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What happened to Markbass popularity?

#164
Scruffy_Johnson said:
Overrated. But, overpriced? Probably. Silly color scheme for sure -- looks like a toy rig.

Way more "pricey" stuff out there.

This stuff KILLS: Wayne Jones. Bring a LOT of money! But, you get what you pay for. Not everybody, nearly nobody. An elite rig.
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Yes. That stuff KILLS.
'Scuse me, I need to run & get some ammo to rob my local B of A.

Even if I get caught, maybe they'll let me take this rig in with me.

THAT is HOT.
 
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#165
Trabeen said:
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.

View attachment 1169880
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The blue nicely contrasts to the yellow!!! I have a similar setup..which morphed into two Ashdown 15s under an LM2 (when my MB CL104 blew a driver)
It works very well! I Also use a CMD121p on one of the Ashdowns..works perfectly well too!
 
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#167
Over-rated /Over-Priced.

I'd like to say something about that!

Gear in general is priced for the best sales/profit results for the Manufacturer. Mark Bass like any other builder has their bottom-line and prices their catalogue accordingly, so they can stay in business. If the cost dissuades some, then they would need to find an alternative- They're out there.

Over-rated?? Who gets to decide? Not me. I won't tell anyone their rig isn't up to par, I'm only concerned with what works for me, and puts out what I need & want.

There...that was easy!:roflmao:
 
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#168
Jeff Scott said:
I would have been very interested in the Quilter (actually, two of them) except for that red stuff on the top of the case. Call me shallow, but I find that a bit tacky looking. :woot:
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OK you're shallow!:roflmao:

Now should I call you a cab??:laugh:

Of course its tacky, red "Warning!" bars, I mean wassup with that??

I only need, however, to shield my eyes from that graphic-design nightmare of an amp, and then be SO Content with how it POUNDS an excellent sound outta my fine bass guitars!:cool:
 
#169
Here's a photo of the NY604's with my LMII Marco signature. Pretty classy by me.

LMII_NY604_2_stack.jpg
 
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#170
J Wilson said:
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.
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Just to clarify, the Musicman amp reissues were designed by the engineer whom created markbass and I believe they were also built in Italy, where he is from. They weren't manufactured in Indonesia if I'm correct and it was a limited and premium run.

I do agree with the consensus that the markbass amps themselves are one of those whatever brands. Not bad by any means, just not particularly mind blowing. I personally felt that many of their amps had many features that were gimmicks, such as their loudspeaker emulation knobs and the modular bass system. There are so many other amps around that are lightweight now and markbass is just like a whatever brand. For the op, it sounds like you're looking for something like an ampeg. I personally like Mesa for the excellent build quality and they are good amps for metal/rock. The Mesa subway is simple, light, tubelike and best of all relatively inexpensive.
 
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#171
Stevorebob said:
Moving production overseas and being a Guitar Center exclusive brand may have had something to do with it. Or maybe the yellow just wore thin. But I believe the competition caught up and bested them at their own game.
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That's what I believe. I also believe that they had major issues with warranty fulfillment in the US, too. I was a fan for a little while, but I had a real bad experience with warranty fulfillment, and I got annoyed with the sound of the cab I had over time.
 
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#172
ThinCrappyTone said:
All that seems logical. And I hate to be so shallow, but yes that yellow black look just offends my eyes. I wonder how many sales that scheme cost them.
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I actually like the look of Markbass stuff. The yellow contrasts nicely against the black. Hate carpeted cabs though. Like what year are we in? 1986? Markbass stuff sounds nice but to me it doesn't touch the depth and complexity of sound I've gotten from Mesa Boogie bass guitar amps and cabinets.
 
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#175
VinnyIuspa said:
op, it sounds like you're looking for something like an ampeg. I personally like Mesa for the excellent build quality and they are good amps for metal/rock. The Mesa subway is simple, light, tubelike and best of all relatively inexpensive.
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Very true. Ampeg is indeed what I want, but random shutdown stories with their class D stuff skeered me off them. Which is a bummer, because I love their stuff. I am probably going with the Mesa D800+, as it seems like a winner all around, and rock solid. I asked the question about MarkBass mostly out of curiosity. And because they're on sale today at GC.
 
#176
ThinCrappyTone said:
Very true. Ampeg is indeed what I want, but random shutdown stories with their class D stuff skeered me off them. Which is a bummer, because I love their stuff. I am probably going with the Mesa D800+, as it seems like a winner all around, and rock solid. I asked the question about MarkBass mostly out of curiosity. And because they're on sale today at GC.
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Random shutdowns in their class D heads are a thing of the past. And the only ones that had problems are the PF500 and SVT 7 Pro, both of which are fixed and have been for a while now. Do what you wish and vote with your dollars, but Ampeg class D heads work just fine now and are as solid as any of them.
 
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#177
Still lovin' my MarkBass gear. LMIII head, LMT800 head, CMD151P combo, 1X15 cab, 4X10 cab. Zero reliability issues for the past eight years or so. Nothing but compliments on my tone from musicians and audience members alike. The Tube 800 is not classic "Ampeg" tube tone, but it does provide a little more coloration than the MarkBass SS offerings.

The day I give two dumps about what some snooty arrogant musician thinks about the aesthetics of my rig is the day I sell it all and take up stamp collecting. I'm not sure about you all, but snooty musicians make up around <.5% of my typical audiences, sometimes less, and even those have the common sense to mind their manners in the real world. People prove themselves ever more ridiculous every time I log on here.
 
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#178
JimmyM said:
Random shutdowns in their class D heads are a thing of the past. And the only ones that had problems are the PF500 and SVT 7 Pro, both of which are fixed and have been for a while now. Do what you wish and vote with your dollars, but Ampeg class D heads work just fine now and are as solid as any of them.
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Thanks, Jimmy. I don't doubt it. Its a toughie, because I love Ampeg. But once you get that nervous feeling about a brand's reliability, it's hard to shake. Especially when there are brands/models that haven't had as many issues. Still considering it though. The PF800 looks sweet.
 

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