Deaj
Well-known member
I ttook my niece bass shopping today. The main objectives were to become familiar with passive and active electronics, neck profiles, construction and wood types and then play some basses to get a handle on what works best for her. She's 16 years old and her influences range from early British invasion to select modern rock acts.
We had the bass room at a local GC pretty much to ourselves for the afternoon. I looked around the room when we first arrived looking for a relatively neutral amp would allow the character/tone of each bass to be heard. By reviews I've read the Markbass amps seemed a good place to start. I selected the Jeff Berlin 1x15 combo because I saw no tweeter through the speaker grill (I don't care for tweeters).
We started with Fender passive instruments and then moved on to a few active basses. She definitely showed a significant preference for active electronics and narrow string spacing. She pent a lot of time with a natural finish ash 4HS Sterling and a 4HH Bongo even though both were out of her price range (the Sterling was a fantastic bass!) She eventually got around to demo'ing some instruments within her price range and found an Ibanez SR300ROM that seems to fit her just right.
While I had no intention of shopping for myself it quickly became evident that the little Markbass Jeff Berlin 1x15 combo (Little Mark II amp in a 1x15 combo) was just exactly what I want in a bass amp - warm, punchy, flexible, small, lightweight, and capable of producing a LOUD, clean signal with plenty of headroom. I was able to dial in a sound very, very close to my Ampeg B50-R Rocket Bass 1x12 combo (love that little amp!) with A LOT more volume on tap and a good bit more punch available just by digging in a bit more with my right hand. From there I found the little Markbass has much more to offer in the way of tone shaping. I'll have to demo both side by side before making any final decision about the Ampeg but I'll more than likely replace it with this Markbass combo. What a fantastic little amp!!
We had the bass room at a local GC pretty much to ourselves for the afternoon. I looked around the room when we first arrived looking for a relatively neutral amp would allow the character/tone of each bass to be heard. By reviews I've read the Markbass amps seemed a good place to start. I selected the Jeff Berlin 1x15 combo because I saw no tweeter through the speaker grill (I don't care for tweeters).
We started with Fender passive instruments and then moved on to a few active basses. She definitely showed a significant preference for active electronics and narrow string spacing. She pent a lot of time with a natural finish ash 4HS Sterling and a 4HH Bongo even though both were out of her price range (the Sterling was a fantastic bass!) She eventually got around to demo'ing some instruments within her price range and found an Ibanez SR300ROM that seems to fit her just right.
While I had no intention of shopping for myself it quickly became evident that the little Markbass Jeff Berlin 1x15 combo (Little Mark II amp in a 1x15 combo) was just exactly what I want in a bass amp - warm, punchy, flexible, small, lightweight, and capable of producing a LOUD, clean signal with plenty of headroom. I was able to dial in a sound very, very close to my Ampeg B50-R Rocket Bass 1x12 combo (love that little amp!) with A LOT more volume on tap and a good bit more punch available just by digging in a bit more with my right hand. From there I found the little Markbass has much more to offer in the way of tone shaping. I'll have to demo both side by side before making any final decision about the Ampeg but I'll more than likely replace it with this Markbass combo. What a fantastic little amp!!
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