Al Krow

Ok I get in advance that this is a damn stupid question...but Mike Lull PJ5s have a great rep and the PJ5-24 does have a two octave fretboard and I've been having a little look at them. What got me thinking was that they're typically made of same body & fretboard wood as the P7 (e.g. Alder / Rosewood combination). It will no doubt have better tuners, bridge and electronics. It's also a bolt on. But as someone who hasn't tried either I'm kinda thinking: it's SIX times the price and while I appreciate the point about diminishing returns but is it really going to sound and play even twice as good? One of my BC mates described the P7 as the nicest bass he's ever played and he's played a few basses in his day!

@Skinnyman - just seen your NAD post, congrats on the new purchase! I think you're first out the blocks with one of these. If you could post your thoughts on what you're liking about it and how it compares to your previous heads, when you've had a chance to spend a bit of time with it, that would be much appreciated!

@mangotango do you know what - that's actually a really good point! I had spotted that but somehow not let it sink in, because the P7 ver 2 seem to have so much going for them for the money. You've made me have a think about what the highest frets I'm currently using on any of our sets and it's the 19th on the octave up of the bass riff on the Free - Alright Now guitar solo section, and up to fret 20 if I fancy playing the Bruno Mars - Runaway Baby bass riff an octave up, just to annoy the guitarist of course, so I should just about be ok. But you're right it's definitely a nice to have a few more frets. My Yammy BB 1025 has a relatively modest 21 frets, but the rest of my herd all have 24 other than the Ibby Portamento 5er which has a ridiculously versatile 30!! Now if you're partial to noodling at the dusty end, there's a fretless you should check out at some point. Just sayin' 😉

I get the point your making, but in Sire's defence: Fender don't seem to currently be offering a PJ 5 string. Very few other brands make a decent PJ 5 string in Sire's price range. So they're already tapping into a different market space. Then add in: body through stringing, a slimmer J neck, active / passive, 3 band EQ with variable mids and you've got a very distinct and desirable offering. And all for < £500.

Did you pull the trigger on a P7 in the end? I've got my eye on v2 as I suspect it will nail the 'iconic' Fender P tone closer than my Yammy PJ gets to it. @Dad3353 would you mind doing your 'thread refresh' thing on this thread for us please?

The 1001M is back down to £185 on Amazon (no extra delivery for Prime members), if anyone is currently after one.

That's a nice way of thinking about it. A lot of love for the DG AO Ultra as a preamp pedal from folk who have / used one, but it will set you back £345 new. Bolt that on to something like MB LM800 and it starts to make a lot more sense of the price differential. And then if you look at the additional feature set on the rear of the DG AO900 / M900 v2 (go on I dare you) then these £1k amps no longer seem quite so outrageous price wise. Darn it, they're almost value for money 😁

That's very reassuring to hear from someone else who has had one of these, and for a while longer than me, that they are a good piece of kit. Sounds like I can slot under my replacement HB 50M mini "budget" board, with confidence then! (FWIW, I sent my first HB 50M back as the hard case is somewhat vast! I've gone for the more compact soft case instead, which will also be a fair bit lighter).

This PSU is tiny! And at under £50 new (inc P&P) not going to break the bank. Was a bit worried about how decent it is at providing well isolated outputs, given that it's so lightweight / compact even compared to a Ciocks DC5. So I've tried it out with two units simultaneously that hate non isolated outputs: Smoothhound and Zoom multi-fx (B1X-4). Chain was SH-->Zoom-->amp Sailed through, not a whine or buzz to be heard. I even put my SH literally on top of the Iso-5 to maximise interference and there were still no issues. I do think your SH whine @dave_bass5 was completely down to having one of the older run units. As I mentioned, Chris has sorted this on the newer runs and kindly fixed my older run model so it was no longer an issue.

I find playing two amps at once a bit tricky 😉 I guess 80Hz might be a little high for bass EQ and 65Hz does seem to pretty much nail it - but 80Hz is the first harmonic of the low E so kinda makes good conceptual sense I have the additional option on my active basses of boosting / cutting on the on-board EQ which seems to get me there. I do like the 6 band EQ on the AO900 (and M900 Mk2) vs 4 band on the M900 Mk1; and the AO dirt is (for me anyway) more usable than B3K / VMT. Starting to also appreciate the really cool "double blend" option on the AO900 i.e. I can (i) blend Alpha & Omega drives and then (ii) blend how much drive I want with my clean. The AO900 seemed to get a big thumbs up from @MacDaddy - and always good to get an unbiased fellow BC'er's opinion on these things. What is it about the M900 poweramp that you prefer to the MB Marcus?

I'm not sure I could get my Yammy 1025 to sound like this:

Lovely to be able to meet up with fellow BC'er this morning and get a chance to A/B our D class heads. Both amps sounded really good (using my Yammy BB1025 and BF SC). The key differentiator for me was the greater versatility of the DG AO900 with its 6 band EQ and ability to blend in anything from a touch of grit to full on AO drive. "You've got a LOT of usable sounds from that amp". Yup. Wasn't expecting that end from the A/B as the other amp has a great pedigree too, but good to be reminded of how good our existing kit is sometimes, and maybe the grass isn't always greener eh? @dave_bass5probably won't be needing a loan of your MB head just yet after all, a certain DG amp got withdrawn from fleabay earlier today and will likely be surviving a little longer in the crow household 😉

Check the online prices for a LM 800 vs MM 800 (gold line), they're about £150 apart.

Well it's not in your stack of amps from earlier, so no... 😄

They both look like great amps to me! 5 band EQ with centre points pretty much where I would want them: EQ1 level ±16 db. Bass: 65hz: low mid: 180hz; mid 500 hz; high mid:1.4 khz; treble: 3.8 khz EQ2 ‘Old school’: variable low pass from 20khz to 200hz (for Motown / vintage) Differences: LM800 Millerizer: 5-12 KHz band pass filter (mid scoop e.g. for slap) MM 800 (for your extra £150): semi para mids & gold plated connections plus an Iron Man finish! I think where my amp journey is taking me is: D class portability and meaty power amp with plenty of head room to drive a single 8ohm cab, so there is never a need to thrash the amp. Decent clean preamp (for me: warm / valve preferable to hifi) with usable EQ and job done. I'm finding that the additional bells and whistles on an amp are done with so much more versatility and variety by pedals. In particular, drive tone is very individual and often bass dependent so the chance of your amp providing exactly what you're after is going to be a lottery. I've had a MB LM3 and couldn't fault its build quality and tone. I kinda feel that the LM 800 / MM800 have taken all the best bits of the LM3 and dealt with the EQ limitations to produce an outstanding amp and, in the case of the LM 800, very good value. Thanks to the OP for starting this thread, I think I may have found my next D class amp

Enjoy the new pedal! I'm sure @bassfan will be along shortly to update his 'wall of shame'! "I think this group has helped me stop the needless (gas?) purchases though and changed the outlook on the gear I already have." Yup, couldn't agree more, although I'm starting to put a list together of purchases for 2021 already

Just remembered one key point which actually disqualifies the LM2 from this thread.. ... it’s not a Class D amp.

Just had a quick look on the MB website and the current line up spec sheet. There seem to be only two models of the current new range which deliver the improved EQ settings: the Little Marcus and the Stu Amp 1000. The rest of them still have the 'old EQ'. Did you get a Marcus Miller Gold Line 800W @fretmeister? These are no longer appearing on the MB website from what I can tell, but still available from some retailers (e.g. Andertons). Although the Little Marcus heads seem to be identical in spec, other than being a bit less 'posh'. A new Little Marcus 800 is £525 new. My DG AO900 is pretty much literally double the price. And if I felt like pushing the boat out on power the Little Marcus 1000 is around £650 new from Thomann. Hmmm...

Excellent! And if @jrixn1 still has a picture of his 434 with a tort PG he can show you just how great these can also look!

The LM2 / LM3 is going to be perfect for what you're doing (as you already know!). The EQ gap between upper mids at 800Hz and treble at 10 kHz (which is way too high) effectively gives a pointless treble control, is the key issue for me. But nothing that a half decent EQ pedal can't sort. I'd also personally prefer the low EQ at 40 Hz to be centred at 65 Hz to 80 Hz MB have completely sorted these points with some of their current line up.

Only issue I had with the LM2 / LM3 heads was their EQ centre points, which have substantially been addressed in the current line up of Markbass amps. Otherwise, as @FuNkShUi says, they are great amps and hold their own with amps costing twice as much.

OMG, that's a complete bargain. @bassfan @Frank Blank is this in your parish?

Based on the above two comments, does sound like the new Orange Terror Mk2 is worth checking out. Fact that it's a great local manufacturer is another plus in my books. Going on my "to check out" list together with the Laney SLS.