peteb

You would expect a 'function' gig to pay a lot more than a standard pub gig. You would also expect it to be more work and there to be different expectations.

No, between £200 and £300 around here (West Yorkshire) depending on the pub and the band. The majority of gigs pay a flat £250.

I'm not sure that Markbass quite have the sparkle / Hi-Fi quality of old SWR amps, but they are very transparent. To me, the counter intuitive thing is that as you turn up the VPF filter you are cutting mids and boosting highs and lows, but as you turn the VLE up you are boosting low-mids but cutting hi-mids and highs! As @Al Krow has said, the bass and especially the treble EQ controls are not necessarily centred at the most usable points, so its better to try and balance the filters to find the EQ you want. It does work and the sound will be in there somewhere, but it takes a bit of experimentation! FWIW, I found the two combos that I owned (both old Italian models that were, I believe, based on the LM2) a bit easier to EQ than the LM3 amp. I think that the LM2 had different frequency centres for the EQ controls than the later models.

As Loz has said, I find them a bit underwhelming in a room on their own, but work really well live. Maybe you should try playing about with different EQ settings with a band on the soundcheck at a gig (because everybody loves the bass player doing that)!

@oldprussians are you going to be gigging the MB amp??

Similar thing here...

Personally, the filters straight up (then backed off a little) is when the amp started to come alive. To be honest, I don't think the OP is going to get 'growl and percussive attack' out of a Markbass amp - in my experience that's not really what they do.

I found that having the knobs at noon (i.e. not flat), including the filters, was a good starting point when trying to sort out the EQ. To me, they sound rather lifeless completely flat.

This article has a bit more detail about his life https://www.loudersound.com/news/budgie-legend-burke-shelley-dead-at-71

He's already got the EQ set flat and its not working for him!

You're not going to get much 'growl' out of a MB amp, that's not what they do. They are very transparent (so you really hear the sound coming from the actual bass), very clean and have a nice thick sound with plenty of power. I reckon that they come to life a bit when you play with the VLE and VPF filters, but to be honest they are not very intuitive - you just keep mucking about with them until you come across a sound that you are happy with. My starting point was to have all the EQ knobs at 12 o'clock, including the VLE and VPF filters. I was completely underwhelmed when I first played through various Markbass amps in a shop. However, I heard someone using one live and I was very impressed. They really seem to work well in a mix. I've since had two combos (a 210 & a 310, both excellent) and I still have an old Italian LM3, which is a great workhorse amp that I have kept even though it isn't my go-to amp for gigs these days.

I think that I actually still have one of those black pearl (or whatever you call it) pickguards that I put on a black stingray years ago.

Personally, I prefer the top one

The best Fenders that I have ever played have been from the 70s (including a few 60s ones I have had a go on). Also, some of the worse have also been from the 70s, although the very worse have been 80s models. All of the 2013-16 US Standards that I have played have all been really good.

To be fair, they're always pretty good but not necessarily great!

Did you ever see them live?? They certainly made an impression - plenty of stories from that night...!

The first I came across this was supporting Wrathchild in the 80s. Their roadie walked in carrying two banks of 'Marshall stacks' (like the picture above) on his own. This was in a big club in the midlands, where the stage was halfway along the room. This meant that there was a large part of the audience at the side of the stage, which made it even more ridiculous!

TBF, carrying a 410 up a flight of stairs at the end of the night isn't much fun. I find that the 212 is much easier to carry than the 410, not just because it weighs half as much, but because it is narrower and therefore easier to carry up stairs and through narrow doorways. Mind you, I only have three steps into my house, so I'm still OK with the 410.

I don't know why you're being so defensive about it? If IEMs work for the gigs that you do, then that's great. But if you're using them because you can't lift a 20kg cab at the end of the night, then you have to think about hitting the gym a bit more often!

Funnily enough, I'm sixty now with a few minor niggles with my back and shoulder, but I can still manage to pick up a 410 after a gig without too much trouble. Admittedly, the 212 is a little bit easier after a long drive but the bigger cab is still doable. It's the morning after when I feel knackered...!

The R400s are great amps aren't they - easy one hand lift, 15" casing with a flightcase style front and they sound great (once you get to grips with the EQ section). I am amazed that Lezik hasn't been approached with a deal to increase production, because it does seem to fill a gap in the market (although I'm kinda glad that he hasn't as that would inevitably lead to mass production, then production being moved to the far-east)! I can see why people are looking for lighter and more portable gear, but the obsession with how just how light amps / cabs are these days is quite astonishing. It seems that as soon as a weekend warrior bass player hits 40, then they suddenly they become complete weaklings, infatuated with featherweight gear and then kid themselves that it sounds a lot better than it actually does. The D800 was so light that I had to put it on a rubber mat, otherwise it would literally bounce off the cab mid-gig!

The thing is that these days, to some people, that is considered to be a big heavyweight rig...!

Can't you see how nonsensical that statement is?

I think that the point that I'm trying to make is that you may need certain types of gear if you want to play certain certain types of gigs. In regards to the OP by @Oneshot, there are compromises with whatever gear you end up using! This could be in respect to weight, power, performance or whatever. FWIW, I have never found a Class D amp that I am happy with (gawd knows I've tried enough of them). I once spent a lot of money on a Mesa D800,which I thought sounded great. However, it just didn't work that well in certain live situations so it went back to Bass Direct to be sold on commission. To quote Mark when I took it back, "it's not just the sound of an amp, it's how it delivers that sound". I bought a Handbox hybrid amp instead, which is certainly heavier than the D800 but to me is an acceptable compromise of weight, portability and performance. I now have two rigs (a Mesa hybrid amp in a rackcase and a Berg 410 w/ceramic speakers / the Handbox and a Berg 212 w/neo speakers). I'm using the lighter weight rig for most gigs these days. If I had to say what is the better rig, I would go for the bigger amp & 410 (that I will still use for certain gigs), but the HB & lighter cab is a reasonable compromise and is a bit easier to take out of the car at two o'clock in the morning!

Yes and after I left that particular band I had to get rid of that rig (great as it was) because I could hardly lift it on my own and couldn't fit it into the hatchback that I had at the time. The point is that some gigs expect you to have certain types of gear...