Ric-o-Sound Pairing

[FretlessOnly]

I know that there have been plenty of opinions on Markbass gear posted here (and plenty of discussion of Ric-o-Sound), but here's my specific situation:

I'm using a GK 700RB-II with a GK 212 Neo at 8 ohms and I really like it. I also have an Avatar 112 cabinet that I have added on occasion. The 700 RB-II pushes 320W into the GK 212, or 480 total into both cabs at 8 ohms each. But, I have a 4 ohm speaker for the Avatar (rated at at least 400W) and I want to set things up for Ric-o-Sound. My plan is to use the GK 212 for the neck pickup (both of my Rick FLs have toasters in the neck) and possibly to buy a used Little Mark 250 (original version) to use with the Avatar 112 and the treble pickup. The used Little Mark 250 is $225 and pushes 250W at 4 ohms.

My concern is that the LM 250 and 1x12 won't put out enough to match my 700RB-II and 2x12. But, I don't typically need to run my GK w/ 212 at more than about 30-40% volume, and since the toasters are lower output than the bridge pickups, might this work fine for me?

My only other concern is that Markbass and GK tend to be similar in terms of their application (as opposed to say, GK and an Ampeg tube head), and folks usually say that the whole thing about Ric-o-Sound is that you want to use very different heads for the two set-ups to maximize tonal separation and all that. The thing is, I really like solid state sound for bass, and my main goal is to get something small and relatively inexpensive that will allow me to split up my effects. But can the Little Mark 250 get any kind of overdrive that sounds good?

Thanks, as always, for your help. Lots of good info changes hands (and minds) here.

John

[BlueHelmet]

I can only tell you about my experience with my Little Mark II head, which has considerably more power (450W). Run through a Basstown (small German manufacturer) 2*10 cab, it never had any problems accepting and amplifying distorted sounds from any of my stompboxes. Of course, it can't produce usable overdrive sounds on its own.

[Blackstar4003]

I use several Markbass heads and cabs. I think they work best when trying to reproduce the authentic sound of your bass. Most bass players who like them or use them also "like" the natural sound of their particular bass. The amp does not seem to color the signal. You might want to consider a different source for distortion.

[86kubicki]

I find the Markbass LMK quite good for Ric-O -Sound. Its a two channel amp (500W?) capable of driving two cabinets. Each channel has full EQ and you can blend the level of each channel. I've achieved some excellent tones when running the neck pickup into a clean "bassy" channel, and the bridge pickup into the other channel with a bit of dirt added (Sansamp VT Bass or Diamond Fireburst), and the EQ set more toward mid-range/treble.

[cassius987]

I think rather than try to get two very different amps, you should get two very flexible amps for this application. Ric-O-Sound is just one big experiment sometimes and your tastes may change a lot. You could probably get by very well with a 2-channel amp like the LMK Steve suggested.

For me, subtle EQ effects are almost all that is needed to get some great sounds out of it. I might boost the treble on the bridge pickup, as well as putting the cap in, while with the neck pickup I may boost the bass a little and use the tone knob to roll treble off. The result tends to be this "massive" sound that is almost frightening, as if you're standing inside the bass feeling the whole thing resonate.

The other thing to consider is you can split the signals up based on effects. For me that can mean compression on the neck pickup as the clean signal while I might run chorus, distortion, wah, or a number of other things on the bridge pickup, then mix the two signals together into something palatable.

Every time I talk about Ric-O-Sound with people I wonder why it isn't hailed every day by all players as one of the greatest things ever?? I love the resulting sound, even though it can feel cumbersome to set up.

[Lost Coyotes]

Every time I talk about Ric-O-Sound with people I wonder why it isn't hailed every day by all players as one of the greatest things ever?? I love the resulting sound, even though it can feel cumbersome to set up.

+1,000,000,000

[FretlessOnly]

The other thing to consider is you can split the signals up based on effects. For me that can mean compression on the neck pickup as the clean signal while I might run chorus, distortion, wah, or a number of other things on the bridge pickup, then mix the two signals together into something palatable.

Thanks for all of the replies, but what Joshua here posted is exactly what I plan to do. I've used the Ric-o-Sound feature several times, but I have a specific question that I suppose I didn't make as clear as I should have. It's not whether I should use some Mark Bass head as my second head, it's this, specifically:

My concern is that the LM 250 and 1x12 (at 250W) won't put out enough to match my 700RB-II and 2x12 (at 320W). As I mentioned, I plan to run the neck toaster (one RIC a '73 w/ vintage toaster and the other an '08 w/ a modern re-issue toaster) through the GK 212 at 320W and the bridge PU (one RIC a '73 w/ vintage April '73 high-gain and the other an '08 w/ a modern high-gain) through the Little Mark 250 w/ my 112 Avatar. Since the toasters tend to be of lower output than the high-gains, will the difference between 1 x 12 at 250W be able to handle the output of the bridge PU through 212 at 320W. Again, I only need to run the GK at about 30-40% max now in non-Ric-o-Sound mode.

So, will a Little Mark 250 at 250W and a 112 be able to match a GK w 212 at 320W considering the different output of the pickups and my nominal stage volume?

[cassius987]

So, will a Little Mark 250 at 250W and a 112 be able to match a GK w 212 at 320W considering the different output of the pickups and my nominal stage volume?

I think it would work, not only because of output but because the bass frequencies of the neck pickup need more juice to be heard as well. So think of it as compensating. It's unlikely you'll be going full blast on either of those anyways, you'll just have to set your Master controls to the appropriate level for each.

[FretlessOnly]

Yes, this is pretty much what I was thinking/hoping would work. So, I'll give it a try on Saturday and let y'all know what gives. As for splitting effects, I was thinking chorus, Sansamp VT21 and delay on the treble pickup and phaser on the bass pickup. I don't use phaser much, so more than anything it's a way of connecting my short stereo cord to an intermediate point.