MoJoKe

The brand new 102-500 is a bit of a steal at the moment too if you can find one in the shops at the original launch price. Its cheaper than a 102p combo if you can find one, and considerably smaller stage footprint...

The NY151 Black and the yellow coned NY151 cab will both be the same footprint as your Combo and will both sound great. The latter will be a bigger investment, but if you're thinking of upgrading to either the MiniCMD151p or Jeff Berlin 151 combos sometime, you'd be more future proofed. I owned a 151p combo/NY151, loved it and used it as my main rig for about 4 years, until I bought my Multiamp and TRV cabs... The preamps are identical, the only difference between the JB school and the MiniCMD 151p is the output power (JB Player is150w at 8ohm/250w at 4ohm, where the yellow ones are 300w/500w) and the blackline drivers are slightly heavier than the yellow Neodymium ones, but not too much more the (black NY151 is about 3.7kg more)

If you look at the Markbass Facebook thread, Marco has been very vocal about the Italy/Indonesia (non)issue in the last few days... I've used both for years (since 2009), and couldn't tell you the difference in sound or quality. Completely moot, old and irrelevant point now. Their unquestionably high quality and low failure rate speaks for itself. There is always going to be someone with an unlucky story to add to this (and I've had issues myself), but UK support/service is strong (as long as you didn't buy from Germany/Holland; wrong power rating for the UK), and compared to many manufacturers, far, far less issues of pro use with Markbass in my 40 years of bass amps... Oh, and my back stopped complaining a while back too!!

Ditto, would love to give the J-tone a try though! Anyone out there got one?

I think this is why he developed the J-Tone... It is less "preamp-y" and more like the bass it is fitted to. I don't know this for sure as I have never used one, but found this video and would definitely love to try one myself!

With the J-retro I have never experienced issues with either of the above with any of the basses I've owned. The J-retro currently in my fretless has previously been in two other basses (a Squier VM5 and a Lakland JO5). With no noise or fit issues. The only slight pain is you need to remove the bell plate again to refit a new battery, and it can be fiddly to re-seat with the pickup and battery connector wiring, but once you get the nack, its straightforward, and more importantly doesn't need to be done that often (3-6 months as long as you don't leave the jack plugged in between shows or at home/studio)! If you are not sure it will work for you, and want this to be reversible, simply make sure you take a pic of the wiring before you make any modification so you can re-solder the connections correctly, but otherwise it'll be completely reversible with no damage at all.

+1 for John East! Supplied on a bell plate which drops into the bass with little or no effort! Which one; for me the J-Retro all the way! I have one fitted on my 5 string jazz fretless (the swept mid EQ gives some great, growly Wal-esque tones) and another in my Lakland DJ5. Some might say they are too hot, in which case East have the J-Tone, which is a more subtle and oriented to a a more punchy passive sound. Hope that helps!

Yes, it'll be a 500w version of the 1000w head... Its the same head as in the new 102-500 combo

I will NEVER sell my JV!!! its like a part of me!

It didn't come with a thumb rest either....

I have a big Fender Logo PB57 which I have had from new in 1982. The original pick guard was single ply white, and the bass was not supplied with pickup or bridge covers. I would suggest these, and the gold pick guard were added later (mine now has a gold guard, but I still have the original tags and parts!) A couple of months later I bought another, this time a Squier logo'd one, a salmon pink PB62, which had a rosewood fingerboard and brown tort guard. it wasn't as playable as the PB57, so I sold it a couple of years later...

His control and dynamics are amazing and the tone he gets with that Warwick, in spite of the colour(!), is lovely. A great talent (and his ability to talk conversationally while riffing in 7/8 is just bonkers!)

Probably discussing the new amp launch at Namm! Gonna get a few other new things too! Marco posted in the comments: “This is the New Stu Head, we will introduce it during next Namm...1000w, pre Tube and solid ..you can mix with two big Knobs.. 7 bands Graphic EQ...” The cab is 2 x 15 with a horn. I am loving it, maybe time for me to go retro again!

yes... definitely your fault! haha! the URL is: https://www.facebook.com/markbassamps/videos/10155759284988632/

Lovely dynamic playing, oh, and a new signature amp on the way next summer. Skip 2 minutes if you don't speak italian!

yeah, tell me about it...!

At the amp. The EVO 1's amp selector pot is an old school 6 position multi-select rotary switch, so no, the footswitch does not control amp models, it simply switches between channels, or if you press the active channel button it turns on both so that you can mix the tones of two different amp models (it also has separate DI's for each channel, or can be set to send a pre-mixed signal). The "point" of the EVO 1 is to provide a less complex, more "analogue" style solution (with good old knobs!) to amp modelling while still offering some great great amp models. If you want the ability to access more amp models (and a whole lot more besides!) with your feet, then the Multiamp is probably a better call. OK, so its fair to say the EVO 1 does need a bit of getting used to at first (particularly the gain structure), but no more than any new bit of kit. Maybe it needed a bit more time? I have gigged the EVO 1, and it certainly doesn't lack heft into my TRV121H and 151P cabs. Its a monster! Gain structure - Each channel has both input gain and output level, the mix knob sets the blend between channels, and there is a master output level. In addition, the tone settings can have a huge effect on boosting level on some of the amp models, and the channel effect can further influence boost levels too, so there is lots going on there (and thats before you toggle the actual boost setting)! It really does need the footswitch to access the full features of the amp. The advantage of the ability to blend the channels is that it gives the ability to effectively set four different stages of output gain (in fact 5 if you use a compressor). With the amp appropriately setup it allows you to increase/decrease gain levels toggle as follows:- 1. Channel 1 2. Channel 2 3. Channel 1 & 2 4. Boost (can be set to add up to 10db) Not an opinion, but something I've heard... Stingrays are known to have a very hot output, and I've read elsewhere they have been known to cause issues with some amps (not just Markbass) and effects pedals, though I've never owned a MM bass so cannot test with an EVO 1. I'm told this can be simply resolved by rolling off the output of the bass a bit.

I'm in! Hopefully will have some new toys by then!

[quote name='mep' timestamp='1509921440' post='3402680'] I'll pass on it this year. The guest artist have been announced and it all guitarist I believe this year unless I've missed someone. [/quote] The amazing Stuart Clayton is doing a spot I believe!