which one's the best for heads and cabinets and why.... in my opinion GK beat ampeg easily but i have yet to try markbass
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Markbass vs GK vs Ampeg
- Thread starter bloodshot sun
- Start date
Everyone will have a different opinion. Try them, only you can decide.
I own both Ampeg and GK and have owned Markbass. I wouldn't say there is a "best." There is how ever a best for you and a best for me. Each of those brands has a different voice. Amp wise, (generally speaking of coarse) GK is the most modern and aggressive sounding. Ampeg is a bit mid focused more "vintage" (sits perfectly in a mix IMO). Markbass is somewhere in the middle. Not as aggressive as GK, not as mid focused or vintage sounding as Ampeg, a naturally flat sounding voice. Now each is generally capable of sounding aggressive or mid focused etc but, I don't feel you can truly eq out an amps voice altogether. Cab wise, I'd say each brands' cabs are good cabs for there price ranges with Markbass being a little pricey for what they are offering. For me Ampeg is number 1 but to each his/her own.
+1 on there not being a "best", I own Ampeg and just bought a Little Mark Tube 800 which I feel is just as good sounding as my SVT-CL. this is like comparing an 18 wheeler to a VW bug. I have posted before that it is very hard to keep up with all the new amps and cabs that keep coming out. Its best to just decide based on what you need in an amp and a cab, and go from there......Good Luck 
+ 1 to that,I,m a gk flag waver, it fits my tone requirments for my band which is a phsychobillysurfpunk by way of recent zztop kind of sound, but i recently got to sit in with a friends jazz outfit, they had a ampeg pf500, i was very impressed, very smooth and full. i guess it depends on the music you will be playing, go try em all and decide for yourself, thats part of the fun of buying new gear!
I picked Markbass due to the fact of searching for the lightest weight coupled with what I deemed to be the best build. Now, there are others that can do that as well, but they are more pricey. Ampeg doesn't offer me the weight I want. GK does, but I don't want their sound (I don't think---at least not for now), and for some reason I felt that Markbass was gonna be higher quality.
Those aren't very well-defined reasons for choosing, I know. I read a lot of stuff on Markbass when I bought myfirst one four years ago. At the time I wasn't familiar with them. I got hooked real fast on what I heard about them. Then, I got hooked on the yellow and black color scheme. Again, vague reasoning.
BUT...I sure am in love with my Markbass equipment. It sounds delicious (whatever that means, lol).
I'm sorry, but yer gonna have to get out there and try some stuff out.
Those aren't very well-defined reasons for choosing, I know. I read a lot of stuff on Markbass when I bought myfirst one four years ago. At the time I wasn't familiar with them. I got hooked real fast on what I heard about them. Then, I got hooked on the yellow and black color scheme. Again, vague reasoning.
BUT...I sure am in love with my Markbass equipment. It sounds delicious (whatever that means, lol).
I'm sorry, but yer gonna have to get out there and try some stuff out.
Three good choices. Some basses will match up better with certain amp brands. Most of my exprience is with GK, and to me, Fenders, Musicmans, and G&Ls really shine through a GK rig.
My only serious reccomendation would be try to find used, and try them in a band setting before you buy, if possible. I have two nice 'compact' bass rigs, an Eden WT330 and a GK MB500 and both sound 'ok' by themselves, but when played in a live setting with a full band, they both sound incrediable.
My only serious reccomendation would be try to find used, and try them in a band setting before you buy, if possible. I have two nice 'compact' bass rigs, an Eden WT330 and a GK MB500 and both sound 'ok' by themselves, but when played in a live setting with a full band, they both sound incrediable.
This is a pretty good description, and why I have recently gone with a MarkBass after owning a couple each (and using many more models of) GK and Ampeg heads ~ it allows me a lot of flexibility to go in either direction easily.
i cannot try anything but the ampeg and not the model i'm interested in there are none in my country... if it helps i'll be playing a warwick streamer stage II on it and i base my question strictly on sound i don't care about looks or weight...the warwick's sweet sound is a terrible thing to waste it should be amped out to the max 
Sorry to bring up an old thread. But better to recycle than start a whole new thread in my opinion so... here I am!
Do markbass Little mark 250, 500 or 250/500 tube heads pair with other cabs? I like the colour sound of markbass. Its got a smooth midrange growl in its sound. Now i have to find a nice cab to go with it.
Im thinking between ampeg svt 115 or fender rumble v3 115. Im very much wanting a 115 over anything else, cos its a good size for easy travel, but also good for medium, medium/large gigs, like weddings and stuff.
I have experience with rumble v3. One word, famtastic. Super light. Super affordable. Sound great. Im also got ampeg on the list, becuase of the fact that its classic and also a souns that is well suited for most music. Not sure really how it compares with the rumble which i already am afmiliar with but i know that ampeg are much loved and well reliable. As far as weight, i know they are heavier, so i guess i have to consider that too. I also love the look of fhe ampeg cab... one of the nicest looking out there!
If anyone has other cab suggestions fhat would work great for me. I play a wide range of music, a lot of covers, but my main bands music is funk, blues, soul, pop and rock. A mix from from Vulfpeck to Chic to MJ/Jackson 5 to Stevie wonder to The beatles and the list goes on. Bit of james jamerson motown kinda stuff too here and there.
Not too fond of gk sound and the markbass cabs sound a bit flat. Love aguilar sound, that would be ideal, but out of my price range. I limited it to ampeg or rumble cos they seemed better suited both soundwise and budgetwise than soms of the other options.
Thanks for anyones help sorry i know its a lot to throw at u all at once!
Do markbass Little mark 250, 500 or 250/500 tube heads pair with other cabs? I like the colour sound of markbass. Its got a smooth midrange growl in its sound. Now i have to find a nice cab to go with it.
Im thinking between ampeg svt 115 or fender rumble v3 115. Im very much wanting a 115 over anything else, cos its a good size for easy travel, but also good for medium, medium/large gigs, like weddings and stuff.
I have experience with rumble v3. One word, famtastic. Super light. Super affordable. Sound great. Im also got ampeg on the list, becuase of the fact that its classic and also a souns that is well suited for most music. Not sure really how it compares with the rumble which i already am afmiliar with but i know that ampeg are much loved and well reliable. As far as weight, i know they are heavier, so i guess i have to consider that too. I also love the look of fhe ampeg cab... one of the nicest looking out there!
If anyone has other cab suggestions fhat would work great for me. I play a wide range of music, a lot of covers, but my main bands music is funk, blues, soul, pop and rock. A mix from from Vulfpeck to Chic to MJ/Jackson 5 to Stevie wonder to The beatles and the list goes on. Bit of james jamerson motown kinda stuff too here and there.
Not too fond of gk sound and the markbass cabs sound a bit flat. Love aguilar sound, that would be ideal, but out of my price range. I limited it to ampeg or rumble cos they seemed better suited both soundwise and budgetwise than soms of the other options.
Thanks for anyones help sorry i know its a lot to throw at u all at once!
I own a Markbass Tube 800 and a SA450 (also previously owned a Little Mark III). I currently mainly use an Ampeg Portaflex 410hlf cabinet, and they pair together exceptionally well. I do a lot of gigs exactly in the same vein sonically as what you describe, and I think you'd be happy. Personally, I'd go with a 2-10 over a single 15, but that's totally your call.
Ok,cool. Thanks for sharing. Is there a particular reason u prefer 210 over 115 is it just sound?
What did u like/dislike between the markbass LM III and the Tube? Thanks
Yeah markbass heads just got that sound for me. A good classic funky, poppy bass tone. Midrange growl. Id assume the LM tube heads would have added versatility for different stuff too. I find it odd that others find markbass lacks character. I disagree, instead of being flat sounding which admiteddly most modern amps do sound, markbass has a slight variation in the midrange, seems more focused and alive.
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Im really not a fan myself. Im not asking about GK however im asking about Markbass
Thanks anyway
I prefer 10s to 15s generally, that's really the only reason. As for the LMIII, the only reason I went to the Tube 800 was for the two inputs with separate level controls, because I run both bass and keyboards through it on a lot of gigs.
I agree with 1954 bassman, some basses sound better with certain amps. I own 2 Mark Bass 2/10 combo amps and also a Mark Bass 18' extension cab to pair with my combo amp for outside gigs. Inside gigs, 1 combo amp at 400 watts peak is plenty for me and that of course is using my combo amp for my backline. So here is my opinion in reference to Mark Bass compared to Ampeg and GK. Mark Bass is a tubed amp, Ampeg has both tubed, solid state and hybrid, GK is solid state. Tubed amps give you a warmer sound over all but still able to produce nice crisp highs, IE Mark Bass and Ampeg TUBED. GK on the other hand is very aggressive in all freq's. And like bassman said it kinda depends on what kind of bass you are playing as well to pair up with tubed or solid state to get the best tone. Dark wood ( woods ) on basses in my opinion sound better with solid state amps because you get the best of both worlds, clean lows, tight mids, and crisp highs. Light wood ( woods ) on basses in my opinion sound better paired up with a tubed amp because light woods maple ash and so on produce a more high end tone and a tubed amd IE Mark Bass will bring the warmth out of the bass. Now if you play a bass that has multiple woods dark and light woods mixed not to mention purple heart and wenge ect all those amps will probably give you a nice tone. One more thing you have to consider is your bass active or passive. Active you may want to go with warmness Mark Bass. Passive you may need to get the most out of the bass with GK aggressive. Again this only my opinion after all we do play bass right not guitar bottom low end all day regardless whether you play a 4 5 or 6 string. We make our money playing the 2 biggest strings on the bass.
Oh I forgot to mention the Basses I play with my Mark Bass Amps are a Melvin Davis MLD 5 like a Fender Jazz on steroids, a Yamaha TRB 5 modified with Aguilar OBP 3 PA with Aguilar super double PUs, both have light woods neck and body, and a Peavey Cirrus 6 having dark and light woods combined, and a Lakland 5 Ash body with a Maple neck both light woods. Thru my Mark Bass amps oh my goodness crystal clear tone with all the bottom I need. Oh yeah I use DR High Beams round wounds on all of them.
I'm just going to go ahead and be not diplomatic at all. Because this is something I feel strongly about.
I am an ex Trace Elliot and SWR user. I now use GK full time. I think they sound the best of any amp to me. And it's the only amp I've never had a technical issue with.
Markbass sounds like hot garbage to me. And Ampeg is good but just doesn't sound as aggressive as the GK stuff.
I think Ampeg is a decent choice. Depends on the sound you want. But with markbass the quality is inconsistent and typically produces sounds that aren't pleasing to me.
Another decent consideration is Ashdown amps.
I am an ex Trace Elliot and SWR user. I now use GK full time. I think they sound the best of any amp to me. And it's the only amp I've never had a technical issue with.
Markbass sounds like hot garbage to me. And Ampeg is good but just doesn't sound as aggressive as the GK stuff.
I think Ampeg is a decent choice. Depends on the sound you want. But with markbass the quality is inconsistent and typically produces sounds that aren't pleasing to me.
Another decent consideration is Ashdown amps.
I started with Fender Rumble and GK....than moved up to Mesa, not on your list but IMO they are making some of the best stuff on the market.
You are so correct Lard5000. I think it also depends on what style of music this guy is playing to reproduce that same tone. I loved that old GK 800 with the 2/ 400 and 2/ 200 outputs that thing was a beast. Wished I never got rid of it. Lol
