Davebassics

How new is the little mark vintage line? Has anyone had a chance to try them? Looks to be two variants, the Little Mark Vintage: http://www.markbass.it/product-detail/little-mark-vintage/ and the Little Mark Vintage D2 http://www.markbass.it/product-detail/little-mark-vintage-d2/ The D2 appears to have a more flexible EQ where as the normal Vintage has a limiter which is interesting ... both of those things are major plus's for me, shame they are not in the same unit. I am a long time Mark bass user, I had a Little Mark II for years before swapping it for a Little Mark III because of the more flexible Line output. Despite my contentment, I recently got a hold of a Sansamp pedal (The SVT one) and rather that using the LMIII's Vintage speaker emulator, I am using the Sansamp pedal to round my tone and give me a subtle bit of emulated tube drive. I play quite a diverse range of music. It is mainly soul, motown, blues at the moment but I also have some side hustles in the rock and pop world. Mark Bass heads have always worked for me because I find them to be so flat and clean when all of the knobs are dialed centre but there is a good deal of versatility in the tone controls. I'd love to get rid of the Sansamp pedal and have the tone shaping in the amp head but the Sansamp has so much more character than what the LMIII can give me. .... its all very fine margins, I admit, I probably couldn't tell a difference in the mix at a gig. I am not sure why I am so loyal to Mark Bass, there are so many alternatives on the market these days. Would be really interested to hear some first hand reports. Youtube is great but its difficult to really understand how much of what you are hearing is the amp. For info, my cabs are 2 x Bergantino AE112

Will give you 150 quid for it

I have been considering piano lessons to help me learn to read and generally improve my theory. This is with the aim of breaking through the walls that are stopping me from becoming a jazz bassist. Learning piano in my mind gives me a clean slate to learn from the beginning and hopefully be able to transfer those skills back to the bass. I too taught myself at a young age by tabs. It's really limited me as my mind does not approach the bass in a way which I can improvise or play melodically. I see the bass as a paint by numbers instrument. I've came a long way and I am slowly picking up theory and reading (I'm only a hobbyist). If I could start again, I would definitley have opted for lessons and reading .... providing i could inforce it on my 13 year old self!

I have a Reggie Hamilton P/J which came a DiMarzio Model P pickup and a Fender Noiseless J. Didn't really dig either and I was getting some scooped upper mids when blending them together. I swapped the Noiseless for a Model J so have a matching set which solved that problem. Only thing is, I'm just not happy with the Model P/J pups. I'll try and keep the adjectives simple: They sound dull, muffled and fat. With a plectrum they sound sharp and they cut really nicely (The plectrum reintroduces some attack in the top end). I used to have a Jazz with Area Js in and I loved them. Bright, open, crisp. Could really dig in with my fingerstyle playing. So I am going to get an Area J Bridge pickup. That's a no brainer for me. What I am having problems with is a P to go with it. DiMarzio fo a Area P (DP250) and a Area P/J set (DP251) but nowhere on this side of the pond seems to stock them. I could look at importing but I'd like to look down different avenues first. Ideally, I'd like to stick with a matched pair of pickups to try and avoid any phasing issues. A few points of discussion: Has anyone been in this situation before, what did you do? Given the tonal characteristics of the Area Js, can any one recommend an equivalent PJ set from a different manufacturer? Ideally in the same price range As a side note, I'm also going to have the P pickup route moved 2cm towards the bridge. This is the P bass sweet spot on a Jazz body. Got a pickguard from warmoth so just need some routing done on the body.

Just a word of warning to any southerners that will be relying on northern rail to get into Leeds, allow yourself an extra 2 days to get there. Given that my local nonchain and chain music shops have shut one by one over the last few years, this is fantastic news for us west Yorkshire folk. All we need now is to be payed London wages so we can afford bass luxuries!

The bass had its first run out at rehearsal last night. I couldn't be more pleased. Any concerns I had about the Model P being too dark have been calmed. It cut through really nicely. I had to engage the 'Bite' option on my sansamp VT DI to give the bass a little more presence. I had tried this at home under more critical listening conditions and was a bit concerned that it sounded a little bit .... manufactured? It brighten the sound up but it didn't sound natural. It sounded like some quite harsh EQ. However, within the mix I couldn't tell and it sat very nicely. The pickups are still unbalanced to each other, the Model P is way louder than the noiseless jazz, and there is some wierd filtering that goes on when you blend the two together. I'm looking at getting a Model J into the bridge. I also am not a fan of the preamp. I am a passive kind of guy .... one less thing to go wrong and I feel you get more of the sound of the bass in your tone which makes any articulations in your playing come through a little more. Maybe thats some sort of placebo thing though. The problem is lack of tone control when in passive mode. I may look at getting something passive installed. I hear people raving about KiGon wiring kits. Does anyone know where these live on the internet?

Spent £200 on a second hand squier CV about 7 years ago. Ive only added a fretless and a PJ since. On several occasions ive walked into shops with upgrading on my mind and cash in my pocket. Ive gassed for hours. But when it came down to it, there wasn't a single £1k+ p bass that seemed worth the upgrade. I also was worried about such an investment getting damaged or stolen. I've long since stopped gassing for expensive basses. It feels great.

Deffo considering artist series seem to begin at £1k these days.

Thank you for not bidding! He did but it wasn't available when my father in law collected. The seller is going to post it. Would be really good to try it if is is a 62, been on my to try list. Having had another day of played (all be it through my ipad) the dimarzio ultra P has definitely got less top end and presence than my squier P. I can't remember what I have in there, I'd have to open it up. It's maybe going to be a bit dull for my tastes but will give it a go and the next few rehearsals and gigs

Picked this up on eBay last week. Been in the hunt for a P/J or a P/MM. Having played jazz basses for the first 10+ years before moving to P, I knew I'd be comfortable with the jazz shape and neck. It's been kept in great condition with only a few tiny dents. Was a little over budget but I did get a nice tweed hard case and spare scratch plate and pickup so can't complain! Action was quite high so I lowered it a bit and loosened off the truss rod a little based up on some YouTube advice. Plays better now but it's going to be a definite investment to get a guitar tech or Luther to give it a proper once over. Can anyone recommend anyone in west Yorkshire? The model P pickup is nice but it's difficult to blend with the fender noiseless bridge pickup. I may have to have a look at what pick up I have in my squier CV P bass because I love that. In case the chap who sold it to me via basschat in 2012 is reading, can you remember?! Don't rate the preamp that much but I'm a passive guy anyways. I'll leave it in and just run passive. The battery ran out within the first hour of playing so the active/passive switch is now a more convienient kill switch. Some electronic experimentation required! Neck is really nice. The shape will take a little getting used to, it's a little deeper than my pbass but comfort will come in time. Has a lovely satin finish. Anyways ... boring stuff over, here are some photos!