Mark Bass Amps

bob_the_bass · Post by **bob_the_bass** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:41 am

I popped over to Sounds Great last weekend & tried my 4003 through a whole raft of Mark Bass set-ups - all of them were amazing !!
I'm opting for the 102 combo (2x10) & a separate cab (1x15) for bigger venues

Bob

firstbassman · Post by **firstbassman** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 4:20 am

Since Mark Bass is using my name for their company I looked into getting their equipment. Interesting that posters are saying that price was a positive factor compared to other brands. As I recall MarkBass equipment was priced much higher than what I was considering spending.

At that time, also, there were no MB dealers around that I recall. And none of the Virginia GCs are still listed.

Speaking of small size and weight, has anyone ever tried those little five-inch speaker "suitcase" amps that are advertised in Bass Player mag?

I agree that 1x15 and 2x10 is the way to go. First of all, there is no way that I can lift a 4x10 by myself anyway. And the two separate cabs offers much more versatility. If it's a small gig or a jam, I just bring the 2x10. If not, I bring both.

Speaking of equipment, Casady signed an endorsement deal with Aguilar. His rig includes: DB680 preamp, DB728 tube amp and 4x10 cab. I just saw Jack play with the new rig and the sound was very good. Not quite as warm as I like it but very punchy. Better than the little SWR combo he was using. (And of course nothing like the busting growl of pushing the Versatone to "11" from the old days.)

bob_the_bass · Post by **bob_the_bass** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 4:27 am

Ref weight, the 2x10 combo cab is just 44 lb !

grayk · Post by **grayk** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 1:25 am

Bob, I have just sold my Trace 2 x 10 so I think that I can feel the Mark Bass Std 102HF cab coming on to compliment my Little Mark 2 now ! I keep changing my mind about which cab to go for. We shall see, but what amazing gear eh?

bob_the_bass · Post by **bob_the_bass** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:06 am

For sure Keith ...
The wife offered to buy me the CMD 102P for Christmas - I was offered a good deal for part ex of my Peavey TKO 115 combo (weighs a ton!).
But we have a gig coming up & I'm trying to persuade her to allow me to get it early (like this Saturday !!)
At a future date I'll either get the 102HF or the 15" cab

bobcat · Post by **bobcat** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 7:44 am

Does MarkBass sell through any online dealers, or do they only ship to stores? Their website wasn't clear about that . . . either that or I skimmed too quickly and missed something. They look like very good amps . . . what's the price range on something like the Little Mark II?

firstbassman · Post by **firstbassman** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 9:27 am

GC might ship.

grayk · Post by **grayk** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 1:37 pm

I have seen Mark Bass gear for sale at online retailers in the UK. In fact there are quite a few people dealing online. The cheapest Little Mark 2 I have seen here is £429.

bob_the_bass · Post by **bob_the_bass** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 9:17 am

Well I went & got the CMD 102P yesterday - what can I say!! Ultra light, powerful, crystal clear - I am well chuffed!
Thanks to all who contributed to this thread

Bob

markbass99 · Post by **markbass99** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 5:07 pm

With all the talk about this Markbass stuff I did some heavy internet surfing on all of the bass forums and made the decision to try one out. Their marketing guy, Peter Murray, has been making all the rounds on the various forums and answering questions, he was especially getting asked about availability. He stated that a select number of Guitar Centers were stocking some of the line now with more being added in April '07. There will be online sales sometime in the future but he stated that you should be able to call any G.C. and order one for a thirty day trial.

So I called the G.C. in Atlanta and ordered a Little Mark 2, it ended up around the $650 mark shipped. If I like it I'm going to modify my Eden 2x12 combo with a speakon setup so I can have switchable head capability and the built in amp can be a backup. And in case anybody was wondering, I had the markbass username long before I ever heard of them.

coneyislandjoe · Post by **coneyislandjoe** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 7:04 am

I'm presently using a Lil Mark II head and an Ampeg PortaBass 212H cabinet with a pair of Neo Delta Lite 12's replacing the Ampeg speakers and I just love the tone & Power, not to mention the weight. 47 lbs for the modified Ampeg cabinet and 6 lbs for head !!Super Great for the 'One Man Moving Crew" at 3am after a gig or Jam.
I'm very impressed the the Li' Mark II head. 300wats @ 8 ohms & 500 @ 4,[the Ampeg is 4 ohms]
I checked out the Markbass equipment out at the Bass Player Live Show in Manhattan, NY back in October with a Bass playing buddy of mine and we gave that MarkBass equipment a real work out volume wise. So much that the Sales Rep asked us to try to keep the volume down !! Nice stuff. GC is the "Exclusive Importer, so you can only pick them up from them and the price is excellent !! 599.00 for the Lil Mark II head plus tax and that includes a 2 year Parts & Labor warranty from GC.

highway_star · Post by **highway_star** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:39 am

It's interesting to see all these positive reviews here. It looks like I'm the only dissenter. I wonder if there's something behind that...

jps · Post by **jps** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 3:12 am

Don't feel bad. I was a dissenter about the Ashdown MK500 I tried out a while ago. But perhaps it was that particular model, as it is quite different than what everyone else has been raving about, namely the ABM EVO series.

markbass99 · Post by **markbass99** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 3:13 am

If I can recall Ron, you were testing the tube Markbass head and I haven't heard much about those. If you go to Talkbass, the Dudepit, or the Ernie Ball forums there are many posts and reviews on the Little Mark 2. On Talkbass there's a lot of talk about the ultimate light weight rig consisting of the LM 2 at 6lbs and a pair of Epifani UL 112's at around 33lbs each.

I just converted my Eden 2x12 to speakon and I should be seeing the brown truck with my LM 2 in the next couple of days, if it survives the gorillas.

johnnyb · Post by **johnnyb** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 7:47 am

I took the plunge and ordered myself a sa 450 for Christmas,I believe as long as it makes noise and weighs only six pounds that I can't go wrong..but the comments here have influenced my decision to purchase...along with a killer deal at the local music store