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Markbass Question

G

GSNOLA

Opinionated but approachable 4-string Scotsman.
Aug 2, 2010
716
661
New Orleans
#1
Hey y'all,

So, after much debate and rumination, I am about to go the Markbass route. I will be selling my entire GK family of equipment in favor of going small and Italian. :)

I am thinking a Little Mark III and two cabs, one to cover small gigs, and another to double cab for depth and range. Problem is: I have a confused brain when it comes to cab choice - I am thinking either Epifani, Berg or maybe MB - I was thinking a 410 and a 112/210...

I would love if someone could offer their opinion. I am truly struggling with the choice!

Cheers.
Gordon
 
#3
With my LMII:
I run either a 1x15 TL606 cabinet which can get very loud, or a Berg HT322 which can handle large stages with very full range tone
Agreed that mismatching brands of cabinets can be trouble
 
#4
Matching cabs is always a good down the middle idea. I'm an advocate of getting an all purpose cab to use on it's own and then if you feel that you are lacking something with that cab, purchase the cab that will best suit your needs. In my experience, a 410 and a 115 give you a lot of presence. I own a 410 and a 118... but honestly I'm not sure the 118 is all that great on it's own. I use it as a support for the 410. I do often dream of trying two 410s. There is something about multiple 10" speakers that truly gives an acoustic depth to bass sound.
 
#7
GSNOLA said:
I am thinking a Little Mark III and two cabs, one to cover small gigs, and another to double cab for depth and range. Problem is: I have a confused brain when it comes to cab choice - I am thinking either Epifani, Berg or maybe MB

I would love if someone could offer their opinion. I am truly struggling with the choice!

Cheers.
Gordon
Click to expand...

I've owned Epifani, Berg, and Markbass cabs and used them with my LMII. The LMII/Epifani combo is my favorite - but that's just me.
 
#9
i use an avatar 410 with my LM800. obviously not a matching cab, but damn good sounding nonetheless. i've been trying to upgrade to a "better" cab for years but the avatar has such insane handling and headroom i always end up going back to it. and it was very affordable too.
 
#14
GSNOLA said:
Hey y'all,

So, after much debate and rumination, I am about to go the Markbass route. I will be selling my entire GK family of equipment in favor of going small and Italian. :)

I am thinking a Little Mark III and two cabs, one to cover small gigs, and another to double cab for depth and range. Problem is: I have a confused brain when it comes to cab choice - I am thinking either Epifani, Berg or maybe MB - I was thinking a 410 and a 112/210...

I would love if someone could offer their opinion. I am truly struggling with the choice!

Cheers.
Gordon
Click to expand...

Hey Gordon. From your influences listed (which tonewise range from bright and grindy to clean and articulate), the Bergantino AE line is really something. The AE212 might be a 'one cab does everything' for you, since it has enough ooomph to almost perform at a 410 level, but at 55 pounds and a relatively small footprint, is 'small gig easy' with a cart.

It plays very nicely with the LMII/III. If you want to go modular, two AE210's would be great..... punchier and a bit brighter than the AE212, and a single AE210 is a very small, very nice stand-alone cab for small gigs.

The AE cabs are very a very nice match-up to the Markbass heads. The only downside to the AE cabs is the very beautiful but somewhat fragile spray on finish... so the padded covers are a must to keep them looking new.

I have a few clips of various Markbass heads with some of the AE cabs on my Youtube channel (link in my sig) that you might find helpful.
 
#15
Matching is cheaper and more practical imho. I'd rather pick two 210s or 2 212's instead of a big cab AND a small cab.

That way you can use (using the example of the 2 210s) one 210 for small gigs and both for the somewhat more volumewise requirant gigs.

One bummer. Little Marks tend to have some degradation in tone if you run 'm in their 8 ohms mode.
 
#17
One other comment to the OP. Given your influences and given you are coming for the very bright and aggressive GK rig, you might at least want to consider the Markbass F500. The F500 kind of sits between that grindy, bright GK voicing and the smooth, warm, fat LMII/III voicing. The feature set is great, it is smaller than the LMII/III, and it will be louder and punchier on the gig for you.

Both are great, just depends what you want. The F500 (and F1) have just that touch more presence up top and a bit more forceful, punchy low end that really works in a mix for me.

FYI, and just something to think about. The good news is, both GC and MF have no questions asked return policies if you try one and it isn't quite what you need.
 
#18
Hey,

I went the Mark Bass route about a year ago, and I have never looked back, Sold my SVT4 Pro and Ampeg 810 Cab..... way lighter and honestly in my opinion extreme improvement is sound, tone and power. So I def. agree with your choice.

I decided to go all the way and get the Mark Bass Tube 800, it has a great sound and flexibility to change your tone from solid state to tube or a mix of the two. Personally, I rarely ever stray from the tube side of the nob.

I run my Mark Bass through an Avatar Neo 410 Cab. Like other replying members I have found that the combination between the Mark Bass and Avatar is second to none. I am sure matching the brand would give a great sound and no doubt a great look to your rig, but for the money Avatar is incredible.

I have also been looking into getting a matching Avatar Neo 210 to have that smaller rig for practice and small gigs. So you might want to explore that option.

Good Luck!
 

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