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Mini Bass Rig of Doom


eude
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Hi guys,
just wanted to post to let you all know that, having sold my Trace Elliot, I've pulled the trigger on a "mini bass rig of doom"!
I gave Mike at Bass Merchant a shout to have a chat about what I needed and he was real helpful.
I needed something loud enough for smallish pub gigs, not too loud as my band is more acoustic driven than anything, that I can plug in to the PA, expand on if and when I need to and more importantly be able to carry all by myself without breaking my back.

I've ordered a Mark Bass Little Mark 250 >>


& an Aguilar GS112 >>


I'm real excited about it, I have a gig on the 8th, fingers crossed I'll get hold of this before then!
I'll post pics and a wee review once I get my grubby paws on the new kit.

Cheers,
Eude

Edited by eude
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[quote name='Sibob' post='53743' date='Sep 1 2007, 10:33 AM']He was doing a deal a couple of months ago of like two GS112's and a mark bass little mark (250 or 450 i can't remember) for £999
I assume those just went straight out the door! lol

Nice rig, will sound awesome i reckon!

Si[/quote]

Hey Si,
yeah that deal pretty much flew out the door, was a little out of my price range though anyway...
Still, my wee Junior version should sound great too.

I hate waiting for stuff!

Cheers,
Eude

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  • 1 month later...

First impressions - brilliant! :)
Incredibly clear, transparent and balanced across the entire range of my six string Shuker.
Nailed my sound already, with the VPF at 12 o'clock with a little low mid dialed back in and a slight cut in the highs, coaxes a real nice growly sound with a bite of precussive bite, great for digging in and a wee bit of slap.
Not had the volume much past a peep, as my neighbours would probably be at the door and less than chuffed.

The Little Mark head is tiny, and so light!
The Aguilar Cab is quite a bit deeper than I expected, spose that's how they get better lows out of it.
It still fits nicely the boot of my Seat Ibiza though, I could get two in there no bother, which is part of my plan once I save up a little bit more cash...
The cab is also pretty light, I've heard a few folks complain that they're pretty heavy for a one hand lift, but I've not had any difficulty, probably because I'm used to lifting my, now ex, Trace Combo by my self all the time.

I'll sort out pics ASAP and sort out a better review once I've used it in anger.

Cheers,
Eude

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[quote name='craigjf1969' post='68587' date='Oct 2 2007, 12:11 PM']Hey Eude,nice little rig,need something smaller and lighter myself...if you dont mind me asking,how much did this set you back...did you get a good deal???cheers Craig[/quote]

Hey Craig,
Cheers dude, I'm real chuffed with it.
The whole lot came in at £600 plus postage.
Mike at the Bass Merchant was great to deal with and matched the best prices I'd found.
If I'd had another £400 I could've got the deal Bass Merchant where offering of a Little Mark (the 400W) one, and two GS112s for £999, but I couldn't stretch any further.
I plan on getting hold of another matching cab as soon as I can though, to get the maximum wattage out of the head.

Any other questions just shoot dude,
Eude

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[quote name='Deep Thought' post='68592' date='Oct 2 2007, 12:20 PM']Hi Eude, glad your new rig is floating your boat-I'm still very happy with the Trace! Got its first gig on the 30th![/quote]

Hey bud,
Yeah the new rig is great, glad you're enjoying the Trace, it's a beast of an amp!
I was going to give you a shout, I found the old manual that came with it, you want me to post it down to you, it's in perfect nic too.

Cheers,
Eude

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[quote name='TheRev' post='68612' date='Oct 2 2007, 12:49 PM']How are you finding the lower output power levels of the LM 250? Can it keep up with a full band?[/quote]

Hey there,
I've not managed to try it out with the band yet.
I intend to use it at my next rehearsal.
I usually play through an Ampeg BR1-E and an Ampeg 4X10 when we practice, so it will be an interesting A-B.
The output of the amps are similar, 150W at 4 ohms for the Little Mark 250 and 175W at 4 ohms for the Ampeg.
The Aguilar cabinet is highly sensitive though, 102db compared to 95db in the Ampeg cab, and Mark Bass stuff has a rep for being a bit more ballsy than the rated wattage, so I don't think it'll struggle to keep up in that setting.

I will be using it live, but our next proper gig isn't till the 22nd of Nov, as we're recording and album at the moment.
When on a big stage, I always go into the PA anyway though and use my amp as a monitor, but I'm sure it'd be fine for pub gigs, maybe putting it up on an amp stand might help too. I'm sure with the two cabs and rocking out the full 250W it'd be fine for most live settings.

I'll give you more info once I get it.

Cheers,
Eude

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[quote name='eude' post='68629' date='Oct 2 2007, 01:21 PM']I was going to give you a shout, I found the old manual that came with it, you want me to post it down to you, it's in perfect nic too.[/quote]

Hiya Eude,
Is it the same as the one you can download from the Trace Elliot site? If so, thanks for thinking of me but I've already downloaded it. If not, yes please!

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Sounds like a great little rig, should be plenty for an acoustic driven band and SO easy to move! I like the Markbass EQ approach, the VLE is a particularly great knob.

[quote name='eude' post='68634' date='Oct 2 2007, 01:29 PM']The Aguilar cabinet is highly sensitive though, 102db compared to 95db in the Ampeg cab...[/quote]

Just to pick you up on that, unfortunately Aguilar's sensitivity spec for the GS112 is utter bs whilst the one for the Ampeg is quite accurate. This is made clear by the 212 and 412 not each being 3dB more sensitive that the smaller cab. I pointed this out to Dave Boonshoft but he's yet to do anything about it.

Alex

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[quote name='Deep Thought' post='68819' date='Oct 2 2007, 09:26 PM']Hiya Eude,
Is it the same as the one you can download from the Trace Elliot site? If so, thanks for thinking of me but I've already downloaded it. If not, yes please![/quote]

I, it's the very same I'm afraid dude.
You're welcome to it if you want though, it won't cost anything, I'll get work to post it :)

Cheers,
Eude

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[quote name='alexclaber' post='68874' date='Oct 2 2007, 11:40 PM']Sounds like a great little rig, should be plenty for an acoustic driven band and SO easy to move! I like the Markbass EQ approach, the VLE is a particularly great knob.
Just to pick you up on that, unfortunately Aguilar's sensitivity spec for the GS112 is utter bs whilst the one for the Ampeg is quite accurate. This is made clear by the 212 and 412 not each being 3dB more sensitive that the smaller cab. I pointed this out to Dave Boonshoft but he's yet to do anything about it.

Alex[/quote]

Hey Alex,
Yeah the rig is perfect for the acoustic stuff I'm doing at the mo and with an additional cab, it'd probably hold it's own in most other situations too, it's also a lot better for my back!
I wasn't aware that the stats on the Aguilar where inaccurate, that said, it'll be even more interesting A-B-ing it with a 4X10.

Cheers,
Eude

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[quote name='phsycoandy' post='69261' date='Oct 3 2007, 09:33 PM']My not so mini rig of doom waiting to be let loose when i can afford another cab!
[/quote]

Nice rig [b]psychoandy[/b], how you enjoying it?

Eude

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Talking of mini rigs - i've just put together my first...

Preamp - BBE Bmax T (modded and with 5751 valve - thanks Dave)
Power amp - Alesis RA300 (at the moment - subject to change)
Epifani UL112 - (Bought from kjb - thanks Kevin)

Sounds great to me and an easy lift - the cab is so light and the 3U shallow rack is very manageable :)

*mental note to self must post some pictures

Until now I've used a variety of combos - carlsbro, peavy, trace (with 2x10 extension). EA iAmp200 and sound wise this little set up is a good if not better than all of them. The EA was easily the most portable but not by much.

Mini rigs.. they're the future :huh:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Right guys,
Got to use my Mini Rig of Doom in anger last night and it was great!
I've not managed to have the volume much past a baw hair in my flat so it was a real treat.

I used it in our regular rehearsal space, Banana Row in Edinburgh, instead of the usual Ampeg Head and 4X10, and what a difference!

Sound wise, the Mark Bass head is so uncoloured and clear.
Volume and projection wise, the Aggie 1X12 was amazing, especially considering the size!
It was sat directly on the floor and really shook the room.

When I A-B'd it with the Ampeg setup the one thing that stood out was the clarity of my new mini rig.
The Ampeg sounded overly middy and muddy by comparison.
Overall Volume wise, I know the Aggi 1X12 would wimp out before the Ampeg cab, purely because of speaker area, but it certainly punched well above it's weight!
The Little Mark through the Ampeg 4X10 was a mean combination, but again, lost a bit of clarity due to the cab.

Got a gig tonight in Glasgow, so I'll be able to let y'all know how it performs in a live situation very very soon.

Cheers,
Eude

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Well I gigged with my new mini rig on Friday night and it was brilliant!
I know because of it's limited size it wouldn't cut it by itself, however I was only planning on using it as a stage monitor at bigger gigs anyway, which is how I used my old Trace Elliot combo, using the amp's DI to go to the PA.

One thing that I noticed myself and which was commented on by my band mates was how clear the bass was.
I had the cabinet about 2 foot off the ground and I was standing right beside it, I could hear it fine as could everyone else including the drummer who was actually sat behind it! Even better, I found out that all this was without the Bass coming through the monitor mix too!
Oh and I didn't even have the volume close to half way either.

So I'm bascially very very chuffed.
Looking forward to trying it out support from a PA.
I reckon adding another GS112 cab would make this mini rig a force to be reckoned with!

Oh and here's a little pic for y'all.

[attachment=3056:doom.jpg]

Thanks again for your interest guys, I'll keep you posted as I use it in different situations and when I get another cab!

Cheers,
Eude

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  • 2 months later...

[quote name='jwbassman' post='69481' date='Oct 4 2007, 11:57 AM']Talking of mini rigs - i've just put together my first...

Preamp - BBE Bmax T (modded and with 5751 valve - thanks Dave)
Power amp - Alesis RA300 (at the moment - subject to change)
Epifani UL112 - (Bought from kjb - thanks Kevin)

Sounds great to me and an easy lift - the cab is so light and the 3U shallow rack is very manageable :)

*mental note to self must post some pictures

Until now I've used a variety of combos - carlsbro, peavy, trace (with 2x10 extension). EA iAmp200 and sound wise this little set up is a good if not better than all of them. The EA was easily the most portable but not by much.

Mini rigs.. they're the future :huh:[/quote]

Interested in the BBE Bmax T and would love to hear your honest opinion of it. Do you use the BBE process? Good comp and eq? Quiet? Good aftersales? Should I buy one!!??

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