driver tweeters and crossovers are very lightweight, high quality, and like most other brands, have large variations in tone depending on the model. Nice stuff.
If you don't need zing, the Jeff Berlin combo is still 'top of the category' to me for quality, fat, warm, tone, reliability, and portability.
+1 to what bassybill said about the in-the-mix sound as opposed to the solo sound. No matter what I THINK it oughta sound like, once I get in the mix I usually end up back to nearly "flat" for the best sound. I use the VLE to tame some clacking from my fingernails, but really, in the mix it's not noticeable.
I hear the Randy Jackson cab sounds excellent. Wish I had gotten two of those now instead of my Traveller 151Ps.
Played my LMIII head through an Ampeg 810. It sounded as good as the V4 head, but different (that cab has a sound all its own already built in).
I also have a CMD 121H combo that has an even sweeter tone than my LMIII+151Ps, but it has to go for smallish gigs, of course, having only one 12". Not too small, though, it has a surprisingly big sound for such a small package (bigger box than the 121P combo). had it since 2008, no problems with reliability.
I hear the Randy Jackson cab sounds excellent. Wish I had gotten two of those now instead of my Traveller 151Ps.
Played my LMIII head through an Ampeg 810. It sounded as good as the V4 head, but different (that cab has a sound all its own already built in).
I also have a CMD 121H combo that has an even sweeter tone than my LMIII+151Ps, but it has to go for smallish gigs, of course, having only one 12". Not too small, though, it has a surprisingly big sound for such a small package (bigger box than the 121P combo). had it since 2008, no problems with reliability.
I love the MB stuff. I have a pair of the NY 604 cabs and a Big Bang. I rotate a GB Streamliner in there as well. The MB equipment has been good to me. I know a lot of people don't care for the cabs, but I have no complaints. For what I do they are perfect.
I personally find I really *need* to engage the scoop filter a little bit on my LMII. I don't turn it up very much. Otherwise I get this really raw sound which is perhaps the "cheap" sound someone mentioned in an earlier post.
