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Markbass Indecision

Moe Vargas

Moe Vargas

Feb 14, 2012
21
0
49
San Juan, Puerto Rico
#1
I can't decide which of the following stacks will work best for me:

Little Mark III with:

1. Traveler 2 x10" 10p cab

2. New York 604 cab

3. New York 151 cab

or simply get the CMD 151P Jeff Berlin combo.

I only have $1,350.00 to spend & I play at small clubs (jazz, rock, reggae, latin, etc..)

any suggestion?
 
#4
Moe Vargas said:
I can't decide which of the following stacks will work best for me:

Little Mark III with:

1. Traveler 2 x10" 10p cab

2. New York 604 cab

3. New York 151 cab

or simply get the CMD 151P Jeff Berlin combo.

I only have $1,350.00 to spend & I play at small clubs (jazz, rock, reggae, latin, etc..)

any suggestion?
Click to expand...

While not a fan of a lot of the Markbass cabs (hate those little piezo tweeters in some models.... I'd avoid those), that Jeff Berlin combo is KILLER sounding IMO. Great 115 cab, and a great match to the LMIII. If you don't need the extended top end of a tweeter, that IMO is a very good option.

I would personally avoid the 'P' piezo loaded cabs. Those tweeters tend to blow after a while, and are pretty much only good for the very top of the upper treble sizzle IME.
 
#6
For budget small gigging I can't recommend the MBE Gallien Krueger cabs too highly. Nothing compares price to performance. They have some potential issues with bracing/batting but so do most commercial cabs. They sound OK as is and are super cheap and light.

The 2x12 and the 4x10 are the sweet spots, IMHO.
 
#8
I like the Berlin combo. If you want to get that with more versatility, get the LMKIII and the NY151. Even though the NY151 has a tweeter, you can turn it off. But I'd choose one of those two options (Berlin combo or the head and NY151 cab).
 
#10
I use a pair of the NY 604 cabs and I think they sound great. In small clubs I use one without pa support. For larger gigs I use both with pa support. I think the low end is big and full sounding and the mids cut thru nicely. I mostly use a GB Streamliner 900 as my main amp. At 18" square they are great sounding and very well built cabs.
 
#11
Freddels said:
I like the Berlin combo. If you want to get that with more versatility, get the LMKIII and the NY151. Even though the NY151 has a tweeter, you can turn it off. But I'd choose one of those two options (Berlin combo or the head and NY151 cab).
Click to expand...

+1.

There is also the Traveler 151P cab. That's what I gig with for now, and a LMIII head. I don't worry about the tweet.

Nothing wrong with Markbass cabs, IMO.
 
#13
I have been dealing with the same concern lately. I first looked at the Markbass 2x10 cabinets - very light, but as soon as you push them a bit they seem to "fart out" - hard to describe. I would think they would be OK for a very small club though.

Their heads didn't have the greatest tone IMHO either.

Ended up going with a GK 1001RB and NEO 4x10 cab.

I love the GK stuff because of how versatile the tones it can produce are.
 
#16
Moe Vargas said:
I can't decide which of the following stacks will work best for me:

Little Mark III with:

1. Traveler 2 x10" 10p cab

2. New York 604 cab

3. New York 151 cab

or simply get the CMD 151P Jeff Berlin combo.

I only have $1,350.00 to spend & I play at small clubs (jazz, rock, reggae, latin, etc..)

any suggestion?
Click to expand...

Given your choices I would go with a 604.
 
#18
i've used both a GK mbe15 and a markbass nyc121 cab with ampeg & mb heads, playing similar styles of music as you mention, and the mb cab sounds better to me. my recommendation to you depends on portability concerns. if you don't mind the bulkier and heavier 15 cab, i'd go with that, but if you mostly play smaller venues, it might be nice to get a smaller sized cab now (2x10, 1x12, can't speak about 604 from experience) with the idea of buying another comparable sized cab at a later time for venue appropriate modularity. i also don't like the piezo horns on the 'cheaper' markbass models, but the cabs should give you an attenuator, so my piezo is always off. my cmd121p combo doesn't have the attenuator (only negative mark in my book), and i'd check on the 151 combo if that matters to you...
 
#20
I like the traveler 102p 2x10 cab. My priorities were very small and very lightweight. They sound really great to me too. At 400 watts they're OK for rehearsal or a small quiet club. Like any other speaker they don't fart out unless you overpower them or run too much gain into your amp.
A pair of them stacked vertically sounds much fuller and more present than a single.

Gallien-Krueger 210 MBE-II is 14.5" x 19" x 23"
Markbass Traveler 102P is 13" x 17" x 23.4"
both are rated 400w, both are listed at 33 lbs.
G-K has an on-off switch for the tweeter,
Markbass has a knob you can dial in just the right amount or none at all.

The Markbass is significantly smaller,
the G-K is about half the price (wow)
and if it sounds as good or better it would be a winner.

Does it sound better? I dunno I never played through one.
As with everything else personal preference is the way to go. Try them both and see what you like.

If possible play them with your band. What things sound like in the mix is not the same as what you hear in the music store or practicing alone.
 

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