Mark King to Markbass

[EBS_freak]

1 minute ago, AndyTravis said:

When two people are very much in love...they share a ‘special hug’...and nine months later...

oh, the thread?

How can we go from a picture of Mrs May and talk of a special hug? This thread just keeps on giving.

[Ashdown Engineering]

13 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Thanks for the invite, if passing and in the area will do, with some notice of course for yourselves, but in all likelihood I am not sure what it will achieve for me personally as I may still prefer another sound as you say, but feel free to do a shout out between other amps with drive channels and maybe the ABM as suggested with a dedicated drive pedal - would be good to hear the results.

Make sure its a distinctly average player like me doing the playing though, or everything will sound good, and that's unhelpful

We'll look forward to your visit. Cheers.

[EBS_freak]

2 minutes ago, krispn said:

Wanting a good sub bass sound but asking form a completely different perspective to the comprehensive description and viewpoint  you just gave. 😀

Oops. Did I do the wrong thing?

[EBS_freak]

2 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

@eude the dude slagged of the appearance of a MB amps, various of you jumped on the band wagon. I said that an amp's looks don't matter if it sounds great and, just to prove that looks are subjective, I suggested that the naysayers told us what a great looking amp looked like. They retorted the Mesa M6 and DG M900 were the best looking, at which point I realised I am surprisingly shallow as these were actually the two amp heads I currently own...😂 🤣

 

 

OK. Mighty fine taste you have too. They are both lovely looking amps.

There's some sub flub talk going on - but we'll just gloss over that one

[Ashdown Engineering]

43 minutes ago, Wolverinebass said:

It's quite simple really. The "Doom" knob only gave an overdrive towards a slight fuzz tone to my ears. You could get a much better sound with just an ABM and a pedal. Say something like a Wounded Paw Battering Ram EQ or a Cog Effects. 

So let's look at this objectively regardless of sound. Unless you're a Geezer Butler fan (I am as it happens), you'll probably not buy this due to several reasons. Weight being one. Cost being another when you could get say a Darkglass A/O head for about the same price at £1100. That's just one head with an overdrive built in!! That's before we list others and there are quite a few. Hence my comment of it not being worth the money.

Dismiss my views all you like, that's your right and I'm not bothered. I should say that I was very interested in the Geezer head until I tried one and didn't really like it (especially for £1200). Just my opinion and all that. I have no particular axe to grind here on Ashdown at all. Some of your stuff is great, some not so much. Like quite a lot of bass amp manufacturers.

What's a 'better' sound though? Better to you? Better to the guy in the music shop? 

It's a signature amp built for one person... to his design brief, his specs. Tuned by us with him to exactly the tone he wants which includes the drive element... he's since been using the amp at every gig he's done so it's confusing to be told the reasons you and others don't like it/wouldn't buy it... Always nice to get feedback but really with this particular amp there's only one person whose view matters.

Also huge pedal type overdrive built into bass amps generally doesn't work in the real world, Geezer is much cleaner than you think and loves the tone and dynamics he gets which generally you don't/can't get from Class D...

As for the pedal with a generic power module tacked on being worth £1100... well that's probably one for another thread chaps.

 

[Ashdown Engineering]

Aren't we all meant to all be talking about how great Mark Bass are anyway? 😉

[Cuzzie]

Just now, Ashdown Engineering said:

Aren't we all meant to all be talking about how great Mark Bass are anyway? 😉

Nope

That’s the biggest porky of the day

Next you’ll be telling me I don’t have a face for radio

[EBS_freak]

15 minutes ago, krispn said:

Bravo! I love a good sound engineer breakdown of getting a sound to sit/mix well. 

Glad you enjoyed.

You quoted me before I corrected myself - was going to add that my kick sample is very processed - with the sub sine that I talk of. I normally have a range with different sub tunings that I can match to the tuning of whatever the tuning of the bass drum is that I am micing. Should state that the sine wave frequency is tuned to be in tune with the kick drum too.

Another thing that I was going to mention was that you can actually get "more" bass by having less bass. What do I mean by this?

I've spoken about this before but it's pretty important and I don't think that people naturally get it... or they do get it but have never clicked. The "carving out of frequencies" is very important. Why? Due to wave theory - and particularly the addition of waves. What do I mean by this? Well - 

Imagine a kick drum that you have with a fundamental of circa 50Hz that is registering at -4dB on your meters.

They you add a bass guitar where you have pushed the "sub bass" because you want it to sound fat. Lets say that frequency boost is around 50 Hz. The rest of the lower mids are say 6dB down on that big push in the fat end.

Of course, when you add those two wave forms together, where they are in phase, the 50Hz is going to add together and go above unity and clip. That clipping sounds bad but also has limited the output of the rest of the bass in the more usable bass frequencies higher along the spectrum. In reality, if you didn't boost that bass, you could push the rest of the bass a lot harder. By making room for the kick, either by carving away the eq or ducking it as above, you'll get a lot more bass in your mix. Of course, we could take things even further and introduce a multiband compressor... which then enables us to compress different sets of frequencies within each channel, lose dynamic range.. but gain more thump.

So as I allude to, in the bass, less can be more... and you want more of the clean stuff rather than more of the mud.

[Al Krow]

11 minutes ago, Ashdown Engineering said:

It's a signature amp built for one person... to his design brief, his specs. Tuned by us with him to exactly the tone he wants which includes the drive element... he's since been using the amp at every gig he's done so it's confusing to be told the reasons you and others don't like it/wouldn't buy it... Always nice to get feedback but really with this particular amp there's only one person whose view matters.

Again, genuine question, but what's the commercial rationale for making an amp where only one person's views on it matters?

[EBS_freak]

7 minutes ago, Ashdown Engineering said:

What's a 'better' sound though? Better to you? Better to the guy in the music shop? 

It's a signature amp built for one person... to his design brief, his specs. Tuned by us with him to exactly the tone he wants which includes the drive element... he's since been using the amp at every gig he's done so it's confusing to be told the reasons you and others don't like it/wouldn't buy it... Always nice to get feedback but really with this particular amp there's only one person whose view matters.

Very much agreed - all sound is subjective. If it sounds good to you, it's right. Of course, many other people may disagree... but that's why there's different audio equipment, different instruments yiddah yaddah.

Interesting comment about being built for one person and it's only their view that matters? That's not a particular wise move if you are looking at shifting units! Still, there's probably enough GB fans who could potentially take an interest.

Also people, it's worth noting that the class D thing is actually quite a big market in the UK - but outside of these boundaries, especially in Europe, the rockers all gravitate towards big lumps of iron in their amps as opposed to class D and lightweight.

[krispn]

Hi makes sense. I’m enjoying getting my head around mixing and sound and while I’m still figuring stuff out but it certainly corresponds to other stuff I’ve read/seen. Any good books on this you can recommend? General mixing and the like?

Edited July 29, 2019 by krispn

[EBS_freak]

5 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Again, genuine question, but what's the commercial rationale for making an amp where only one person's views on it matters?

Passion!

Sometimes the brand awareness that it brings can be more meaningful than the sale of the model that is being used by an artist.

For example, can you name the exact model of Marshall amp that you see guitarists with... or does it matter more to Marshall that you see the name Marshall on the cabs?

Edited July 29, 2019 by EBS_freak

[EBS_freak]

3 minutes ago, krispn said:

Hi masked sense. I’m enjoying getting my head around mixing and sound and while I’m still figuring stuff out but it certainly corresponds to other stuff I’ve read/seen. Any good books on this you can recommend? General mixing and the like?

Get in a DAW, download some stems and practice, practice, practice. You can only read so much, the rest comes from your ears and experience. Pay attention to the "sub bass" and you'll soon figure out why this stuff is important.

Edited July 29, 2019 by EBS_freak

[krispn]

7 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Again, genuine question, but what's the commercial rationale for making an amp where only one person's views on it matters?

Isn’t that the whole point of a signature model? It’s brand awareness and a high profile user who influences people/fans to get onboard with the brand as much as their sig model. X player uses Y brand. It’s like my point the other day why make an active bass without a passive option? If a brand can produce a mid price model with this feature why not in their £1500+ model? Artists and their fripperies!

[Al Krow]

6 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Passion!

Sometimes brand awareness that it brings can be more meaningful than the sale of the model that is being used by an artist.

For example, can you name the exact model of Marshall amp that you see guitarists with... or does it matter more to Marshall that you see the name Marshall on the cabs?

Ah brand awareness.

If all you saw of this rig in the distance was this, would you know who made it?

Seamlessly back on topic 😂

Edited July 29, 2019 by Al Krow

[krispn]

4 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Get in a DAW, download some stems and practice, practice, practice. You can only read so much, the rest comes from your ears and experience. Pay attention to the "sub bass" and you'll soon figure out why this stuff is important.

I just submitted my mix of a song for a UAD competition - it didn’t come across on the version I sent as well as I heard it in the daw but.... I had a lot of fun boosting some eq in the bleed of other mics rather than the primary mic used on some of the instruments. It’ll not win any Grammys but it was interesting to me to hear those ‘bleeds’ nudged to give a different quality over the actual close mics. It was a rushed mix but I’m defo gonna do more. Cheers!

[Ashdown Engineering]

5 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Interesting comment about being built for one person and it's only their view that matters? That's not a particular wise move if you are looking at shifting units! Still, there's probably enough GB fans who could potentially take an interest.

That's why we make quite a few different amps... Saying that we have sold way more GB heads than we originally planned for. We were simply happy to work with and make an amp for someone we consider a true bass legend. It was never about sticking his name on an amp and hoping that will equal sales...

7 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Also people, it's worth noting that the class D thing is actually quite a big market in the UK - but outside of these boundaries, especially in Europe, the rockers all gravitate towards big lumps of iron in their amps as opposed to class D and lightweight.

Lol, so we have heard... To be fair its not just the UK...

We will happily put the Rootmaster 500 up against any lightweight amp, class D or not... If anyone wants to come and do this here you are more than welcome just let us know and we will get the coffee prepped. 

[krispn]

2 minutes ago, Ashdown Engineering said:

We will happily put the Rootmaster 500 up against any lightweight amp, cldonkey D or not... If anyone wants to come and do this here you are more than welcome just let us know and we will get the coffee prepped. 

Road trip? 

Maybe ashdown should hold a bass bash and have the masses descend 😀

Edited July 29, 2019 by krispn

[Al Krow]

7 minutes ago, krispn said:

Isn’t that the whole point of a signature model? It’s brand awareness and a high profile user who influences people/fans to get onboard with the brand as much as their sig model. X player uses Y brand. It’s like my point the other day why make an active bass without a passive option? If a brand can produce a mid price model with this feature why not in their £1500+ model? Artists and their fripperies!

Do you think this chap had anything much to do with his signature model other than picking up a cheque? 😉

[EBS_freak]

4 minutes ago, Ashdown Engineering said:

That's why we make quite a few different amps... Saying that we have sold way more GB heads than we originally planned for. We were simply happy to work with and make an amp for someone we consider a true bass legend. It was never about sticking his name on an amp and hoping that will equal sales...

Out of interest, did the Mark King signature generate a lot of sale due to the name on it? I know Status can get a cash injection through releasing a new King related bass... I'm not entirely sure that that is the case with bass amps and Mr King though.

[krispn]

Deflecting the point your honour! Yeah he probably did I’d say. 

Edited July 29, 2019 by krispn

[EBS_freak]

2 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Do you think this chap had anything much to do with his signature model other than picking up a cheque? 😉

Just beat me to it. I'm convinced that King fans will buy new basses at the drop of a hat... I'm not convinced about amps. If you are a true King fan, when he (inevitably) moves on... do you want to be stuck with a King head that isn't currently being used by Mark... and have trouble shifting it on because all the Mark King fans want to be on the next thing (or not?!). I just don't know!

[Ashdown Engineering]

1 minute ago, EBS_freak said:

Out of interest, did the Mark King signature generate a lot of sale due to the name on it? I know Status can get a cash injection through releasing a new King related bass... I'm not entirely sure that that is the case with bass amps and Mr King though.

It did for awhile... In all fairness we still do get people asking for the MK-500 and its been about a decade since we made them.

[AndyTravis]

Just now, Ashdown Engineering said:

It did for awhile... In all fairness we still do get people asking for the MK-500 and its been about a decade since we made them.

I had one and should’ve kept it. In saying that my new RM500 does more, and sounds ace too.

Think I’ll have to source another and get a 410 this time, the 408 was lovely but think it needed a 410 for what I was trying to get out of it.

[Al Krow]

Just now, EBS_freak said:

Out of interest, did the Mark King signature generate a lot of sale due to the name on it? I know Status can get a cash injection through releasing a new King related bass... I'm not entirely sure that that is the case with bass amps and Mr King though.

The EQ centre points on the Mark King are not nearly as good as that red and gold so called 'monstrosity' that Mr @fretmeister bought. But tbf Mark King probably has no idea what the centre points on his signature MB amp are...

If I was getting a MB amp head it would be the 800W (or 1000W)  'fugly' red and gold one every time with plenty of head room for boosting those unpleasant low end frequencies (whilst cutting out the < 28 Hz crud using a Thumpinator).