What happened to Markbass popularity?

[JW56789]

For me, MarkBass was another 'new' amp line that was getting a lot of buzz, just like in their day did SWR or Trace Eliott, etc. I gotta admit the color scheme was a little much for me, but what the hey, that's just me.

When they got to where they had Sig amps from Jeff Berlin and Alain Caron, I thought, 'time to check this out'. I did, and was disappointed. The 15 in the JB just sounded average, when by now, a single 15 bin should be a relatively achievable target. But I was really disappointed in the Caron amp. I'm a huge fan, I understood the reasoning behind the amp, but it too just sounded average, and in either case, I could not approach a tone I wanted.

Now this is all hugely subjective, but for me and what I wanted to hear, it just wasn't there.

Where it's made doesn't really matter, and I think to a point, guys may think that since they are SO in bed with Guitar Center, it must be lacking somehow. And yet, Sterling Ball (as smart a guy as there is in MI) uses them to re-issue the classic Music Man amps, so there must be something there. But ultimately, it just wasn't for me.

 

[PWRL]

Their new lack of popularity has worked out very well for me, because I like them, and so I've been able to buy two for cheap. I'd like to find another TA 501 head. I hope those are unpopular, too.

 

[avvie]

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That is EXACTLY my problem with Markbass.

 

[Jeff Scott]

one of the best gems I found in the local pawn shops was a made in Italia MB 102P, but like an idiot I got tired of it & sold it

You weren't an idiot to sell it; the yellow clashed with the bright blue LEDs of your amps.

...I described a side-by-side comparison of my Italian-built and my friend's Indonesian-built CMD121P. No difference discernible to anyone in the studio that day.

I have owned several pieces of pre-Fender SWR gear over the years. A friend of mine bought a MIM WM10 that I opened up to see how the construction of it compared to the pre-Fender stuff I had. It had excellent build quality with the very same components as my old SWR gear. I can't say one way or the other about the cabinet or speaker driver but the electronics were first rate.

I used to own a LM II and later on a F1, both long gone (I replaced the F1 with an Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 several years ago), but I still have and use my Minimark that I got over 10 years ago; great little amp.

 

[avvie]

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I can't completely disagree it's a bit more orangey than Stryper yellow, but I definitely think it's in the yellow family more than the orange family.

Its caution yellow.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I also won't support MB, because Randy Jackson was flogging their products:

This guy is selling gear from China on the Home Shopping Network, so his endorsement = I ain't gonna buy it!
same for Keith Urban

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[Rabidhamster]

Im not saying this ever happens with amps, but you can buy a pair of jeans from Morocco, or you can buy a pair of jeans made in morocco, shipped to italy for the italian flag to be stitched on, and its then tagged made in italy. All legal and accepted.

I think I know Italy has a lot of circuit board makers - but I also know I haven't seen them with my own eyes.

 

[Trabeen]

Simply adding fifteen mis-matched British inches to this little tower allows it to easily cover any vintage or modern tone that suits me, I call this colorful Anglo-Italian amalgam my "Battle of Anzio" rig.

 

[selowitch]

I like my MarkBass CMP 121. Play it all the time. It's lightweight and I get compliments on its sound.

 

[coreyfyfe]

Markbass just didn't bring enough of its own to the party IMO. Nothing wrong with the amps. Just nothing special enough (as far as my ears were concerned - YMMV) to make it worth the risk of wandering that far from the mainstream at those prices.

The cabs were/are a bit more colored than the heads I believe? Either way, I'm in the same camp. I never found them sound particularly special. Not that I'm big on little solid state amps anyways, but there's a whole marketplace flooded with class D toys these days and nothing about the sound of the MB amps stood out as particularly noteworthy to me.

 

[AztecViking]

I certainly see and hear plenty of them being used live these days. By many top level professionals too. But yes, it's very true that if you are obsessed with "the latest" they are no longer the flavor of the month.

 

[Krantz]

I'm very happy with my little mark I I. Wonderful fat sound.

 

[ThinCrappyTone]

just one question: nobody mentioned Ampeg?

may the bass be with you

Wise(b)ass

Excellent question sir. The reason is because I put a note in the other thread mentioning that I was scared off of the recent Ampeg tube pre/class D power models because of too many stories of random shutdowns. It's a bummer, because I think the tone would be what I am looking for.

 

[ThinCrappyTone]

The one I'm really curious about is the TTE 801. It's on sale for $150 off at Guitar Center today. Seems interesting, and it's designed to sound vintage. Or so the marketing copy says. Has tube pre and tube compressor. But there is not much info on it.

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[Jeff K]

I do not believe I am colorblind, but Markbass signature colors are black and orange, not black and yellow.

Sorry Brother Busy Fingers, but I'm afraid you just MIGHT have some color-blindness issues! MarkBass yellow is definitely a darker yellow than pale yellow, but certainly not orange. If anything, it's closer to gold than orange.

I had the early versions of the CMD 102P (210 combo amp) and a Traveler 115 extension cab. They were my go-to's for awhile, and sounded quite good. Not sure how the newer, Indonesian-made gear stacks up, but the Italian-made was very good.

 

[petrus61]

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Honestly, I think there's more truth to this than people may realize. It certainly kept me away as a customer (though I was never impressed with their sound and always thought they were a bit expensive), and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had a feeling back when they were big that the color scheme that made them so noticeable would also play a role in their eventual demise. The revivalist and old school aesthetic in music that grew in popularity in the last few years certainly has something to do with it too. Finally, I was never sure who MB was trying to market to, but IME it tended to lean toward aging rockers with back problems as those were the only people I ever personally witnessed using them in real life. I feel like they checked all the right boxes that set themselves up to not survive the ever changing tastes of the music community and also the appearance of other more traditional looking/sounding lightweights makes it even harder for people to care about them.

 

[RickyWoo]

Aesthetics are certainly not everything, yet they've always seemed to be something for me when it comes to Markbass. Trace Elliots, as wicked sounding as they were/are/whatever, had/have the same effect on me. Their performance gives them a slight edge for consideration but the less bright designs from other brands sound good too... So there goes my aesthetics issue and why I don't pay them much attention. Otherwise, I don't care where it was built, if it sounds good and performs. What isn't built "overseas" now?

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Still love my LMII and it is vintagey IMO. I do have an SVT too, but for practice and small gigs, the LMII is great.

Agreed.

I actually found my LMII and LMIII to sound very similar to my SVT's clean tone.

That said, they were sort of one trick ponies. They didn't flex much with their tones, and the general tone was fairly bland.

I never felt the need to go back to them when all the newer class D amps hit the market.

 

[ezra1]

They remind me of DeWalt power tools.

 

[RickyWoo]

They remind me of DeWalt power tools.

LOL!

"Buy this amp and get an 18volt lithium ion impact driver! You'll also be entered in our draw to meet Matt Kenseth of NASCAR"

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

The cabs were/are a bit more colored than the heads I believe? Either way, I'm in the same camp. I never found them sound particularly special. Not that I'm big on little solid state amps anyways, but there's a whole marketplace flooded with class D toys these days and nothing about the sound of the MB amps stood out as particularly noteworthy to me.

Markbass heads are super flat, their cabs are anything but.

For those thinking the orange colour scheme did them in, it didn't. I had an old school Markbass 610. They used to use a silver face logo and black drivers. When I eventually traded it, several store employees thought it was counterfeit. The orange and black image made the brand and they built almost all of their popularity after switching to it.