Markbass ? Why the dislike ?

[Robert Sperling]

It took me a while to warm up to them, (walk by them in guitar center, see these ugly yellow black amps out of
the corner of my eye.....gave them a sneer as I figured they were too gimmicky for my tastes)....but when I went
on a hunt for something more portable than my standard rig I tried a bunch of different combo's...GK, Fender, Orange
Ampeg and Markbass. The Markbass sounded best to me, followed by the Ampeg B115. I bought the CMDP151 and could
not be happier with it, for such a small light amp, it gives very nice tone, I found the DI to be a useable feature as
this was a necessary feature. Luckily mine doesn't have that horrid yellow speaker!

 

[five7]

I have had 4 of their heads and 3 cabs, zero problems. Playing and Aguilar TH 500 and GS 410 right now but using a markbass preamp/di.

 

[HolmeBass]

I'm surprised other posters are so demure about the antipathy for Markbass on TB. I've certainly noticed it. I am not sure it rises to the level of hate, but I have seen many comments that run either not liking the yellow and black combination (Orange? They are not orange...) or not liking the tone.

I like MB fine and find their gear close, but not identical to Eden gear. I do wish MB had semi-para mid EQs, but I get by fine with mine. I bought an LM III as a backup amp and it is a champ. Fairly flexible, as long as you're ok with clean or have a pedal for dirt, and nice and loud for their wattage rating.

 

[Ant Illington]

Maybe you could quote them, because I've never seen it on Talkbass.

LMFAO. This guy is like clockwork with the contrarianism just for the sake of trying to make people feel bad.

 

[BigEarl]

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.)

 

[shawshank72]

Everytime I have plugged into one I have disliked it.
But I don't ever bash them, it's just not my taste in gear.

 

[Stu_Bass]

I would likely own the Micro or Mini if they included a real HF driver. I'm sorry but a piezo has no place in a "High End" amp.

 

[Jeff K]

I used a Markbass 210 combo paired with a Traveler 115 extension cab for a few years. I thought it sounded great and was easy to carry around. I don't have them anymore, but that's not because I didn't like them. I did.

 

[andawun]

At one time the LM II was very popular here. I got a good deal on a used one but no matter what eq settings I tried it made my jazz bass sound like a precision. Sold it and got a GK400RB and found my tone. But there is nohing wrong with Markbass gear it just isn't my sound. Friend of mine gigs their amps/cabs with his P bass and he sounds great.

 

[matante]

1. I hate yellow.
2. You can't easily remove their logo from the cabs. That's a deal-breaker by itself.
3. Dislike the graphics on their heads.
4. Knobs feel cheap considering the price point of their equipment.

For the same reason that I dislike Orange's gear.....

I don't like orange....

Orange amps and cabs are available in black.

 

[bbh]

I like Markbass and have never had a problem w/ their gear. I had 1 head but don't remember what it was and also a tube 800 was pretty much able to cop my swr 750x sound. i currently run w/ a wayne jones rig though. that's a whole 'nother realm in amplification.

 

[socialleper]

I've only ever used them in store and they didn't make an impression. When I've heard other people use them live I can't hear them. Once you get to how unattractive they are, they just aren't on my radar.

 

[joker820]

Not sure if it's been posted already but I think they catch a lot of hate for being GC exclusives in the US. Also the fact that they moved their manufacturing and kept the high prices but they're not the only ones guilty of that.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Their cabs sound boxy to me and I don't like the visual aesthetics especially since they're Steelers colors. When they were made in Italy, they had a a European flair of quality, but now that they're made elsewhere, it's just another cab / amp.

 

[Artobass]

I've never played MB , but Im sure I could get a good sound in a band mix with their equipment. Not many amps that you can't get good sound from, if you turn turn a few knobs here and there. Not much into the color scheme, but certainly no hate or dislike here.

 

[PWRL]

I like their amps better than their cabs, but I didn't have any complaints about the 106HF cab I used to have. I wish I hadn't had to sell it.

 

[bbh]

Their cabs sound boxy to me and I don't like the visual aesthetics especially since they're Steelers colors. When they were made in Italy, they had a a European flair of quality, but now that they're made elsewhere, it's just another cab / amp.

Where are they made now? My last outing w/ that gear was a few years back. Could be as w/ many, quality has gone down due to manufacturing moved elsewhere.
and don't forget guys, some people just don't know how to get a good sound or how loud to be. this is not indicative of a bad sounding rig.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Where are they made now? My last outing w/ that gear was a few years back. Could be as w/ many, quality has gone down due to manufacturing moved elsewhere.
and don't forget guys, some people just don't know how to get a good sound or how loud to be. this is not indicative of a bad sounding rig.

I think they're made in Indonesia now.

 

[Fat Freddy]

1. I hate yellow.
2. You can't easily remove their logo from the cabs. That's a deal-breaker by itself.
3. Dislike the graphics on their heads.
4. Knobs feel cheap considering the price point of their equipment.



Orange amps and cabs are available in black.

Don't need one though....Got a Mesa D800.....

 

[DWBass]

I think, for a lot of folks, they couldn't get around the extra filter knobs. Hard to dial in their sound. I know, for me, it took quite a lot of knob fiddling to find my sound. I like a scooped sound and matched to an Eden/Nemesis 212, it wasn't playing nice. I finally found it. Some may find my settings weird but it works for me.

Gain: Noon, Low: 1pm, Mid Low: 10am, Mid High: 10am, High: 1pm, VLE: Off, VPF: 3pm, Master: Noon