Wolverinebass

Normally, I go on the Sunday, but this year Mrs Wolverine has plans, so I'll be there on the Saturday. Be good to say hi to folk.

It's funny you say that @discreet about the combo. I played a 1x15 Markbass combo at an audition a couple of weeks ago and it was total crap. There was no tweeter, so I had to make some quick decisions. I was playing my Wal and ended up with all the pots and pick attack pulled on the bass. On the amp I had to cut the bass, turn the filters off (does anyone use them?) and maxed out the treble and high mids. The sound was barely passable. I just couldn't get any snap or click out of it and it really put me off leading to me making a bit of a mess of it. Or, at the very least, I could have played a lot better. I hasten to add that I started this thread to see if somehow I'd missed the prevailing wind of opinion that Markbass were now regarded as a bit "meh," or if I was just imagining that was the case. It definitely wasn't to have a go at them. Let's face it, if my cabs were total rubbish I'd have flogged them long ago, but maybe I'm just waking up properly to the fact that they're possibly not going to give me what I want as easily as other brands.

To be fair @Lozz196 I've come round to agreeing with you on this. The Vanderkley was as harsh as the DI when I put the tone of the Precision back up. I had to roll it off a quarter to get where the Markbass was with the tweeters on full. When I was in my last band, the Sansamp out from my 12 string sounded like a buzzsaw. There was like no low end and the top end was just insane. In the end I used it only at very low levels for bite. Bonkers isn't it? If I change cabs it's got to be an upgrade. On the other hand, I'll have to get back into a band first to justify it. That's another thread full of tonto hilarity and woe in itself when I get round to writing about it to amuse folk. Hopefully soon.

As I said, the Spector is the better instrument. That's why it costs twice as much. I think that if I didn't have mine I'd be getting that or the the Schecter. It's what you're happy with really. You are completely right though, the Dean has less top than the Spector. The Spector has a better body material as the Dean is basswood, so I'd imagine it'd ding easier. However, it's your choice. As long as you're happy with it. Enjoy dude.

You should be the one who's bragging after getting virtually the same bass for half as much cash.

Just to clarify, I've got a USA Hamer not an Indonesian or Korean model.

It kind of seemed to me that there was quite a lot of people flogging the cabs. Probably that wasn't the case as I was looking at them so there was probably less than I thought. However, last night I had @Al Krow round at mine and we compared my cabs with his Vanderkley 2x10. Well, that was sickening. I've long thought that the line out signal from my sansamp is harsh in comparison to the cab sound with the tweeters maxed. After trying that 2x10 with the tweeter on max it was obvious. The sound got really harsh. So, either Vanderkley cabs are really bright or Markbass cabs are slightly dull. Or both. Either way, you'd assume it's be better as it cost twice as much.

If it's the Rhapsody you've got, I'd flog it and keep the spector. If it's the Edge you've got, I'd keep them both for a bit and choose in a few months as there's less in it. Out of the box the spector is better, but I think the Dean Edge plays slightly better as I preferred the neck profile slightly. It doesn't sound better though. Enjoy!

I've been wondering for some months about this. I've seen various comments along with the recent thread on dullness of the cabs. We'll leave the amps aside for the moment. Back in 2007 they were surfing on the move to lightweight gear. Nowadays virtually everyone is doing that. Leaving aside colour scheme here I'm talking about sound properties. I appreciate that they've probably been surpassed, by brands like Bergantino, Barefaced, Vanderkley and all them. The glut of Markbass cabs in the classifieds suggests that maybe they're not keepers? I imagine that the sourcing of work to Indonesia led to some more than negative publicity as did the move from B&C speakers to in house which allegedly may or may not be as good or well engineered. Just wondering what the views were. For the record, I have the Traveller 2x10 and 1x15 and I'm not stating an opinion of the newer stuff as I've got a previous generation of "made in Italy/B&C speakers" and I haven't played the newer ones. Are they now budget cabs in comparison? Just curious.

I saw the one on @Tech21NYC facebook feed this morning. I thought the distorted portion sounded like John Entwistle circa Live at Leeds. Just brilliant. I can't wait to get my hands on this and play through it. I feel that it's stuff like this that makes Tech21 brilliant. I was a bit reticent when I saw it was going to be a fixed crossover, however I'm pretty sure that's not going to matter from the videos. Genius bit of kit.

I'm sure there are going to be more in the next couple of weeks for us all to be suitably salivating.

Paul will make anything you ask. I presume there would be some form of charge. Normal nut width on a 4 string is 42mm and the neck profile is a soft V shape.

Count me in.

Kev, what I was saying was to have patches not digital distortion. Can you imagine how flexible that would be? My Sansamp PSA1.1 is all analogue signal chain with the only part of it being digital is the bit that reads the position of the knobs and stores the midi data. Best of both worlds and that's what I was trying to get across. Don't get me wrong, I've played most of the darkglass catalogue. It's great stuff, but because of its inability to recall anything it's limited as to its effectiveness. However, just salivate for a minute over the thought of a B7k ultra or alpha omega with patches. Wouldn't that kill? Wouldn't that be worth £500? As it is, I just feel it's 10% overpriced. Only my view though. It doesn't matter, as you say people will buy it at any price. Darkglass have done well creating a premium product, but I just think its too expensive. Comparisons made may or may not be fair, but it doesn't make the fundamental point being made any less valid that maybe, the stuff is a bit pricey.

Starting to look expensive? Just "starting" to? 😋 I wait with baited breath for what slightly tweaked pedal darkglass break the £400 barrier with. The problem I have with stuff like this is they're mainly a one setting pedal or on and off if you prefer. For the price they're getting into now, if it doesn't have midi presets I consider it to be robbery. Consider. The strymon timeline. Arguably the best delay pedal on the market. Full midi implementation and costs less than the Darkglass stuff. Just saying. They are getting very expensive for what they are. I agree about the Helix actually. When my trusty Digitech 2120 dies, it's what I'll be getting.

Very true.

Possibly. But there is only so much that people will take. Darkglass have pushed the boat out with their pedals about as far as it will go. When you get to more than £350 for a pedal, it'd better have midi controlled presets. Otherwise it's just a stompbox. That's all. Say "stompbox" and "£400" in the same sentence and there is the answer. According to currency converter this morning, $289 is £203. So, appreciated that there's shipping and whatnot, are we all now going to take bets on what we think the markup for the Dug pedal will be? Previously, Tech21 said they had no control over prices, so if that's true, it's down to Rocky Road. If like the amp which is $1879 (£1318) in the States and £2550 here, then the price of the pedal here will be £405 if you apply the same markup. Surely they're not mental enough to try that? Surely?!!

Yeah, the Dug amp is beyond stupidly expensive. What I'm hoping is as its $289, it might only be £300 here. However, we shall see.

I'm sold on this. So, @Tech21NYC when can we read the manual? Is it standard 9V supply? When might this be in the UK? We're all rather interested. Hopefully we won't get price gouged by Rocky Road....

Nice. Hope it works for you. As a few people have asked, here is my 8 string. 😊

It's assumed that you have a car because you live in a place which sounds like you'd need one. That's less true for London, but it depends what kind of gig it is doesn't it? Quite correctly it's logistics as you say. I need a car!! 😉

I'm not entirely sure if I made that comment facetiously or not. Both iterations seem accurate. Still, driving gives me the fear after my experience. On a logical level, I'm sure I'd be fine, but I still have nagging doubts. A substantial amount of therapy awaits methinks.....

I know what you meant and I made my point probably a bit too harshly. What I should have said was "you can still be reliable with public transport." 😊 That situation was very disappointing. Let's face it, we've all been rejected from bands due to ability (not enough or too much), style, image or whatever, but when you nail the audition and then get thrown out for "non-musical" reasons like not having a car when no mention of how much of an essential criteria that this allegedly was it really grates.

So, when I turned up 15 minutes early after learning 9 songs in 2 evenings that counts as turning up and playing with more than a minimum of fuss? Just clarifying that. It's unreasonable. I have never demanded a lift off anyone. Nor would I. I always pay my way if it has to be done and if it's not possible I look as to how I can fix the situation myself. If someone's going to be driving past my house with literally a 5 minute detour and I'm paying for them to do it, doesn't that make sense? If it was a massive detour I wouldn't ask. Fair is fair. I don't begrudge or envy anyone with a car. I certainly wouldn't take advantage of anyone who has one either. I just won't drive again after having a massive accident. Maybe I should have therapy if my musical career is over due to it.

See, I'm not buying this at all. By extension, this argument suggests that having a car trumps musical aptitude, production skills, enthusiasm, availability and whatever other skills (marketing or whatever) you might have or be able to bring to the table. Surely this can't really be the case across the board? If someone lived in the wrong direction I'd never make issue of it and just sort it out myself or make a judgement call about if it was feasible to join in longevity. No problem. They were being unreasonable. I accept that cover bands carry pa's and whatnot, but originals are a totally different kettle of fish for the most part.