Double Bass Markbass Nano Mark 300 impressions?

[Barcza]

My beloved, Aguilar AG500 is seems over, could not fix perfectly, it’s very unstable....
I need a new amp, but I can not spend too much now for that...
So I can afford max $400 (I’m in Europe). This Markbass has pretty good price here, it has 2Mohms input (unlike other Markbass amps..), so seems good with Upright!
I doubling a lot, I have an Aguilar SL112 can, I need reliable amp for my various gig, looking for natural transparent sound...
I also look at TC Electronic staffs too....
Please share your experiences!

 

[Francois Blais]

I may be wrong, but I think Markbass stuff is kind of voiced for BG, so may not be the most transparent.
But as I said, I may be wrong...

 

[Barcza]

I may be wrong, but I think Markbass stuff is kind of voiced for BG, so may not be the most transparent.
But as I said, I may be wrong...

The problem with the most of the Mark Bass amps, is the 500kOhms input impedance, but that particular amp has high 2mOhms input, and I heard the voice good with DB....

 

[Ric Vice]

I have it on good authority that the Markbass Nano 300 is a excellent DB amp. Greg Clinkbeard uses one and Robgrow loved his. It isn’t going to be as loud as your Aguillar AG 500. So keep that in mind.

 

[birgebass]

I'm using a Markbass CMD112 now and am very happy with it. Pretty light and sounds good, and doesn't take up much space. I am not using a pre-amp, either.

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

I have it on good authority that the Markbass Nano 300 is a excellent DB amp. Greg Clinkbeard uses one and Robgrow loved his. It isn’t going to be as loud as your Aguillar AG 500. So keep that in mind.

Yep,
I love it with DB. The AI Clarus quickly became my backup. I bet you would like it.

I also have the TC Bam and really like it but they are quite different. The MB is clean, solid and powerful. The TC is a warmer sounding amp with some bloom but is limited in the power department. I would expect the more powerful TC amps to have a similar voicing but don’t know.

 

[Ric Vice]

Outside the Markbass Nano Mark 300, I wouldn't be looking at Markbass for Double Bass. I tried the Big Bang and while it's a really good EB amp the EQ section isn't subtile at all. Especially in the low end.
Just my take of course. I tried the 2x8 and 1x10 combos as well. Just not really voiced for Double Bass unless you bypass the EQ.

P.S.

You have to also be very careful to check the input impedance of each Markbass amp.
For example I know that the Markbass Big Bang and the Nano Mark 300 have 2 Meg Ohm input impedances. But the large majority of Markbass Amps are 500 K Ohms.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

The Markbass amps remind me of the old SWR amps in terms of voicing. I’ve never been able to find my sound on any of the ones I’ve tried.

 

[Barcza]

Outside the Markbass Nano Mark 300, I wouldn't be looking at Markbass for Double Bass. I tried the Big Bang and while it's a really good EB amp the EQ section isn't subtile at all. Especially in the low end.
Just my take of course. I tried the 2x8 and 1x10 combos as well. Just not really voiced for Double Bass unless you bypass the EQ.

P.S.

You have to also be very careful to check the input impedance of each Markbass amp.
For example I know that the Markbass Big Bang and the Nano Mark 300 have 2 Meg Ohm input impedances. But the large majority of Markbass Amps are 500 K Ohms.

I just interested Nano Mark becouse the 2Mohms impedance, Big Bang is little bit more expensive than my target....

 

[Barcza]

Outside the Markbass Nano Mark 300, I wouldn't be looking at Markbass for Double Bass. I tried the Big Bang and while it's a really good EB amp the EQ section isn't subtile at all. Especially in the low end.
Just my take of course. I tried the 2x8 and 1x10 combos as well. Just not really voiced for Double Bass unless you bypass the EQ.

P.S.

You have to also be very careful to check the input impedance of each Markbass amp.
For example I know that the Markbass Big Bang and the Nano Mark 300 have 2 Meg Ohm input impedances. But the large majority of Markbass Amps are 500 K Ohms.

I played couple of rental MarkBass amp on tour, with impedance matching preamp
, I prefer Aguilar, but I never had problem with the voicing of MB amps, when buffer inserted....
There are not so many options in the price range, just Trace ELF, TC amps and GK MB 200.....Did you have experience with those?

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

I prefer the MB to the GK MB200.

 

[PhatBasstard]

I've had my first Nano 300 for about 3 years now.
IMHO they really hit it out of the park with this amp.
300 very big watts. I run my GK 810 neo with it all the time and never have to have the master above noon.
Plenty loud. Run it flat 90% of the time. Line out (switchable pre/post) works/sounds great.
Currently have a second (15 year anniversary model) on the way.

Thinking seriously of letting my LMT800 go. Don't need the extra wattage and I think volume to volume,
the Nano sounds better.

Can't comment for upright though....

 

[Fredrik E. Nilsen]

The Markbass amps remind me of the old SWR amps in terms of voicing. I’ve never been able to find my sound on any of the ones I’ve tried.

Just shows how different basses, players and preferences are. I've played a lot of Markbass, and I can always get a sound I like. GK, not so much.

 

[Marty Forrer]

I tried a Nano and it did nothing for me. A GK MB200 was much better. A TE Elf is my spare backup head and it works surprisingly well (10meg input).

 

[Ric Vice]

Very Interesting indeed. I demoed the MB200 but it didn’t have enough power to drive the TC 112 I was playing through at the time. Perhaps I’m not the best judge of these little amps the Elf is voiced like most Trace Elliot amps with an emphasis on upper midrange, which doesn’t complement the sound of my Double Bass with an the Ehrlund EAP pickup. Glad it works for others. Of these tiny amps the BAM 200 sounds decent, I got one as a backup.

 

[PhatBasstard]

Just got my second one today (15th Anniversary model).
Sounds great like the first one (red faced model).
It's nice, with the different face plates, that I can recognize which amp at a glance.

I've tried both the MB200 and Elf.
Both sounded great at low volume,
but the 200 watts just didn't seem to cut it when pushed a little.
These Nanos have a stunningly big 300 watts.
Like I said, I've used my red faced model with 810's on loud gigs.
It doesn't seem to flinch at all.

Also, I've owned a lot of Markbass over the last 10 years.
When I've been able to make apple to apple comparisons between Italian vs Indonesian models,
the Italian offerings have always won out.
These Nano 300 amps are the only Indonesian Markbass (there are no Italian Nano's)
I am (highly) impressed with. YMMV.

 

[oren]

I also use a MB CMD112 combo with no preamp and like the sound I get (Realist Lifeline PU). I have to fiddle with the tone controls a lot, but I can always get a sound that is very full with lots of lows but enough mids for definition.

 

[Ric Vice]

Markbass was one of the first Bass amp companies to use Class D power amps with SMPS. The F1, F500, and LMK. Apparently they didn’t sell well enough to continue producing them.

 

[Fredrik E. Nilsen]

I also use a MB CMD112 combo with no preamp and like the sound I get (Realist Lifeline PU). I have to fiddle with the tone controls a lot, but I can always get a sound that is very full with lots of lows but enough mids for definition.

I always bring my Headway pre-amp, and keep the amp flat (may roll of some bass). A little turn on the VPF if I can't get the sound I want right away. It's like a rescue button when everything else fails.

 

[Ric Vice]

The Headway is far superior to the pre amp section of the Markbass. When I first used it I plugged it straight into the front end of my amp, a Walter Woods Electroacoustic Ultra.
It was simply to much gain and duplicate EQ controls. I found it easier to run the EDB-2 (or EDB-1) into the return on the effects loop. So it's the only preamp driving the power
section. Since I have powered cabinets now, it's not an issue.