Like?
I've seen people mention shifting to overseas manufacturing, the US market, and reasons why people aren't attracted to them. What have you seen that's irrelevant? The Striper thing MAYBE.... and that's a hard maybe because it was funny.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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?
- Thread starter ThinCrappyTone
- Start date
-
- Tags
- markbass
I've seen people mention shifting to overseas manufacturing, the US market, and reasons why people aren't attracted to them. What have you seen that's irrelevant? The Striper thing MAYBE.... and that's a hard maybe because it was funny.
yellow, orange, is it yellow or orange. if you think that is relevant, great. Im about the sound.
Markbass LMIII and Markbass 104HF in the wild. Picture taken 30 June 2017. We sounded good.
It's usually something like "we'll buy xx units a year if we become your exclusive US retailer (usually it's a number much larger than what MB estimates that several regular dealers all totaled up would be) Perhaps years ago, when GC was flush with excess cash, CG may have fronted MB some seed money at no interest rate to get up and running, or perhaps loaned them some expansion money on the cheap. Either with certain 'strings attached'. However, some deals are with the devil.
Last edited:
Dangerous business. I didn't know they dealt like that in the US. I'm learning here. I'm learning dangerous business buy still learning haha
While black and yellow is never a great colour combo, the Bee Movie doesn't deserve to be thrown into a thread about Markbass, it's a great movie. You'd better Bee-lieve it!
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
Invalid Link Removed
What's so bad about Randy Jackson, other than the American Idol stuff?
Sound does matter, but to many colour scheme and where it's made/sold matters just as much.
If colour didn't matter, we could all have red amps and seafoam green basses!
They're ugly and I don't like the sound. I live the sounds of tube, not a class D amp guy myself...
MB is still the popular choice in my house. I love my rig and not tubey is exactly what I was looking for. I wanted portable, pretty transparent but also punchy, plenty of headroom for backline only function gigs but also good for PA use and on-stage monitoring. The MB amps fitted the bill and I really liked how they sounded with my basses. In fact Ampeg-like was exactly what I didn't want. That is to say, clean headroom not verging into distortion at decent gig volumes. But then I'd played a late 80s Trace Elliott for a couple of decades before that so guess why I liked the Mark Bass.
Of course, in the UK their pricing was probably comparatively cheaper than in the States since we didn't have to add any import tariffs on top of the wholesale/retail prices. They aren't cheap over here but they're not silly money either for what they deliver. Same reason that a lot of US staple brands like Fender seem overpriced to us - shipping and tariff additions. Anyone over there fancy buying a Fender USA Professional Jazz bass for $2000-2500? That's the equivalent UK cost. $1500 in Sam Ash.
Nope, I reckon this is the rig that will do me for the foreseeable future...
Of course, in the UK their pricing was probably comparatively cheaper than in the States since we didn't have to add any import tariffs on top of the wholesale/retail prices. They aren't cheap over here but they're not silly money either for what they deliver. Same reason that a lot of US staple brands like Fender seem overpriced to us - shipping and tariff additions. Anyone over there fancy buying a Fender USA Professional Jazz bass for $2000-2500? That's the equivalent UK cost. $1500 in Sam Ash.
Nope, I reckon this is the rig that will do me for the foreseeable future...
I always find threads like this facinating. I have seen so many people describe the sound of Markbass heads so differently. "Clean" is a word some people use, but personally I've never heard one I would consider a "clean" sound like I would an EBS, Eden, or SWR. I've demoed several at GC and there is always something nasty in the mids to my ear. Granted, no GC employee has been able to tell me what exactly those oddly labeled knobs actually adjust, but I haven't been able to get a good "clean" flat sound out of one.
Wait until you study Walmart. Rubbermaid tried to get in with them, and Walmart manhandled them from the start. WM began by ordering much more than Rubbermaid could manufacture, prompting Rubbermaid to take out massive loans to invest in more manufacturing capacity both here and overseas. Then Walmart did what Walmart does best. Starts to offer RM just a fraction of what they were paying until RM goes under. WM buys up all the RM assets in bankruptcy court for pennies on the dollar and now 'owns' the brand they stock their shelves with. That's not new however. Sears used to do the same thing. I know lots of owners and reps of manufacturing companies who refuse to sell to Walmart because they don't want to loose their companies. It's that cutthroat and it sucks.
Last edited:
I guess I should have made it more clear. If his integrity is so spotty that he'll sell Chinese acoustic guitars on HSN, then I want no part of anything he's selling.
I feel the same way about Victor Wooten after that bit where he was flogging those expensive power cables.
I love my Markbass rig. I have the LMIII as well as the Little Mark Tube 800. I liked the yellow and black so much I'm going out of my way to find yellow cords for everything. LOL!
True enough. But a potential market isn't determined by the total number of people. It's how wealthy the peope in that market comparatively are since an instrument amplifier is definitely in the category of luxury products.
So when you're looking at less than 5% of the world's adult population that controls better than 25% of the worlds wealth (indicating a much higher level of discretionary spending capacity) the 80/20 rule comes into effect in marketing efforts. And that US market is a powerful siren call for many non-US businesses.
Supply follows the money, not just the demand. And that sadly applies to life's necessities as well as luxury goods.
Last edited:
I've had (2) MarkBass amps, both LM's, and have been able to escape the dreaded "Yellowjacket" color scheme that probably would not have mattered to me.
First was an LMIII, the "Marco" red face plate signature version limited & signed, made in Italia. Sold that; regret it.
Replaced with, and current is a LM800T -anniversary edition w/ gold faceplate. (I had to pay more, but it was in-stock at the GC I went to, and I am inpatient!)
Until I closely examined the back, I had no idea it had been built in Indonesia.
I was only a bit disappointed because IME, MarkBass had such an Italian flavor that is normally associated with very high-end design and build- Cars, fashion, etc.
I do not however notice any drop-off in either tone or quality. It is a fantastic unit.
IMO, the biggest reason MB is no longer the rage it was when first intro'd (remember that?) is because the bandwagon is now filled with a number of small, lightweight, powerful, and incredibly good sounding rigs, and the selection keeps getting better.
MB has also gone through a lot of incarnations of its line-up as far as I see. I guess they're trying to get it right, sound-wise and certainly sales- wise.
They're cabinets have never received overwhelming praise, but I have read posts where the user is very happy with them.
I always enjoy their booth at NAMM, Alain Caron plays,and most important of all; I mean PARAMOUNT!!!
Free Pens!
First was an LMIII, the "Marco" red face plate signature version limited & signed, made in Italia. Sold that; regret it.
Replaced with, and current is a LM800T -anniversary edition w/ gold faceplate. (I had to pay more, but it was in-stock at the GC I went to, and I am inpatient!)
Until I closely examined the back, I had no idea it had been built in Indonesia.
I was only a bit disappointed because IME, MarkBass had such an Italian flavor that is normally associated with very high-end design and build- Cars, fashion, etc.
I do not however notice any drop-off in either tone or quality. It is a fantastic unit.
IMO, the biggest reason MB is no longer the rage it was when first intro'd (remember that?) is because the bandwagon is now filled with a number of small, lightweight, powerful, and incredibly good sounding rigs, and the selection keeps getting better.
MB has also gone through a lot of incarnations of its line-up as far as I see. I guess they're trying to get it right, sound-wise and certainly sales- wise.
They're cabinets have never received overwhelming praise, but I have read posts where the user is very happy with them.
I always enjoy their booth at NAMM, Alain Caron plays,and most important of all; I mean PARAMOUNT!!!
Free Pens!
I purchased their products on two separate occasions, a head and a cab. I tried them, really gave them a chance, just too sterile sounding for me.
When I became curious enough about Class D to think about moving away from my ABM500, my locally owned MI store that I always dealt with was carrying all the "better" brands and I wound up with Genz. I am still loyal to that brand even though they are no longer in production. I will say that I have bought, sold, and bought again a Compressore. I'm not much of a pedal guy but I do like that one.
Ah, I gotcha. Just a name with no credibility attached to a shoddy product.
Like all those "signature" perfumes so I see so often.
I've got an SWR SM-400/Goliath III, and I can confidently say SWR is not going to be to everyone's taste.
I have a real half-assed love/hate relationship with mine.There's days when I'm happy with it and days I'd like to drop it out a seventh story window.
I've got an Electric Blue that I'm happy with. The rest of their heads and combos I could take or leave. It's my clean head.
I have a blackline SVT when I want tubey or just plain loud.
Markbass is like the iPad "Pro", it works for a small cross section of use cases that I don't need to address.
