Markbass Megathread PART 3

[emjazz]

musicman, sounds like an awesome rig, but you really need to read my thread on vertical stacking of cabinets. The low-end coupling factor by putting both cabs on the floor isn't reduced in any way by stacking one cab on top of the other, plus you will get a much truer representation of your sound to the audience because you'll have a cab closer to ear level. The only thing putting both cabs on the floor does is cause you to strain to hear it the right way. You may think you're hearing it plain as day, but the audience is hearing something completely different from you, especially if you stand close to it. It's just like modern day stereo systems with subwoofers...put a sub on the floor, and two small satellite speakers in the air, and you hear full-range sound everywhere you go in the room. Try it...stack the combo on top of the Avatar so the combo's at ear level. I guarantee that you'll hear it just as the audience does with no loss of low end.

I get a much better sound with my LMKII and my two Berg 112's when they're next to each other on the floor. I don't like them stacked as much. The sound next to each other really carries through the room more. I talked to Janek Gwizdala once when he used my rig and he commented on the same thing.

 

[Brad Johnson]

I tried my Nahas setup side by side (the 1-12 is a tiltback) and I like it a lot more stacked. The sound seems more focused and it's nice to have the 12 "up" on a shallow stage. Sounds more linke a single source from the two different cabs. Maybe it makes less of a difference with identical cabs.

 

[Vic]

Well, I got my Markbass Little Mark II yesterday...

EXACTLY the same thing that happened to me. EXACTLY. Congrats dude.

 

[locolobo85]

Wrong thread......

 

[emjazz]

I tried my Nahas setup side by side (the 1-12 is a tiltback) and I like it a lot more stacked. The sound seems more focused and it's nice to have the 12 "up" on a shallow stage. Sounds more linke a single source from the two different cabs. Maybe it makes less of a difference with identical cabs.

Yeah, I think mine both being 112's makes a difference. If I had a 115 and a 112 I'd stack 'em.

 

[JimmyM]

Hmm, interesting point about the identical cabs. Well, I guess I'm going to see over the course of the next few months, because I've changed my rider to either a 12" and 15" cab together, or any two cabs if I can't get the 12" and 15", and I'm sure I'll get plenty of identical pairs on fly dates. Funny how Bowzer always gets his rider filled exactly and I always get stuck with whatever the promoter's kid has for bass equipment

On another note, has everybody gotten their MARKBASS ENWSLETTER in their email boxes yet (their spelling, not mine)? Seen any familiar faces in it?

 

[gregbackstrom]

You all make excellent points about cutting low end, or just not having it in excess. But I think I'm one of the exceptions here. I absolutely have to hear a decent amount of fundamental down to 30 Hz. I picked up this disease as a little kid after hearing the bass stops in a real pipe organ in a church. If I hear too much second harmonic in relation to the fundamental, it drives me nuts! This is not to say I prefer a very scooped sound either, because I don't. As much as I need the fundamental down there, I also really need to hear the low mids and center mids to provide pitch definition, the basic voice of the instrument, and to cut through and sit properly in the mix. So I'm trying to "get under" the band as well as "cut through" it. It's a very difficult balance to achieve, but the Epifani UL310/LMII does this very well for me with the jazz basses I play using the Sadowsky preamp.

I also love that very low fundamental. It doesn't come as easily for me with the Epi 410 s2 as with my Acme B2 stack, though. The Acmes are fast, courtesy of the 10's, but provide that super low end that allows you to play lightly on the B & E strings and still create a big sonic envelope. I wish my LMII could handle Acmes, but the Epi 902c does a great job with them.

I'm still pretty jazzed with the LMII's performance, especially with two Epi UL 112's -- what a great small, portable rig! But there's a sonic quality the Epifani 902c has that the Markbass can't achieve. It's like the Epifani really grabs each note and "fully-forms" it, where the LMII sounds like the note gets spit out before the sound is all there. It's not a speed thing -- I'm really sensitive to that, and the common trait these amps share is that they're both really fast.

On another note, I got my Markbass small amp bag from GC today. It's a great transport option for the LMII, but I'm really disappointed in the condition it arrived in. The bag was tossed in a shipping carton with a bunch of amps and arrived kinda crunched. As a result, it's really hard to get the bag to zip. Hopefully it'll straighten out in time!

Well, time to play ...
Greg

 

[JimmyM]

So for a little while, I was considering a speaker change in my 12" combo because it sounded a tad harsh in the mids with my Precision, then I thought it was the tweeter causing the harsh. So then I pulled out my SM-500 and AB'd it against the LM II in the same speakers (12" combo speaker, B-15N), and it didn't sound harsh.

Then it hit me why the MB cab sounded harsh to me...mid scoop. Precisions are all about midrange. And when using a 2-pickup bass like a Jazz, I always had to boost mids on the EQ of the SWR to hear it over the band, then when I switched to a Precision this year, I didn't have to boost them as much and I could hear fine. But when I used my Guitar Factory active PJ bass in my MB rig the other night, I had no problem hearing at all with the MB set flat but it didn't sound harsh.

You know, I knew my SWR had a mid scoop, but I never knew it had THAT much of a mid scoop. I got so used to hearing it that way that I'm actually hearing what mids are supposed to sound like in my LM II, and the harshness isn't harshness at all, I'm hearing the mids as they're supposed to be. The one thing that most impressed me with the MB is how every note jumps out at you, but jumps out at you evenly so you actually hear every note plain as day but a note played way high up on the bass won't be any louder or quieter than a note played on the 1st fret.

But really, I can't say much bad about the SWR. It was the only solid state amp I really liked, maybe GK as well once they got their act together. But this MB amp is another whole realm of flat response, with an added tubelike punchiness I never heard in another solid state amp. I hear so much mid out of the Precision because the Precision makes that much mid. I just have to get used to it, or maybe quit changing the strings so much. At least now I know I don't have to buy anything...holy geez, I've spent so much money! And one day I'll pay it back!

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

Well, I have decided to build my own rack for my LMII using 1/4" plywood.

It should be fairly easy to do. This way I can build something that is completely customized to my wants.

Question: How much space should I leave between the vents on the side of the amp and the rack? 2cm?

 

[Joebone]

This is a plea to the powers that be at Mark Bass and Guitar Center for release of the CMD 121H Combo in the United States as soon as reasonably possible!

I love my LMII head...

I love the way it sounds with my Aggie GS-112 cabinets...

I did not love the CMD 121P combo.

I suspect the CMD 121H combo would give me the advantages I perceive from coupling the LMII w/ the aggies, but in a one-box solution that would be highly convenient in many circumstances.

Web-crawling suggests a pretty strong consensus from our Canadian, U.K. and European brothers-in-bass that the CMD 121H is the best of the mark bass combos....in fact, Mark Bass's website suggests that the CMD 121H is an item specifically cherished by Peter Murray, whom I understand is the head of North American distribution for Mark Bass.

SO, FOLKS, can those of us in the US get a crack at sampling the likely pleasures of the CMD 121H sometime in the near future???????????????????????????????????????????????

THANKS!!!!!!!

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

Yup, I played the 121H combo up here in Vancouver Canada at a local store and it kicks some serious butt. But at $1275cdn I went with a UL112 with my LMII. I figured that Epifani will sound slightly better (because hell its epifani!) weigh slightly less and cost much less.

The UL112 arrived today, but my band is still on our xmas break so I wont have a chance to give it a whirl for awhile. I can tell you one thing. The UL112 is damn light and extremely portable. If it sounds as good, as I expect it does, it will be bass nirvana.

 

[JimmyM]

Well, I have decided to build my own rack for my LMII using 1/4" plywood.

It should be fairly easy to do. This way I can build something that is completely customized to my wants.

Question: How much space should I leave between the vents on the side of the amp and the rack? 2cm?

I would guess as much as possible. There's never too much venting, only not enough.

 

[ritterbass]

Well took the plunge for a LMK II, last week. Finally got it after testing it out in the store like 5 different times...Just waiting on them rack ears now! I hope it delivers.

 

[KJung]

It won't sound anything like your SVT, but it will be loud, clean, warm but also crisp. Also, I assume those knobs just got moved around in transit. If not, EQ like that on this head might end up a muddy mess (my guess is, if you have it set that way, you are compensating for an incorrectly set pre gain level). Flatten everything out (filters off, everything else at noon). Then, set the pre gain correctly.. play your hardest, lowest note and turn the pre gain until the clip light just starts lighting up.. then back it off a touch. For most us us, and with most basses, that will be between 11 and 1 o'clock... quite a bit higher with a low output passive bass. Then, adjust volume with the master. Roll in just a touch of each filter if you find you have too bright of a tone (VLE) or a little too much 'mid honk' (VPF).

Enjoy!

 

[Vic]

Also, I assume those knobs just got moved around in transit. If not, EQ like that on this head might end up a muddy mess...

+1

I set mine up with the gain around noon, maybe 1:00, master as needed, and then pretty much flat, with anywhere from NONE to 10:00 VPF. I rarely use the VLE, but if I did, I'd probably never get above 9:00.

On the EQ, I sometimes bump the high mids and treble a little, but never more than about 1:00. I also have bumped the lows a touch, but rarely. Otherwise I'm pretty much flat most of the time.

 

[chadds]

Well took the plunge for a LMK II, last week. Finally got it after testing it out in the store like 5 different times...Just waiting on them rack ears now! I hope it delivers.

It's the same eq as his SVT except the Master!

 

[KJung]

It's the same eq as his SVT except the Master!

I just noticed that

 

[ritterbass]

It won't sound anything like your SVT, but it will be loud, clean, warm but also crisp. Also, I assume those knobs just got moved around in transit. If not, EQ like that on this head might end up a muddy mess (my guess is, if you have it set that way, you are compensating for an incorrectly set pre gain level). Flatten everything out (filters off, everything else at noon). Then, set the pre gain correctly.. play your hardest, lowest note and turn the pre gain until the clip light just starts lighting up.. then back it off a touch. For most us us, and with most basses, that will be between 11 and 1 o'clock... quite a bit higher with a low output passive bass. Then, adjust volume with the master. Roll in just a touch of each filter if you find you have too bright of a tone (VLE) or a little too much 'mid honk' (VPF).

Enjoy!

Although i love the SVT sound etc, I didnt get this head at all expecting to recreate that sound in a lighter rig...I knew that I was going to be getting something different and thats exactly what i got it for. Yeah i was toying around with these settings on both heads...I actualy didnt mind that setting on the SVT. I don't mind bumping the mids up a touch but yeah for the most part I don't do much corrective EQ anyway. So having it set the way you suggested is probably where i'll be going next with it. Its been awhile since i have been able to use alot of this stuff in a full band setting to see how well each setting works so i'm sort of still messing around with it right now...Also with this head, as with the SVT, i'm using it in conjunction with a BBE 482i, ISP noise decimator and Ashly CLX 52 comp...So not much corrective EQ knob turning on the head is needed. Thanks for the input though.

 

[waffle puzzle]

Good luck with the rack ears kit----I ordered mine Sept 1st, and as of two weeks ago, they were still on back order from the manufacturer.

 

[ritterbass]

Good luck with the rack ears kit----I ordered mine Sept 1st, and as of two weeks ago, they were still on back order from the manufacturer.

Thats insane...yeah even my mesa walkabout rack ears took some time to come from when i ordered them( about a month or so i believe). The Place where i got the LMK II from didnt give any indication that i'd be waiting forever to get them so...hopefully not!