MarkBass strings coming..

[SJan3]

I'm excited to see MarkBass enter the string arena. I've been happy with their amplification for years and it seems a good fit that they would venture into Bass strings.
Anyone else willing to give em a try when they hit the market in March?

 

[Bergerman]

Hopefully they won't come with black & yellow silk wraps

 

[vindibona1]

MarkBass certainly has name recognition. But will they be able to carve out a niche in a very crowded string market? Can they make a string that's different enough, perceptibly better sounding, longer lasting... at a price that might get the attention of those who already have their favorite string sets? Who is actually making them? I know D'Addario does a lot of string production for other companies. So does GHS. I'm curious as to MarkBass source for strings. Do you think that MarkBass is manufacturing their own strings?

 

[Papuzzo]

Am I the only one that thinks Markbass should just concentrate on amplification? The heads and cabs are great, but could always be better. Going to pedals is a stretch, but making basses? The founder was very good at amplification and that's why the company took off in the first place. But basses? Now strings? What's next? Keyboards? Saxophones? A clothing line? To me it seems there are too many consultants who really don't understand musicians that are pushing Markbass to expand on brand diversification but are really just diluting the brand and the focus of the company until it is synonymous with Walmart. Anyway, that's my .02 and I hope I am wrong. I have a pre-indonesia Little Mark 250 and it is the best sounding amp I have ever heard. Markbass really hit it out of the park with the Little Mark. I really doubt the Markbass basses, strings, and perfumes will do the same.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Am I the only one that thinks Markbass should just concentrate on amplification? The heads and cabs are great, but could always be better. Going to pedals is a stretch, but making basses? The founder was very good at amplification and that's why the company took off in the first place. But basses? Now strings? What's next? Keyboards? Saxophones? A clothing line? To me it seems there are too many consultants who really don't understand musicians that are pushing Markbass to expand on brand diversification but are really just diluting the brand and the focus of the company until it is synonymous with Walmart. Anyway, that's my .02 and I hope I am wrong. I have a pre-indonesia Little Mark 250 and it is the best sounding amp I have ever heard. Markbass really hit it out of the park with the Little Mark. I really doubt the Markbass basses, strings, and perfumes will do the same.

Markbass is a design / contract / label more than a manufacturer these days.
Likely to become a Behringer acquisition (both love yellow)
Designed in Italy, made in China.

 

[Stan_da_man]

Markbass is a design / contract / label more than a manufacturer these days.
Likely to become a Behringer acquisition (both love yellow)
Designed in Italy, made in China.

Utter rubbish being spouted as usual...

 

[Jon Moody]

I'm curious as to MarkBass source for strings. Do you think that MarkBass is manufacturing their own strings?

There's some talk on the Double Bass side about this. Apparently, Markbass bought Italian string company D'Orazio. So yes, they're manufacturing their own strings.

I'll be curious to see if these are now just repackaged D'O strings, or a new endeavor using the foundation of the string company.

 

[AboutSweetSue]

If they're flats, maybe.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Utter rubbish being spouted as usual...

I correct myself, since @2015 made in Indonesia .
The bit about Behringer was a weak attempt at humor, with the bumble bee yellow scheme, that and Uli has been gobbling up some pretty good MI, and PA designers over the last 5 years.
The products produced are of good quality in some cases.
As to the strings? Time will tell.
Thanks to @Jon Moody for the skinny.

 

[Luckydog]

Too many strings out there already IMO. Now if MB wanted to develop an all-tube head with 2-4-8 ohm capability and 900 watts, and weighs <5 lbs and isn't yellow, I'm in!

 

[onestring]

I'm excited to see MarkBass enter the string arena. I've been happy with their amplification for years and it seems a good fit that they would venture into Bass strings.

I have no beef at all with MarkBass, but I'm not quite sure how being a successful amp manufacture makes branching into strings "a good fit". Designing, manufacturing and selling amps has nothing in common with making strings. At all. It's like saying GHS should be a good fit for venturing into amps. WHERE'S MY BOOMER AMP, MOODY?

I'll keep an open mind, but this sounds more like a brand extension move. I'll wager that they really will have the themed string winding colors as Bergerman says, because marketing department.

 

[Jon Moody]

It's like saying GHS should be a good fit for venturing into amps. WHERE'S MY BOOMER AMP, MOODY?

GHS does own Rocktron, so I guess you could consider anything from the early 00's your "Boomer" amp?

 

[Killed_by_Death]

They'll outsource manufacturing to China, not tell anyone, AND keep the same model numbers.
if their past track-record is anything to go by

 

[SJan3]

I have no beef at all with MarkBass, but I'm not quite sure how being a successful amp manufacture makes branching into strings "a good fit". Designing, manufacturing and selling amps has nothing in common with making strings. At all. It's like saying GHS should be a good fit for venturing into amps. WHERE'S MY BOOMER AMP, MOODY?

I'll keep an open mind, but this sounds more like a brand extension move. I'll wager that they really will have the themed string winding colors as Bergerman says, because marketing department.

Visit the Markbass website and read about Italian history as it relates to string making.

 

[SJan3]

I have no beef at all with MarkBass, but I'm not quite sure how being a successful amp manufacture makes branching into strings "a good fit". Designing, manufacturing and selling amps has nothing in common with making strings. At all. It's like saying GHS should be a good fit for venturing into amps. WHERE'S MY BOOMER AMP, MOODY?

I'll keep an open mind, but this sounds more like a brand extension move. I'll wager that they really will have the themed string winding colors as Bergerman says, because marketing department.

Markbass Strings are made at our factory in Abruzzo (Italy), using the best selected innovative materials and ultimate quality controls matched with the ancient tradition of master string makers.
Maybe not many people know that since the past centuries Abruzzo has been the motherland of almost all string makers.
The art of string making was born in this beautiful part of the world and many great brands in today's worldwide market can trace their own origins here, it's a history made of skilled hands, hard work, sacrifices and so much genius: typical features of people from Abruzzo.
This artistry and know how have been exported worldwide as well, offering a superior product with exceptional performance, amazing feeling, intonation and reliability!

 

[JimmyM]

I'm sure they're lovely, but they're well over twice what I'm paying for strings, so I'll sit them out.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

And basses designed by Richard Bona

 

[Bergerman]

Looks like no silks at all...

 

[Papuzzo]

I'll keep an open mind, but this sounds more like a brand extension move. I'll wager that they really will have the themed string winding colors as Bergerman says, because marketing department.

I'm an american living in Italy for the last 20 years. I see how Italians organize and work and I now know exactly why the Italian economy hasn't grown at all since EU integration. Italians have to keep things simple or else all hell breaks loose. When Italians do one thing and do it right, the end product is usually of very high quality. When they bite off more than they can chew the end result is a chaos that makes the current impeachment seem normal. The truth is, generally speaking, Italians are really bad at management, and the minute that things get complicated they do not have the managerial expertise to manage the ensuing complexity and usually the chaos becomes overwhelming and eventually forces really bad decisions.

I have to admit that Markbass has grown more than 99% of all Italian companies and that alone is surprising and impressive. 99% of all Italian companies have less that 15 employees and make just one product. But when I see Markbass continuing to expand I fear the ensuing chaos and all I can say is that eventually they must pull in outside managers, capital and expertise and when that happens the focus of a company always turns to maximum profitability rather than achieving the highest quality. My point is, no matter what they try, the end result is always a compromise to the original high quality that launched them in the first place. Which is why it is always better for an Italian company to keep it simple.

 

[mmbongo]

Looks like no silks at all...

Where do I get MarkBass brand Indoor Sunglasses?