LM11 compressed / flat??

[Rumble]

I tried my new Jazz bass last night through my LMII and Epi 4x10 cab and I was completely underwhelmed. Through my Tascam BT1 it's sounded great, but through the amp it just sounded so flat and compressed with very little bite or aggression.

I've A/B'd the LMII against the MB F1 and Genz Benz Shuttle and it certainly sounded flatter to me, but this is really the first time it's sounded so flat.

Is it just that the LMII just doesn't suit the jazz or that this particular Jazz is actually just a bit compressed?

[chris_b]

I don't know anything about your bass or what you mean by "bite" or "aggression" but my Lakland through my LM2 and Epifani 410 sounded huge, fat, clean and clear across all frequencies. It was smiles all around when I gigged with it.

[51m0n]

Is it active? Battery?

Just a thought...

Not sure what you mean by flat exactly. Lacking in zinginess? Make sure the VLE is fully anticlockwise.

[Musicman20]

Is you cabinet 4 or 8 ohm? I know Markbass amps seem to just open up much better at 4 ohms. Sometimes they can, but not often, sound a little congested at 8 ohms. Depends on the cabinet as well though.

It tends to be, what you put in, you get out.

[MythSte]

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1153653' date='Mar 8 2011, 12:12 PM']Is you cabinet 4 or 8 ohm? I know Markbass amps seem to just open up much better at 4 ohms. Sometimes they can, but not often, sound a little congested at 8 ohms. Depends on the cabinet as well though.

It tends to be, what you put in, you get out.[/quote]

This,

And as pointed out, the VLE and VPF knobs are flat when set fully anticlockwise. NOT at 12 o'clock.

Good luck!

[Rumble]

Thanks for the suggestions chaps.

Having done a little experimentation at home with a small peavey combo, I don't think it's the LMII. It does sound a bit like the VLE has been cranked up a notch, but I pretty much always have both the filters fully off.

In terms of the bass, the D and G sound pretty good, it's just the E and A so it might be a string issue. I might also try just popping the original Fender PUPs back in.

[MythSte]

[quote name='Rumble' post='1153719' date='Mar 8 2011, 01:01 PM']Thanks for the suggestions chaps.

Having done a little experimentation at home with a small peavey combo, I don't think it's the LMII. It does sound a bit like the VLE has been cranked up a notch, but I pretty much always have both the filters fully off.

In terms of the bass, the D and G sound pretty good, it's just the E and A so it might be a string issue. I might also try just popping the original Fender PUPs back in.[/quote]

Good call on the string thing. I cant think of an expert reason why - but none the less you might be getting what would normally be "excessive" treble through headphones that has meant you havnt noticed your strings are dead? Just a thought!

[chris_b]

At 4 ohm the Markbass amps are supposed to sound a little better, but my experience is that at 8 ohm they still sound great. My Epifani was an 8 ohm cab and I never experienced your problem.

When tracing problems you should always start with the battery, strings, leads and than what was changed last.

[alexclaber]

With all the EQ flat and the filters off the Markbass amps are pretty close to 'flat' frequency response (i.e. no humps and dips across the operating bandwidth). However, if you're used to amps which are boosted in the treble, or scooped in the mids (which sounds the same as boosted bass and treble) like many GK, Mesa Boogie, SWR, etc etc amps, this may sound comparatively dull.

I've been doing some thinking about the whole 'compressed at 8 ohms thing'. For starters, until the amp runs out of power I don't believe there will be any audible difference in performance, except that into a 4 ohm nominal load you'll be getting twice as much power at equal settings. When the amp runs of out ability to deliver voltage (regardless of impedance) the built-in limiter will clamp down on the signal, which thus sounds like (and is) harsh compression. However, as the amp's minimum load is 4 ohms and these are pretty lightweight amps with Class AB power amps (so not super efficient) when approaching maximum voltage into 4 ohms they are also going to approach maximum current. Therefore the amp's power supply is likely to sag before the limiter kicks in, so you get a degree of softer compression before you get the harder limiting. If this is the case then the power supply's deficiency is covering up the limiter circuitry's deficiency! I haven't tested this but it makes theoretical sense and it tallies with user experiences.

Anyway, the first thing I'd do is twist all the knobs, one at a time, on the bass, amp and cab, and see how they change the sound and if it's for the better. Make sure the VLE is all the way off (whichever way that is, I know they reversed it at some point in Markbass's history...)

[Rumble]

Thanks again guys for your suggestions. I've changed what I was informed were pretty new strings and that appears to have made a discernable difference for starters. I'm actually not sure whether the strings that had been on were nickel D'Addarios that were just past there best, but I've put some EB's on and there certainly more 'zing'.

I think I've come to the conclusion that it's not actually anything to do with the amp. It could well be more to do with the fact that I had 'past their best' strings on a passive J bass having been used to the zing and sparkle of a status S2 for the past few months. Will definitely persevere.