Sparky Mark

[quote name='Moos3h' post='1217700' date='May 2 2011, 04:18 PM']The EB if you must, but I'd go for a second hand MAG 300 - more power and sounds better, easily had for c£200[/quote] Hey Cyrene, what did you get? I've got the EB 180 EvoII 12", MAG300H and MAG600H Evo II, all sound very similar ( same pre amp) and good. The 12" combo with an extension cab is a great pub gig set up. BTW this was the combo that turned me to 12's, I've now got a couple of Bergs and a couple of DIY neo 12 cabs, they're the future!!! (for me).

The most practical cab for the 3500 is the 410XL IMO. The Transporters ARE your weakest point. I still have my old 3500 but part ex'd my 410 XL and 115XL and still miss them. I often just gigged with the 115XL because it was lighter than the 410, but if your strong enough the 410XL is better and plenty powerful for most situations IMO. The Hydrive 410 is great, but as it is a sealed cabinet is a bit more power hungry to get the deep lows.

[quote name='chrismuzz' post='1212255' date='Apr 27 2011, 02:06 AM']If you want mids, i'd go for a Markbass head. They sound brilliant through absolutely any cab. You get a transparent sound and the mids are very pronounced. The filters are fun too! the VLE really does emulate vintage loudpseakers! Now that my bass has good pickups in it, I'm currently running mine with a totally flat EQ! I needn't even mention how stupidly loud they are. And the supposed gimmick of lightweight is just a nice bonus! MB heads always sell on here for between £200 and £500 depending on what you go for. If you can't find a solution with your Hartke i seriously doubt you'd regret getting a tiny yellow and black head for your collection [/quote] +1. Exactly what I did, sold my LH1000 and put the money towards a Little Mark III.

[quote name='Lozz196' post='1209914' date='Apr 24 2011, 11:41 AM']TC state that their amps are compatible with three of their "8 ohm" cabs, but if using any other makes, to only use two 8 ohm cabs. Talk about making this ohmage thing even more complicated![/quote] So is this a marketing ploy, make an amp that's 3 ohm capable, but tell everyone it's 4 ohm that can magically work with 3 of their 8 ohm cabs?

I thought the Klystron was just the UK built version of the ABM in a slightly sexier (if that's your bag) case?

I struggled with the mids on my LH for some time before giving up and selling it. The minimalist EQ is fine if you like the head's basic tone, but if not your stuffed, and left searching for a pedal to help out.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1209889' date='Apr 24 2011, 11:07 AM']Virtually all cabs have various inputs, well if they don't they should have![/quote] +1 I havent seen a new cab that doesn't have parallel inputs for daisy chaining. Just don't buy cabs with one input. Noticed something strange on the TC website....they show the BH500 linked up to 3 cabs in the suggested rigs section? Assuming they are all 8 ohm cabs and the BH500 minimum is 4 ohms this will overlaod the BH500. Or are the 210s 16 ohms?

[quote name='4-string-thing' post='1209013' date='Apr 23 2011, 10:49 AM']I'd be tempted to try your head with better cabs, loads of people seem to think that there isn't much between the Mag and ABM heads so maybe upgrading the cabs would be a better idea? The Mag stuff is budget, but I've had good comments at gigs about my sound (70's P through a mag head into an old Acoustic 2x15 cab) I'd at least look at swapping one of your cabs for a 15" which IMO would give you a better bottom end. Some may disagree but I've always thought that an average amp through good speakers will always sound better than a good amp through bad speakers![/quote] +1 about better cabs. I'm a recent convert to 12s. I realise cone size isn't supposed to be an indication of tone, but the 12's I've tried all seem to have a level of warmth that in my experience a lot of 10's don't. A good 2 x12 cab ( or 2 x 112) would be my choice unless the greater sound volume of a 410 is essential. I think the MAG series achieve their budget price level by:- 1) using established technology and components which may be cheaper? (But maybe not for long due to thru hole parts becoming obsolete). 2) Chinese manufacturing. 3) keeping it simple (although the octaver and compression are frills not all budget amps offer)

I recently had the opportunity to A/B an ABM500 Evo 2 head with 210 + 115 ABM cabs and a MAG600 Evo 3 head with 210 + 115 MAG cabs. Started with the MAG, punchy, clear, good tone with EQ set flat, and 1.6k pot boosted really brings the sound to life. Anyhow, overall sound was pretty balanced and clean with EQ centre freqs well positioned for adjusting to almost any tone. No distortion facility (other than by sending the VU meter into the red with extreme EQ settings). Then went to ABM and I thought something had gone wrong! Massive bass, subdued mids and little top end? With the EQ set flat the tone seemed massively mid scooped when compared to the MAG. I wondered whether the cabs were responsible so I swapped the heads over, but there was no real difference, the ABM staying very dark. Even the sales guy was surprised at how soft the ABM sounded in comparison. Valve drive was the extra tonal facility but I didn't play too much with extreme settings for distorted tones. I had to boost the mid, high mid and high sliders on the ABM to approach the definition of the MAG. Interestingly the MAG has a lo boost button which works at 50Hz, whilst the ABM does not, almost as if this boost is part of the ABM's preset flat EQ. By switching back from ABM to MAG I was able to get the ABM to sound just as deep and round as the ABM, and was able to boost the ABM mid and top to get the MAG type sound. The power stage of these amps is identical, the difference is in the preamp. The ABM has more EQ (7 bands) than the MAG (5 bands plus hi and lo boost buttons) and the valve drive is a benefit if you want to set a different footswitchable tone. The ABM also has a lot of extra facilities not directly linked to sound but to operation (mute, footswitchable octaver, comp, valve o/d etc). This is where I'm going to get shot, but for me the ABM flat seemed much more suited to old school warmth, but could be EQ'd to punchier tones, whereas the MAG flat seemed much more neutral. Based on this I have now bought a MAG600 and can confirm that through my Bergantino HT112ER/EX stack it is every bit as capable as my LM3 for about half its price. I'm hoping reliabilty of the ABM and MAG are the same as the bit that does the work and gets hot (the power amp) is the same. It usually follows that the more parts there are the more there is to go wrong, so the MAG may even have a slight advantage. I really like Ashdown amps (I now own three) and had the ABM been at a similar price to the MAG, probably would've gone that way, but the extra £275 just didn't seem worth it as I do have a VT Bass pedal for valve type tones, but I'm still going to keep my eyes open for a used ABM500 Evo 3 all the same.

Best tone and weight is the Hydrive 410, compact size (for a 410) and can be had for around £300 secondhand ( but worth it). 410XL heavy but compact size with great tone, silly cheap secondhand. I had one for 15 years, built to last and loved it. 4.5XL even bigger and heavier than 410XL. If you need the extra oomph and can carry it, and need a big 410 this is the best choice. But IMO a 410XL is a better cheap choice/compromise, and you won't look silly using it in a small venue.

[quote name='lollington' post='1109859' date='Jan 31 2011, 06:59 PM']Hijacking the thread somewhat, but recently picked up a LH500 myself. Does anyone else notice a notice jump in volume around the 6 mark? Seems to be pretty quiet up till then....[/quote] There are dozens of posts on BC and TB noting this characteristic of the volume pot.