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Markbass ? Why the dislike ?

#384
Hey folks - “Good Tone” is highly subjective. There are brands that I have tried and didn’t like. I sold that gear and moved on. I like my Markbass cab so I’m keeping it for now.

I also like my Epifani gear but its hard to find a stocking dealer so I haven’t been buying as mich Epi stuff of late.

If you don’t like it, well you dont have to buy it. Move on to what you do like and be happy with it. Life is too short to bellyache over this stuff.
 
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#386
Ritsaard said:
In both situation comparing the two amps I head all the EQ flat, VLE en VPF on the Markbass, no parametric or enhance or the like on the Eden and the gain set so two the same level.
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I'm not trying to give you a hard time here, but when you said you had the EQ flat, do you mean to say that you swept both amps with a signal generator and measured a flat response, or you had all the controls at zero or noon or whatever? "Flat" settings on amps very rarely correspond to flat frequency response. I actually went to the effort on my old SVT, when I had access to the test equipment, to find out what a flat EQ setting was. On that amp, you *cannot* get a flat response on Channel 1, but I could find a setting for Channel 2 that was pretty darned flat - I marked the faceplate with a grease pencil to be able to find it again.

Comparing two amps with their EQ controls at the same positional settings doesn't tell you very much at all.

The same thing applies to the input gain setting, in spades. To know that you were doing apples-to-apples there - and the gist of my earlier comment was that unless you *are* doing apples-to-apples there, you don't have a good experiment - is even harder than having equivalently flat EQ - you'd have to open up the amps and go in with an oscilloscope and a signal generator, to measure and tweak the gain factor of the initial gain stage.

Many people think that setting the controls to the same positions is the right way to A/B two amps, but it's a broken methodology.
 
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#387
BigEarl said:
I've owned several pieces from MB and I've been disappointed with nearly all of them. My biggest gripe is that every speaker I've owned (save the 8" ones) have this extrusion issue with my tonal settings. The drivers will extrude and freeze for a fraction of a second, giving a very annoying fart. It happened on only certain frequencies and access multiple speakers. Dunno why, it just has put me off the brand (..And the yellow.)
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You need to tune the drive down, if signal too hot it looks as if speaker hitting the grill, awful sound. I thought mine was defective.
 
#388
Ritsaard said:
In my opinion there's a lot wrong with Markbass. All the great players that endorse Markbass make it look like bass heaven, but they're all in it for the money. I.e. Richard Bona never hears his Markbass on stage: he only hears a DI mix through his in-ears. He doesn't care what it sounds like as long as he's payed by Markbass.
By the way: I don't blame him for that or all the other endorsers, a musician has to make a living and this is part of it.
The problem with Markbass is: they sound terrible. I've tried all the combos and they all have the same problem: ugly hard mid frequencies en very aggressive high frequencies.
I own a Fodera bass and I played it on many Markbass amps and combos, but I don't hear my bass. All the qualities and rich sounds of the instrument drown in the Markbass noise. What I hear is not my bass but I hear Markbass amp and speaker. The sound that it produces has nothing to do with the sound of my bass.
I tested it with a trained musician if he could hear if I played my Fodera over a Markbass combo or if I played a cheap $200 bass I picked up in the store. He couldn't tell the difference.
When I switched to an Eden combo standing next to the Markbass he could tell the difference immediately without any hesitation.
In other words: if you buy Markbass you hear Markbass (lots of ugly mids an highs) but the sound has nothing to do with what you put into it. Why they have not been exposed yet for what they are is probably because most people play cheap bass guitars and are impressed with the noise these combos produce and of course all the well payed endorsers keep them afloat.
So Markbass makes highly overrated equipment and is a hype, more than a quality product.
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Boy, i'm glad you said in your opinion, because it's exactly that. Sound is subjective, so amps you hate can be amps another person loves. I couldn't care less how many artists play Markbass, or for what reasons. Pointing out artists playing Markbass for money or free gear, reflects much more poorly on those artists than the company.

The "trained musician" you had play Markbass, and is still just forming an opinion about the company, not a fact.

I would like to see any quantifiable data that suggests that Markbass is overrated and/or only hype, and NOT a quality product. That is the kind of information that is useful when making baseless claims.
 
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#389
God, I love when the players of active basses complain about all the mids and highs in Markbass products. I always tell them, "well, you have mid and high controls on your bass...……………. Perhaps you should use them?




It doesn't sound that way with my Jazz, or my P, or my Epiphone EA260 , or my Roscoe Beck 5string. Or even my active Stingray, because I used the VLE to tame the Stingray's top end.





User error anyone? :)
 
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#393
nucman said:
You need to tune the drive down, if signal too hot it looks as if speaker hitting the grill, awful sound. I thought mine was defective.
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Actually, I hate any grit in my tone and always keep the drive at a nominal setting. I use this same setting for all by cabs (Ampeg, Barefaced, Acme, etc.) and have never had the extrusion problems I had with MB gear. Now that I'm in the Barefaced world, I'll never need anything else!
 
#394
I used a little mark 2 for years. It was reliable and loud but lacked something in the tone, at least through the cabinets I had at the time. Bass players I played with agreed, solid and loud but uninspiring. Sold and not really missed but I’d investigate again if I wanted a high powered head.
 
#395
I love Markbass. It's probably one of the most reputable transistor bass amps out there. Known to pack a serious punch. I know from experience that they cut through a live mix. A real "bassists bass". I can see how some may not want that. It's very "pronounced" and hard to EQ around. Not all bassists want their sound to be the booming center of attention. Some expect to be heavy, or more nestled in the mix. But we can't knock the amps! They're serious contenders for the title of "best generic transistor amp".
 
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#397
If something can get the sound you're after, it's easy to transport, and it's reliable, I'm not sure what more anyone could ask from a bass rig regardless of the brand. As someone who doesn't happen to own any Markbass gear, let me just say that there are a lot of great amps and cabs from other high quality manufacturers that I don't own either...but I think that says more about my tone goals and other gear feature choices than it does about hating a particular brand. :)
 
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#398
Sorry to necro this after 2 years later, just thought I'd give my take...

First off, I don't understand the hate for the color scheme. To me, the black & yellow is reminiscent of caterpillar/dewalt, and I've never gotten the urge to hurl when I look at my power tools...

Though I dislike how Markbass sends employees to the sewers of London to hunt giant rats, only to use their pelts to make amplifiers.

Seriously, my cats used my amp as a damn scratching post. I think one of them even tried to hump it at one point. I had to chase them off it every time I plugged in. It got so covered in cat hair I was worried it wouldn't sell... My wife had to ask why I was vacuuming my bass amplifier.

Real talk though, I was super excited to receive my CMD 121P IV (VPF & VLE are now gone, replaced with an "old school" knob which rolls off the mids.) Though after fiddling with different tones for months, I kept missing my old Ampeg (which was significantly cheaper).

I think it's worth noting that I sold it to a friend who has the old 121P (back when they were made in Italy), and he ended up selling it as well. Told me the only improvement was the mute button, but he still prefers the old combo.
 
#399
I used a Little Tube 800 with markbass cabs for one show this summer. SVT Classic was what was on the rider, so that tells you where my tonal tastes are. I didn’t like it during sound check (too many knobs lol), but it performed admirably come show time as far as punch and cutting thru the stage sound. Not my kind of tone tho. Ampeg SVT and Aguilar for me.
 

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