Mark Bass Amps

bob_the_bass · Post by **bob_the_bass** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 11:44 pm

Now I'm DEFINITELY sold !! Thanks Stephane

turlu · Post by **turlu** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 1:40 pm

Pleasure Bob !!!!

grayk · Post by **grayk** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:26 am

Thanks all for your thoughts on this Mark bass thread. Apologies for not contributing since I started it but I have been away with the family for a week on holiday(vacation). It is much appreciated and I am definitely going to check them out as soon as I get a few hours to travel to the dealer nearest me. As soon as I get them checked out I will report back as it seems that there is a bit of interest. Portability is the way to go. There may well be price variations between the UK and US and we may benefit from being in Europe. I would be interested to know how they compare as I havent a clue. There is a big difference between Mark and Mesa here in the UK for a comparitive product. I wonder if the difference is as vast in the US ?

rickaddict · Post by **rickaddict** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 11:09 am

These sound interesting. I'd like to try one. Are they available in the US?

highway_star · Post by **highway_star** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 11:38 am

Select Guitar Centers in the US are now carrying Mark Bass. You can go to www.guitarcenter.com/markbass to see who's carrying it. I happen to be going to Maryland tomorrow and am planning to stop by the Towson GC to check out a head and 410 cab.

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 5:54 pm

It figures that only the only GC in SoCal to carry them would be the Hollywood store.

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 3:18 am

I dont even have to look and I can tell you that Ohio isnt on the list.

I still got my Ampeg BSE 410 HLF, and a Carvin RL210, I'd like to get a real compact but powerfull head for them.

bottom4 · Post by **bottom4** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 3:54 am

I'm heading over to BP Live today - Mark Bass will be there, I'll check them out

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 6:37 am

Andy, tell them they don't have enough retailers carryng their gear!

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 6:49 am

Yeah,, its really frustrating when you want to try a piece of gear out and you cant just because you dont live in the selected area.

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 7:02 am

I agree Scott. I had wanted to try one of those Genz Benz Neo 212 cabs. I've never seen any dealer in my area carry them.

highway_star · Post by **highway_star** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 5:39 pm

I stopped by the Towson GC tonight and tried a TA501 head and 410cab. First, the head needs a good half hour before its tone really comes through. Second, it is quite lightweight. It sure beats lugging my Ashdown around.

Now, you're all asking how the tone is. It is quite flexible. The TA501 head has a two-band parametric EQ for the mids. It also has a feature the allows for vintage amp emulation. It basically removes the highs and thickens the bottom end. I won't go as far as saying it will emulate an SVT, but it does have a warm sound. I found that turning that function full-on muddied the sound too much for my tastes.

The best tones to me involved boosting the low mid and cutting the upper mid. The bass and treble were about flat. I ran the vintage emulator about 1/3 up. Using a Mike Lull V5, (their 5-string version of a J-Bass), I was able to dial some pretty cool sounds. We even managed to get something close to a 4003 one time.

The best part is the weight. The head is about 8 pounds and the cabinet is 65 pounds. It felt so much easier to transport than my Ashdown. So I brought home a head and 410 cab to try out for 30 days. If I have as much luck at home as I did at the store, I think there will be a bit of Ashdown gear going up for sale soon.

rick_redux · Post by **rick_redux** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 4:02 am

Hi Ron,

I'd be curious as to your thoughts on the Markbass 4X10. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I use a Bag End 15 and/or EA 2x10 with my S450 head. Both are 8 ohm cabs. But in the endless search for light gear that sounds good, I've been contemplating one of the MB 4x10s to use as a stand-alone. Is the one you took home the 4 ohm or 8 ohm?

Also, you're right on re: boosting the low mids. On mine, I almost always give it a healthy boost at 100 hZ, particularly if I'm running my Jazz, Rick or Ray. My P basses tend to sound best with everything pretty much flat, though I'll usually bump up the lows and highs a bit on a P.

*First, the head needs a good half hour before its tone really comes through.*

Interesting. Mine (the generation prior) basically sounds the same from the beginning of the night to the end. Do you attribute this to something to do with the head itself or was it maybe a case of needing a 1/2-hour or so to dial in a sound? Just wondering...

highway_star · Post by **highway_star** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 4:38 am

Stu,

Could have been both. I usually start my tests with everything set to flat. The salesman then walked me through all the adjustments so I could hear how they shape the sound. Despite all that, it still felt like the amp came to life after about a half hour throughout all the settings. The difference between our heads could be that yours is completely solid state (I believe) and mine has a tube in the preamp section.

I'll do an A/B test later on against my Ashdown cab, but the Markbass 410 sounded pretty good when mated with the TA501 head. There's a lot of "presence" to the sound. It moves some serious air through the ports, though. And I'm not going to argue with lugging a 60 pound cabinet versus an 86 pound cabinet.

I suspect that the TA501 head will hold its own against the Ashdown and EBS heads I own. And being a 2 rack space head, I can put it in a 4 space rack with my rack tuner and line conditioner. That means one less piece of gear to haul.

Now if you want to hear something REALLY neat, hook up two 410 cabs to the TA501 head! It's thunderous! The lows come across really strong.

jps · Post by **jps** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 4:50 am

"And being a 2 rack space head, I can put it in a 4 space rack with my rack tuner and line conditioner."

Like this?