SamPlaysBass

Last month I traded a jazz bass for a Markbass Evo 1 as my old TC RH450 is getting on a bit. After some research, there seems to be a split of opinion on the internet, but here’s my tuppence. 
 

It’s larger than the usual Markbass head but not massive at all. Light and well built, as all MB stuff seems to be. The two channels are blendable, and the focus of this amp seems to achieve the results of biamp-ing but using a single head. It does this really well. 
 

I’ve set mine up to use the blended option, with a clean tone blended with a grindy-SVT OD blended in in the ratio of about 60:40. It sounds great. EQ is generally flat unless compensating for a crap cab or boomy room and even though it’s 3 band, it works really well. Better than my old LM3, dare I say. 
 

I’ve used it for about 10 rehearsals and 3 gigs, and it’s always been plenty loud enough and sits beautifully in a mix. Lows sound full, mids are punchy and there’s top end there if you need it. Very impressed indeed. I use my tone control on my American Professional 5er Jazz to tame the OD, opening the tone up for some spanky intro sounds and mellowing it out once everyone else is playing. 
 

My experience is pretty limited in terms of the effects, but the compressore works well and the envelope filter is honestly the best I’ve ever heard. If they could put that filter in a pedal I’d buy it in a heartbeat - much better than the MXR bass envelope filter I’d used for a few years. Tuner is a welcome addition. 
 

Downsides that I’ve found so far are that it’s difficult to see the labels for the controls and the blend switch is a bit fiddly if you’re making last minute changes. If they were to release an EVO 2, then I’d like a slightly simplified (or at least emphasised) EQ section. The headphone volume knob is the same size as the master volume and they are next to each other! 
 

I’ve used it with my 5 String jazz and my 4 string Mayones. Makes both sound great. Here it is in the Earl Haig Club in Cardiff last night. Plenty of compliments and the opening band (who used my rig) sounded awesome. No complaints from the sound guy. Happy days! 
 

After 4 gigs and 4 rehearsals, I’m very, very pleased with the Labella 760s. They are a very similar tension to my preferred 45-105 rounds but sound helluva lot better - fuller lower end, more punchy mids, less clank. Sounds great in a mix and I’m sold on flats on a jazz. Very happy. They also sound great slapped! The Tonerider pickups are well worth a mention as they are extraordinary for the money. 
 

They’re not quite as meaty as the medium set on the studio bass, but they are 85% of the beef and tone but much easier to play. They feel beautiful on your fingers as well. Great purchase and highly recommended. 

After reading everyone’s advice and seeing the love for the low tension Labellas...

I’ve bought regular ones, albeit in the 43 gauge. 

🤷🏼‍♂️

Potential wrong choice incoming! 

Cheers both for the recommendation. The other thing I’ve just thought of is to go regular Labella but bring the action down a little bit. The blue jazz had medium-high action which made for a great tone, but made you work for it. 

Are the low tension flats drastically less tension than the regular flats? I could just suck it up and grow some extra skin on the old sausages I suppose... 😉

Last weekend, I went to a studio to do some recording. I had brought along my slap-happy jazz and StingRay. Both were strung with rounds, but I ended up doing the session on the studio owner's 64 Jazz reissue (Lake Placid Blue with matching headstock, for those who care ) and it blew my nuts off. 

The sound was incredible and I now want a jazz with flats. My only complaint was that the Blue Jazz with flats was a proper workout to play over the day - the action was fairly high to get 'that' sound in conjunction with the Labella Deep Talkin' flats and a nearly completely rolled off tone knob. I was wondering if it's possible to get most of that sound but at a slightly lower tension.

I've ordered myself some Tonerider pickups for my 12 year old MiM Jazz and now I need some flats. Any recommendations? I liked the Labellas but they were pretty tight. I've had P's with flats and loved them, but I adored the sound when playing hard over the bridge pickup on the jazz bass. Deep, fat, mid-heavy with no horrible clank. Just pure groove! 

Did a deal with Stew in a dodgy service station... he was brilliant to deal with! Traded my CTM 100 for a high quality bitsa Jazz. Amazing comms, met at a time that was great, met halfway. If Carlsberg did basschatters! 

(Stew is actually much nicer than Carlsberg, FYI). 10/10 would meet in a similarly dodgy car park to trade again. 

I had the same scepticism before buying my RH450. I’d bought two RS112s and powered them with various heads that I bought and sold on. Had a good bit of success with an LM3, but when I bought the RH450, you can tell these amps and cabs have been designed to work together. Very loud, a slight bump in the low mids naturally (which can be dialled out if needed), and just a great sound. I’ve also owned a BH250 in the past and that was vastly underpowered and lacking in any clout unless going through the PA. The RH450 doesn’t suffer with this. 

Favourite parts are the ability to move to EQ centres and boost/cut frequencies that actually make a positive impact on sound, the preset buttons set up for ‘your sound’ which you can then tweak for the room, and the tuner is handy, as well as just sounding great. More amps need these points.

RS cabs will always sound great, they are very underrated and undervalued as TC is no longer flavour of the month. 

So far, the negatives are few and far between; it’s heavier than more modern alternatives, parts are expensive to replace (or TC don’t stock a great deal of spares and ship them when they have enough demand, but this shouldn’t be a make or break situation!), and when I’ve used the RH450 through lesser quality cabs (I.e. rehearsal room offerings) the sound has seemed more bass-heavy and boomy. The RS cabs seem to negate this by being so clear and concise.

In short, I preferred the RS cabs to the Barefaced Super Compact and Ampeg SVT 410 HE I’ve owned previously, and the head matches well with the cabs with plenty of volume, guts and definition. Go for it! 

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

Surprised there were no advocates for the TecAmp Puma - available as 500w, 900w and 1000w - great phat tone palette.

I’ve owned a TecAmp Puma 900 and it was incredible for the 2 weeks it worked. Shame that it kept dying or going into protect mode. I ended up with my money back but a bit gutted that it didn’t work. If they weren’t £700+ brand new, definite contender. I think I’m looking closer to £500 as an absolute maximum. 

On 22/05/2019 at 23:58, machinehead said:

Anyway, can I suggest that you look at the EBS Reidmar 750.  It's also reasonably priced, loads of tone control including drive, LOUD, well built and reliable and a good built-in DI.  Just a thought as I regret ever parting with mine.  (I only sold mine because it was too wide for my Barefaced one10 cabs - sad or what?)

Reading back over this thread and I missed this at first glance - the Reidmar 750 seems particularly good value for money. Even more so, the Reidmar 502 is under £400! Any idea how ‘loud’ they are compared to their watt ratings?

Before the can of worms starts bubbling, I’m fully aware that loudness and watts are not necessarily related. What I’m trying to decipher is: are the Reidmars capable of producing a similar amount of power as other amplifiers (such as my RH450) or are companies playing marketing games? Will a Reidmar 502/500 be as loud as my RH450, and is the 750 as loud as you expect it to be? 

CAB HAS SOLD - just CTM 100 left. Just! 

1 minute ago, Al Krow said:

The weird thing that Quilter have done is to not offer a pre EQ DI switch. I doubt it would have cost much to add, so definitely a bit of an oversight. 

My apologies, this is what I meant - worded much more elegantly than my attempt. Every amp I’ve owned has had a DI with a pre/post switch. Seems strange that Quilter didn’t put one on theirs.  

I debated this this Post-EQ DI conundrum with a local sound guru who often finds himself behind the console for our gigs. He works for Midas and does some pretty extraordinary sound stuff day to day, and his advice to me was something along the lines of:

“Send me the cleanest signal you can. What you think sounds good on stage sounds sh!te out here.”

Followed this advice and it’s served me well. Ideally, I’d like to send the pre-EQ signal out and it not be affected by volume differences or anything. How come Quilter didn’t put a volume control (or to that effect) on their DI? Seems a bit strange as the rest of the amp seems monstrous. 

12 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

plug and unplug jacks into the effect loop input and output many times... 
then open it up and check nothing has shaken loose. 
 

Wise gurus of Basschat! LukeFRC what’s the technical reason behind that? Or is it witchcraft? 

1 hour ago, Soledad said:

Just wondering if you considered adding the Mesa Subway to your list? I'm a recent and happy Tonehammer convert but I did quite fancy the Mesa.

If love to, but I don’t think I could part with a grand for a head. I’d love to try one though! 

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

I’ve had the Aguilar Tonehammer and a Little Mark Tube 500.

The Aggie I found to be like a slightly more modern sounding Ampeg. It had buckets of gain if required, and could be made to sound very vintagey. It could also do some very angry sounds. Not being a funk player I couldn’t comment too much, but would have thought that maybe the highs might not be at a high enough frequency for slap.

The LMT I thought just set flat suited a traditional Precision tone really well. I always had the tube on full, it didn’t really seem to add any traditional gain or drive, just a smidging of hair around the sound which was only noticeable if then turned down - the amp then sounded sterile in comparison. Strange really. Using the filters enabled a good variety of sounds.

I actually went from Markbass to Aguilar as I needed real gain/drive. I never had any problems with either amp not being powerful enough.

Cheers Loz, valuable insight yet again. I find the Markbass stuff generally too top end sheen-y when all is flat, but quite usable with the (stupidly high) treble frequencies rolled off to 9 o’clock. I’ve briefly used an Aggie TH350 and those sweepable mids really impressed me. I prefer that vintage slap sound (Larry Graham, Pleasure, Brothers Johnson, Chic) and the Aggie nailed it, albeit through a Markbass 1x15 cab at low volume. Going through 2 12s at full chat may be a different kettle of fish!  

I’m glad you said. I was curious about the DI as I’m not 100% about it having a ground lift either? Please correct me if I’m wrong! Lots of positive reviews on the whole though, but I’m largely reliant on the DI. The output being dependent on the volume doesn’t seem ideal. Like you said, a separate DI would be the way to go.  

Something's wrong with my head. But anyway, I need a new bass amp.

My trusty TC RH450 has developed an intermittent fault where it stops sending the signal to the power amp. The best fix has so far been a bit of 'percussive maintenance' but I can't see it holding out much longer. Shame, because I really liked that head. 

Anyway. I'm looking for a small head with a fair old whack of power to tame even the most grizzly and inefficient cabs that festivals and gear-shares have to offer. It needs a wicked DI and a little tone shaping, but other bells and whistles I'm not too bothered about. So, which of the following?

Aguilar Tone Hammer 500, Markbass LMTube 800, or Quilter Bass Block?

I've owned a Markbass LM3 before and enjoyed it. Very bright through my TC RS112s, but utterly reliable if a bit... boring. There's a Markbass distributer 5 mins from my house - good support.

I've tried Aguilar and loved it. A friend of mine runs a music shop that could sort one (or if I sweet talk him, he may even sell me his own personal one, but I'm doubtful!). 40 mins from my house.

Quilter Bass Block. I've read about it and it seems amazing, but I've never tried one and probably won't until I buy one. Price is good on Thomann at the moment but I worry about support if something goes pop.

Any experiences, A/B's on the above are welcome, and so are suggestions. I'd like to buy as new as possible to retain some warranty or support. It needs to be deep and rich for soul and slappy funk. 

Me too Quilly - I plugged it back in not long ago and it’s painfully good. If it goes it goes, but I won’t be gutted if it stays! 

SOLD

I like Markbass gear even if it isn’t perfect. The classifieds have been a God send when I’ve bought and sold MB stuff. 

Has anyone else noticed the price of the new MB stuff from retailers slowly going downhill? You can get a brand new 210 Standard HF for £389. That’s cheaper than a lot on the classified/Marketplace. I hope the heads come down in due course. 

Source: https://www.richtonemusic.co.uk/product/markbass-standard-102hf-4-2x10inch-bass-400w-speaker-cabinet/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlduLguz_4QIVSbXtCh3v5QIeEAQYAyABEgKC0vD_BwE

MXR Bass envelope filter in 9.5/10 condition. Sounds fantastic - the dry mix helps keep the bottom end going when you’re quacking the good funk. Velcro on the back as it was on my board but seldom used. Stripped my pedalboard back to bare essentials, so here it is up for sale! 

£110 £85 posted, or will knock a few quid off for collection. 

Return - that shouldn’t have happened! If you’ve got proof of purchase TC are good to deal with. Try the retailer and TC direct - hopefully you’ll be able to sort it between them. 

Thank you Reggaebass - It’s amazing, and no more bother than a class A/B amp, but with that gorgeous full valve sound. 

As I’m looking to free up some room in the garage, I’m happy to talk trades for basses around the same value. Try me!

I will also be able to meet with in reasonable distances. As always, good offers considered! 

On 01/04/2019 at 13:03, ebenezer said:

The rs 112 cabs are great little cabs, well built with great sound!!...In the passed i have tried and owned many others and in truth i don't think you would gain that much

I think the weak link is the amp (never liked the tc amps)  how about trying some different amps first. 

I’ve had this experiende myself - I bought the RS112s years ago from Thomann when they were cheap. Kept them as backups but they always had more use than any barefaced or Ampeg cab I had and sold on. They’ve always stayed. Maybe I should try an Aguilar shaped head first...