little mark II update

[DTG]

I bought one and i am running it through a SWR 1 x 15 (going to buy a MB 4 x 10 soon)
I have been using it with a weddind band and its fine,loud and punchy.But i used it with a rock band at the weekend and was very unhappy,I just brought the head with me and the band hired a 4x10 for me (harke).

I just could not get any volume out of it no matter what i did and had a crap gig.The cab was only rated at 300w,i know the MB 4x10 is 800w so it should smooth it out but here is my question

can i use the Little mark II as a pre amp and buy a power amp,what i was thinking was,the head i love and i can get a great sound out of it but when i need a really loud rig i would like to use it as a pre amp and use a 1200w power amp to power it.Is it possible to do this without harming my LM II head ??

Also when i get the MB 4x10 I am going to get the 4ohm version so i get the full 500w out of the head.

Any help would be great!!

 

[Kirby]

I hope you have better luck getting a 4 ohm cabinet than I did. GC told me that the 4 ohm cabinets were not available in the US and that all they were getting were 8 ohm cabinets so that is the 4x10 I ordered. Hopefully it will be in soon.

 

[robobass13]

I have an older (1999) SWR Goliath Sr. 4ohm 6x10 cab that I run my LMK II head through and it is loud as hell.

 

[DTG]

The 4 ohm is available here costs a pretty penny,i was thinking of getting the swr G III cab nearly same price.

the loud thing is strange playing with my local band it seems fine but the rock band i work with from time to time are really loud,we tried to turn down but it just kill the vibe a bit.I think the only way out is too get a pre amp and power amp,i have tried it out before and the volume is there.But if i could use the LMII head as a pre amp it would make me very happy.

 

[MingusBASS]

Try a different cab. The LMII is a LOUD 500watts. I play with a blue guitarist that cranks his all tube Fender and Budda to 11. The LMII holds it's own with plenty to spare.

 

[Big Poppa]

YOu cannot complain about a 500watt amp that is rated at 4 ophms and then connect it
to 8 ohms...its not the amps fault when you choke it down

 

[DTG]

........i'm not complaining about the head,i know i was using an 8ohm cab.....i also said in my first post that i am buying mb 4x10 4ohm version.

I would like to state i love this head,friends i have shown it to love it,others players are amazed by it.I even sent a mail to Mark bass to say how much i love it.....

I should have sent them a mail direct to Mark Bass with my question about using it as a power amp i just taught someone here might know.

 

[Peter Murray]

........i'm not complaining about the head,i know i was using an 8ohm cab.....i also said in my first post that i am buying mb 4x10 4ohm version.

I would like to state i love this head,friends i have shown it to love it,others players are amazed by it.I even sent a mail to Mark bass to say how much i love it.....

I should have sent them a mail direct to Mark Bass with my question about using it as a power amp i just taught someone here might know.

I've heard of people using the LMII in this way but it really doesn't make sense since you'd have to use the effect send to go to the power amp, but that's wired before the EQ and filters in the signal chain.

I hope you're not going to judge the amp based on one experience with a different cabinet! As great an amp as it is, if you use it through a crappy cabinet, or you play a crappy sounding bass through it, or if your playing sounds like crap... it's not going to work miracles. Using a really high-resolution camera will not make the subject more beautiful, it just clarifies whatever beauty (or ugliness) is there to begin with.

An important thing I've learned, mostly from Markbass cabinets:
There's a very interesting relationship between volume and CLARITY...
If you have muddy sounding cabinets (or a muddy sounding amp for that matter) you can have all the power in the world, and you're still gonna sound like mud.
If you have true, clear sounding speakers, you need less power to cut through the mix. I hear this over and over from Markbass users.
They hear themselves better using less gear and less power than they used to feel they needed. The first time I used a Markbass rig I felt self-conscious about being too loud because I wasn't used to hearing myself so clearly.

Using two 8 ohm cabinets is a great solution, because you can use one cabinet when that's all you need, and then when you're playing a loud rock gig, you bring both. But the cabinets need to have clarity in order to cut.
So be careful about what cabinets you choose. Nudge nudge wink wink.

Cheers,
Peter

 

[theosd]

On the subject of Markbass amps, I want to expand my CMD121h at some point next year with an additional cab, does anyone know which (if any) cabs my combo with fit snugly on top of? Ideally I'd want a 2x10 cab that would fit underneath...

 

[DTG]

QUOTE=Peter Murray;426355]I've heard of people using the LMII in this way but it really doesn't make sense since you'd have to use the effect send to go to the power amp, but that's wired before the EQ and filters in the signal chain.

Thanks Peter that clears it up for me,I wanted the EQ and filters in so it seems it wont work.

I am not going to judge the amp on one experience.......i taught I made myself very clear about how much I like this amp.....maybe i did not make it clear!!!!
I love this F*****G Head

I really hope my playing does not sound like crap,but thanks for that anyway

I know I used a pretty bad cab (for that gig,it was hired for me).....I am buying either a MB4x10 or a SWR GIII 4x10
my thinking would be that the MB cab was made to go with the MB head so should give the best results.

I know 2, 8 ohm cabs would be loud,however I would like to get the full wack from the head so its going to be a 4ohm for me.For the rock gig i play,If the 4omh does not work out for me I am thinking of buying another LMII head and cab so i would get 1000w of beautiful MB tone !!! might be a wee bit over the top but time will tell,I will give the MB cab a go before I buy a second

Oh and thanks for the tips on using my camera

 

[Big Poppa]

yeah baby 1000 watts of mark bass love

 

[Peter Murray]

On the subject of Markbass amps, I want to expand my CMD121h at some point next year with an additional cab, does anyone know which (if any) cabs my combo with fit snugly on top of? Ideally I'd want a 2x10 cab that would fit underneath...

The TRV 121H (single 12 with a compression driver/horn) sits perfectly under either of our 1x12 combos. Both are 15.3" wide.
This cabinet won the "Bass Cabinet of the Year" MIPA award earlier this year.

Cheers,
Peter

 

[Peter Murray]

QUOTE=Peter Murray;426355]I've heard of people using the LMII in this way but it really doesn't make sense since you'd have to use the effect send to go to the power amp, but that's wired before the EQ and filters in the signal chain.

Thanks Peter that clears it up for me,I wanted the EQ and filters in so it seems it wont work.

I am not going to judge the amp on one experience.......i taught I made myself very clear about how much I like this amp.....maybe i did not make it clear!!!!
I love this F*****G Head

I really hope my playing does not sound like crap,but thanks for that anyway

I know I used a pretty bad cab (for that gig,it was hired for me).....I am buying either a MB4x10 or a SWR GIII 4x10
my thinking would be that the MB cab was made to go with the MB head so should give the best results.

I know 2, 8 ohm cabs would be loud,however I would like to get the full wack from the head so its going to be a 4ohm for me.For the rock gig i play,If the 4omh does not work out for me I am thinking of buying another LMII head and cab so i would get 1000w of beautiful MB tone !!! might be a wee bit over the top but time will tell,I will give the MB cab a go before I buy a second

Oh and thanks for the tips on using my camera

Thanks for the reply. Didn't mean to suggest that you sound like crap! Just speaking in general. Some people seem to think that a great amp should be able to make anyone sound good... but at best it gives you back what you put into it.
Seem like you understand that!

Two 8 ohm cabinets make a 4 ohm load, and will be louder than a single 4 ohm cabinet. I only suggested it because of the flexibility. Most people find an 8 ohm cab to be loud enough for most applications. A 4 ohm cab would be louder, then two 8 ohm cabs would be louder, then two rigs would be loudest!
Two 500W rigs would be crazy loud!
Remember we also have the SD800, which is 750W at 4 ohms. It's really loud!
And remember Markbass heads don't operate below 4 ohms.
You can only use two 4 ohm cabinets if you have two heads and link them up.

Cheers,
PM

 

[Psycho Ward]

Hey Peter, will there ever be a MarkBass stereo amp? (A not so well hidden keyboard amp question...)

*sorry for the hijack*

 

[mynan]

I'm still trying to figure out how the problem could have been anything other than the Hartke cabinet...

 

[DTG]

I'm still trying to figure out how the problem could have been anything other than the Hartke cabinet...

it wasn't anything other than the Hartke cab thats was not the point,I had a question about using the MB head as a pre amp,Peter sorted that out for me.

Thanks again Peter for the help,yes it will be 2 4ohm cabs and 2 LMII heads,I know 1000w may seem crazy.I will try one on its own first and see how it works out for me but I would like to have a second,some of the gigs we play hold 4-5000 people I know its not huge but i still like to have my sound clear and tight.

 

[Peter Murray]

Hey Peter, will there ever be a MarkBass stereo amp? (A not so well hidden keyboard amp question...)

*sorry for the hijack*

We very briefly introduced one, the SD802, and there was very little interest, so we discontinued it.

As you probably know, there are two main applications of a stereo amp--bi-amping, which is pretty much obsolete due to the level of current speaker technology and quality, and the use of stereo effects. The demographic of bass players who use stereo effects is very, very small.

If I were to use stereo effects I would likely do what Jeff Berlin does and use two combos.

But you could have just come right out and asked if we were planning on making any keyboard amps! I think that's just a matter of time. It's certainly been brought up more than once, and I know there are quite a few keyboardists using Markbass amps. I will register your post as a vote for keyboard amps. I'm guessing it's unlikely in 2008, but maybe 2009?

Cheers,
Peter

 

[bovinehost]

Heya Peter, Jack here.

We just got through a weekend using Sterling's amazing Markbass rigs and I came home to my "little" rig and it still sounds just as good as it did before I thought I was going to get spoiled with the Big Rigs.

You guys just do fabulous work and I want a t-shirt.

Jack

 

[Psycho Ward]

Thanks Peter.

I don't usually care to mess with stereo in a live rig but I recently bought a couple of keyboards that have great Leslie simulators and stereo is a must for that. My MarkBass Club 450 will always have a home in my keyboard rack though, it brings out something that none of my other amps can.

 

[jaylegroove]

I use a LMII head with two MB cabs (TRV102P + TRV151P), and I have more power than I'll ever need. Most people in my band play _very_ loud, and as Peter says, the MB cabs are so clear and well defined that I personally don't never to tweak the volume above 9 o'clock (which is approx. 2 over 10).

Just to add a slight touch of "dirt" and "tubey-like" drive in my tone (which the LMII does not have), I recently inserted a SansAmp BDDI between my bass and my LMII, and while this adds nothing in terms of dynamics, it adds some kind of versitility for people who, like me, don't _always_ want to hear the very pure tone of their bass. Just have to switch the BDDI on and I'm in a more "rock'n'roll vintage" world.

Hope this helps,
Jean