New Markbass Multiamp

[ryancowell25]

The volume control isn't an issue..... you can set this is in the settings menu........ a lot of the updates Markbass are trumpeting on their site are firmware updates so i'd be intrigued to see why they have discontinued previous models (however their site is notoriously bad) - the front end looks identical to me apart from the change of headphone volume knob to control Volume..........

I also think the Multi-amp is an incredible piece of kit despite all of their marketing eccentricities. It really is a true all in one solution.

Edited October 29, 2015 by ryancowell25

[MoJoKe]

[quote name='TrexPlaysBass' timestamp='1446127947' post='2897153']
....the new '2015' model. Has anyone seen these for sale? I was about to jump for an open box stereo model, but then markbass released the new version.. Now I'm impatiently waiting for them to be available.. Anybody have a hunch when I might be able to get my hands on one..?
[/quote]

A couple of weeks ago I did the Mansons Guitar Show with MSL, and we used my Multiamp to demo as it had my "real world" patches in addition to the pre-loaded ones.

While there are definitely new products in the Ninja 1000 and Nano 300, no mention was made of a "new" 2015 model, so this is a new one on me. I will ask the guys and report back!

[TrexPlaysBass]

Mojoke, I only just saw it on the markbass.it site...

Ryan, I know you /can/ just use the gain to balance and master as overall control, but I would very much like the ability to have gain and level presettable, and master seperate and 'all powerful'

[MoJoKe]

OK, so the reason for the new version is simply to bring the bass version multiamp into line with the control layout of the DV Mark version and the enhanced functionality of the V3 firmware. Those with the previous version (me!) do not have compromised functionality at all, just a different control layout.

As you say, the MB website is notoriously bad, and it seems to be jumping the gun a bit, as they won't be shipping to the UK until after Xmas.

[quote name='TrexPlaysBass' timestamp='1446165447' post='2897504']
I know you /can/ just use the gain to balance and master as overall control, but I would very much like the ability to have gain and level presettable, and master seperate and 'all powerful'
[/quote]

You [b][i]can[/i][/b] effectively do what you suggest, by adding a flat EQ (or comp) to a slot and pre-setting (boost or cut) the output gain. The master gain will still control the overall output level for each preset, so this pretty much would cover it....

Edited October 30, 2015 by MoJoKe

[Womble543]

That's good news as I'm also now a multiamp amp user 😁.. Would love to hear your 'real world' patches

[adamg67]

I've just bought Mark's Multiamp from this very site, I was very impressed with it, as far as I could tell every tone I could want is in there somewhere and they are proper versions. Really looking forward to getting to grips with this thing, and to trying it loud at rehearsals tomorrow night.

One thing I wanted to check, I have 2 x 8ohm cabs (MarkBass Traveler as it happens), it's a mono amp, does it make any difference whether I chain the cabs and plug into the single speakon or just plug in to two jacks? Looking at the manual it says all the speaker outs are in parallel so I can't see that it will matter, I can plug them in separate or link them as a 4ohm and plug that in (I've only got speakon leads at the mo anyway).

The other quick question I've just thought of, it will become obvious pretty soon anyway, but if I want the master to work across all patches should it be set to "manual" in the system menu?

[MoJoKe]

Yes, and yes! well done on joining the MA club!

They are parallel so makes no diff, but I always use Speakon to first cab and then another Speakon between cabs. I feel its a tidier and more solid method.

Set the MA to manual in the system menu and the master vol will be outside any patch programming. If you want more gain in specific patches you can add an EQ to a spare slot with flat response but up the output gain.

Check it's been upgraded to V3 (it tells you the firmware version on screen as it boots up), and if not do the upgrade - its vey simple, you just download it, put it on a SD card and go into the main menu.

[adamg67]

Thanks, it is V3 (I'll check but pretty sure). I noticed that there's a level on the cab as well for setting volume for studio / PA settings, does anyone do it that way for those?

I'll have a play with configuring it via USB as well I think, I used to find that very handy when I had a Vox Tonelab for guitar

[MoJoKe]

For my live sounds I have cab simulation turned off for all patches (not sure it adds anything tone-wise when live, but might be useful for extra gain if you needed it, I might have a look at that) so at the moment can't help you with that one!

Yes, doing patch changes with the software is much better, as its quicker to move things about (you can drag the effects/amps between slots) and A/B any changes you make. If you have any issues with the USB it may be that the MA you have has not had the requisite jumper added. Its simple to do if not, I can post the PDF instructions here if needed.

Edited November 5, 2015 by MoJoKe

[adamg67]

I'll give the usb a go at the weekend and see what happens, it's a fairly recent one, was it the early ones that needed a jumper adding?

[MoJoKe]

[quote name='adamg67' timestamp='1446732663' post='2901842']
It's a fairly recent one, was it the early ones that needed a jumper adding?
[/quote]

Indeed, but you never know. it also needs a male to male USB cable... you can buy them at maplin...

[adamg67]

I tried the multiamp at rehearsals on Friday and it passed that test easily. I didn't have time to set anything up in advance, and anyway I think you only really know what works when you try it with the band. I headed straight for the vintage bank and easily found 2 amps tgat worked for a warm clean sound (the Sunny US model) and a nice slight gritty sound (UK120, which I think us the Orange). Used them both flat and they sounded excellent, just what I was after. With some tweaking I'll have my tones as close to perfect as they're going to get.

Just ordered the MB floor pedal, I only need it for this and don't need expression and Thomann had a B stock one. Rack case is ordered as well, I splashed out and went for an SKB one having tried the generic ones for other things.

Looks like I'll be dropping all my currebt gear in the for sale section and going 100% multiamp!

USB cable is on the way as well.

[adamg67]

Nearly forgot, volume wise this thing is LOUD. I never got master volume above about 9 o'clock!

[MoJoKe]

[quote name='adamg67' timestamp='1446976443' post='2903790']
....Looks like I'll be dropping all my current gear in the for sale section and going 100% multiamp!
[/quote]

Yep, it really [b]is[/b] that good. I think a few people at the recent SW bass bash were surprised that this thing was so versatile, from the bright warm tone you normally expect from a Markbass amp to full on distorted grunge, and everything between!

[quote name='adamg67' timestamp='1446976443' post='2903790']
....for a warm clean sound (the Sunny US model)
[/quote]

Ooh not tried that. I've only experimented with the Sunny for full-on growly, big sounds with loads of headroom and the gain well up! I must spend some more time playing with that one.

[adamg67]

Been playing with the Multiamp some more, it really is excellent. The newest discovery which I havn't seen mentioned here is that quite a few of the amps have extra parameters on top of the gain and eq, just hit OK and you get a menu. This completely brought the "blue" tube amp to life for me. They're pretty obvious with most amps that have them, but I couldn't work out what the ones on the BB (I think, one of the Markbass ones anyway) were, They'e VLE and VPF, but I found it easily enough on the Markbass site:

[indent=1]The VLE and VPF are useful EQ filters that help you adapt your sound for different styles of music. The VLE (Vintage Loudspeaker Emulator) is a shelf EQ that cuts a wider and wider range of high frequencies as you turn it up. Markbass amps are very clear-sounding, and this filter has the effect of drawing you into the mix more, making your sound less present. It's kind of like an "old school" knob! The VPF (Variable Preshape Filter) boosts lows and highs, and cuts mids. Some call this kind of effect a scoop, a smiley-shape EQ, or an enhance knob. It's very effective for slap bass, pick playing, and driving eighth-note rock. These two filters can be combined for interesting effects. But remember that they are off when they are all the way counterclockwise--we suggest you start in that position and turn the filters up gradually, one at a time, to hear and understand what they do.[/indent]

I've got the MarkBass MIDI pedalboard working a treat now, it's a bit fiddly to set up but once it's done it's very good. I'm starting to get some presets done for a couple of general sounds and for some specific songs and I'm finding that if you spend some time tweaking the subtler aspects you can get really, really nice tone.

Edited November 18, 2015 by adamg67

[adamg67]

[quote name='MoJoKe' timestamp='1446725733' post='2901742']Yes, doing patch changes with the software is much better, as its quicker to move things about (you can drag the effects/amps between slots) and A/B any changes you make. If you have any issues with the USB it may be that the MA you have has not had the requisite jumper added. Its simple to do if not, I can post the PDF instructions here if needed.
[/quote]

I did need to add the jumper, that made me feel better about keeping a little bag of jumpers from old hard drives I found the PDF, thanks for doing that, very handy. With remote control for working on sounds plus the midi pedalboard for performing this thing is damn near perfect.

The only reservation I have at the moment is a combination of the master volume thing and the DI levels. I have master volume set to manual, and the DI set to "end of chain" so that I can use a post amp EQ to trim the volume between patches, but like that it seems that the master volume controls the DI volume as well. So I have the MA plugged into my audio interface at home for recording, and the amp well down, but for a gig the master will be way up and that gives a *really* hot signal. Plus if we're 2 songs in and I can't hear myself on stage, if I turn the amp up I'll be turning the bass up on the desk as well - yes, I know the sound guy should deal with it, but it'd be nice if that didn't happen.

I'm going to have a play with the DI settings, I don't know if I can use the amp post-eq setting plus the "use cab sim" and a level on the cab sim to keep the volume even and bypass master volume? Presumably the 2015 versions don't have this problem.

[lojo]

As above , I'm struggling with my DI settings , I want it to do want my LM2 did , post EQ Di signal that is constant and not effected by amp volume

Also, if using a foot pedal is changes patches quick and smooth, just like hitting an effect pedal during a song ?

The effects , combinations , and ability to carry many amp options are fantastic , but I need to get to grips with a few functionality things to get the most out of this

[adamg67]

I think it's like a lot of others, switching individual effects on and off within a preset is seamless, just like a pedal would be, but I'm not sure about switching presets while playing - I don't do it, and I think there's a tiny delay when you do? I'll check next time I'm playing if I remember.

[MoJoKe]

[quote name='adamg67' timestamp='1452688469' post='2952401']
I think it's like a lot of others, switching individual effects on and off within a preset is seamless, just like a pedal would be, but I'm not sure about switching presets while playing - I don't do it, and I think there's a tiny delay when you do? I'll check next time I'm playing if I remember.
[/quote]

Ditto, I tend to stick with a single amp model per song and just turn on/off effects and comps. I don't see why it shouldn't be as quick changing whole patches, but I'm not able to test for a couple of weeks, as had a Carpal Tunnel release surgery on my hand yesterday.. owwww...

[adamg67]

Finally tried this at rehearsal yesterday, you can switch between amp models no problem, obviously if they sound different you get a sudden change in sound but I was switching between presets mid-note and it was fine.

[adamg67]

I just wanted to post what I've learnt recently about saving / loading preset banks to / from SD cards on the multiamp.

The ability to backup and restore all your presets is one of the major bonuses of amps like this. If my Multiamp gets run over by a truck tomorrow I can get hold of another one, load up my presets and I'm all ready to go, with zero setup time. If I screw something up with my presets when I'm fiddling in a soundcheck I can just load them up again and everything's good. With this in mind I sorted out my old SD cards and went to back up my presets.

I learnt a few things doing this:[list]
[*]The Multiamp only works with cards under 8 gig. This is fine since the preset files are tiny, it's a good way to use smaller cards that are leftover from other things. I'm using a 512M card that used to be in my camera, and 1G one that was in an old phone, and I've got a 2G card that came with my Zoom H1 recorder as a spare.
[*]The Multiamp only works witha FAT32 filesystem on the card. The weird thing is that it won't even "format" a card which doesn't have FAT32, it just says "no SD card" or something similar. If that happens, just format the card in a PC or similar and i should be fine. Cards formatted in my Zoom H1 don't work in the multiamp, I had to reformat.
[*]The files are obviously named, eg USER1.BNK, and can be copied onto a PC or whatever as an extra backup. [s]You can rename them and then load your sounds to a new bank, or (as I have done) copy all your presets from one bank to another - just rename USER1.BNK to USER2.BNK, load bank 2 and it's done. I now have all my presets on both banks 1 and 2, so again if I screw anything up I can just switch banks and everything's there[/s] Edit - there is something weird here, I need to do more testing but if you save the mono bank you can't load it to a user bank at least. I'm doing some messing about with this at the mo anyway as I'm hacking up a little utility to make it easier to play with bank files so I'll post an update when I get to the bottom of it.
[/list]
Last word - don't put off backing stuff up!

Edited August 11, 2016 by adamg67

[MoJoKe]

[quote name='adamg67' timestamp='1454593007' post='2971138']
I just wanted to post what I've learnt recently about saving / loading preset banks to / from SD cards on the multiamp.

The ability to backup and restore all your presets is one of the major bonuses of amps like this. If my Multiamp gets run over by a truck tomorrow I can get hold of another one, load up my presets and I'm all ready to go, with zero setup time.
[/quote]

Very good point. Also if you tour and use provided backline (and you've been specific that you need Multiamp!), it means absolutely no guesswork to get your sounds right, wherever you are. I'm off to Denmark in a couple of months, all I'll be taking is one flightcase, with my bass, my Softstep and 2 memory cards (can't be too careful! I'll probably back them up to my OneDrive too, just in case!) with my MA patches.

PS. I never gig without an SD card loaded and ready. As you said, if you tweak something and cock it up, you can get out of jail in seconds!

Edited February 4, 2016 by MoJoKe

[gillento]

Are they 2015 models available in stores, yet?

[MoJoKe]

[quote name='gillento' timestamp='1459094569' post='3013494']
Are they 2015 models available in stores, yet?
[/quote]

As far as I am aware, yes. I've just taken a look at GAK and Richtone's websites and the graphics they are using are the 2015 model. The difference to the previous one is incredibly subtle, just a re-labelling of the "level" knobs.

[gillento]

[quote name='MoJoKe' timestamp='1459206282' post='3014490']
..... The difference to the previous one is incredibly subtle, just a re-labelling of the "level" knobs.
[/quote]

Does this mean, that also with the 2015 model we have no direct "on the fly" access to the master level?