I love punch! That is very important to my ears. I still have my WWU and Focus III and they punch out just fine at any distance. My MB, TF, and DB750 are bye bye! Although I tend to lean towards light weight amps, my WW and Focus sound better than anything else I've owned. My Focus out punched my DB750(in tone, not power) on a gig recently. I couldn't believe it, but it did. Another bass player sitting in the audience thought the same thing.
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** ThunderFunk vs. LittleMark II **
- Thread starter tallboybass
- Start date
I love punch! That is very important to my ears. I still have my WWU and Focus III and they punch out just fine at any distance. My MB, TF, and DB750 are bye bye! Although I tend to lean towards light weight amps, my WW and Focus sound better than anything else I've owned. My Focus out punched my DB750(in tone, not power) on a gig recently. I couldn't believe it, but it did. Another bass player sitting in the audience thought the same thing.
I can believe that compared to the DB750. IMO that amp has way too much low end extension and a lack of mids where you need them... they sound 'massive but not punchy' to me, if that makes sense.
Also, as we've discussed, so much has to do with cab matching. I think we both agree that the Berg's low end extension and polite upper mids matches just wonderfully with the Walter... kind of a ying/yang thing that 'fixes' the 'holes' in both voicings. I really am digging my 's'/Walter deal.
Anyway... all great stuff. Lot's of great lightweight options that continue to get better and better IMO and IME!
Well, I'm going to try out the LMKII. Wish I could do the same with the TFunk, but I'm in Oklahoma so THAT ain't hapnin'! The price and weight of the MB are hard to deny and I love the concept of the high-end rolloff thing.
Agreed.
True, but I also find my Berg HT112's do an excellent job of sounding good with a lot of amps(moreso than the "S" cabs). As many other HT owners have pointed out on TB the Berg HT112's are great on taking on the quality of just about any head and making it sound great, of course some better than others. Any of the heads mentioned can sound great with some cabs and not so great with others. I have chosen the Berg HT112 as my staple in bass cabs due to portability, good tone, and high power capability. Any opinion I give is based on what I hear through those cabs. Another cab may sound totally different with a given head.
btw, da bomb with a HT/EX112 stack is the Eden WT800B!
That's the best thing you can do. You have 30 days to return it -- use it as much as possible in as many different context and see what it does for you.
-A
This is similar to how my LMII sounds with my SWR Triad cab... which is why I'm sure the Triad's days are numbered with me. Why? Because I know the LMII is more than capable of way more punch than I got with that cab. It didn't lack anything as far as articulation, the main comment I got was that I now sounded like alot of other bassists, which might normally be a good thing if it weren't for the scooped mids vibe I've avoided for years now.
I got unsolicited feedback from someone I trust at my last gig and, with no PA support in a fairly large room with a loud crowd, running through my Nahas cabs, I had punch galore out in the room. IOW back to normal
. Very tight low end, highs sounded very natural and he said the mids were excellent. I could be felt out in the room. I know it felt great on stage. Basically a big, hard-hitting studio monitor kind of vibe.If it had sounded any less than great this person would've told me. I got the same results tonight. I like a rig that can punch as hard as a synth bass when needed and or lay back and sound pretty with chords... and I have it. Bottom line, it has to cut through no matter what. So far so good.
BTW I don't think the amp is loud for it's rating, I think it's loud for it's size and maybe even moreso it's price. In that regard I havent seen anything compete with it.
What kind of cab(s) and bass did you use?
That's what I would expect from my experience with other switching power supply heads like the Focus and Walter. Plenty loud, nice sounding, but nothing the punches you in the chest 10 feet out. Of course, many players don't need that sort of punch, and I like my Walter very much for some applications.... as is always the case.. not better or worse.. just different.
I recently heard a TF550b in a very loud mix with no front of house (Mikebass's rig... with the AG Tri115/Tri112 stack). It was totally punchy and articulate out in the room. The Accugrooves gave it more of an old school organic sort of vibe without a lot of upper mids and treble making it out to the room, but man... every note came through and there was that famous TF 'punch'... tight and clear
Edit: +1 regarding the 800 probably having more ooomph. I would guess the 800 with the class D and switching power supply would be a better comparison to the more traditionally designed TF with that nice toriodal power supply providing that quick, tight low end punch. I look forward to checking that amp out some day!
After reading a lot of this I'm sure my basses and cabs have a lot to do with my results but as punchy as my TF is, it's no more punchy than my LMII. On stage and out front. IME. I'm one of those players that needs that punch and if I didn't have it I wouldn't use this amp.
A friend of mine has the SD800 mainly because he plays very loud. I thought the two amps sounded very similar. The only reason I'd consider one would be if I needed to play that loud. Fortunately I don't. Stupid loud but not ridiculous (at least not continuously
)
Yeah ... to me this doesn't seem like a fair fight ...
Pound for pound ... buck for buck ... imho the LMII is the clear winner. I'm not parting with mine (unless its another Markbass head (-;
YMMV as usual.
js.
Pound for pound ... buck for buck ... imho the LMII is the clear winner. I'm not parting with mine (unless its another Markbass head (-;
YMMV as usual.
js.
That's funny, both sides feel the same way....I've got to give the MB a try because of the P&P (price & portability) superiority. I could give up a little tone to save a lot of money and pounds.
I love my Little Mark too with my Epifani UL410. I used to have the Eden 550 but this little guy can do the same thing.
svtb15
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- Mar 22, 2004
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- I play it all. Whatever works for the gig. Q+
I have a thunderfunk and LOVE that amp...
Its only about 16 pounds.. Dave said he is taking a few more pounds out of it with updates..
If 16 pounds is too much to carry i really think some folks either need to eat their wheaties or think of taking up playing the violin or harmonica...
I find all the markbass stuff to feel weak- lacking punch and scratchy sounding on the top end...
Its only about 16 pounds.. Dave said he is taking a few more pounds out of it with updates..
If 16 pounds is too much to carry i really think some folks either need to eat their wheaties or think of taking up playing the violin or harmonica...
I find all the markbass stuff to feel weak- lacking punch and scratchy sounding on the top end...
I'm pretty sure we MB owners can lift 16lbs.
It's just not that enjoyable slinging it over your shoulder with two basses already on your back while rolling a speaker cabinet and trying to get in and out of subways and busses. Not to mention, slogging all that up a 5th-floor walkup at 2am after a 3 hour gig.
Obviously there is a market for these, since they're flying off the shelves everywhere they're stocked.
We can lift our cabs so I'm not sure why you think lifting 16 lbs. is the issue?
Again, nothing is for everyone but so far the only instance where I've dealt with no punch was speaker related, not amp. I'll take your word for the scratchy sound, mine hasn't exhibited that either. Not even close.
Where did you try "all the markbass stuff"? Just curious.
I'm a tone freak and I didn't give up anything.
I can honestly say that if this head were selling for double the price I'd still be impressed. That it's selling for $600 only puts pressure on other manufacturers.
That says a lot.......and I do some stuff where I just bring a head to the gig or practice, so the weight thing is VERY important to me. (Plus, the fact that I was in a bike wreck and can't walk with much weight.) For most gigs though, I just stack everything on my 410UL and wheel it in. (and lean on it like a walker)
Truth. I get a little annoyed with the 'markbass isn't in the same league as other high-end manufacturers comments'. It assumes that myself and other users don't know what we're talkin about, or only get to play in our apartments. I'm a 'real world player' who might play in front of several hundred people just as often as I would in front of 50, and I know what works for me live. The price-to-tone ratio of Markbass gear makes me look at other high-end bass manufacturers a little differently now insofar as their prices.
Oh, and I had no idea that the Little Mark put out 500watts. That's impressive for something that feels like I could slip it in my back pocket.
