PatrickJ Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) 14 hours ago, julietgreen said: OK so on reflection and research, I've decided to give the Markbass Traveler 102P a try with my Trace head. I've gone ahead and ordered one and I'll let you know how I get on. I have that cabinet, it's super light weight and a really small profile. With my Markbass head I do find I have to apply a bit of EQ to get sounding really sweet where as other cabs sounded better flat when I A/B'd them. Edited February 18, 2020 by PJ-Bassist 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machinehead Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 5 hours ago, julietgreen said: OK so on reflection and research, I've decided to give the Markbass Traveler 102P a try with my Trace head. I've gone ahead and ordered one and I'll let you know how I get on. A good choice. I had a pair of Markbass 2 x 10 Traveller cabs until I moved to Barefaced around 2009. One was usually enough in my covers band. I think you'll like it. Frank. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julietgreen Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 16 hours ago, Woodwind said: What Trace head have you got? If it's in a big wooden case you can have it remounted in a lightweight rack bag which will save you some more weight and make for a bit of an easier lift It's the GP7sm. 250. Not that heavy in its box and I don't struggle to carry it because it's quite small. It'll stick out a bit if I put the cab on its side though! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julietgreen Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 13 hours ago, stewblack said: Can't go wrong with Markbass cabs. I sold mine for peanuts to pay bills, wish I could have kept them. I gigged with Trace /MB as well and it sounded enormous. That's encouraging. I'm extremely hopeful it'll be better than what I'm putting up with at the moment and also less risk of pulling muscles/putting my back out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodwind Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 (edited) 6 minutes ago, julietgreen said: It's the GP7sm. 250. Not that heavy in its box and I don't struggle to carry it because it's quite small. It'll stick out a bit if I put the cab on its side though! I bet it will sound sweet! Interested in how you get on as I'm in a similar situation Edited February 18, 2020 by Woodwind 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julietgreen Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 12 hours ago, machinehead said: A good choice. I had a pair of Markbass 2 x 10 Traveller cabs until I moved to Barefaced around 2009. One was usually enough in my covers band. I think you'll like it. Frank I'm looking forward to it. It's not aesthetically unpleasing to look at either, though that shouldn't matter! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julietgreen Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 35 minutes ago, Woodwind said: Interested in how you get on as I'm in a similar situation I will let you know! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julietgreen Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 13 hours ago, PJ-Bassist said: I have that cabinet, it's super light weight and a really small profile. With my Markbass head I do find I have to apply a bit of EQ to get sounding really sweet where as other cabs sounded better flat when I A/B'd them. Do you tend to use it 'portrait' or 'landscape' standing on the ground? What did you find you needed to tweak in the EQ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickJ Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 (edited) 12 minutes ago, julietgreen said: Do you tend to use it 'portrait' or 'landscape' standing on the ground? What did you find you needed to tweak in the EQ? Typically portrait unless there is a platform around waist height I can rest it on in landscape mode. The only thing I want to do is pull off the ridiculously large Markbass Logo which looks even weirder on it's side. Re: EQ I bought it at Andertons and I tried along side the original NY121, A Genzler Array and an Aguilar cab. It sounded much better than the NY121 but with flat EQ it was a bit muddy in the mids and lacked some high end clarity. I found that a cut to the low mids and a slight bump to the treble got me pretty close to the others (especially given it was half the price of the other cabs). I actually used the rig last night for a jam night doing more rocky music and again found my self setting Low mids at around 10 o'clock and upper mids around 1130 and treble around 1300. Your trace head will have it's own character and I of course have my own preference on tone but I'd encourage you to experiment with a bit of EQ to get the best out of the cab. Edited February 18, 2020 by PJ-Bassist 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julietgreen Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 Got my cab delivered on Wed, just in time for a rehearsal that afternoon. I pushed it through its paces a bit in my living room. It coped well at the bottom end for what it is, though I thought I detected a slight 'zing' of vibration with the lowest notes. This was with my cheapo Retrovibe, so it's most likely the guitar not the cab. The little Columbus fretless sounded better. I haven't tried the De Armond (in my profile picture) yet. I found the EQ on the Trace was good with some of the lower middle taken down and a bit of a boost to the bass and the treble. (Fairly standard, really). It was very, very nice at the rehearsal - really round and clear at low volume. I'm particularly impressed with the full sound at the top end of the bass but I coudn't detect any difference with tweaking the tweeter dial on the cab. I may need to discover how this works properly. The cab is lighter than the amp and I carried both round to the car myself. The Trace sits on the top when the cab is landscape orientation, but the feet of the amp are just in the wrong place to sit on it securely when it's upright. I might move them so that it slots in neatly. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickJ Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 31 minutes ago, julietgreen said: I coudn't detect any difference with tweaking the tweeter dial on the cab. I may need to discover how this works properly. If you figure that out let me know, I had the same experience with mine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 A bit general I know, but I do a lot of "small jazz gigs" and often find that they are neither as small or jazzy as the booker intended. The thing that works for me is a clean /small(ish) combo or head /cab but what gives me the extra is a warm sounding preamp pedal. For amps, it can be an SWR, Ashdown Retroglide or a Mambo (jazz guitar amp) and for preamp its either Sansamp, Sadowsky or Aguilar DB924. It all does the same thing, makes the amp sound a bit bigger and older than it is. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julietgreen Posted February 25, 2020 Author Share Posted February 25, 2020 4 hours ago, BassBod said: A bit general I know, but I do a lot of "small jazz gigs" and often find that they are neither as small or jazzy as the booker intended. The thing that works for me is a clean /small(ish) combo or head /cab but what gives me the extra is a warm sounding preamp pedal. For amps, it can be an SWR, Ashdown Retroglide or a Mambo (jazz guitar amp) and for preamp its either Sansamp, Sadowsky or Aguilar DB924. It all does the same thing, makes the amp sound a bit bigger and older than it is. That's interesting info. I don't normally consider using a preamp pedal. Someone gave me one once and all it did was make things louder. I wasn't sure what to do with that one. I considered fuzzing things up now and then for the rock band but never bothered in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 The Sansamp does fuzz, but it can be subtle too (despite its own instructions!). It took me a year to work out what the Sansamp can actually do, and then I only really got it when I started travelling more and using all sorts of rental backline. The Sadowsky/Aguilar units are great too, but only do warmth (or rasp) as they are really modelled on the Music Man circuit that Leo Fender decided to use to make the Stingray sound huge. Small amps are great these days...and just what's needed for run around gigs in small venues when you can't park anywhere near. But, they do sound a bit modern and lacking in warmth. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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