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Markbass Megathread PART 2

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#781
Brad Johnson said:
But how does that reflect on the amp? Not trying to be funny, serious question.

It sounds as if a perfect amp would fix a screwed up room. Knowing some rooms can't be fixed by musicians on a stage...
:hmm:
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It doesn't reflect on the amp. My only point in stating this "review" is that no amp is perfect. Sure it may have been a horrible accoustic enviroment, but the amp didn't help at all. In fact, as mentioned, it was the worst I've ever heard my tone through this setup. I'm virtually positive it was the room and the horrible stage. I just want people to understand that while this little amp really is something valueable, it won't solve all your problems.
 
#782
Played an outdoor gig saturday with no PA support for the bass.
The gig went pretty well, folks enjoyed it.

But thing I've noticed is I keep getting various bassists coming up after shows asking about my rig because it sounds so good and the bass is so massive. And of course, I'm all to pleased to tell them about it. A lot are shocked when they see the size of LM2. (For ref, I'm using a lm2 into a markbass 610hf. I played most of the gig with my marcus miller jazz, with a few tunes on my warwick vette fretless)

Feels good when other bassists come up asking how you get a sound :)
 
#783
xgabriele said:
It doesn't reflect on the amp. My only point in stating this "review" is that no amp is perfect. Sure it may have been a horrible accoustic enviroment, but the amp didn't help at all. In fact, as mentioned, it was the worst I've ever heard my tone through this setup. I'm virtually positive it was the room and the horrible stage. I just want people to understand that while this little amp really is something valueable, it won't solve all your problems.
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Cool... I'd hope people already know that no amp can fix every challenging environment.

It's just that saying it isn't "perfect" because of that gig seems to reflect on the amp.
 
#784
xgabriele said:
FOURTH GIG REVIEW 10/12/07:
I decided that on this gig I was only going to use the LMII into my UL410, using my MTD 635. We played one of the most popular bars in the area. Long story short, everything sounded awful. The bass sounded woofy and indistinct. I'm sure there were many factors that caused it. The room was long, wide, almost cavernous. We played on a stage riser that was completely empty underneath. Even though I used my auralex gramma pad, I could feel the whole stage rumbling with bass. The stage was so flimsy it fell almost like a trampoline. I find that I like the LMII with the eq set flat and the filters off. Bring the LMII up to gig volume this way usually produces a very nice tone, no eq needed. However, on stage, I've never heard my rig sound worse than it did that night. The stage was to small and loaded up, so that I couldn't get out into the bar with my bass to hear what anything sounded like, but I was not happy at all with my tone. Anyways, this "review" isn't to discredit the LMII, but to show that no amp is perfect in every room. I don't know what I could have done differently, but I wish I had a trusted bassist's ear in the audience that night to help me figure out what to do.
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PLaying a night when you can`t get the sound right is a nightmare. Your UL410 have quite a lot of lows? Actually I have had very good results with cabs that don`t go that low, like the Ampeg 808HE, and now the MarkBass 106CL. But it`s all a matter of taste off course
 
#785
bugbass said:
PLaying a night when you can`t get the sound right is a nightmare. Your UL410 have quite a lot of lows? Actually I have had very good results with cabs that don`t go that low, like the Ampeg 808HE, and now the MarkBass 106CL. But it`s all a matter of taste off course
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Oh yeah, totally. The UL410 is capable of massive lows. However, I couldn't get out into the audience at all to see what it sounded like out there. I had my eq flat on both the LMII and my bass, so I certainly wasn't boosting anything to add to the problem. But I wasn't able to hear what I needed to take away.
 
#786
Got myself an SA450 over the weekend :D:D:D:D:D

Its totally made me rethink the quality of my cabs (a 10 year old pair of Laney 4x10s). So much punch!

Still going to upgrade the cabs as they weigh a tonne and don't fit in my car very easily. Either a Schroeder (410L or 21012L) or Epifani (UL310 or UL410) - no way of A/B'ing them over here in Blighty though :(

I'm going to get to really let it loose this weekend at a mates studio - he has an Eden 115XL (or whatever) that I can run it through. He's a drummer, but with excellent taste in gear, and enough ready cash to get at least one of the best of everything he can for other musicians who may come to his studio :smug:

Can not wait!:hyper:
 
#787
51m0n said:
Got myself an SA450 over the weekend :D:D:D:D:D

Its totally made me rethink the quality of my cabs (a 10 year old pair of Laney 4x10s). So much punch!

Still going to upgrade the cabs as they weigh a tonne and don't fit in my car very easily. Either a Schroeder (410L or 21012L) or Epifani (UL310 or UL410) - no way of A/B'ing them over here in Blighty though :(

I'm going to get to really let it loose this weekend at a mates studio - he has an Eden 115XL (or whatever) that I can run it through. He's a drummer, but with excellent taste in gear, and enough ready cash to get at least one of the best of everything he can for other musicians who may come to his studio :smug:

Can not wait!:hyper:
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Congrats! I'll tell you this...Markbass heads work REALLY well with Epifani cabs...
 
#788
I know, I've read the threads - GAS, so much pain! - really cant decide between without hearing them, the Epi's get rave reviews for their effortless hifi sound but are a bit more expensive, and the Scro's get rave reviews for people needing to get the job done (ie hear it everywhere).

Contention exists over build quality of Schro's by some people and series 2 Epi's by others. Who knows the truth there.

Schro customer service appears to be fantastic. I'm sure Epi service is good too.

Its such a tough decision. But either way will be a massive step up from where I am cab wise, so I'm trying not to let it worry me too much :cool:

I've not really been an active player for several years and the technology has just leapt forwards. It's a fantastic time to be a bassist! :bassist::bassist:
 
#789
51m0n said:
I know, I've read the threads - GAS, so much pain! - really cant decide between without hearing them, the Epi's get rave reviews for their effortless hifi sound but are a bit more expensive, and the Scro's get rave reviews for people needing to get the job done (ie hear it everywhere).

Contention exists over build quality of Schro's by some people and series 2 Epi's by others. Who knows the truth there.

Schro customer service appears to be fantastic. I'm sure Epi service is good too.

Its such a tough decision. But either way will be a massive step up from where I am cab wise, so I'm trying not to let it worry me too much :cool:

I've not really been an active player for several years and the technology has just leapt forwards. It's a fantastic time to be a bassist! :bassist::bassist:
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Just FYI... the build quality of the Schro's came about based on some early light designs partially made of some sort of particle board or MDF or something. The Schro lights are now all l00% lightweight wood. There are some 'interesting' design issues in some of the Schro designs, like putting different sized drivers in the same box without separate internal tuning, etc. However, for a mid punchy tone, the 1212L and the 410L are both killer.

I continue to prefer literally every Epifani S1 box I've heard versus the S2's in general, but it's not a deal killer. And, with the class D Markbass heads (F1 and SD800), I actually prefer the wider, more even voicing of the S2's, since those heads already have a little upper mid voicing to them. For the LMII, the S1 310UL and 410UL sound massively KILLER!!!

A 310UL (II) with an F1 would be one heck of a modern, loud, punchy and stupid lightweight rig IMO, and 4ohm 401UL (II) with an SD800 will knock a wall down (again, with a very clean tone, which could be a positive or negative). I'm finding the F1 does growl a touch more than the SD800 when pushed.. I assume due to the low end compressing and grunting a little bit versus the totally clean headroom of the SD800.

Just musing and FYI!
 
#790
KJung said:
Just FYI... the build quality of the Schro's came about based on some early light designs partially made of some sort of particle board or MDF or something. The Schro lights are now all l00% lightweight wood. There are some 'interesting' design issues in some of the Schro designs, like putting different sized drivers in the same box without separate internal tuning, etc. However, for a mid punchy tone, the 1212L and the 410L are both killer.

I continue to prefer literally every Epifani S1 box I've heard versus the S2's in general, but it's not a deal killer. And, with the class D Markbass heads (F1 and SD800), I actually prefer the wider, more even voicing of the S2's, since those heads already have a little upper mid voicing to them. For the LMII, the S1 310UL and 410UL sound massively KILLER!!!

A 310UL (II) with an F1 would be one heck of a modern, loud, punchy and stupid lightweight rig IMO, and 4ohm 401UL (II) with an SD800 will knock a wall down (again, with a very clean tone, which could be a positive or negative). I'm finding the F1 does growl a touch more than the SD800 when pushed.. I assume due to the low end compressing and grunting a little bit versus the totally clean headroom of the SD800.

Just musing and FYI!
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Not trying to derail this thread here BTW everyone!

Ostensibly this is still a MarkBass megathread topic, I guess since I want to get the best possible rig I can given an SA450 (essentially an LMII with some bells and whistles) as a starting point.

So with that in mind I have read all your posts regarding MB/Schro/Epi gear, KJung, and have been really glad to have so much to read and muse on.

So money where your mouth is chap. Say you could afford 1 cab to go with your LMII that had to do it all, and last for ever, and fit in a family car (no hatchback access either, its a 10 yr old BMW 3 series), sound fantastic, and always be heard by you and everyone else on stage and in the venue (maybe as much as a 3 or 4 hundred capacity crowd here). What would it be?

Oh and I like it pretty clean, and punchy as hell, although I want more depth (and volume if physically possible) than I get with my 2 very punchy 4x10's....

No pressure mate :D
 
#791
51m0n said:
Not trying to derail this thread here BTW everyone!

Ostensibly this is still a MarkBass megathread topic, I guess since I want to get the best possible rig I can given an SA450 (essentially an LMII with some bells and whistles) as a starting point.

So with that in mind I have read all your posts regarding MB/Schro/Epi gear, KJung, and have been really glad to have so much to read and muse on.

So money where your mouth is chap. Say you could afford 1 cab to go with your LMII that had to do it all, and last for ever, and fit in a family car (no hatchback access either, its a 10 yr old BMW 3 series), sound fantastic, and always be heard by you and everyone else on stage and in the venue (maybe as much as a 3 or 4 hundred capacity crowd here). What would it be?

Oh and I like it pretty clean, and punchy as hell, although I want more depth (and volume if physically possible) than I get with my 2 very punchy 4x10's....

No pressure mate :D
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If you have really read all of his posts, you should know what he is going to say...:D
 
#793
51m0n said:
Well I think I do, but getting him on the spot and to be succinct about it is the key :D
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No problem with 'on the spot', but I've never been accused of being succinct:D:p

If you are using two 410's... I'm not sure one cab is going to keep up, no matter how good. That being said.... if you are limited to a 'non gear optimal car' (i.e., back seat), and small and light with still enough ooomph to do a moderate gig, a used Series I 310UL with an LMII would be my ultimate rig. Will it keep up with two 410's... no. If you can't find a S1 310UL, I would go with the F1/310UL S2 over the LMII... nicer matchup (based on my S1 410UL vs. S2 410UL experience).

Edit: The Schro 1212L will actually be louder, but at the expense of come loss of full, deep lows.. so all in all, the 310UL is still my ultimate 'back seat' cab with the LMII! I was almost succinct until the edit!
 
#794
KJung said:
No problem with 'on the spot', but I've never been accused of being succinct:D:p

If you are using two 410's... I'm not sure one cab is going to keep up, no matter how good. That being said.... if you are limited to a 'no gear optimal car' (i.e., back seat), and small and light with still enough ooomph to do a moderate gig, a used Series I 310UL with an LMII would be my ultimate rig. Will it keep up with two 410's... no.
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:) That's pretty much what I thought you would say!

Cheers KJung :)

If only second hand S1 UL310's weren't harder to find than rocking horse cr@p in the UK I wouldn't be asking this!

I keep hoping that I could find a way to fit an S2 UL410 in the boot (sorry trunk) of the car, but I just dont think it would quite fit - although I suspect it may be really close.

Another reason I keep looking at Schro kit. That 21012L looks like it would fit on the back seat - just......

Anyone got an angle grinder I can borrow? :D
 
#796
51m0n said:
:) That's pretty much what I thought you would say!

Cheers KJung :)

If only second hand S1 UL310's weren't harder to find than rocking horse cr@p in the UK I wouldn't be asking this!

I keep hoping that I could find a way to fit an S2 UL410 in the boot (sorry trunk) of the car, but I just dont think it would quite fit - although I suspect it may be really close.

Another reason I keep looking at Schro kit. That 21012L looks like it would fit on the back seat - just......

Anyone got an angle grinder I can borrow? :D
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No way on the 410UL, that takes an SUV or van to move easily. The Schroeder 410L and 21012L are both only about 16" deep, and will fit into the back of most cars. While I like the 21012L, the newest version of the 410L is pretty killer, but again, the mids are quite pronounced. It will be WAY louder than the 310UL (I or II), but not quite as even, full, and 'pretty' sounding. If your main goal is as loud and small as you can get (i.e., large, loud venue playing with limited PA support), then the 410L is the only cab I can think of that is lightweight and that would fit in the back of a mid sized car. The new Bergantino HS410 is about the same size, but 35 pounds heavier, but would be even more killer than the 410L, based on my experience with Jim's wonderful tweeters and crossovers. IMO.

Edit: Have you considered two of the Bergantino HS210's.... they would fit nicely, and give you '410UL' volume in at least a modular package.
 
#798
It highly depends on the car. When I went shopping for cars, I made gig friendly choices. My UL410 fits just fine in my Acura RSX TypeS (hatchback) and my wifes Mazda Protege5 (sport wagon). A giant SUV or van isn't nessecary if you pick the right car.
 
#799
xgabriele said:
It highly depends on the car. When I went shopping for cars, I made gig friendly choices. My UL410 fits just fine in my Acura RSX TypeS (hatchback) and my wifes Mazda Protege5 (sport wagon). A giant SUV or van isn't nessecary if you pick the right car.
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+1... almost any cab will fit in a hatchback or wagon (along with a van or SUV). The poster has a BMW 3 Series:p
 
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