Lozz196

Also depends on what the requirements of the band are, other bassists present might have though "thank god he isn`t using a rake load of effects that would have really facked that song up".

Well the 500 has bucketloads of volume, so unless you`re playing very large stages and aren`t keen on bass in the monitors, the 500 should be plenty for your needs.

We work on it at rehearsals, then, erm without wanting to appear snotty or superior, remember it.I`ve always figured that if I, or the band I`m in can`t remember a song then it`s likely to be completely forgettable to an audience, so best to drop it at the start. When it comes to the actual recording I`ll ask for a copy of what we have at that time, on that take I`ll play it completely straight, no runs or fills as I then want to hear the song in its most basic form so that I can hear where a run is appropriate, or where it would clash with vox/drum-fills etc.I`ll already have a good idea of the runs I might put in, just want to hear a quieter version to add these in if I feel they fit.

I think I must be really lucky, yes there are little quirks about the other guys in the band, and I`m sure I have mine, but none that I find annoyin g to the point of even trying to recall them. In the past I`ve been in bands with literally all of the annoyancies mentioned, but currently, well to quote Dean Friedman, I`ll count my lucky stars.

I had one for a while, loved it. As Phil says, the valve is very subtle, to the point where you don`t really notice it as you turn it fully up, but more if you start playing and then turn the effect fully off, suddenly you notice "something" missing from the sound. To me it adds like a "shimmer/some hair" to the sound, stops it from being crystal clear. When I got mine I went to Andertons with 3 Markbass amps on my list to try, the Little Mark 3, Little Mark Big Bang, and Little Mark Tube. I never got round to hearing the others, I just I liked the LMT that much.

I read that Dan Hawkins of The Darkness has - or had - an AC30 in his set-up, and he faced it backwards, as that way it was the same volume as his Marshalls, front-facing it was much too loud. This could have been one of those Darkness Jolly Japes of course, but I reckon they were being factual.

The eq certainly seems more in line with what most bassists seem to require, going by the amount of preamp pedals that seem to centre around similar frequencies. I think this is a good move by Markbass.

The only downside for me would be that I`d continually be trying different permutations of pickups for the ideal sound, whereas with a straight P-bass it`s everything on full all the time, less to think about. Additionally if your sound is a PJ and you have to use a different bass for whatever reason, well it`s much more likely that a regular P-bass will be at hand, maybe a Jazz, so replicating the sound of a PJ could prove difficult, easier to obtain a regular P-bass sound.

Depending on monitoring it works fine, I did it with my Zoom B3 in my old band. I also found a lot of sound-people more than happy with this as there was less bleed from on-stage volume. Only downside is if you`re relying on venues sound systems for the monitoring, if not up to the job then you`re left with a difficult situation.

Well having had a Little Mark Tube 500 I can`t think that if you had both cabs connected to the LMT800 that you`d push the 210 too far - am sure your ears would give out before the 210, lol. But yes, 410 for bigger gigs, 210 for rehearsals and smaller gigs sounds a good plan. I find that when I do use both of my cabs it`s more to fit the size of the larger stages, and for the benefit of the added height of the cabs - I don`t have the amp any louder, but due to the increased height I can hear it better.

Difficult to say, in actual terms each cab gets the same amount of power - I assume both are 8ohm cabs - so the 210 is doing twice the work. That said I have an Ashdown ABM 410 & 210 set-up and it works fine, though for all but the biggest gigs I just use the 410. I`ve never needed anywhere near full power from my amp so I`m confident that the 210 won`t get pushed beyond its limits, and being the top cab I`d be more likely to hear that as well - I hope.

I`m unclear as to why there are PA speakers at stage-rear - backline for on-stage sound, PA for out front sound, monitors so band can hear vox. Don`t see the point of this. Can see why you might use 4 speakers out front, two floor standing, with two on poles/stands immediately above, but stage-rear makes no sense to me.

I suppose the high-end roll-off is only really a factor if you DI to FOH PA, wanting your stage sound going out there, it affects this a fair bit. That`s what I found, and one of the reasons why I shifted from Markbass gear. If however it`s only ever used as backline in pub sized venues then not an issue.

Well I`ve recently bought a lot of basses/cabs, yet another search to find the "right" gear for me. Now I`ve found it, have a lot to sell as a result. My bass needs are one black US Precision for gigging, an identical one for home use, a black Mex Precision for flying gigs, and a white US Precision for vids/backup for touring.

Yeah, good cymbals really make a difference to the sound of a band - in an old band of mine the drummer was pretty much like many of us on here, buying top range gear, and his whole kit sounded amazing. In fact our producer preferred our drummers kit & cymbals to his own. The cymbals just sounded lush, where I have heard some that sound like rotten tin plates being hit.

I try to, but am not that mobile so although it seems to me like I`m hacking around the stage at breakneck speed, to the audience it`s probably a slow-motion repeat of Bagpuss.

Sold as a lightweight cab maybe?

That`s not good

I had a Tube 500, ran it through a Markbass 410HR, sounded great. But in my time of buying and selling on Basschat whenever I`ve delivered or collected an item of gear and the buyer/seller has had their rig plugged in, and it was a Markbass amp into a Barefaced cab, that`s when I`ve really thought the amp shined. Markbass cabs tend to have a high-end roll-off, whereas the more flat-response Barefaced let the whole sound through.

Nice one, think that`s a real good move, if you gel with an instrument that much then snapping it up when available just ticks all the right boxes.

Yeah, and it was hearing your RM that made me get one. Ho-hum, something to keep the grey matter churning I suppose.

Yep, when I used 50 - 110s the sound was much deeper, but doing any runs or stuff like that, well they didn`t stand out as well, really found that the heavier gauge strins suited a much more driving foundation style bass.

Cheers Liam, both helpful and really not helping at the same time, takes talent, that.