Markbass ? Why the dislike ?

[GwenOnBass]

Does your cat poop in your shoes like Fat Freddy's did??

My memory tells me Fat Freddy's Cat pooped in his headphones ....

 

[woodyng2]

I don't own but I've heard MB in a live situation. IMO they sound good and not thin at all. Filled the whole room. It has to be Operator Head Space and Timing

I separated my combo and extension 1-12 cab,putting them on both sides of the drum kit(about 8 feet apart),at our last club gig. I got a lot of compliments on the bass sound/fullness,so i'm doing that from now on,instead of stacking the 2 cabs. Someone on here said they thought there was a lack of clarity with Markbass,but i've found the complete opposite to be true. If you start by setting all the tone controls flat,it's very easy to make minor tweaks for room sonics. I seldom use either the vle or the vpf controls for my sound,either. And i get all the treble from the speakers,i've either disconnected the tweeter,or turned the horn off.

 

[joel406]

I have no history with Mark Bass. But I have seen a few treads where people have had issues. I think if your in that market you should at least give them a shot. If the tone is what you want cool. There just isn't much if any MB stuff in the shops around here to try. Besides I've been using GK for so long I'm spoiled.

The only amps ive had issues with. Believe me or not.. I had a brand new just out the box gk rb1001 blow up on me after less than 30 min of very low volume levels of playing.. Made a weird pop and then sounded like clicks every few seconds.. Immediately called musicians friend. Had it replaced. I ordered the same amp. Received it a few days later.. It played for around 45 min and then a even louder pop and smoke came pouring out. By the way i was running it into a ampeg 410 cab. I did the same returned it and said f gk. And went ampeg the orignal amp i wanted. Musician friend gave me the ampeg svt 7pro 10p bucks off and gave me a power conditioner. I ended up paying literally 1 dollar for the extra stuff to be shipped. That was 2 years back this mar. That svt 7has been great to me! I cant wait to get the svt 4 pro some day.

Not surprised. I got a 1001 from Sam Ash. Worked fine in the show room. Got it to practice that night and went straight into protect mode. Returned it the next time day. Ordered a MB 800. Been fine ever since. That was a year ago.

 

[primusfan1989]

Just one poster above says they only work for old school R&B, Motown and Funk.

They do both very well. You don't even have to touch the EQ, just use the VLE and the VPF.

Thats nice, you have your opinion and I have mine. To my ears there is nothing "old school" about markbass tone

 

[Gab124]

I don't think there is hate, I think there is just a definite divide between folks that really like the brand and the ones who really don't; not much of an overlap. I wanted to like them from what I heard on videos and recordings but it just was not my sound when in hand and live - very good otherwise though.

 

[Against Will]

I'm ambivalent towards them; I got one because I wanted something that was

-Cheap (Secondhand MBs are a good value)
-Light
-Loud
-Reliable

And the LMII fulfilled all of those. In terms of tone, though, they're not the easiest amps to use. It took me a while to find tones I liked; the trick with them is to leave the EQ flat and fiddle with the VLE and VPF until you find something you like and use the EQ to tweak it.

 

[Kukulkan61]

My memory tells me Fat Freddy's Cat pooped in his headphones ....

Your right!!!

 

[Alexis Duntov]

I own the LM Tube 800 and a 104HR. I love the head. The only issue I have with it is the push/pull mute function on the Master vol knob. But I get around it. Otherwise, never had a problem finding my tone with my Jazz or Precision basses. The cab is fantastic sounding and light enough at 56 LBS that I can move it around without a second person. My rig is from 2013 I believe and still made in Italy. No complaints. I had an Aguilar TH500 before that didn't work for me.

 

[woodyng2]

Marco is on record as saying they based the sound on an old fliptop ampeg. At the time i bought my combo,i owned one of those,(an sb12 actually),and can say they are very similar. (Only the MB has 500 watts instead of 35.) the 800 tube amp gets it even better. I sold the fliptop for almost what i paid for the markbass combo.

 

[Medicine Man]

Is markbass the ultimate in tone? Nope
I play a 102p combo most gigs because it's light and loud, and sounds pretty good. People who slam these aways seem to compare them to a rig that's twice as expensive or three times as heavy.

 

[woodyng2]

Is markbass the ultimate in tone? Nope
I play a 102p combo most gigs because it's light and loud, and sounds pretty good. People who slam these aways seem to compare them to a rig that's twice as expensive or three times as heavy.

I agree,it is a (good)compromise.
A friend in town has a bergantino 4-10 cab,powered by one of those new Demeter 800 watt heads. ($$$$$)
But,He also has a roadie to schlepp it when they gig. (It does sound fantastic,of course.)

 

[ThinCrappyTone]

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

I don't like orange....

Me too. Hate the color. Love how they sound. Played through a half stack and a few of the combos, and heard a few bassists play through their stuff at clubs. Sounded really good in all contexts. To me the tone is, in general, not thin at all, but fat, warm, clear and punchy.

 

[BASSKADET]

I had an SD800 that I liked. The only reason I sold it was to fund something different to try.

 

[Nickweissmusic]

why do so many people dislike markbass?


I'm in no way bashing markbass

Like a lot of people, the first thing I do when I'm trying out an amp is set everything flat, contour off, etc. My personal take on the few Markbass I've tried: Blah. Mid range forward. Nothing offensive, but just not the right kind of tone I want if it's not a "hi fi" sounding amp/cab, which they aren't in my book. For reference, I'm mainly a "warm-hi-fi-ish" tone guy, I gig with Genz-Benz and GK amps at present, so hardly a boutique snob, not that I'd turn down a Vanderkley if it fell into my lap.

Nothing against Markbass and the people who play them, they just don't tend to put out the sound I want to hear, but I've only tried 2 or 3 of them.

Public opinion is a good place to start when looking around, but I'd never make a final decision based on public opinion or price tag. My last amp decision was for a "gig-baggable practice/rehearsal amp" and came down between a GK MB500 and an Epifani 600, both amps "sounded like me" with everything flat, but since I play a lot of different styles the vastly more flexible tone shaping on the GK sold me. The Epifani also had no headphone out as I recall. Does this mean I recommend GK amps over Epifani? Are you kidding me? Epifanis are fantastic, and if I needed one exquisite tone, I would've bought it, I was really close even though it lacked some of the features I desired.

 

[Joe Nerve]

I'm sure with this many responses it's all been discussed by now, but want to drop my $.02 without reading all of it .

I'm by no means a Markbass hater, but I'm not a fanboy by any stretch. I think there's a lot of hoopla over nothing with those amps - and the amount of hoopla might be upsetting to some people. I also think that much like GK and Ampeg they have their sort of signature tone. If ya don't like that tone, well then...

I like amps that allow me to color my sound, exactly as I choose. The Carvin BX heads suit me perfectly, and I get more compliments on my sound since switching to them than I ever did .

 

[el murdoque]

When i encountered Markbass for the first time, i learned that they are small, light, very loud and very yellow.

When i was in the market for cabs and wanted 2 2x12, i would possibly have bought Markbass, but back then, they only had 212 with 4 ohms.

I own a LMII head which i like a lot. I get the impression that it is quite without color and reproduces the instrument quite accurately - if that is true, a not so good bass might sound not so good. (I don't own one to confirm that)

 

[DavC]

different gear = different sound ... seems normal . ?!!?

different people/music = differents tastes ...


for me ... i always thought it was rather Overpriced ... and now many items MIC ...

 

[ccooney78]

I owned a Littlemark III amp for several years. Loved it. Had zero issues with it. I only traded it to fund other gear. I now own a Littlemark Blackline 250. Gigged it Friday night. Great amp. I have no experience with the cabs though. Mainly because they cost too much for my pockets. A friend owns a couple of NYC112's he uses for an open mic. Rig sounds good to me.

I have a LittleMark 800 and have never been disappointed one bit. At 6 lbs., you can't go wrong with it. Tons of clean power. I use some pedals to dirty up the sound as it is very clean. I'm not a fan of the cabs either....too middy for my taste. I gig with a SWR 12-Stack (4x12 rated for 800W @ 8-ohms) and I love that beast! It's heavy as hell but sounds great.

 

[Funkee1]

I dislike their tone. I have tried a lot of mark bass (my neighbouring country is Italy so go figure ) and I just can't seem to get a good tone out of any of them.

I had that issue with SWR at the height of their popularity. I always heard a ton of people sound amazing through SWR rigs, and I never did. I decided not to knock SWR, but just say it wasn't for me!

I have a Markbass Jeff Berlin Players school 1x15 combo that I love- but, that being said, the sound isn't perfect. I don't know exactly what it lacks........ That's all I can add to this discussion!

 

[bassplayer2014]

Many years, many rehearsals and many gigs owner of a Markbass 104HF cabinet and LMIII head. Zero complaints, zero issues and only great sound, performance and reliability.