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Marshall Bass Amp ?
- Thread starter taffae
- Start date
I think most of us here agree that Marshall make good guitar amps but not bass amp. I've never try a larger marshall bass amp since the shop don't really stock them. With that kind of price we have much better options to choose from. Weather the amps are good or not i can't really tell, but i'm sure the marshall bass stuff definite not my thing.
I had a couple cabs that were great; can't really say about the amps. These were older cabs, too.
Do most of us here all agree Marshall don't make good bass amps ?
How can you tell if Marshall is not your thing if you have not tried it ?
My VBA400 will rock the pants off many amps on the market.
If you get the chance to try one then you really should,very versatile with tons of power.
Marshall may not be as fashionable as Markbass for example but has been around a long time for a reason , quality and reliable , give it a try , you may be impressed !!
my 50 watt jcm800 bass head sounds amazing and can dial in extremely hi fi tones. absolutely not what you would expect, especially after listening to jack bruce, noel redding, or lemmys' mid-overdriven tones...
this model(1986) does have a different eq section than most models.
and it is surprisingly loud for 50 watts. i can hang in a reasonable trio. i'm pretty much amazed at that every time i turn it on....
i thought it was going to be more of a studio buy.
extremely well built, great sounding amp.
this model(1986) does have a different eq section than most models.
and it is surprisingly loud for 50 watts. i can hang in a reasonable trio. i'm pretty much amazed at that every time i turn it on....
i thought it was going to be more of a studio buy.
extremely well built, great sounding amp.
Look, no offense, but this is the kind of crap talk that plagues internet message boards.
I admit i'm biased on Marshall Bass stuff. But you can't deny that with the price ofthe high end marshall stuff you have other options that are rather better or similar.
(No offense for the opinion below)
This is like Gibson bass or not. So like it and some don't. They aren't cheap for sure and with the price you can get a musicman, MIA fender, warwick etc.
I admit like someone mention, probably best to try it out if you interest in it. But for me, i'm more interest on ampeg, trace elliot, markbass, SWR etc.
(No offense for the opinion below)
This is like Gibson bass or not. So like it and some don't. They aren't cheap for sure and with the price you can get a musicman, MIA fender, warwick etc.
I admit like someone mention, probably best to try it out if you interest in it. But for me, i'm more interest on ampeg, trace elliot, markbass, SWR etc.
How can you be biased against something you know nothing about ?
How do you know there are better options for the money if you have never tried it ?
To say something is no good when you have no experience of it is just ridiculous. I don't just follow what others say about gear and go with the crowd , I like to have hands on experience before I make up my mind.
Anyway , back on subject , a Marshall VBA will blow away many other amps and that includes Ampeg, Trace and SWR.
Try and get an SVT for £850 brand new this side of the Atlantic and then say there are better options for the money.
How do you know there are better options for the money if you have never tried it ?
To say something is no good when you have no experience of it is just ridiculous. I don't just follow what others say about gear and go with the crowd , I like to have hands on experience before I make up my mind.
Anyway , back on subject , a Marshall VBA will blow away many other amps and that includes Ampeg, Trace and SWR.
Try and get an SVT for £850 brand new this side of the Atlantic and then say there are better options for the money.
I did ask him to try it out if he really interest in the Marshall amp. You said that Marshall blow away other brand, and thats your opinion.
You have your opinion and interest in choice of amp and i have my opinion and interest choice of amp. At the end of the day we all give opinion weather is true or not it doesn't really matter unless he try it out himself. Maybe sound good to you it don't sound good to him or it could sound good to him.
One piece of advise I don't think anyone will deny is try it out yourself to the original post and you judge by your ears to listen does the tone suits you or not.
Don't really want to say more, if not a flame will start turning on.
^^^
+1
My MB series marshall has a really good tone for the price. you get 2 preamps and 450 large watts for $900 AU. In a store I played on an ampeg B100r (I think) which is the same price as the MB head and 410 cab, I prefer the tone of my marshall.
+1
My MB series marshall has a really good tone for the price. you get 2 preamps and 450 large watts for $900 AU. In a store I played on an ampeg B100r (I think) which is the same price as the MB head and 410 cab, I prefer the tone of my marshall.
If I could find one of those VBA400s in Canada I would own it. Some of the Lemmy signature heads are turning up on Ebay but even my GAS has to have a price limit lol.
What starts the flames is when you have absolutely NO experience with the item in question.
It's not an "opinion," you're just throwing something out there that you have absolutely NO experience with.
If you'd said "I've played bunches of these things and used to own a VBA400, but it didn't suit anything that I was doing. It was too muddy, and really didn't clean up enough at gigging volume. For the price, I think I could have done better elsewhere..." That's an opinion.
As for me, around 10 years ago I shared a rehearsal space with a band who's bass player had one of the 400w heads, it had the blend control on the pre for tube/SS. Supposedly it was able to handle a 4000w peak. I really liked that head, and used it all the time in rehearsals. If I'd found another one, I probably would have bought it.
I too used to be influenced by all the negitive remarks on TB whenever the name Marshall was used in the same sentance as bass. I'm glad I finally got over that and got my MB450H and MBC 410 cabinet last week. It may not be as cool (or sophisticated) as a MB or the Shuttle I was going to get but I dig the sound and the different options that I've gotton from my new set up. And for a price that I don't feel guilty about spending for a hobby. It may not suit the majority but I don't think that it deserves the out of hand bad rep that it always seems to get.
Just my .02 worth...
Is this guy using one of those online translators from another language? Since he's from the UK, I'm surprised he doesn't know that English bass hero Bruce Foxton of the Jam uses Marshalls among others. I'm going to get an MB450H precisely due to the reviews here on TB and will continue to dream about getting a VBA400
Look,
You're talking icon status here. Marshall bass amps have an appeal in a certain market- for example, I would love to have a Superbass 100 or a Marshall Major if I could get a decent deal on one. The problem is in part, the iconic status. My ampeg V4BH is probably a better amp than a Superbass 100, yet I still want one because they have that Marshall mojo. I can't justify paying twice what a V4 costs for an amp that is not really any better but comes in a cool box. The MB series are probably very good, modern hybrid amps but I don't care. I want a tube Marshall. The Lemmy is probably a great amp, but you can by a VBA 400 for less and get more. I don't know what Marshall is thinking these days, but they need to offer bass players something in the vein of what made them a great amp in the 60's when Jack Bruce and John Entwistle were using them. Just my .02 cents.
You're talking icon status here. Marshall bass amps have an appeal in a certain market- for example, I would love to have a Superbass 100 or a Marshall Major if I could get a decent deal on one. The problem is in part, the iconic status. My ampeg V4BH is probably a better amp than a Superbass 100, yet I still want one because they have that Marshall mojo. I can't justify paying twice what a V4 costs for an amp that is not really any better but comes in a cool box. The MB series are probably very good, modern hybrid amps but I don't care. I want a tube Marshall. The Lemmy is probably a great amp, but you can by a VBA 400 for less and get more. I don't know what Marshall is thinking these days, but they need to offer bass players something in the vein of what made them a great amp in the 60's when Jack Bruce and John Entwistle were using them. Just my .02 cents.
I own a Marshall VBA400 and an Ampeg SVT-CL. I like 'em both. I certainly wouldn't say one's better than the other. Anyone who says the VBA is "slow" tried it with the wrong cab or bass, it's easily as fast as any of the solid state stuff I still have.
I think it might take a little more tweaking to get "my" sound out of the VBA400 due to the passive tone stack, but the 3-position mid switch is like having three amps in one.
I'm currently using my SVT with a Bergie NV610, and find that the Marshall likes the Bergie NV425 best. I'm comfortable playing any of my basses through any head/cab combo though, they all sound good to me (subjective) and cut through (as confirmed by other band members).
I don't think a generalized statement like "Marshall doesn't make good bass amps" holds any water, particularly if you haven't tried one.
I think it might take a little more tweaking to get "my" sound out of the VBA400 due to the passive tone stack, but the 3-position mid switch is like having three amps in one.
I'm currently using my SVT with a Bergie NV610, and find that the Marshall likes the Bergie NV425 best. I'm comfortable playing any of my basses through any head/cab combo though, they all sound good to me (subjective) and cut through (as confirmed by other band members).
I don't think a generalized statement like "Marshall doesn't make good bass amps" holds any water, particularly if you haven't tried one.
I'm not a fan of Marshall's current bass range (the MB stuff is only so-so, to my ears), but their DBS stuff from the early/mid-90s was awesome. Huge tone, headroom to spare and loads of tone-tweaking options. I seem to recall they were the first bass amps available with Speakon connectors too - apparently they were necessary because of the sheer amount of power and headroom available!
Their only downside was the sheer size and weight of the cabs - they were enormous and very, very heavy. Even the 2x10" weighed more than most 4x10"s, and the 4x12" and 2x15" cabs were back-breaking.
Marshall - if you want back in to the world of bass amps, bring out a new DBS range, with neodymium speakers, and get Chris Wolstenholme from Muse (a longtime DBS user) to endorse them. They'll fly out the doors.
Their only downside was the sheer size and weight of the cabs - they were enormous and very, very heavy. Even the 2x10" weighed more than most 4x10"s, and the 4x12" and 2x15" cabs were back-breaking.
Marshall - if you want back in to the world of bass amps, bring out a new DBS range, with neodymium speakers, and get Chris Wolstenholme from Muse (a longtime DBS user) to endorse them. They'll fly out the doors.
