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Ive played through 4 rigs to get to a sound i love (and 2 combos), perhaps all with different basses....so hard for a comparison, but here goes: 1.Ashdown Mag300 and Mag 4x10 cab with a USA precision. to be honest i never really like the sound. kind of thin and wiry and heavier on low E, and quiet on the G so no real balance. however, it did fit with the band. would i have one again? not really. for the size and weight, there are much better, but i notice theyre dirt cheap nowadays. 2.Ashdown Superfly and 4x8 ABM mini and 1x15 ABM mini with USA precision. perhaps the biggest disappointment ive had. id read so many good comments about the cabs and indeed the superfly, but i thought this set up was very poor. no power or volume, no punch. im still kind of convinced i was doing something wrong because it was a £100 sound at best. 3.Mark Bass LM3 with Mark Bass 2x10 Traveller cab with Tokai bass. Finally getting close to the tone i was after. As we were a 4 piece (drums, bass, guitar and vox) i needed to fill more so had a duller 60s motown sound but it was a really nice tone that sat with the band well. Not a lot of punch but thats was a deliberate choice. 4.Mark Bass LM3 with Mark Bass 2x10 Traveller cab with homemade custom jazz style bass with quarter pounder pickups. We finally added a keyboard player which gave me licence to dial in the tone i was after rather than having to fill dead air which the keys could now do. Id always loved Jazz basses played through Mark Bass amps when id heard them from others, and when id finished my project couldnt wait to give it a go. Wound the bridge and tone fully on and neck about a quarter and added in some high mids. Wow! lovely deep, tight, rich sound and plenty of control from the bass with no overspill when playing fast or funkier lines. Love this set up! BEst sound ive heard of others was a Yamaha (didnt see which model, a BB?) played through a Fender Bassman - such a rich sound....but bloody massive, i presume heavy and fragile!

I think a lot of bassists are going for the all in one small powerful package. As Lozz says Markbass with a tuner would be fantastic. I had an Ashdown Superfly and loved the size, but the compression which you couldnt turn off used to drive me mad! So any additions on an amp must be turn off-able for me. I have a set of LEM PA speakers and they have a nice addition, rather than an EQ or 3 dial (bass,mid,top) eq, it has just one dial with different pre sets on, kind of pre set eq. Im sure that would work for some amps, itd just be dial a sound in you like and soundcheck, rather than dealing with 3 dials or 10 eq sliders. Itd make it quicker to get your sound in new venues when you hardly have any time etc. I love the old big bass gear, but for me the small powerful kit with a 2x10 is the best all round solution, as we put everything through the PA.

Isnt the point of a premium product that its clientelle are happy to pay the extra for the quality and reliability? Markbass isnt even "that" expensive, im sure people would still pay Markbass italian prices even if a little higher. I love my LM3 and Traveller 210 cab - great sounds, light as a feather and ultra reliable - id buy the same tomorrow if i had peace of mind in the brand. Whatever changes heyve made they need to clarify fast to stop people straying away from the brand.

some good points above - especially about the mids and the not having the sound you want, but the best sound for the band. I never had a sound i really liked. i always like a deep motown sound, but always had a twangy thin sound as it fitted in with the bands sound. the mark bass lm3 i have has the 2 sweep dials which are brilliant for helping cutting through. rather than fiddling with eq bass, mid, high, and getting in a mess, just set it flat and turn the dial until you really start to come through. once you do, you can colour with a bit of eq if theres a pedal similar to this, that will help a lot.

first time dealing with John, and wont be the last. superb communication, very helpful and knowledgeable. the kit was superb, arrived next day and his solderless wiring idea is genius! genuinely took 10 minuts to wire up a jazz bass. deal with confidence - highly recommended.

sorted, thanks.

hi all, not been on here for a while, hope all is well. ive nearly finished my custom build, which is a passive jazz style body and ive loaded it with seymour duncan quarter pounder pickups. however, i need a new control plate that is prewired, so i can just solder up the pickups and bridge earth, as the one i installed is from an old project and is poor quality. does anyone on here make or sell them (if so do you know price) or where to buy them from. there seems a huge gulf between the cheap chinese ones off ebay and the aftermarket ones? thanks in advance.

It is misleading, if a speaker reaches its rated spl at say 300w, its misleading to quote that spl figure when the amp attached to it is only ever going to give it 150w. (ie 300w at 4ohm and 150w at 8ohm - and theres an 8ohm speaker attached). Surely if sold as a combo, the ratings should be a lot clearer, and should give the figures for that combination, not theoretical figures if you add cabs/change impedence etc. ie if the stats show: 300w spl 100db at 1m but really should show 150w spl 95db at 1m (not exact figures but you get the idea). When we all buy separate heads and cabs, we all work out the proper wattage and therefore match for the optimum spl. I dont see why combos are different.

I dont think there is any info when looking at combos. ie it doesnt say on a 300w combo that the speaker is say 4 or 8ohm and doesnt give info an the amp ratings at 4 and 8 ohm. It just classes them as a 300w combo. I suppose what im getting at is that the 300w combos or 500w combos etc are not giving out 300w or 500w as part of that combo set up at all. As im beginning to believe that the watt rating is what the head gives off at 4ohm, but if it has a 8ohm speaker added as part of a combo - its misleading to give that power rating its never going to get chance to run at 4ohm. Just having a midweek whinge!

Evening all, Just bought my Mark Bass rig (LM3 and Traveller 2x10) after years of wanting Mark bass. (300w@8ohm, 500w at 4ohm). Ive just upgraded from a Line 6 Lowdown 300Pro (300w) Now, i know all about sound being measured in spl and not watts etc - but the Mark bass, despite being rated at 300w @ 8ohms isnt just louder than the Line 6 - it is unbelievably louder. Truly unbelievably louder. Which lead me to thinking, and i cant find the answer - in combos of any make, where its stated say a 300w combo, are we being a bit mislead, and the amp head gives off 300w at 4ohm, but the combo is actually a 8ohm and therefore 150w speaker? So technically, theyre not lying, but to me a 300w combo should be giving 300w for whatever speaker is attached. Ive had a look around and non of the models ive looked at actually state the head and speaker impedance. Just curious, thats all.

My previous band used a HiSys ii rig years ago, and it got bashed, bumped, dropped and never ever let us down, more reliable than anything. The sound was adequate, and being 4ohm you got good volume from decent amps. They always hold the second hand volume at around £200. I DJ a lot and recently for a second rig decided to have a look at the UL15s (hiSys ii'supgrade) - and theres no comparison! - The UL15s absolutely blow the HiSys ii's out of the water. Clarity, bass and volume wise, and theyre lighter too! These really are a good cab. Peaveys downfall though is that these passive speakers are around £6-700 new EACH. That puts them right in RCF Active territory, only youll need an amp and cables too for the peaveys, and the RCF actives are as loud, real nice sound and 16kg with amps built in! Decent second hand buy at around £300 though. A reliable decent sounding cab is better than an unreliable brilliant sounding one. http://www.labam.co.uk

Yeh good luck, hope it fits. Dont know if the 2 and 3 are the same dimensions, if they then youre luck, nice one. Let us know about the LM2 - potentially loads of owners of those might want one!

That looks like the one! The latches are great - metal, and secure with a proper 'clunk' - theyre not cheap plastic ones and id be fairly confident theyll last a long time, as long as you keep it free from pressure. The handle is very good quality too. The yellow compartments are just loose, so just take them out, and its the perfect fit. I glued the ones in the photo on the right down and gaffa taped them in, so the areas are always constant. Stick a Mark Bass logo on the front of the box and its worth a fortune!

To me it depends on: 1) the song - some songs MUST have that iconic line copied. Some (the more busier lines) are just a version of the original with the main parts and a bit of what works for you. 2) the band youre in - if youre a basic set up and youre copying a band that has x2 guitars, keyboards, backing vocals etc you may have to slightly amend the bassline to fill any 'gaps' or 'space' left by not having those instruments in your set up. 3) your drummer. Depends if between you both you copy the original version spot on. ie if he/she plays different then you may have to. For example, a couple of recent covers we did: Never Forget You - The Noisettes: Great line, fairly easy to get spot on and sounds great - copied that 100% as the record. Sweet Child O Mine - Guns n Roses - Kept to the majority of the main notes, but changed the little fills and frills to fit in with our set up and way of playing, rather than exactly as the record. Superstition - Stevie Wonder/Stevie Ray Vaughan - Theres so much artistic licence in there without losing the essence of the song that we just did our own thing, and it still is Superstition, despite us not playing much like the record (if that makes sense).

Evening all, I was in B&Q today where I found the perfect hard case for my Little Mark 3 head. It a JCB box for keeping screws, nuts and bolts in, which has 9 removable compartments. Simply remove 6 of them and its an absolute perfect fit for the Little Mark 3 head. Im not sure if its the same dimensions as a LM2? I modified the remaining 3 trays (removed 1 and cut off the sides of the other 2 to give a continuous tray. Just by doing that is a near perfect fit - especially with the lit being a flat flush fit to the top of the main compartment (to stop nails and screws falling out) use the large compartment for the amp head and the tray for cables. But I added a thin piece of bubble wrap and gaffa tape to the inside of the lid and the amp just does not move a millimetre when in transit. All for £15 and 15 minutes work!! Nice sturdy case, flush fit and good heavy duty handle. Being made by JCB its actually in Mark Bass Black and Yellow too!!! These boxes were on special offer, so snap them up quick!

Cheers i'll take a look at both of those, thanks.

Evening all, Is there such a thing as Rack Ears or a protective case for a Mark Bass LM3? Love the amp and would like to protect it best i can. Thanks in advance.

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Theres some real ebay bargains concerning the 8x10s. I was watching a flighcased an Ashdown ABM EVO 900 + Ashdown ABM 8x10 cab - only used 15 times - and no one bid at the price of £500 !! Id have had it even just to resell the 8x10 and get the EVO head for next to nothing - pick up was in London though.

Cheers for the replies so far. Im mainly playing party stuff from 60s to 80s rock to present pop - so im just after a nice warm sound, but something that cuts through the mix. Im a bit gutted - i had an immaculate set of Ashdown minis - 1x15 and 4x8 a couple of years ago, after my last band split up, only managed to practice with them once before having to sell them - knew i should have kept them!! If i did get a 4x8 and a 1x15 mini could i link these together to get the 4ohm power out of the amp? Thanks