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MarkBass.....

G

Grimborocks

Jun 22, 2013
3
0
#1
There seems to be a distinct lack of chat about the use of MarkBass amps/cabs....

I've recently upgraded from a TC BH500 to the LittleMark III and I have to say the sound is overwhelmingly different!

I play a lot of gigs and quite often use house amps so I've been lucky enough to perform live with many different amps.

I tried some MarkBass amps in a shop and loved what I heard. Being a regular customer of this shop they let me try one at a 2 hour gig so I could gage the difference and many of the regular punters at this gig commented on how great it was sounding (without me asking).

So I bit the bullet and bought the LittleMark. Thus far, I have only great things to say about it.

Anybody else got any views on MarkBass?
 
#2
There are many threads about Markbass on TB. But I agree that it seems there like few MB threads have been popping up lately. I just got a Little Mark III last Saturday, my first Markbass. I have yet to gig with it but have played around with it at home quite a bit. Love how it sounds!
 
#4
I have a 2008 CMD 121H combo and a 2011 LMIII head, as well as two Traveler 151P cabs. Awesome sound, and the cabs are tough. I like that I can get by with the eq knobs mostly set at noon (filters off) and get a good tone. I do tweak things a bit sometimes, though, for different venues. The only thing I wish the LMIII (and the LMII in my combo) had is semi-parametric mid controls. I'd like to directly have some control over frequencies in the 100-200 Hz range. But, I still get a good sound anyway. Sometimes I roll off my neck pickup on my Jazz bass for a different sound, or sometimes the bridge pickup. Doing so changes the eq in a different way from what the knobs on the amp can do.

Never had any trouble from any of my Markbass stuff (knock on wood). I'd also like to have a Big Bang for it's extra features. I've even looked into a Momark setup for the eq control. I'm loving this Markbass gear!

(I also dig the yellow and black look, heheh).
 
#5
Spent said:
I bought used CMD102P for practicing at home. It's light, powerful and sounds amazing. Have often thought of ditching my gigging rig and just using this.
Click to expand...

I am currently using the LMIII through my TC 410 cab, although this weekend I'm gonna get a 102 and 151. So lightweight and much easier to carry, whilst packing the punch of a huge cab setup.
 
#6
Russell L said:
I'd like to directly have some control over frequencies in the 100-200 Hz range. But, I still get a good sound anyway. Sometimes I roll off my neck pickup on my Jazz bass for a different sound, or sometimes the bridge pickup. Doing so changes the eq in a different way from what the knobs on the amp can do.

(I also dig the yellow and black look, heheh).
Click to expand...

I thought this too but if you play with the VLS and VPF (I discovered on the Big Bang and am very pleased its on the LM) you can boost and reduce frequencies a little more precisely. It's not too difficult once you get a feel for them.

And yes, the colour does look cool :)
 
#7
I've got a cmd102p as well and its my gigging rig (with help from the pa). Very pleased with it. I've owned this rig for about 15 months now, and I do think in a gigging situation you really do need a second cabinet underneath, maybe a 102HF, so that you can hear yourself on stage. Even with my cmd102p on its side on top of a small box I sometimes struggle to hear myself over the drums and guitar.

That said, and this will venture into a whole nother discussion, but I think if I were to do it again rather than getting the combo I would get a separate head and cab. I keep getting GAS for a little mark tube 800, which would require me to also get another cab for it. It's easier to make these kind of amps swaps when you're dealing with separate components.
 
#8
I used to have a LMII and loved it. The only thing that keeps me away from MB these days is that they only sell through GC and GC companies and the customer service/warranty is only through GC. I've never had a problem with any amp, but I'm very critical how a company reacts to customers with problems and IME, GC is hot or miss. If MB would be as proactive as Genz or Aguilar, I would have another MB in a second, they sound great.
 
#9
Got a LMIII that I am *loving* right now! Had it for a couple months, I think, and I've gotten to use it on at least half a dozen gigs, and various rehearsal and studio settings. It's pretty excellent in all applications. I've used it mostly with a Traynor neo 2x10 (a pretty solid cab, imho), but I just got the NY121 cab yesterday, which sounds fantastic. Surprisingly, the two cabs paired together also sound great (according to some here, mismatched cabs is a big no-no)! It provides a lot of beef that each of the 2 cabs on their own don't seem capable of dishing (which is plenty, to begin with). Everything has gone really great with all of their stuff so far, so we'll just have to see how it holds up to extended usage.

I even really stupidly dropped my LMIII onto a wooden floor (not before clipping a guitar on the descent...:scowl:) early into my time with it, and it's worked perfectly still; hoping that will continue!
 
#10
I own a MarkBass rig - the CMD 121P with the NY121 Extension. It's an outstanding rig!!

Frankly, I think that the deal with MB is that they came on the market several years ago and made a HUGE splash. Hell, I couldn't wait to rush out and buy mine.

Since that time however, they seem to lost a little of their steam (not a lot) but enough to become "everyday". Couple that with the fact the only GC carries the brand (and as we all know, they don't do Bass players any favors) and there you go.

I wish that I had more occasion to bring out the little guys (I usually play the big boy Ampegs) but I DO use it for rehearsals. Shoot, it is one of my favorite rigs!
 
#12
I have an LMT800 and run it into a Xsonics 212CF. The power it puts out coupled with that little cabs aggressive sounding design is just amazing. Outdoor gigs are no problem and it's all so light. With the Xsonics I get to use a lot of that 800Watts to get those high end Emininece 3012HO speakers scream'n.

The Markbass LMT800 has been key in getting a lot of volume out of such a small 42 lb 212.
 
#13
I had my old rig stolen from church last Thanksgiving and I thought carefully about replacing it with a rig that was easier to schlep home each week. I ended up with a LMIII and a NY121 cab. The head *just* fits in the front pocket of my gig bag, which goes on my back. Cab goes in one hand, pedalboard case in the other - voila, one-trip load-out. It also sounds much better than my old 4x10 rig did! I'm keeping an eye out in the classifieds for a matching NY121 just in case I ever need the full 600W, but the single 12 sounds great and I honestly haven't yet run into anything it couldn't handle. I'm definitely happy with my black and yellow micro-rig :-)
 
#19
For the first time I'm buying a sizable rig, one of the only options locally readily available was Markbass. The store had an excellent array of choices and would let me try out everything.

I was originally going to go for 2 x 102HF so I can stack them vertically, but I ended up liking the sound of the 108HR much better. The 102HF was very, very good, but lacked a bit overall punch and headroom (for the lack of better description).

In the end I went for 2 x 104HF's as they sounded even better than the 108HR. And besides, the 108HR is too clumsy for me.

So I took the SD1200 to go with the cabs, I tried a few different amps, but the SD1200 sounded fabulous to me with all controls set completely flat, just the P-Bass straight into the amp. I was impressed by the much and balance of the sound, it really lets my P-Bass sound like a P-Bass should.

And on top I got a really good deal, this rig sounds so much better than anything else I could have gotten for the same price. I tried Ampeg, Aguilar, but unless I go for their 8x10s I wasn't impressed with the sound.

Anyway, here's pic of the rig in the store...

attachment.jpg
 
#20
It may be a minority opinion around here, but I love the Traveler 102P cabs.
I like both the sound and the portability.
Maybe one by itself is a little weak in the low end but two of them stacked vertically sounds awesome.
 

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