What happened to Markbass popularity?

[alaskaleftybass]

I don't own a MarkBass amp, but I thought it always put out a pretty good thump when I demoed it. Very nice bottom end and good midrange push.

Wow I'm amazed at the responses on this thread. Must have been the perfect storm. MB and GC = carnage!

 

[Mr. Sound]

Wow..should I be thankful we don't have GC here?
(mind you, if our market was bigger, we probably would have!)
All the Aus. Markbass dealers I have dealt with were great!

 

[B-line]

Outside of the used market, there's no alternative place from which to purchase MarkBass.
I have no great love for GC/MF, but they seem to have decent (fixed) pricing on the line.

 

[gard0300]

I've had the TCE RH750 for nearly three years. I've played the Markbass 800, GK Fusion and the Mesa D800. While both very nice. The RH750 is still my goto head. It's seems more powerful, has more options and it just fits what I do. Of course this is just my opinion.

 

[Funky Ghost]

FWIW I have never felt like buying something other than my MarkBass Mark Berlin Combo w/ NYC 115 cab. It gives me plenty of old school vibe with the way I have mine dialed in. At some point I do want to add a 2x10 to the mix but as it stands colour me happy.

 

[Haroldo]

All those price changes I mentioned were before the Brexit vote.

So, if prices did not go down in the US... whose fault was that? Hmmm. It doesn't seem fair to blame MarkBass.

Mr. McNach, I did not make myself clear. I assumed (for some reason) this price volatility was somehow related to the Brexit vote. (I probably listen too much to the BBC where alot is attributed to Brexit.) The primary point I was trying to make, however, is that Guitar Center would not budge on price, whereas, it seems, the UK stores are able to move the prices about in a non-monolithic manner. This is probably related to the vice-like grip GC has on Markbass.

 

[Sparky Mark]

I demo'd several Markbass heads and combos in stores and was never impressed. Then I used a house LM2 thru an ancient Peavey 410 at a blues jam night and was blown away at the power flapping my trouser legs! Went and got me a LM3, two SA450's and a TA503 which power either Bergantino HT112ER and EX112ER or two HD210s. Love em.

 

[mcnach]

Mr. McNach, I did not make myself clear. I assumed (for some reason) this price volatility was somehow related to the Brexit vote. (I probably listen too much to the BBC where alot is attributed to Brexit.) The primary point I was trying to make, however, is that Guitar Center would not budge on price, whereas, it seems, the UK stores are able to move the prices about in a non-monolithic manner. This is probably related to the vice-like grip GC has on Markbass.

There has been a general increase in prices across the board, pretty much, between 10-20% since June last year (Brexit vote)... you are right about that. But the Markbass gear did drop a little after moving production to Indonesia. However, if it serves as consolation, there's a lot of desirable music equipment/instruments that come from your shores, and we have to pay quite a lot more than you.

I just looked at the price for a Mesa D800+ in the US. Sweetwater has it at $799.
I've just bought mine here in the UK for £1050... which at the current exchange rate comes to $1358...

I'm off to have a little cry...

 

[Haroldo]

There has been a general increase in prices across the board, pretty much, between 10-20% since June last year (Brexit vote)... you are right about that. But the Markbass gear did drop a little after moving production to Indonesia. However, if it serves as consolation, there's a lot of desirable music equipment/instruments that come from your shores, and we have to pay quite a lot more than you.

I just looked at the price for a Mesa D800+ in the US. Sweetwater has it at $799.
I've just bought mine here in the UK for £1050... which at the current exchange rate comes to $1358...

I'm off to have a little cry...

I'm sorry tariffs/customs & the exchange rate are conspiring against you and your wallet. I used to live in Oz, so I know about that, somewhat. It is not happy-making.

 

[BassinCT]

I am an owner of the now-extinct MoMark 500. As with most mid-priced gear, I am able to get what I need out of it and it has been reliable. No complaints, but it is a very "vanilla".
With the outstanding choices that have emerged in the mid-priced gear since 2010, an amp manufacturer has to really knock one out of the park when introducing something new. I can't say anything about their newest model in the $800 range, (Evo 1) but it appears to offer some programmability with either drive or other effects, and the ability to mix independent channels. At 500w, and with this feature set, I wonder if it is really going to be an attractive offering. Onboard tuner...meh. what do you think?

 

[B-line]

I am an owner of the now-extinct MoMark 500. As with most mid-priced gear, I am able to get what I need out of it and it has been reliable. No complaints, but it is a very "vanilla".
With the outstanding choices that have emerged in the mid-priced gear since 2010, an amp manufacturer has to really knock one out of the park when introducing something new. I can't say anything about their newest model in the $800 range, (Evo 1) but it appears to offer some programmability with either drive or other effects, and the ability to mix independent channels. At 500w, and with this feature set, I wonder if it is really going to be an attractive offering. Onboard tuner...meh. what do you think?

I personally do not like programmable features nor effects that are built-in an amp head. YMMV, IMO, etc.
I prefer adding to my signal chain my self (I rarely do) and prefer on outboard tuner as well, either my TU-2 or a really nice tiny Korg that doubles as a flashlight!
Not a fan of 2 channels either, don't really know why!

Looking at the MB site instigated by this thread, I see some stuff that would work for me-the Little Mark Ninja comes to mind, pretty straightforward high-powered MarkBass tone, which I like.

I've also heard some positive things about the compressore.

 

[Marley's Ghost]

I have the Compressore and I run it so I get just a bit of comp when I slap or hit hard. The tube works very nicely with the Tube pre on the LMT800 to give me just enough warmth.

 

[B-line]

I have the Compressore and I run it so I get just a bit of comp when I slap or hit hard. The tube works very nicely with the Tube pre on the LMT800 to give me just enough warmth.

Yes, thanks!~ The Compressore is on my very short list of compressors to grab up.

 

[Adhesive_X]

I just tried a MB combo at GC a couple of months ago, sounded amazing.

If I didn't buy a Magellan 800 a few months earlier I'd totally buy a mark bass

 

[Russell L]

Well, I have to admit that on the LMII head in my 121H combo and my separate LMIII head I wish I had more control over the low mids, the low knob being centered at 40 Hz and the low mid knob centered at 360 Hz. 'Twould be nice to be able to directly control anywhere fron 80-200 Hz. But hey, even so, with everything at noon, even with the filters off, once I'm in a band mix the darn thing sounds pretty damn good.

I sometimes roll the low knob back to 10:30 and the VLE to around noon, though. Rarely, the VPF to no more than 9:00, if any at all. The rest of my tone-shaping has to do with where I pluck the strings and how I use my fingers. So far, so good for the last several years.

 

[Jeff Scott]

"Lavender Honey"?

Probably good, but:

Welcome to Fosselman's Ice Cream Company

See ya there.

Any good ice cream is okay by me!

I guess you never heard of the MB-150 (?) which has been around since the late 80s or early 90s. 150w with a 12, maybe 25 or 30 pounds and sounded pretty good.

Did you read the whole body of my post????? No, huh?

Here Let me help you:

I don't think so, Gk had not yet intro'd the MicroBass series, the 400/700RB's were considered to be their small units, other than that, they offered the 150 combo, which was/is a pretty good piece of gear.
View attachment 1170734

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, in the whole body of my post, I owned & gigged one for years. Killer rig really.
May I add that now?

Both of you must be pretty young. You guys forgot the even older series of Gallien-Krueger amps that included the 200MB combo amp.
I bought one new in 1987; great little amp that I probably should have never sold.

The MicroBass series came along after that (they weren't around yet when I bought my 200MB).

 

[B-line]

Any good ice cream is okay by me!

Both of you must be pretty young. You guys forgot the even older series of Gallien-Krueger amps that included the 200MB combo amp.
I bought one new in 1987; great little amp that I probably should have never sold.

 

[leonard]

Quite a thread here! I'm happy with my cmd 121p and the matching new york cab, both made in Italy. Small, lightweight, powerful and ugly.

 

[jnewmark]

I tried many MarkBass heads, and my fave was the F1. That head seemed to have a more different tonal vibe than the rest, but was a one trick pony, if that makes sense. The other heads all sounded alike to me, namely a sort of flabby bottom, not my favorite EQ low mid point, 360 hz iirc . The SD1200 had ice pick highs, but gobs of power. I think in the end, the popularity waned because of newer heads that came along that seemed to have better EQ points and power. Those " V " controls I never liked, and wondered why MB had to put them on all the heads, which at one point, was a bewildering menu of different heads that basically were the same thing. One head I would like to try is that little 1000 watt beast, but, after trying the GB stuff, I like my Shuttle 6.2 more than anything else that has come out since.

 

[bigswifty1]

Local experience from Australia. I currently own (and gig) the following MB gear for different types of gigs:

LM II
CMD121P
CMD151P
Traveler 102P (x2)
and previously a LM Tube 800.

I've done many gigs over years with them, varying the rig acc to the gig/venue/style etc. I have no idea whether it is Italian or Indonesian built, never looked and don't really care (as an OT aside, I could go on forever about Italian non-music gear which has made my life a misery and joy over the years, but I digress). I look after my gear, but it leads a strictly "working" life - handled by others, lots of time spent in the back of the truck, used in all manner of temperatures, conditions and power situations.

The only bit of kit which has failed me has been the CMD151, which quit on me at a gig (finished the gig via DI->PA). I booked it in for a warrant job and the fault couldn't be reproduced. I got it back and continued to use it (always in situations where I was covered if it went out). Some time later it went "pop" this time for good, dead as a dodo. I checked it in, fearing the worst, since it was by now well outside warranty period. I made one phone call, and got told that it would be fixed under warranty, the paperwork was all sorted out within a couple of hours and they sent me to a repairer (who I already knew of by good reputation among local musos) about 15 minutes drive from home.

Mike