MarkBass Multi Amp (stereo), Midi Pedal, Gig bag. Markbass Standard 102HF Cab £850 £1 Sudbury, Suffolk

[Philip Bass]

MarkBass stereo multi amp, (500W)  midi pedal, case. 

MarkBass 102HF 4 ohm (400W) cabinet, MarkBass cover

 

Both amp and cab are in very good condition, never gigged and the midi pedal is new. 

 

Can deliver via courier at Byers expense. 

 

 

I took this review from another basschat member as it sums up what the amp and its effects are all about. 

 

Using the MultiAmp

The display is selectable between the lists of various presets available and, once a preset is chosen, a set of eight “slots” is shown, each of which can be turned on or off independently. The only slot that is fixed is Slot 8, which can only be used for the Cab Simulation. Every other slot can have [i]anything[/i] put in it, including multiples of the same effects. The only rule is you can only have one Amp (a bit obvious really!), but this can be [i]anywhere[/i] in the signal path making it incredibly versatile.

So, the process of building a customized patch starts with selecting the amp model and which slot you want it in. Using the scroll keys, find an appropriate slot and pressing the “Slot Select” button, after which you are presented with a choice of functions, the first of which is the amplifier. Using the amp model buttons you choose the amp type you want and each of these has a selection of amps (probably!) as follows:-

Solid State:
Big Bang (Markbass)
Little Mark III (Markbass)
T-Green90 (Trace Elliot)
RB7Hundred (Gallien Krueger)

Tube:
TTE 500 (Markbass)
Blue ’70 (Ampeg SVT Blue Line)
Red ’96 (SWR Redhead)
TWval115 (Ampeg B15)

Vintage:
Bassface ‘59 (US) (Fender Bassman)
UK120 (Orange OR-120)
JMayor (Marshall Major)
Sunny US (Sunn)

I say “probably” because there is nothing in writing anywhere on the Markbass website or in the documentation to support this but it’s probably a reasonable guess! You confirm your selection using the scroll keys and the “Enter” button, and then you use the standard level/tone controls to set it up as you wish.

You then do the same for any effects or functions you may wish to add to any of the other slots. The parameters for each slot can then be configured by selecting the slot and pressing the enter button. Some of the amps also have further options which are shown in the same way including, for example, the VLE/VPF filters for the LMIII/Big Bang and the “Colour” for the TTE500.

The effects currently available are:-

B-Tubemarker
B-Drive 21
T-Chorus
MB Chorus/Flanger
Ninethy Phase
Reverb
Delay
Volume Pedal
Noise Suppressor
Send/Return
Parametric EQ
MW Octaver
Super Synth
Compressore
Envelope Filter
Pitch Shift

This includes all the MB effects, a bunch of others, a volume pedal and the ability to patch and switch the effects loop.

The MultiAmp allows you to store up to five banks of 128 presets, 640 in total, which can also be saved onto an SD card to back up or have additional libraries.

There is now a Mac/Win programming interface available which I have been playing with today:-

[attachment=188582:Underbridg.png] [attachment=188583:Chorus Oct.png]

Like most it is fairly self-explanatory, with the eight slots taking most of the screen – not big on fancy graphics but all the controllability there, available and simple to use. It has a neat feature that you can drag and drop the slots if you wish to modify the signal chain order, though you will need to find yourself a Male A to Male A USB cable to connect to the MultiAmp, rather than the usual “printer cable” style, but I easily found a choice of lengths in Maplins.

In a live situation the MultiAmp can be controlled from the front panel or using MIDI (I don’t know any detail and don’t quote me, but I have also heard a rumour that there may be a dedicated MB pedal in development. The DVMark guitar version is already available on their website). The MIDI implementation is an area I have not yet done too much with, but the demo MultiAmp at the LGBS was configured with a Keith McMillan SoftStep, which facilitated patch switching, toggling effect slots, volume pedal, tap tempo and a mute/tuner. I already own a SoftStep which I use on my Behringer X32 desk, so am going to start by uploading the configuration MSL have given me and take it from there.

The build quality of the unit is exactly what you would expect from Markbass. This kit is built, like all other MB kit, for producing high quality professional sound and trust me, it is in a completely different league to any modelling multi-effects pedal I have ever used (and as said before I’ve been through a few!). The software is very quick with no latency at all that I can detect. It all feels very warm and natural and the amp models are incredibly high quality; it is all very quiet when your instrument volume is off. There is a high degree of controllability to all amps/effects, from almost un-noticeably subtle to utter madness.

The platform is very actively being developed; it is one of around six different models of MultiAmp if you include the guitar versions in the DVMark range and the list of features had already grown when the v2 firmware became available, including some additional effects and significant improvements to the MIDI functionality.

At the London Bass Guitar Show the MultiAmp generated a lot of interest. There was a mix of people who looked at it and either got it immediately, or said “nah, too complicated for me”. I do completely get both views, but….

While I would agree it [i]will[/i] take a couple of hours of sitting down and pre-configuring, I am not finding this at all difficult or complicated. There are those who will want to set up hundreds of patches and optional configurations but I won’t be doing that myself. I am already most of the way to programming a selection of basic patches for each of the amp models I know I will use, with a selection of useable effects in each.

So is it good value? If you are happy with one sound and no effects then possibly not. If you want the versatility of a choice of amps and a quiver of high quality effects, in a simple to use “all in one” rack mountable box, then I personally think it makes complete sense.

Though predominantly with studio based technology, guitarists have had a broader choice of similar multi-functional products for a good while now (the DVMark Guitar MultiAmp is proving very successful in that market too), but this is a different concept for many bass players. Having led the lightweight gear revolution, for which my back will be ever grateful, I see this as the next and very logical development.

 

 

[petecarlton]

Intriguing!