Chris2112

I've heard mostly good things about these Sire basses and Marcus seems really passionate about them. I do wonder what is going on behind the scenes with Fender's endorsee relations. I can understand that they might not have fancied keeping Stuart Hamm's Urge bass in the lineup, but the MM signature jazz bass seemed like a big seller and it was, after all, just a modified jazz.

Morning all, I thought now would be a suitable time to get onto posting something about my new rig. I've had it for a couple of weeks now which I thought would really let me get to grips with it and maybe say more about it than some honeymoon period gushing. Whilst both the bass and the amp are amazing, they're even better taken together. There is a reasonn for that; it's essentially Jeff Berlin's rig (albeit he uses two combos together). I'll explain: I started to get back into bass seriously at the end of last year. I've been playing since I was 13 and but after about twelve years, I started feeling burned out and I grabbed a guitar for a couple of years. I played on occasion with a couple of friends in 2015 using a borrowed bass rig, but other than buying an SR3006 from Bass Direct, I didn't really play bass that much. Getting back into bass, I started listening to loads of Jeff Berlin again. I've always loved his music and his playing but I started to really click with his passion for teaching. I wanted to pick up the bass again and improve my playing. The sound that I heard Jeff getting from his Markbass and Cort Rithimic was the tone that I had dreamed of for years. I decided to jump in with Jeff's rig. It's relatively affordable stuff, the Markbass CMD151P Jeff Berlin is about £850 new and the Rithimic runs at about £780 new. I ordered the amp through Guitar Guitar and I was lucky enough to grab the Cort from the classified ads here. The amp is a bit of a departure for me. Before I left the bass behind I had always loved the sound of bright, middy and modern 10" speakers with tweeters, so the Markbass with a 15 and no tweeter. That was Jeff's preference so I decided to cast off my previous notions of 15's as soggy, saggy, muddy sounding speakers. What a revelation this Markbass is. Tight, focused sound with outrageous bottom end punch and a really musical midrange and top end. With no glassy, piercing tweeter the whole thing sounds very articulate abd balanced. It'll fill a room without sounding mushy or flabby and there is plenty of wattage on tap for louder venues should you want that. I gather that Markbass are moving away from the Vintage Loudspeaker Emulator and the Variable Preshape Filter. That's a shame if true - the VPF is a pretty cool feature in the style of a 'slap switch' with added control. It cuts the mids and boosts the bass and treble. I don't have much use for it but it's a handy thing to have there. The Vintage Loudspeaker Emulator is much better, as it gently rolls off the highs at the touch of one control. I use just a touch, about 30% or slightly less, which really softens the top and gives that 'horn like' tone Jeff uses. The real blowaway item in all this is the Rithimic bass. I know that Jeff's insistence was that it have a name of it's own so as to appeal to a wider audience and this bass absolutely stands on it's own as a terrific instrument that deserves the plaudits I will heap upon it. It doesn't actually have Jeff's name on it anywhere but it fits his recipe for a good bass to a tee. I will say that it's the best bass I've ever owned or played, and I've had a lot! The specification is similar to Jeff's past signature basses (the Peavey Palaedium and the Dean JB) and ultimately, the modded P Bass he played in the 80's Alder body, a thin neck with Hipshot tuners, a high mass bridge and custom wound Bartolini humbuckers. The bass is passive. I believe it was this bass that saw the return of the true Jeff Berlin Bartolini humbuckers, derived from the original schematics that Bill Bartolini had in a workshop drawer. I rarely use the neck pickup - it's fair to say I've never known a bridge pickup to have the stomp or authority that this one does. It's got loads of middy burp but without being thin. This bass is the exact opposite of that; I have never known a bridge pickup running solo to have quite the grunt that this one does. It can carry off a heavy rock song with ease and just sounds so right, I know it'll be a dream to mix. It's got a similar tone profile to a jazz bass, scooped with both pickups running and a natural midrange that accents each note. Proof that you I don't need bells and whistles when I plug in. It's a joy to play too. The neck is very straight with a touch of relief and the action is the lowest, cleanest setup I have ever encountered. It responds well to a light touch and feels effortless on the left hand, so I've been practicing more legato stuff with the left hand and trying to improve my phrasing. The neck is thin, and very fast with a satin finish. The balance is superb, given the Hipshots. The instrument is very light. I haven't yet fiddled with the bridge and I doubt I will provided it always plays this well but Babicz picks up where Leo Quann left off and this bridge trumps even the Badass II. It's high mass and adds amazing sustain, and it looks to have been machined by the most discerning of craftsmen. Suffice to say, Cort have always impressed me with their instruments but with the cachet of a player like Jeff, they've taken licence to pull out all the stops and produce a brilliant instrument. If this wore a Fender badge, you wouldn't see change from £2000, I'm sure. So there we have it. I have returned to playing bass and bought a new rig off the back of some YouTube videos of one of my favourite players. It was a leap of faith but I was never in doubt that I'd love the final result. I'd like to extend my thanks to Basschatter Neil Murray for sending me this fine instrument. My next projects are probably collecting the earlier Jeff Berlin signature models...

I have always considered Bach and Scarlatti to be the true masters against their outrageously talented contemporaries.

I really like Bass Direct's site. They easily have the best stock in the country and seem like a much more contemporary store than something like the Gallery (which suffers from wild London pricing). I haven't been to Bass Direct, but I did buy my used Ibanez SR3006ESOL from them. Now, that was an instrument I'd wanted since 2001 or 2002 when I saw it in the back of the Ibanez catalogue. They're vanishingly rare in the UK, so when I saw it I knew I had to grab it. It was fairly priced, but I would have payed more for it to come with some fresh strings. Bass Direct is supposed to be premium, best of the best type stuff. The strings on this bass were f***ing crap. If they'd told me about that on the phone I'd have asked for a new set, and paid if they refused! If you look at somewhere like Cubo Moto, for instance, whether you trade your motorbike in or hand it over for SOR, they have it professionally detailed so that it's as good looking as the rest of their stock. It sets the tone and the brand image and gives the new buyer the thrill of seeing their new toy looking mint. Bass Direct shouldn't have let this bass go with awful strings on. Minor gripe aside, I would buy from them again.

I don't blame these guys. They have to do something to get their videos up the rankings and clickbait titles are one way of doing it. Janek put a video up the other day with a name about Jeff Berlin and using a metronome. It was about 30 minutes long and he spoke very briefly about Jeff and metronomes and said nothing more than "I disagree with him and I like them". But such a title guarantees hits as it now shows up in searches for Jeff and it's a bit controversial (even if the actual video content isn't). It's just a Q and A video but 'Q and A #228' isn't a compelling title.

I should expand further on my initial post now that I have time. Ken Smith, Yamaha TRB's and MTD's are ubiquitous in gospel music. Not because they are unique, not because they sound unique. For one thing, Smith are the 'name' in gospel music. This is probably because they have a fairly distinctive sound and in the 80's, when the modern gospel scene really got going, there wasn't anywhere near the choice in boutique kit like there is now. A core of gospel players found Smith basses to be high quality and sound good and they became the aspiration of every gospel player around, in much the same way as Fodera experienced a surge in popularity as the modern fusion player's bass in the mid 00's. It helps that Smith have a strong midrange and a softer top end that means they sit well in a mix. The TRB and Ibanez SR followed along these lines, being high quality ERB's at a time when that sort of thing was uncommon. MTD are a bit different, brighter and very modern. They have benefited immensely from having the endorsement of Andrew Gouche. They're the Smith of the new Millenium. As for what makes an ideal gospel bass, I couldn't name a famous gospel player that uses a 'piano' tone as you would expect from an Alembic, a Status or a Modulus. To me, the piano sound is characterised by a fast attack, very even frequency response with a slow, enduring decay where all frequencies represented in the initial attack fade in unison. Gospel tends to be a more organic modern sound; lots of midrange to overcome the booming organs and synths but a softer top end to sit sweetly in what is supposed to be pretty easy listening music. A boutique bass of your choice with humbuckers and nice top will look and sound suitably premium but if you're seeking brand cachet you have identified the big players already.

All of those basses will deliver in spades. I'm sure you know this as you've listed what are arguably the three top brands in Gospel music. My heart would want a Ken Smith but all three will do a tremendous job. I presume when you say Yamaha you are thinking of a Japanese neck thru TRB. Excellent instruments.

Don't forget the Cort Rithimic 5 string either. Fabulously appointed at such a reasonable price; with a Babicz bridge, customwound Bartolini humbuckers on a passive circuit, Hipshot Ultralight tuners and an alder body with a walnut top. In fact, someone is selling one in the for sale forum at the moment.

I had a 1987 or 88 Series II 4 string a few years ago. It was a delight. Knockout tone and effortless action. A truly marvellous instrument. This one looks like a real winner too.

Whoops, double post.

Once the mix is filled out, you lose the clank and buzz of 'poor' technique in amongst everything else while the fundamental remains strong. Of course, I believe the ear is led by the music and as you engage with a song, you'll follow the chords and instrumentation with your ear and take it in as a whole, but the minutiae of the performance, especially the non-musical stuff like a clanking fret buzz or a squeaky bass drum pedal, can easily be missed because it's not what you're listening for.

I have today received a Cort Rithimic from Neil. It was as smooth a transaction as one could imagine. The bass was also expertly packaged which must have been a time consuming job in itself. Buy with confidence! Thanks again, Neil.

[quote name='walbassist' timestamp='1491213559' post='3271195'] The lovely Georgie from DPD dropped off my K1 this morning It's a beast. I was worried about the weight, but actually it's totally fine and an easy lift. Tweeter is very musical, not at all harsh, so my fears there were unfounded. It's very loud. [/quote] That looks superb.

I really like the look of Markbass kit. I can remember when they first arrived on the market (the marketing explosion was palpable). The thing that struck me first was the brand's look. Not since Trace Elliot has a bass amp brand had such distinctive and impactive colouring or styling.

[quote name='Muppet' timestamp='1491032572' post='3269931'] I think this looks fantastic, I'm quite jealous of you. It seems they've ditched the VLE and just retained the VPF - a good decision IMO. [/quote] I'm the other way round. I think the VLE is really cool and useful but the VPF is not quite as good. Sure, it's useful if you want to give yourself a big mid-scoop with the turn of one control but I have found that to really be a less and less useful sound over time. OTOH, the VLE really softens the top end in a judicious and musical fashion. It seems a little more organic than simply turning the treble control down. The caveat is that I own a CMD151P Jeff Berlin combo and for the first time, I'm embracing a tweeterless sound and looking for a more horn-like tone. Rolling on the VLE really tames the top end on my SR3006 nicely.

Markbass really do rule the roost for bass amplification these days.

The amp turned up today. It's bloody great! I haven't used it that much, just a couple of hours this afternoon playing in the front room with a few tracks on youtube. I desperately need to get some better strings on the SR3006. It's got Dunlop stainless steels on at the moment and they're not much cop (despite being almost brand new). But beside that, I can tell I'll get on well with this amp. It has a very cool middy character. Not harsh or noisy, but prominent and musical. With a little bit of the VLE rolled on, it sounds delightful. If Warwickshire wasn't so far away I'd be going down to pick up a Cort Rithimic to go with it.

I used to have a Status Series II that gave me this feeling. It was one of those instruments that just felt incredible to play, so effortless. It was so easy to play, with such low, clean action that it did make me sound better than usual. Essentially, it gave the feeling of the absolute minimum impedance to my playing.

It looks as though I'll be waiting a little longer for the amp. I received a call yesterday afternoon saying that the amp had arrived in store, and would be prepared for shipping. An hour later, another call comes, saying that the amp isn't working so they're going to order a replacement and it'll be with me next week. It's a slight delay, but I'm glad Guitar Guitar picked up on the fault before they sent me the product. These things happen and the extra wait won't kill me. I'll probably end up buying a Cort Rithmic at some point now as that tone is exactly what I'm working towards. My Ibanez SR3006ESOL has Bartolini pickups though, and with so much tone being in the hands, I'm excited to see how it turns out. I haven't actually played the SR3006 through an amp since I bought it in 2015.

Bass: Jeff Berlin Drums: Neil Peart Guitar: Shawn Lane Keys: Joe Zawinul The jam session afterwards would be out pf this world. Well, it would have to be saying as Shawn and Joe are both dead, sadly.

Evening all, I've put an order in for a Markbass CMD151P Jeff Berlin combo at Guitar Guitar in Newcastle this morning. I thought I'd start my thread on it now whilst I'm still in eager anticipation. I've not tried one of these amps yet, more on that in a bit. First off, Guitar Guitar were excellent at handling the sale. My brother and I have been buying guitars there for years (and with the same blokes at Sound Control beforehand). I lugged my Fender tube amp and Classic 50's Stratocaster down for a part exchange. Both fantastic bits of kit, kept in great condition if I do say so - but my interest in playing guitar had waned significantly and it was only a passing fad. I've had a couple of years off from serious bass playing but I'm looking to get back at it! Recently, I've been listening to loads of Jeff Berlin. Not just for his music and incredible ability, but because his tone has been consistently delightful over the years. It's changed as time has went on, but the core aspect of a deft touch, low action, strong midrange and plenty of bridge pickup wasn't lost on me. It's an approach I have always favoured but now I really want to bring it to the fore. In choosing the Markbass Jeff Berlin combo, I am making a bit of a departure from my old amp tastes. I used to like bright, super even, modern tones. Well, interestingly, I heard someone on Talkbass say recently that 'modern' tones are old fashioned now as that trend has died off. I'm not looking to go full vintage, but I want a modern interpretation of someting a little sweeter. So the tweeterless 15" might have been something I would have passed over in years gone by, but here we are. I'm putting my trust in Jeff's good name that it'll sound good. The closest I've been to one so far is listening to youtube videos. I knew I wanted to go with Markbass this time, and my brother has recently bought a Little Mark and a 2x10" cab which sounds amazing - it makes you realise how far the technology has come when I can say without laughing that it sounds better than my old Trace Elliot head and the gargantuan 4x10" cab! The only other Markbass product I really looked at was the Alain Caron combo, which sounds great, but since I'm looking to move away from the tweeter sound, I stuck with my gut instinct and chose the Berlin model. Delivery should be on Monday, and my SR3006 ESOL is ready to go.