• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

What happened to Markbass popularity?

#323
ThinCrappyTone said:
Well. If anyone is interested, I just bought the Markbass TTE 801.

Was pretty much set on the Boogie D800+, and was going to pull the trigger, but my favorite online store (cough, Sweetwater, cough) didn't have it in stock. So between impatience, GC having the MarkBass in stock to try, and me still thinking I want a tube or three in the chain, I decided to give it a shot. Figured I can just return it if I don't love it.

I plan to do a video review, with some mic'd and DI audio samples, and an A/B comparison with the Ampeg PF-20T (just to see how it compares to an all tube amp), and upload it over the next few days. Figured that would be useful, because there is almost nothing on this model. But here are the initial impressions:

• It's loud AF
• It is super warm and fat. Really feels and sounds tubey. Responds well to "digging in"
• It's a dark tone, on the verge of too dark. Had to crank the treble and mids to get the tone I want. But it got there. Seems to brighten up as you turn the power amp up.
• That said, the tone controls are subtle... don't seem to do a heck of a lot.
• The "color" knob just seems to darken it more. Off now. Might turn it up with the amp volume.
• There's not a lot of grit, even when you crank the gain to max
• I like how the compressor works. You can dial it in to really squash it, or just catch the transients. Musical/Useful.
• I A/B'd it with the Ampeg. It actually sounds pretty darn close (initial, non-mix impressions). Fatter, a little less articulate, a little less highs and upper mids. Will it be audible/sit nice in a mix? No idea. Hope so.
• The look doesn't bother me. I actually really like it. It's basically all black, and the name badge lights up. heh. Cool :)
• I like how it has feets on the bottom and the side. Handy. And the handle is on the long end. Way easier to carry IMO
• It's very light. Around 10 lbs I think. It's pretty big though.

Testing method: I tested it by playing a bunch of bass lines into a Ditto Looper, then swapped the output between the Ampeg PF-20T and the MB, and used the same cabs, so I was truly hearing the same parts played the same way. Again, pretty close.

Negatives? Only one, so far: there's no "pre/post" switch for the DI. Not sure which it is. I will experiment tomorrow.

I will keep y'all posted, if you're interested.

Pics or it didn't happen:

View attachment 1171694

----------

A note on my Guitar Center experience. I'm not a big fan of GC. Had a few ridiculously bad experiences over the last few years. But this was very smooth. Went to the Boylston St, Boston, store. Haggled with the sales gentleman, then the manager, and after much back and forth, they dropped the price 20%. So this ended up being, $850, out the door, with tax. I know, I know. I could've bought a boogie and had $50 left over for cocaine and hookers.
Click to expand...

I use the Little Mark 800 now but I previously had the TTE500. Run flat in my room, it had the best tone I had ever heard. The minute I plugged into it at a GC, I knew I had to get one. I played through it for about 20 minutes in the store and four people complimented me. TTEs sound great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Marley's Ghost and ThinCrappyTone
#326
howlin said:
Yeah, Marco went for cheap instead of protecting his brand. Now nobody wants them. FWIW - I had an Italian MB and it was great - but NOT that great. IMHE it was a clearly over-rated product to begin with and now they've screwed the pooch . . . :eek:
Click to expand...
"nobody wants them"
That recalls a famous Yogi Berra quotation, "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sartori, Marley's Ghost, mcnach and 3 others
#328
ThinCrappyTone said:
Well. If anyone is interested, I just bought the Markbass TTE 801.

Was pretty much set on the Boogie D800+, and was going to pull the trigger, but my favorite online store (cough, Sweetwater, cough) didn't have it in stock. So between impatience, GC having the MarkBass in stock to try, and me still thinking I want a tube or three in the chain, I decided to give it a shot. Figured I can just return it if I don't love it.

I plan to do a video review, with some mic'd and DI audio samples, and an A/B comparison with the Ampeg PF-20T (just to see how it compares to an all tube amp), and upload it over the next few days. Figured that would be useful, because there is almost nothing on this model. But here are the initial impressions:

• It's loud AF
• It is super warm and fat. Really feels and sounds tubey. Responds well to "digging in"
• It's a dark tone, on the verge of too dark. Had to crank the treble and mids to get the tone I want. But it got there. Seems to brighten up as you turn the power amp up.
• That said, the tone controls are subtle... don't seem to do a heck of a lot.
• The "color" knob just seems to darken it more. Off now. Might turn it up with the amp volume.
• There's not a lot of grit, even when you crank the gain to max
• I like how the compressor works. You can dial it in to really squash it, or just catch the transients. Musical/Useful.
• I A/B'd it with the Ampeg. It actually sounds pretty darn close (initial, non-mix impressions). Fatter, a little less articulate, a little less highs and upper mids. Will it be audible/sit nice in a mix? No idea. Hope so.
• The look doesn't bother me. I actually really like it. It's basically all black, and the name badge lights up. heh. Cool :)
• I like how it has feets on the bottom and the side. Handy. And the handle is on the long end. Way easier to carry IMO
• It's very light. Around 10 lbs I think. It's pretty big though.

Testing method: I tested it by playing a bunch of bass lines into a Ditto Looper, then swapped the output between the Ampeg PF-20T and the MB, and used the same cabs, so I was truly hearing the same parts played the same way. Again, pretty close.

Negatives? Only one, so far: there's no "pre/post" switch for the DI. Not sure which it is. I will experiment tomorrow.

I will keep y'all posted, if you're interested.

Pics or it didn't happen:

View attachment 1171694

----------

A note on my Guitar Center experience. I'm not a big fan of GC. Had a few ridiculously bad experiences over the last few years. But this was very smooth. Went to the Boylston St, Boston, store. Haggled with the sales gentleman, then the manager, and after much back and forth, they dropped the price 20%. So this ended up being, $850, out the door, with tax. I know, I know. I could've bought a boogie and had $50 left over for cocaine and hookers.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, after much experimenting, the MarkBass TTE801 amp is going back to GC today :/ I really wanted to love it. The tone coming out of the speakers is freaking great. Very legit tubey vintage ol skool. It's so close to being what I hoped for. But there are two deal breakers I can't get past:

1) It hisses like a mofo. How does a mofo hiss? Sounds like somebody put a mic in a shower, turned the shower on, and blended that sound with the main signal. This hiss is present even when the volume and gain are at zero. I swapped all the tubes with new ones and it didn't help at all.

2) The DI leaves a lot to be desired. First, the tone coming out of it is just too dark and inarticulate for my tastes. Might work great with a bright bass, but my bass is not bright at all. And the eq controls barely do anything, so you can't really shape the tone very much if you don't like it. It kind of is what it is. Even with mid and treb cranked to 10, it's still too dark. Also, there is no pre/post option. Only post. To get the DI signal to a useable level, you have to crank the gain, which darkens the sound even more.

I did a DI recording test comparing the tte800 to the ampeg PF-20T to a Genz Benz Shuttle 3.0, and both the ampeg and the shuttle DI sounded a lot better to me. Just as fat, but more articulate, and easier to create a usable tone.

Bummer. No indictment of MB. It's a great amp, with lots of cool unique features. Love some aspects of it. Just not quite there for me.

Going to try some other options and keep recording the DI's to compare.
 
#330
ThinCrappyTone said:
Unfortunately, after much experimenting, the MarkBass TTE801 amp is going back to GC today :/ I really wanted to love it. The tone coming out of the speakers is freaking great. Very legit tubey vintage ol skool. It's so close to being what I hoped for. But there are two deal breakers I can't get past:

1) It hisses like a mofo. How does a mofo hiss? Sounds like somebody put a mic in a shower, turned the shower on, and blended that sound with the main signal. This hiss is present even when the volume and gain are at zero. I swapped all the tubes with new ones and it didn't help at all.

2) The DI leaves a lot to be desired. First, the tone coming out of it is just too dark and inarticulate for my tastes. Might work great with a bright bass, but my bass is not bright at all. And the eq controls barely do anything, so you can't really shape the tone very much if you don't like it. It kind of is what it is. Even with mid and treb cranked to 10, it's still too dark. Also, there is no pre/post option. Only post. To get the DI signal to a useable level, you have to crank the gain, which darkens the sound even more.

I did a DI recording test comparing the tte800 to the ampeg PF-20T to a Genz Benz Shuttle 3.0, and both the ampeg and the shuttle DI sounded a lot better to me. Just as fat, but more articulate, and easier to create a usable tone.

Bummer. No indictment of MB. It's a great amp, with lots of cool unique features. Love some aspects of it. Just not quite there for me.

Going to try some other options and keep recording the DI's to compare.
Click to expand...

You could do much worse than trying a Mesa D800+. ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: ThinCrappyTone
#332
@Stateside Rambler

Here's my comment:

"Yeah, Marco went for cheap instead of protecting his brand. Now nobody wants them. FWIW - I had an Italian MB and it was great - but NOT that great. IMHE it was a clearly over-rated product to begin with and now they've screwed the pooch . . . :eek:"

And here are your TWO comments:

StatesideRambler said:
Having posted on this thread and elsewhere about a side-by-side, in studio comparison of my Italy-built CMD121P and a friend's Indonesia-built CMD121P I can confidently and comfortably say to your hyperbolic assertion, "Nonsense!"
Click to expand...
StatesideRambler said:
"nobody wants them"
That recalls a famous Yogi Berra quotation, "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."
Click to expand...

I'm curious as to why you seem so defensive about what I said regarding MB amps that you would come back for seconds. It was my opinion based on my experience and my observations [admittedly better said by others] but I'm concerned. Are you not taking your meds? And throwing the Yogi Berra quote into the mix? Really? How 'bout this one? "If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be . . ." :thumbsup:
 
Last edited:
#333
giphy.gif
 
  • Like
Reactions: Marley's Ghost and mcnach
#334
What year did they go to Indonesia , I have a 2011 Jeff Berlin 15 combo i bought new from Guitar Center a place I hate. It does okay but I miss my SWR 750 head and my Aguilar 210 cab and my Fane 15 cab. But do to an accident and a busted hip I went to something lighter and easier to handle. So I got the MarkBass and I never was overly crazy about it, but its okay. And I am not crazy about 15in speakers, at church I use a SWR 350 oder head and an older SWR 410 cab and love it. But I can't get rid of my MarkBass cause my wife, busted her butt saving money and bought it new in 2008 for my birthday. Here in Texas I have seen a couple of guys take the head out of Jeff Berlin combos, and make a little lid for the top to use as a head on other cabs.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back