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Sparky Mark

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Everything posted by Sparky Mark

  1. Sparky Mark
    Tom bought my ABM with no hassle and extremely prompt payment. Great communication throughout and I wouldn't hesitate to trade with Tom again. Many thanks Tom.
  2. Sparky Mark
    RMS is the only half useable measure. Peak, music power, etc are pretty meaningless. Markbass are RMS.
  3. Sparky Mark
    If it's power you want then you may be better looking at the TH500 that'll give 250 watts max into a single 8 ohm cab rather than the 175 watts max of the TH350. The class D 500 watt Markbass heads are rated at 300 watts into 8 ohms.
  4. Sparky Mark
    SOLD - Ashdown FS-4 - Excellent condition. A heavy duty 4-way footswitch with 4 metre cable. Switches EQ, Valve Drive, Compressor and Sub Bass on/off. Used for models:ABM-500 / 900 EVO III/ABM 600 /1200 EVO IV. SOLD - £25 inc shipping to UK Mainland. £20 collected from or local delivery to Hertford.
  5. Sparky Mark
    When you say 'enough drive' do you mean overdrive or simply enough power? If you are using fuzz and/or gain pedals you'd be better off with an amp that is capable of being both loud and clean (Markbass are good for this). If you want the amp itself to generate fuzz or overdrive then don't go Markbass. If you use overdrive pedals plus hi gain overdrive on the amp you will lose a lot of definition and low end.
  6. Sparky Mark
    My experience with Markbass heads is that they are quite neutral sounding. They tend to amplify whatever goes in at the front end fairly accurately without imposing too much of a brand or signature tone as some amps do. Because of this relative accuracy they will expose both strong and weak points in your signal chain, including inconsistencies in playing technique, rather than smooth over them. It's fairly simple to get whatever you want from them especially now that Aguilar, Ampeg, Mesa, Tech 21, etc., all produce preamp pedals to flavour the input. A selection of £100ish pedals is a more cost effective way of having several brand's basic tones available to you rather than paying £500+ for each head.
  7. Sparky Mark
    I rarely stray from EQ controls at noon position on my LM heads. The EQ curves show that each control does affect quite a wide band of frequencies either side of the stated frequency.
  8. Sparky Mark
    Thanks again Phil. I suggest that you add the photos to your original post for all to see. Cheers.
  9. Sparky Mark
    I would recommend NEVER flexing printed circuit boards, especially relatively old ones, as you can crack the copper tracks and damage previously good solder joints and/or components.
  10. Sparky Mark
    The fact that the noise stays at the same level indicates it's the noise floor of the amp. By including the noise reduction switch on earlier models Trace Elliot acknowledged noise was a factor at low volume or in studios. This is also why setting the input gain as high as possible using the three LED system is important to maximise the signal to noise ratio. What you need is a totally silent (relatively) AH200 GP11 Mk5 head! 😉
  11. Sparky Mark
    Thank you Phil, and at least the fluff shows the truss rods haven't needed adjustment for a very long time, if ever. Are photos of case and back of neck a possibility? Thanks again.
  12. Sparky Mark
    I'm not sure that a dry/open solder joint would contribute to noise? I have read accounts on here before about aSMX heads with hum and noise issues. It may be a design issue. Someone posted that changing the orientation of the transformer helped reduce hum (but that could be building location specific). Noise or hiss might be down to ageing components just drifting out of spec with age? I'm sure that at playing volume it makes no difference. Earlier versions did have a noise reduction switch but I guess with all the new features on the SMX something had to give?
  13. Sparky Mark
    When you compare the power amp sections from the AH200 and the AH250 they appear to be the same. I wonder whether Trace Elliot realised they were understating the AH200 and for marketing differentiation specified the later model as 250 watts?
  14. Sparky Mark
    Unless you look at my Mk V head for sale on here!
  15. Sparky Mark
    Do the dual truss rods make the neck a different profile to the single truss rod necks? Strange that when cleaning this all the dust was left in the truss rod cut outs? Do you have photos of the back of the neck and case? Thanks.
  16. Sparky Mark
    Thanks Mick, I couldn't agree more but I'm mad me🤪! However, I'll still have another AH200 head as well as a totally mint 1989 1215 combo so I should be okay🎸🎶 The future is green💚
  17. Sparky Mark
    A couple of weeks ago the guitarist in my band arrived at a gig without his Roland JC120 (another band member forgot to bring it). Anyhow, I had my rehearsal combo, a line 6 studio 110 in my car and we gave it a spin. Set on the clean preset with his guitar going into his line 6 effects board in the the 110 it managed a fairly loud gig for a couple of hours. At the end it was pretty hot but 80 watts into a single 10 was pretty damn loud so I think a small 10 cab would be good.
  18. Sparky Mark
    Thanks Bill. I understand that magnet material shouldn't be a factor; maybe it's that more recent designs (that a lot of us are demanding are lighter weight so are neo) have a more balanced presentation across the frequencies? I'm not sure I want my bass cab to be perfectly balanced from top to bottom and wonder if some some of the best bass cabs have coloration that suits bass guitar rather than transparency?
  19. Sparky Mark
    What a fantastic thread. Perhaps this explains why many on here have experienced a difference in 'heft' (low frequency content?) between their lower sensitivity ceramic and higher sensitivity neodymium speaker cabs? I definitely heard this difference with my Bergantino AE (neo) and HT (cer) single twelve cabs.
  20. Sparky Mark
    It's an interesting subject. Fender swapped from heavy formvar to plain enamel around 63/64. So there are early plain enamel examples but I've not seen it on a 60-62. Colour balance in photos is so variable especially when poor or tinted lighting is involved it's hard to see what colour the windings are or age of a pickup without provenance. This is still a fantastic bass that would be worth more than double the asking price if all original. GLWYS.
  21. Sparky Mark
    SOLD - Although this is the best ABM that Ashdown has released to date my incurable GAS means I have run out of space and need to set it free. This outputs a genuine 600 watts RMS of class AB heft and has barely warmed up on the couple of gigs I have played that warranted its outing. In excellent condition the polished stainless steel chassis gives this a more modern style than the standard version. SOLD - £375 collected from Hertford or local meet up/delivery. Thanks for looking.
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  22. Sparky Mark
    SOLD - A recent purchase of a Trace Elliot 1215 combo now means this beauty is surplus to requirements. This head came from a 1110 combo and has been rehoused in a custom built sleeve. In excellent condition with all controls and sliders intact and working scratch 'n' crackle free. This outputs 150 watts into a 4 ohm load. No fan so ideal for low volume and studio use. But please don't let the 150 watts fool you, this is a loud head; these are Trace Elliot watts which we all know are loaded with extra heft!!! Trace Elliot logo on front panel is backlit! Ooooooh! SOLD - £150 collected from Hertford or local meet up/delivery. Fully insured delivery to UK mainland via Parcelforce will be £7.50 (half share of £15 actual cost). SOLD - If you'd just like the head without the casing it will be £125 plus £5 shipping to UK mainland (half share of £10 actual cost). Thanks for looking.
  23. Sparky Mark
    Beautiful bass but I would expect to see formvar (orange copper colour) windings on a '60 jazz. Perhaps a rewind at the same time as the refinish?
  24. Sparky Mark
    I doubt you'll get any interest without photos. 😉
  25. Sparky Mark
    As someone who has owned both at the same time for a couple of years I can safely say that the original mosfet AH3500 sounds easily as good as the LH and can produce useable tones that the LH cannot due to the limited EQ section. In valve only preamp mode the AH is practically the same head. I have heard that the latest bipolar output HA series isn't as good as the mosfet. I really really wanted to love the LH but in the end it didn't work for me. YMMV.
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