markbass

If you like the Markbass and how it sounds, then you can go for it with some confidence, I think. Mine has been reliable for 7 years now and they generally have a good rep in this respect. As for speaker fart, that's more about the oomph your cab is capable of and understanding your EQ and other factors affecting the signal sent by your amp to the cab than about what brand of head you use.

 

I use my Markbass LM II now for 6 years, and I got it second hand. Mostly the LM II fires up a SWR Workingman 212'', but upgradet with Beyma-woofers to 700 W @ 4 Ohm. The golight 410 should be able to handle serious high volumes.

There ae several threads that explain the EQ of the marbass amps. All knobs to noon does not mean "flat", you have to cut lows and low mids a bit. Just look out for the other threads.

With your F1 you should be able to dial in any sound you like. But for vintage tone I recommend a Makbass Tube or Markbass Tube 800. Just trust your ears.

Ciao

Uwe

 

+1 GREAT head, very few problem posts over the many years it was in production. And yes, it kind of 'takes the edge off' the MB500 tone.... still very full range, but not the extreme lows and highs of the MB.

Remember that the filters are neutral when they are off. The VLE (vintage loudspeaker emulation) is just a GREAT control for those who want to 'old school up' the tone of that head. Basically a variable lo pass filter that reduces more and more high end (starting with the upper treble) as you turn it up. Nice way to 'naturally' remove the edgy harshness of some tweeter loaded cabs without losing your articulation.

Two downsides (IMO) to this particular head:

1) The DI is 'factory set' for post EQ. To change it to pre, you have to take the top off and move a jumper. Dumb design that was fixed with the F500 (and LMIII).

2) The low mid control is voiced quite a bit higher than most other amps that have a low mid control. If find that control useless, and it is hard to dial in a burpy punch with the F1 if you have a cab that doesn't have a nice dose of upper bass/lower midrange. Again, the F500 'fixed' this issue. Of course, for most tonal goals, the head sounds wonderful set 'flat/neutral', but just be aware the low mid control isn't the 'fat/burp' control as it is with most other amps IMO and IME.

 

I agree with KJung on most of his experience but would like to add that the post EQ setting in the DI is an advantage to me as it allows me to use my LMII in addition to my mixer's eq when recording. It records very well, too, IME. Regardless if you use the EQ or not. But a pre/post switch would be nice to have...

 

+1 To be clear, I was strictly commenting on the lack of a pre/post switch, not that there ia any issue with the performance of the DI in its 'factory default' post EQ setting. Also, it is relatively easy to switch to pre EQ (just moving one clearly marked jumper inside the amp) for those who primarily use the DI in a live setting and prefer a pre EQ DI.

All Markbass amps in production now have a pre/post switch that eliminates this issue, which for many, would be minor.

 

I have a CMD121p, with the Combo Head (notII), which I think is an LM2. I've not had problems with mine and bought it used, no idea of previous owner's history with it. That being said, I watched a guy lose his Combo Head II at a jam session, light stayed on, but the combo was dead as a doornail. He had some kind of drum case or something next to the vent and it got HOT, so I don't know if it ever came back after cooldown. Other than that one failure, I've seen many players with MB gear that had nothing but good things to say about MB tone and light weight.

 

No worries, get the Markbass.

 

+1 they make good stuff!
If you like it. Get it. As KJung says, the VLE is a great feature. A TOUCH of the VPF filter can be nice with the VLE too.
I never had a problem with my Mark Bass amp either.