OT: New Amp!

[LowDownDave]

Mmmmmm... Markbassy!

Just received this baby after purchasing on ebay, and I'm lovin' the sound. Nothing added, just pure Stingray/Sterling goodness, similar to my original SWR, only smaller, lighter and LOUDER! To keep the peace in my house I promised to put my old amp back up on ebay and actually made a profit on it! This new amp is so small, it makes my cabs look HUGE!

Good thing my new "micro" amp is bright yellow, otherwise I might accidentally misplace it.

This is the "oldschool" version, the new ones are even smaller and lighter, but not as yellow as this one, though I think I actually prefer the yellow. I'd highly recommend taking one out for a spin once they cross the pond, Big Poppa knows what he's talking about!

Me likey. And I hope my photos work, first time attempting the photobucket linking thing after being jealous of everyone else's BIG PHOTOS!

 

[Dr Stankface]

That might be the most hideous head i've ever seen but I bet it sounds superb! Congrats!

 

[Figjam]

Nice rig you got there.

 

[EasyTiger]

The newer ones weigh less than 1/2 what the old ones way, and have a couple more cool features, including the VPF, which is an amazing Mid Scoop, speakon outs and it doesn't burn your eyes when you look at it!!!

I'm VERY tempted to let my AG gear go and get some Italian loving after I pay off my Sterling

 

[azzy_wazzy]

Very nice Dave!

I've got one of those on my shopping list once I eventually get a Sterling...

First time I've seen one of the older bright yellow ones but I quite like that too!

Would you consider trying out any of the cabs, or are you happy with what you've got at the mo?

 

[ras1983]

very nice man... i've seen them at the bass centre but i've never tried them..what amp are they most similiar to?

 

[LowDownDave]

Cheers for the comments! I love the fact it is the most hideous head you've ever seen Dr.Stankface! I think that makes it cooler. You should see the older cabs! The cones are black, as is the carpeting, but the wood surround is painted yellow! Maybe the people at Markbass want to be easily recognized on stage (which is pretty unavoidable, even with the new orange coloured amps/cabs). But I prefer the retina burning yellow to the orange, but then again I drive a bright yellow beetle, so I'm weird like that.

And yes Easytiger, the new ones do have some cool features, but for now I don't need (can't use) speakon outs, cuz my amps are kinda old and don't have speakon inputs in any case. As for burning my eyes when I look at it, how can that be bad? When I play bass I want to burn ears, so may as well cover the other senses as well!!! I actually think the newer ones look ugly in comparison, but to each his own!

As for trying out their cabs Azzy, definitely! I'm actually looking for some affordable Neo cabs as the Eden ones are pretty heavy, so definitely looking to go lighter (if I can afford). There's little breathing space left in the beetle once I pack in all my gear (not really a "gig-mobile") so one of the reasons I bought the amp was to go smaller and lighter without compromising sound, so I'd definitely try out some Markbass cabs given the chance. Not sure how the orange and yellow will look together though!

And to be honest Ras1983, I haven't tried a LOT of different amps to be able to judge what it sounds similar to. Not too dissimilar to my SWR, and they actually make a point to mention in the Markbass manual that their amps "amplify the sound of your BASS", and don't try to add anything to it. So I suppose that's why it sounds like my SWR, which I believe is the same kind of set up. I suppose it would be called "hi-fi sounding" from what I've read from other people's posts. But as with everything, you need to hear it for yourself to decide if you like it. I've shared stages with many bands who like to use a lot of fancy effects, but I prefer the big sound of good ol' clean low end, so it suits me just fine.

 

[JB1]

That head'll get you noticed for sure, Dave.

Nice rig man.

 

[LowDownDave]

Nice rig you got there.

Thanks Fig, nice BASS you got there! Still deciding on what my next one should be. Looking to replace the Sterling with either an HH Stingray4, or perhaps I should give the Stingray5 a try (though the B string kinda scares me).

SO MANY CHOICES! (not complaining)

 

[roballanson]

Thanks Fig, nice BASS you got there! Still deciding on what my next one should be. Looking to replace the Sterling with either an HH Stingray4, or perhaps I should give the Stingray5 a try (though the B string kinda scares me).

SO MANY CHOICES! (not complaining)

Dave if you ever make it over the Norwich you are welcome to try one of my SR5s Actually Strings and THings now have the new twin pup Stringrays in so get down your local shop and ask for a couple to be sent for you to try......

 

[LowDownDave]

Dave if you ever make it over the Norwich you are welcome to try one of my SR5s Actually Strings and THings now have the new twin pup Stringrays in so get down your local shop and ask for a couple to be sent for you to try......

Cheers for that! The music shop here in Birmingham I go to (Professional Music Technology, or PMT, not such a good acronym if you ask me!) actually has a pretty cool Ernie Ball display set up (big umbrella, ooh-ahh, and some fancy stands), so hopefully they will be getting some of the twin pup Rays in sometime soon for me to try.

I actually saw a twin pup Ray on ebay over here selling for £850. Same colour combo as my Sterling (CAR, rosewood, black pickguard) and if I'd had the available monies, I would have had to have snapped her up. Then again my girlfriend has promised to buy me a new bass once I actually pop the question (some added incentive, ha-ha) so might be nicer to put in a personalised order for the combo I want (will be fun deciding THAT!)

But I'm in no rush. My skillz have yet to justify the fact I even own TWO basses (the only thing that does is the band tunes down and I don't wanna keep adjusting the neck back and forth, so I guess a 5'er might have solved that problem but oh well).

Someone somewhere said you can never have too many basses.

 

[LowDownDave]

Dave if you ever make it over the Norwich you are welcome to try one of my SR5s Actually Strings and THings now have the new twin pup Stringrays in so get down your local shop and ask for a couple to be sent for you to try......

Wow, just realised the nice bass I was complimenting on was yours! Great to see the second twin pickup model I've ever seen "across the pond" (after the one on ebay). Beautiful bass you have there, is it everything you had hoped for (and more)? I really liked the look of the single coil/humbucker combo on the SR5, so definitely want to try out some different combinations before I make any decisions. Might be a while though before I can see all the combos in one shop to take for multiple test drives.

If I ever make it up to Norwich I will definitely pay you a visit. Cheers for the invite!

 

[ras1983]

...but I prefer the big sound of good ol' clean low end, so it suits me just fine.

funny, cos it siuts me just fine aswell!

 

[fearofcups]

Oww! It hurts my eyes but it's sooo gooood...

 

[bovinehost]

I love the fact it is the most hideous head you've ever seen

I'm with you.

 

[Randracula]

Sweet.......

 

[LowDownDave]

Cheers Randy, strange to see this thread pop back up after such a long hiatus. Good timing too, cuz I only just brought it to my rehearsal yesterday afternoon to try it out in a band setting (gave me a chance to really crank it up).

The band were pretty freaked out when they witnessed the "yellowness" of it, but were soon impressed once it started to make some noise. I was only playing with a single 8ohm cab at the time (what they had in the rehearsal space) but it was an 8x10 and I had no problem being heard for a change! My quote of the day was "Don't be fooled by the brightness", because my bass sounded anything but! Then again I'm sure I could have sounded "bright" if I'd have wanted, this Markbass amp can definitely multi-task soundwise.

One of my other bandmates commented on how "meaty" my Stingray was sounding, compared with their previous bass player's sound. I like that! The Musicman Stingray... NOT for Vegetarians, ha-ha.

And I'm still "spinnin'" the Greenbrier Lane tracks on my iPod, I really need to hook myself up with some of your originals and spread the Greenbrier Lane word. Keep me posted on any imminent world tours!

 

[roballanson]

I actually saw a twin pup Ray on ebay over here selling for £850. Same colour combo as my Sterling (CAR, rosewood, black pickguard) and if I'd had the available monies, I would have had to have snapped her up. Then again my girlfriend has promised to buy me a new bass once I actually pop the question (some added incentive, ha-ha) so might be nicer to put in a personalised order for the combo I want (will be fun deciding THAT!)

Oh missed this - Dave if its some chaps calling himself the Guitarseller (based in Norfolk/East Anglia i think) ignore it.... he is undercutting the little dealers round here on new equipment and thats not good.
I don't know where he gets his stuff from, but my little shop got my SR5HS from the first official batch of the new twin pups to cross the pond.

 

[Psycho Ward]

Dave that's a great head! I love my MarkBass SL-450, clean, runs cool and loud with a punch to die for.

Right now my favorite rig is the MarkBass and Bergantino H112.

I can't wait till the new stuff gets here, I will be buying another MarkBass amp.

 

[LowDownDave]

I hear ya Chuck! I can't see myself replacing this amp anytime soon, but if I do it would likely be for one of the even lighter (not yellow-er) new models! Anything to be able to carry around less weight (I have enough of my own to lug up and down club stairs already).


As mentioned, great clean punchy sound, and I was amazed with the temperatures we experienced this weekend that my amp didn't actually catch fire in our non-ventilated rehearsal space. We were melting, but my amp was only slightly hotter than room temp, which was hot enough. Me likey my amp, but I would like to try out a Berg cab sometime as I have heard a number of good things about them. Not sure they are available over here in the UK, but I could definitely do with something lighter than my Edens. Lightweight and powerful must be the way of the future!