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Markbass Jeff Berlin Amp?

KenHR

KenHR

Jul 28, 2010
248
44
50
Waterford, NY
#1
Hi, all,

I currently play my Jack Casady signature bass thru an SVT-4 head and an SVT-410 cabinet. I'm not particularly married to this rig, but it's served me very well for the past few years and I can't complain about it.

Of late, however, I've been quite a bit busier than before, playing in multiple bands at once, and the size and weight of my rig is beginning to tell. It's a royal PITA lugging all that stuff around.

This past weekend, I was messing with a couple P-Basses at my local GC and was playing it thru a Markbass Jeff Berlin combo. It sounded incredible...and it's a heckuva lot more compact than my current rig.

It'll be a while until I can get over to a store with my main axe to see how it sounds through the Markbass combo, so I'm wondering if anyone has played a Jack Casady or other hollowbody with this amp?

Also, would I be losing anything if I did make the switch? The SVT-4 ostesibly has more wattage, but has always seemed fairly quiet to me, and I rarely push the volume on it past 5 or 6, even in the noisy power pop group.

Thanks for any insight in advance.
 
#2
It's great for practicing, I heard it ridicules with a small sound clip when turning it off for not playing long enough. :D

In all honesty that combo isn't going to be effective with a loud drummer or a wall of guitars, that would require good PA support. If you like the way it sounds and don't have the volume needs then why not?
 
#3
An even lighter rig would be a Traveler 151P cab with any of the Markbass heads, such as the Little Mark III (that's what's in the Berlin). But that's only 300w at 8 ohms, and the Traveler doesn't come in 4 ohms to give you 500w. There's a Little Mark 800 (500w at 8 ohms), though, except the Traveler is rated at only 400w. Or you could do like me and head for two Travler 151Ps and a separate head.

The Berlin cab may have a different sound than the 151P, dunno, haven't tried one. My single 151P is not as deeply tuned as some other brands, but it has a tough sound. I'm using it as an extension to a 121H combo (single 12") while I save up awhile, but it's a mismatch. Not bad sounding, though. Markbass stuff is GOOD stuff.
 
#4
See the pic of me in my avatar, playing through a Jeff Berlin combo. I'm on stage with a full P.A. blasting the crowd, and I can hear myself fine over both the drummer and the P.A., outdoors (you can kind of see the amp between my legs in the background). I meant to bring an extension, but much to my surprise, I didn't need it. Anyone who says the Jeff Berlin (CMD151P) is not loud enough on its own must have limited experience with said combo. Plus, note that I am playing my Eastwood Classic IV semi-hollow. It sounds great through this combo. At 40+ pounds, this is the best investment I've ever made.
 
#5
Thanks for the info and insight, guys!

The loudest group I play in is the power pop group; we have a pounder on the drums (timing like a metronome, but damn) and the guitarist plays thru a Hughes & Kettner half stack. That's the only group where volume might possibly be an issue with a smaller amp, but it looks like my worries may be unfounded!

Any more insights and alternate suggestions are welcome, too, especially other Markbass gear; if it all sounds as good as that combo, I'm definitely gonna bring the Jack around and test everything I can. Very intrigued by these small, powerful heads that seem to be everywhere these days.

EDIT: electracoyote, what do use as an extension?
 
#7
I'll say this: the 500w I get with an extension to my 121H combo gives some nice headroom, and I don't fear that I'm about to blow a speaker on loud outdoor gigs. I still think two 15s will work best for me.

"electracoyote," which 151 cab are you using?
 
#9
I use a Jeff Berlin combo and I love it. I use it with a Carvin 212 cab sold it, and now use it with a another Markbass 151 15cab. Most of the time one cab is toward the drummer and the other toward me. We play loud and are drummer is very loud. I have never had a problem with volume. One time just for the heck of it I DI out to the PA and it was awesome. I sold a SWR 700 head, Schreoder 310212 cab which was about 100 pd cab. And I'am not one bit sorry.
 
#11
caaraa said:
The Berlin cab may have a different sound than the 151P, dunno, haven't tried one.
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I think they each have their own sound, from what I hear folks say. The 151P cab has often been said to have the most mids and least bottom. The 151HR is deeper. Don't know where the Berlin combo fits in here, though.

I chose the 151P cab because, by dang, I ain't gonna carry anything over 40 lbs.ever again. It weighs 37.3 lbs. and is just small enough to fit in the front seat of my small pickup.

I compared the Little Mark II through my 151P cab to my old Trace Elliot GP7SM 200 with its 115. Just at moderate volume. The Markbass rig is much louder due to more watts and a bigger cab, plus more speaker sensitivity. Tone-wise not better, but just different. However, the Markbass rig has a tone that cuts through the mix easier. Comparing the two sounds with the eq flat at the same volume, the Markbass stuff wins hands down. All my opinion, of course. I can get very deep lows from the 151P, even set flat, if I play toward the neck and play light with the volume up. The speaker is very robust, too, and doesn't complain if my hand accidentally plops down hard in between notes. A spike like that makes the 12" in my 121H clank. I can actually get some use from the VPF filter with the 151P cab. Two will be sweet!

Where the NY 151 fits in, sound-wise, I have no idea. I notice it costs more, even though it's smaller. It also still weighs the same as my 151P. Weird.

Anyway, all this points to the fact that, in my opinion anyone going for any of the Markbass stuff in 15" size will be very satisfied. I believe those who have rated my 151P cab poorly didn't give it a chance. I'm doing well with mine. Makes me wonder if I coulda gotten away with a NY151.
 
#14
I have a Cassidy, a Little Mark II, and a NY151P. This is a great rig for small to medium gigs. Its light weight and loud! I tend to look for functionality and value when I get gear. I'm a married musician(not gonna get rich any time soon). The Mark Bass gear has a great value in my opinion. I find that the NY151P helps me with the GIGANTIC Cassidy bass sound. You will have a lot of low-mids happening so you have have to dial some out unless that's your sound. The tweeter has a lot of hiss, but I keep mine almost completly off. For big rooms, I use my Ampeg rig which provides more than enough. I would suggest having a light rig and big rig. I keep my ampeg on a trailer and my mark bass stuff at the house. You could also buy a wedge from Mark Bass to prop up your cab just to get it in your ear a little. Hope this was helpful and good luck!!!

Cory
 
#17
Thanks for all the comments! As soon as I can free up some money to make up any difference between what I'm able to get for my current rig and the Jeff Berlin, I'll be making the move. Might be a few weeks before I can (grumble grumble stupid moving costs and rental office that won't release us from our lease early), but I'm decided!
 
#18
They're great amps, one of the best combos out there but for the same price you can get a 4 ohm Avatar TB153 with a Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 head. The extreme power and versatility of the later makes it tough to beat in this price range.

:bassist:
 
#20
rodl2005 said:
I just removed the tweeter a x-over from my HR151-sounds heaps better imo. The lmii into this is nice & I imagine 2x15"s would be great. I also stuck some dampening material in it, as it had none. I think that helped the sound too.
I like the idea of a 15" with no tweeter.
Click to expand...

Did you remove the x-over from the signal (run the input directly to the speaker)? Any pics of what you did?
 

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