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Markbass Preamp Clipping

Cap'n Redbeard

Cap'n Redbeard

Guest
Jan 23, 2016
148
175
44
Marinette, WI USA
#1
I recently picked up a Little Mark 250 Blackline which I run into a 4 ohm 2x10 Traveler cab. It's a nice sounding rig for the small bars I play in but I noticed one major design flaw the first time I plugged in. There is no input pad or low gain input for my higher output basses. With my AV P Bass I can run the gain at about 9 o'clock without clipping, my passive Jazz at about 10 o'clock, but my Stingray just slams the preamp to death. I need to turn the gain to the lowest possible setting to avoid that nasty SS clipping noise. Even then, with a hard pluck it will still clip. I can live with being a little less aggressive with my picking hand (I'm pretty heavy handed) but this will keep me from upgrading to a more expensive Markbass amp in the future. Bummer, I love the sound. Anyone else having a similar problem?
 
#2
As the amp works perfectly well with your passive basses the problem is caused by the stingray output being too high as you have already noticed. Do you have your volume and EQ pots on your stingray turned fully clockwise? If yes, then it will be putting out a very high signal to the amp. My pre Ernie Ball stingray doesn't have centre detents on the bass and treble pots but they are best positioned at about half way to start with and small amounts of cut or boost to taste. You should also back the stingray volume control down to match the output from your other basses, it will still sound great. When I first started using my stingray 30 years ago I thought all the pots should be full up like a passive bass but this is not how the stingray pre amp was intended to be used. Everything full up will overdrive almost all amplifier gain stages. Rather than looking for a -db input just turn the bass volume control down as it will achieve the same thing. I hope this helps.
 
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#3
Sparky Mark said:
As the amp works perfectly well with your passive basses the problem is caused by the stingray output being too high as you have already noticed. Do you have your volume and EQ pots on your stingray turned fully clockwise? If yes, then it will be putting out a very high signal to the amp. My pre Ernie Ball stingray doesn't have centre detents on the bass and treble pots but they are best positioned at about half way to start with and small amounts of cut or boost to taste. You should also back the stingray volume control down to match the output from your other basses, it will still sound great. When I first started using my stingray 30 years ago I thought all the pots should be full up like a passive bass but this is not how the stingray pre amp was intended to be used. Everything full up will overdrive almost all amplifier gain stages. Rather than looking for a -db input just turn the bass volume control down as it will achieve the same thing. I hope this helps.
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I typically run the EQ on the Stingray flat, at the center detent. I will sometimes add a little bump to the treble but not much. I guess I just got used to running the volume control full up because my other amp sounds great with a bit of clipping in the front end.
 
#5
B-string said:
Even though I am not a MarkBass fan, I would not make any assumptions about other products based on the lowest cost unit they offer. Extra features cost money and they are left out of the bargain model to hit a price point.
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My understanding is the only difference between this amp and their flagship, Little Mark III, is the output section and country of origin. The LM III doesn't have an input pad either. A surprising omission in my opinion.
 
#7
Screenshot_2016-03-21-19-32-34.png

B-string said:
I thought the Flagship was the TTE or Multi amp?
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#12
active Warwicka running to Markbass gear. 18vlt darkglass preamp in one too. No issues with mine.

the lm250 (pre blackline) one i had was killer. i even ran Darkglass/sansamp Di's in-front of it with no issues. I also use the TTE500 head. total beast!! love it.
 
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#13
anavar said:
active Warwicka running to Markbass gear. 18vlt darkglass preamp in one too. No issues with mine.

the lm250 (pre blackline) one i had was killer. i even ran Darkglass/sansamp Di's in-front of it with no issues. I also use the TTE500 head. total beast!! love it.
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Hmm. I wonder why mine is having so much trouble. I can't even imagine what would cause a preamp to be hotter than its built to be.
 
#14
Aaaaaaaagh! There is nothing wrong with either the amp preamp or the design. You are simply overloading the input stage by having the output of your active Stingray set at maximum. Turn the ray's volume down so that the input clip LED lights up at the same point as your passive basses.
 
#15
Sparky Mark said:
Aaaaaaaagh! There is nothing wrong with either the amp preamp or the design. You are simply overloading the input stage by having the output of your active Stingray set at maximum. Turn the ray's volume down so that the input clip LED lights up at the same point as your passive basses.
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Aaaaaaghh.. Nope. I and many others run a Ray classic pre full wood into the MB amp. I run gain at 11 o'clock with zero issues.
 
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