BassManGraham

On 16/09/2018 at 19:04, PJ-Bassist said:

I've read this a lot about the little Marcus's but I'm just not sure I can live with the design of them.  I don't want a picture of some dude 😉 on my amp!!

I did direct comparison between several heads earlier today. LittleMark Tube 800, Little Mark 800, Little Marcus 800  Aguilar AG700, Aguilar Tonehammer, Darkglass Microtube 900. Loved the AG700 but not sure it justified around £400 more than Markbass offerings. The Darkglass had really great drive and grit if you like metal etc, but I would rarely, if ever, use that much dirt .

I too really disliked the logo of Marcus Miller on the Little Marcus 800, but at similar volume and all controls at 12 o'clock with VLE/old school and VPF/Millerizer off it seemed to have greater volume and punch than the other two Markbass amps. The mute switch is much better, and the low bass control excellent, so that is what I bought.  But do try a Quilter BB800 they are probably the best vfm head out there right now.

On 07/09/2018 at 16:14, Leonard Smalls said:

I've plumbed my new Crown 1502 into its rack along with BBE amp and DBX compressor.

Tried it first as a single channel into my Markbass 102 and huge Yamaha/15"Precision Devices cab. Didn't seem any louder than with the Marshall, just noticeably less noisy.

Then I tried it bridged into the 2 cabs, very loud, very clean - could hear every nuance of the effects board.

Then I tried it as input Y with ch1 to the 102 and ch 2 to the Y/PD15, with high pass on 1 above 100Hz and low pass below 300Hz on 2. Lawks! Bit louder than the Marshall could go, but incredibly clean, almost hifi. And there's virtually no hum at all, even with the Crown turned up to 3/4 on both channels and the BBE on 1/2. The only noise not being produced by the bass was a very slight hiss from the pedals which I could never hear before. I like it...

Glad you like it. I have never tried my Crown 1002 in biamp mode, partly because I wanted a loud one cab solution (with Barefaced Super 12) and unbridged it gives considerably lower output..but will definitely give it a try now, with a pair of Vanderkleys. 

17 hours ago, jazzyvee said:

Yes I agree i had one of those QSC PLX2402 amps and sold it due to it being too heavy in my 6u rack with the rest of my gear. The weight meant it didnt get used much so i recently replaced it with a crown Xls1502 which is also a good amp but to my ears the qsc wins hands down seems to have more power in the low end and more density in the sound overall. Maybe i should have kept it and bulked up at the gym🤔😂. 

But we live and learn and now i use the crown in my big rig and have a smaller 3u shallow rack with a Synq 1k0 1U class D amp in  with a F1-x preamp for travelling light to gigs with a backline provided as the heads usually are raspy. 

I generally use one cab on gigs but where there are two i use one on each side of the power amp in the mode where one input drives both channels. My pre amp has a crossover so i could bi amp but not at the moment. 

 

QSC power amps are great,.

In fact I use my Quilter Bass Block 800 (from Patrick Quilter, the Q in QSC) far more often than my Sansamp/ Crown rack unit these days, it just so handy!

3 hours ago, la bam said:

How do you find the sound with the crown running the pre amp (with it being class d)? Is it just ok? Good, or as good as a quality A/B style amp?

Hi the Crown it is good, clean, loud and powerful and very good value for money.. The Sansamp ceates the tone, and sound engineers love them . I can't honestly compare the Crown with many A/B style amps as I have been using Class D stuff pretty much exclusively for 12 or more years and I am always DI'd through a PA so the power sections of all my amps are there to provide on stage sound. The bass and preamp are key in shaping sound/tone , the power amp and speakers deliver volume and 'heft'. With the right speaker cab this Sansamp/ Crown set-up is plenty powerful for most venues without going thru PA if you want a deafening sound on stage! 

I did try my Sansamp with a friends A/B style t.amp power amp before buying the Crown. The t-amp sounded OK, but to me the Crown sound was much better, and had far greater flexibility with high pass, low pass, bandwidth selection etc. Unable to compare with a high quality A/B amp.I sometimes wonder if the finer nuances are lost when a full band and drummer kick in?

Personally I like class D amps. I have had valve heavyweights but even back in the day I preferred my solid state Acoustic 220 to my valve Fender Bassman 135 for cutting thru the mix,. I dare say you could get marginally better results by spending a lot more money. Demeter spring to mind. You just have to let your own ears judge what's best for you.

14 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

I'll just weigh in here on the bridged/parallel thing on the Matrix.  I'm not point-scoring, but the solution is a bit more elegant than the Crown.

If you look at the Matrix below, you have an area to the bottom left that's your INPUTS (confusingly marked B & A, but I suppose this is the reverse of the facia controls) AND output type selection toggle switch (Stereo, Parallel and Bridged).  In the middle, there's three Speakon outputs left to right channel A, Bridged, Channel B.

Flipping the output toggle to BRIDGE activates the centre Speakon output and the unit delivers 1000w into 8ohms.  There's no wiring up to terminals.  Obviously you can only use a single source input (into B or A on the left) in bridged mode.

You can run the amp in switched parallel mode (single input, B or A), switch to Parallel, single or pair of speakers attached to channel A&B or A or B, same signal to both OR switched stereo mode (different input sources to B & A), switch to STEREO, two enclosures individually attached to channels A & B.

Longterm I'm looking to run a pair of 1x12" cabinets to utilise the switched stereo mode to take full advantage of the GED2112 pre-stage.  The ease of switching/outputs just makes it easy to run a single input into bridges as well.

 

 

 

Just for the record (and to satisfy my pedantic OCD) a more elegant and aesthetic option is possible for the Crown . Channel 1 is wired for both channels so it can be used for BRIDGE mode wiring (or stereo wiring of two speakers using one 4 pin speakon plug) I use the rock-wire Speak-on to Speak--on with bridged terminals 1+/2+ and white sheath to avoid incorrect connection. The Crown is very flexible and excellent crossover allows bi-amping if you want to be reallly flash! 

58 minutes ago, la bam said:

did you buy a different cable to run in bridged mode?

thats the bit i fell for - itll let you set up bridged mode, but wont actually be operating in bridge mode unless youre using the correct modified cable as in the instructions.

Hope pic helps, cheers Graham 

There are two simple options for connecting speakers to the power amp in bridged mode. This is explained in the online  manual. But briefly

1. You connect a standard speakon cable or Jack plug on one end (speaker cab connection) with bare wires to amp connection to the pair of bridged +ve and -ve red terminal posts. 

2. I also got a special speakon cable made up by Dave (obbm) on this very forum. It's just different connection to terminals on the speak on plug. This then connects to speak on output on power amp. 

Please give me a heads-up if you reconsider selling. Cheers

Hi I have a Tech 21 Sansamp RBI in a rack with a Crown XLS 1002 Drive Core class D stereo power amp. (about £246 on Thomann at the moment) . I choose this power amp as it has a choice of input sensitivities. I use in bridged mode i.e. 700 W into 8 ohm or 1100 W into 4 ohm. Plenty of power. Easy to operate with really useful built in crossover with choice of high pass, low pass or  bandwidth selection. I use bandwidth selection to limit sub bass rumble and excessive high end. A great combination and nice and light too.

5 hours ago, Mongo said:

Love those Peaveys!

Here are my basses for now. I have another Geddy Lee coming from UK soon.

Nothing can have me sell the Peaveys, the other ones will go first if needed😁

 

Beautiful pair of Rudy Sarzos, liking that Jazz in the foreground too!

According to Aguilar tech support it was built in December 2003.

Hi mega bass amp. When was it built? Are you the original owner? Has it had a lot of use? Many thanks 

3 hours ago, Cat Burrito said:

The very first run of the PF500 heads weren't great but the problem was quickly addressed. It didn't affect any other model. It still often gets mentioned but it was a short run problem years ago.

That's reassuring and good to know. Thanks

11 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

I had a PF500 which was great, had another which wasn`t due to it not making it through one rehearsal. Re the SVT3-PRO, a change of valves can really help, I bought a set of higher gain ones for my old one from Watford Valves and it made the amp seem much livelier than the stock ones. People do seem to like the 7-PRO, but if the Ampeg head you used at the festivals were the heavyweight ones, sorry but not many amps are going to get there in terms of that sound.

I remember hearing about a few reliability issues with the PF heads when I was looking for a small class D head a few years back. I went for a GK MB500 at the time. Good point about changing valves.

1 hour ago, la bam said:

Im interested in this topic.

However, must add .............. our practice room had an old batted ampeg 8x10 and svt3 pro. I tried the amp once before the band turned up and it sounded like the worst thing ever ....... dull, really low bass and growly, but in a speaker blown way, so i didnt use it. A couple of months later i left my amp head at home so had to plug in to the 3pro. Same sound, poor. Then the band kicked in and WOW! it fitted perfectly, plenty of power and lovely bassyness without that stacatto bass note sound that some amps can give out. It was very musical and just blended lovely with everything we did.

So, id always see how it sounded with a band, rather than stand alone.

Interesting, I thought stand alone sound wasn't great a fuzziness and lack of clarity as I like a clean sound, but in fairness it sounded pretty good with band at full tilt!

I have been playing for more years than I care to remember, but never owned an iconic Ampeg rig.

Recently I played a couple of festival rigs where backline was provided and there was insufficient turnaround to use my own gear. After a quick fiddle with numerous tone settings on an Ampeg head I got a fairly decent onstage sound thru an Ampeg 4x10.  I was fairly impressed, so I decided to seek one out . I tried a couple of preowned SVT Pro 3 heads advertised on a site in Ireland. I was not impressed. I then did  direct A/B comparison using my Quilter BB800 thru an Ampeg SVT 8x10, (and then my Barefaced Super 12T). I was totally underwhelmed by  the SVT Pro 3. IMHO my Quilter blew the SVT PRO 3 away in all areas.. Far better tone, punch and clean power for less than half the new price? 

Any views on what might be a better Ampeg head to try BTW I am way past the heavyweight SVT 4 VALVE jobs!

The Mesa subway D800 delivers full power i.e.800W rms into 4 ohm load and/or a 2 ohm load. The 2 ohm switch allows you to link two 4 ohm cabs, and presumably switches in increased impedance so as not to overload output stage.  Personally I would never run an 800w amp into 500w speakers, even if I rarely run gain or master above 1 or 2 o'clock on any head.  I have always tried to add at least 50% to the handling capacity of bass speakers. So I typically run an 800W rms amp into 1200W rms capacity speakers. Sorry if that's not want you wanted to hear. Master volume on the Mesa seems more linear than other amps. I played one only last week in an A/B comparison with a Little Mark 500. Manufacturers power ratings vary considerably. For example a GK MB500 is way louder than a Hartke TX600. Wattage doesn't directly translate into volume or loudness which is dependent on speaker efficiency and cab placement etc etc. In summary it's a minefield. During my aforementioned demo at a major retailer the dude linked the Mesa D800 and LM Tube 500 into a 400w 4 ohm speaker and the speaker was not comfortable with either amp when driven over halfway!

My first decent bass in early seventies was a Fireglow Rickenbacker 4001. I liked the look and the slim neckthru body design. Loved that Chris Squire crunchy vibe at the time and played through my Hiwatt and later Acoustic 220/406 rigs it was truly awesome. I had a bit of a Yes, Jam, Rush thing going on back then, (which is probably the reason for my type 2 diabtetes later in life)

Always thought they were a bit of an amazing one trick pony, and it eventually made way for Aria SBs, Fenders and a Wal. Always regret selling it to buy a Technics HiFi system which was consigned to a car boot sale long ago whereas that bass is probably worth a few grand now!!!!

On reflection Rickys are more flexible than I originally gave them credit for. However the bridge pickup assembly is awkward and crazy. Bridge and intonation adjustment is not easy. Mine used to have a solid chrome metal pickup cover, but I was horrified to find that on more recent models this is that horrible ubiquitous plastic substance!  Think how many sea turtles these will endanger! 

I do suffer from chronic G.A.S, but despite undue encouragement from muso friends I have never had the urge to reacquire a Ricky.

Without wishing to start a brand lawsuit They do seem to be the ultimate Marmite bass. So if you like one get a pre owned, preplastic era  model and remember that hall rhymes with tool.

I have used Little Mark II head (in combos) for years. I also sold an SA450 which on reflection I marginally preferred. Recently did a head to head between an LM 500 tube and a Mesa D800 subway. The LM held it's own for a few hundred quid less and I preferred the tube setting to solid state on a stand alone. Would need to try in band setting as I have often found nice warm valve setting sound great alone but may not be so effective at cutting through the mix so well.

So I would say an LM500 tube head might be the way to go which offers a vast range of tonal options. But I would suggest you try and get a listen to the Quilter Bass Block 800 before parting with the readies!  I am very impressed with my most recent aquisition. 

PM sent

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I too used Markbass very happily for many years, had 2x10, 4x10, 1x12 (x2) and 1x15(x2)  and have held onto a couple 1x12s. Still great stuff but Vanderkley and Barefaced are in a different league, which their price would suggest

I visited Bass Direct a few years back and did a direct comparison between Bergantinos and Vanderkleys, and I went for the Vanderkleys.. I have been using Vanderkleys for about five years. I recently acquired a preowned Barefaced Super 12T which is a superb one cab solution and I now have trouble choosing between this and two MNT112 or a single LNT210.

I visited Barefaced in Brighton and did a direct comparison between the Big Twin and Super Twin. The Big Twin was probably the best single bass cabinet I have ever heard, but as I am nearly always DI'd hrough PA,  I went for the portability of the smaller cab, but sonically the Big Twin Is quite a bit more impressive.

Barefaced cabs do use relatively thin ply, but are very rigid and well braced. If you respect them and dont hurl them about they are robust enough and really easy to touch-up. The pre and after sales service at Barefaced is excellent .

Vanderkley cabs use thicker ply, have less bracing and do seem more robust. I have always preferred tough carpet covering to Tolex, but the 'lumpy' paint on Barefaced cabs is a doddle to maintain. 

Vanderkley use custom Faital Pro drivers, Barefaced use Eminence drivers wound to Alex's specs.

Both companies give exceptional service.

A difficult choice, unless you get both!!

23 hours ago, TorturedSaints said:

Thanks Graham (loving my Quilter BB800 BTW).  I had already edited the ad some weeks ago, to highlight that the latest version of the amp has the limiter switch on top and to note that mine doesn't.  

Whoops sorry. The GK MB500 really rocks through my Barefaced Super12T too. Surprised it's still here, if I didn't have one already I would have bought it at this price! 

Superb ultra compact lightweight amp for this money, deceptively loud too, sounds more powerful than other 500W rated class D amps I have heard.

Current models have a limiter switch on top of aluminium amp casing, which may have been a design afterthought as there is not much room on front panel . 

GLWS

Forgot to mention I sometimes use an Eden EX112 with my CMD 121P, it stacks nicely (same footprint). At 300W at 8 ohms it is a punchy little cab. OK It is clearly not in same league as MB n all, but is half the price and a pretty good cab for just under £200. Might be worth a try out before you spend double on MB or quadruple on Barefaced, Vanderkley, Bergs, Mesa etc Cheers