Noise with a littlemark II?

[fireincairo]

I tried a LMII today at GC. At first, I thought the jazz bass single coils were causing 60 cycle hum. Then I tried a P bass and it was still making noise and it wasn't even that loud. Is this typical? I would assume it would be relatively quiet even at higher volumes.

 

[Jim Carr]

I tried a LMII today at GC. At first, I thought the jazz bass single coils were causing 60 cycle hum. Then I tried a P bass and it was still making noise and it wasn't even that loud. Is this typical? I would assume it would be relatively quiet even at higher volumes.

When trying a LMII at the Dallas GC near the airport a few weeks ago, I heard no hum from my single coil '55 P-bass at a medium high volume through one of the smaller Markbass 210 cabs.

Perhaps it was a locally induced hum from RF radiation or a poorly shielded cable. Of course the head may have had issues, too, but I don't think it is typical of that head. All IMHO.

 

[JimmyM]

A lot of other outside factors could be causing it, like flourescent lighting or something else on the circuit that makes noise. The LMII is very quiet. I think it was interference from an outside source.

 

[fireincairo]

Ok, thanks for the heads up. It may have been the crappy molded cable the guy gave me.

I was really considering the LMII 500 watter, but noise aside, it just didn't sound that nice to my ears (I only spent a few minutes because the noise was so annoying). I was running it through a single MB 1x15 cab, though. My rig has a 4x10 and 2x12. Plus, I'm getting comfy with the tube tones from my Butcher.

How do you guys think the LMII compares to tube amps? Can it hang tonally?

 

[JimmyM]

How do you guys think the LMII compares to tube amps? Can it hang tonally?

I always get flack about this when I say it, but I'm going to anyway...the LMII is as close to an SVT or B-15 as you can get in a SS or hybrid head. There are a lot of great SS and hybrid heads out there, but if you want tubey sound in a tiny package, there is only one amp.

But if you didn't like it, it really doesn't matter what my opinion is, does it?

 

[fireincairo]

Really? I may have to lug my cabs down to GC when I'm ready to buy and really put one through it's paces.

 

[JimmyM]

There's one caveat with the LMII...it only does clean. It won't do grit at all. I use a Tech 21 VT Bass pedal to add tubey grit to it when I need it.

 

[fireincairo]

There's one caveat with the LMII...it only does clean. It won't do grit at all. I use a Tech 21 VT Bass pedal to add tubey grit to it when I need it.

I really only want fat, fat clean tones from my amps. I'm sure it handles fuzzes nicely, most ss amps do. Otherwise, it's always a clean thing for me.

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

For my taste "only clean" is perfect.