Markbass in Towson, MD

[GassieBall]

OK any Mid-Atlantic people out there,

I'm gonna go try out some Markbass stuff tomorrow at the Guitar Center in Towson, MD. They say they just got it in. The Rockville, MD GC is gonna get some soon according to an email I got from the company. I hope they have some GK stuff set up so I can A/B them against Markbass.

I don't think I'm gonna buy anything until the GK Fusion and the Neo410 come out, but I'm itching to see what this Markbass wave is about.

 

[Big Poppa]

wanna bet?

 

[Dr Stankface]

I've heard the MarkBass Little Mark II.

I still prefer my GK sound and a Fusion 1050 will be in my future.

 

[ras1983]

if you like the GK tone, then you will LOVE the markbass cabs.

 

[Bill]

I'm scared to try Markbass! My wife might kill me....

 

[SharonG]

Oh, this is cool - I've already begged Toomy and Pete to give a listen in Dallas for me......(sigh, ) but now maybe I can check one out myself - Towson's just not that far away!!!

Now will it be that, or the Eden.......

 

[GassieBall]

Just got back. I played the Little Mark II and the STD104HF. It was very impressive. What everyone was saying about the natural sound was right. I think it very much directly delivered the tone of my Bongo (I brought it to the store) itself. When everything is flat, it sounds very clean and at first I didn't think it punched too hard.

But as soon as you boost the lows and the mids on the Bongo and tweak the EQ on the LMKII, I it was extremely impressive. Sort of like when you drive a high end sports car and push on the pedal. It responds and doesn't ask any questions.

As some of you know, I used to prefer the F#nd#r/Ampeg sound but I've converted. My current 250W Bassman Combo has I think a more older school tone and when I tried GK and Markbass, sometimes I feel it things were not "colored" enough...

Behold the VPF and VLE filters. They were able to emulate an Ampeg-y tone and my Bassman tone quite well. I was very impressed how versatile this setup is.

Here is the thing that cinched it for me. I picked the damn thing up and it is almost a joke. Then I picked up the GK 1001RB. And I was able to fairly painlessly lift the 410 at 64 lbs. Considering how I gotta lug stuff across my basement and up the steps when we gig out.

 

[Dr Stankface]

GK Neo 212 = 64 lbs.

That's one thing I like about the LMKII. 500 watts and 6 lbs. My 1001 is 700 watts (with 50 to the horn) is 18 lbs. Even though my back would love the MarkBass, there's no way it would replace my 1001.

I just might get one anyway though. I need a good practice amp.

 

[ras1983]

in my opinion, markbass are effectively the poor man's epifani. light, loud and low and a price that won't make you go bankrupt.

on the 104hf, i couldn't be happier with mine. the weight is absolutely amazing, it is so much better than the bergantino ht322 in that regard.

i remember reading somewhere that markbass manufactured the EBMM cabinets that were on sale for a while... is this true?

 

[Big Poppa]

hey kids you keep comparing all of your amps to the little mark 2 which is fabulous but they make bigger and more powerful ones that compete quite favorably.....There is one that has soooo many knobs with super parametric eq that I get dizzy

I was talking to Jack today and said that my dream mark bass amp would have four knobs...Master volume, Volume, Vle and VPF ( I srtill cant explain what they do even thought I have been told a thousand times) those two knobs are magic tone dust...

I would use the eq on my bass and be happy...I m serious

 

[GassieBall]

those two knobs are magic tone dust...

+1

 

[Psycho Ward]

The bass guy at our new GC said he didn't think they were going to get any at their store. Sadly, he didn't know what I was talking about, but he was willing to learn and started looking on his computer and at least got me some prices.

So what's a Psycho to do?

I want one of the new ones, mine doesn't have those two magic knobs, and it still sounds great!

 

[GassieBall]

Psycho,

Peter Murray is the rep for BM over at TalkBass and he was the one who told me the roll out schedule for GC's around my area. He's very responsive and from his posts, seems to be a good guy and accomplised musician to boot.

BP, you should invite him over here! He could explain the magic knobs to us again.

 

[Peter Murray]

Psycho,

Peter Murray is the rep for BM over at TalkBass and he was the one who told me the roll out schedule for GC's around my area. He's very responsive and from his posts, seems to be a good guy and accomplised musician to boot.

BP, you should invite him over here! He could explain the magic knobs to us again.

I'm here! Just wrote my first post. Here is number two. Glad to be here!

Thanks for the nice words.

As per your suggestion about the magic knobs, here goes:

The VLE is a "Vintage Loudspeaker Emulator". It's shelving EQ that cuts a wider and wider range of high frequncies as you turn it up. If you turn down a treble knob, in most cases you're controlling a fixed shelf, e.g. everything above 5 kHz. With the VLE, you're expanding the range.
The effect of it is that it makes the amp sound less hi-fi, less crystal clear. The natural sound of Markbass amps can be so clear that in some musical situations you might feel you're actually attracting too much attention to yourself! But sometimes, especially for anything at all old-school, you want to blend in with the mix more. The VLE achieves this very easily and musically, with one "magic" knob!

The VPF is the "Variable Pre-Shape Filter". It's similar to the "enhance" knob found on some other amps--it boosts lows and highs, and cuts mids. This knob is popular for slap bass, and also sounds great for driving 8th-note rock.

The natural sound of the amp is very clear and the idea is to faithfully reproduce the natural tone of the instrument you put into it. When you plug a Music Man into a Markbass amp, for example, you hear the glory of Music Man! I think it's telling that Sterling is such a big Markbass fan... obviously when he plugs in to a Markbass, he hears the sound of the bass as he feels it's meant to sound.

But these two filters very easily allow you to adjust your sound for musical situations that come up very often for bass players. They make the amp a lot more versatile. And I can tell you that I rarely use any EQ on Markbass amps. Adjusting the filters is all I need.

Happy to be here and happy to field any questions at any time.

Cheers all,

 

[bassmonkey]

And I can tell you that I rarely use any EQ on Markbass amps. Adjusting the filters is all I need.

Happy to be here and happy to field any questions at any time.

Cheers all,

So you play bass? Cool! What basses you got?

 

[RitchieDarling]

I'm here! Just wrote my first post. Here is number two. Glad to be here!

Thanks for the nice words.

Great to have you on board Peter!

Now get on the phone and tell those GC guys in Phoenix to get on the ball.

No pun intended!

Ritchie

 

[Psycho Ward]

Welcome Peter, make yourself at home and have some fun here. I'm a big fan of your amps and my guy at the GSO GC says he'll get my LittleMark in next week.

You've seen my older Club 450 over ar the pit, what would be considered a "flat" setting on the mid's section?

If you guys ever run out of bass players to sell your amps to, hit the keyboard market with them, I use mine for keys and it is the best keyboard rig I own. For the record I own almost everything out there.

Again welcome!

 

[PocketGroove82]

The VPF is the "Variable Pre-Shape Filter". It's similar to the "enhance" knob found on some other amps--it boosts lows and highs, and cuts mids. This knob is popular for slap bass, and also sounds great for driving 8th-note rock.
Cheers all,

Dammit, I've been ignoring everyone's posts about markbass because I thought the enhance nob on my Eden rigs got the job done (with a minor bass boost/mid. cut/and slight touch of high boost), but now I really want to try the markbass stuff. What with the extra filter nob.

Granted, I've thought MB stuff looked a little strange on the surface, but since I finally grew to accepted the bongo, who am I to judge by looks.

Too bad I'm stuck in korea and won't be able to play any markbass stuff for a while, but I am visiting my wife in Venice for a few weeks next year, so hopefully I'll be able to hit up some stores while in Italy!

 

[Big Poppa]

Hey Peter Welcome!

 

[Peter Murray]

Great to have you on board Peter!

Now get on the phone and tell those GC guys in Phoenix to get on the ball.

No pun intended!

Ritchie

The Phoenix store is getting Markbass in January!

Cheers,
Peter