Spotted a Markbass LMII

[SuperMaximo]

I went to a guitar shop a couple of days ago and tried a few amps out once again, and was extremely impressed with the Little Mark III head they had there (personally I liked it better than the TC BG500 I was raving about a while ago ). They had a preowned LMII there for £299.99... Should I grab it? I understand the differences on both amps are small, so that isn't a problem. I'm more worried about the reliability... I would want it to last a few years at least. I'm not sure how old it is but if Markbass is known for being reliable then that shouldn't be a problem. I can't see myself pushing it beyond (or even near) half volume in the foreseeable future, will this help the lifspan of the amp or does it not make a difference?

So can anyone vouch for Markbass and give me faith that the amp won't die

Edited August 11, 2010 by SuperMaximo

[MythSte]

Generally speaking (and please dont hold me to this!) All the problems I've heard about with markbass have occoured within the first few weeks of them being new. £300 does sound like a really good deal and If it works well in the shop (try it first!) then I'd shoot for it if I where you

[51m0n]

+1 to the above....

[dave_bass5]

Ive had my SA450 for 4 years now, gigged it almost every week and so far ive not had a single problem with it.
Same goes for my LMII although its probably only had about 50 gigs.

[machinehead]

All I can do is offer my own experience with Markbass.

I've owned 4 amps and never a single problem.

Frank

[andyonbass]

You sure its not the Little Mark 250 at that price?

[SuperMaximo]

Cool, thanks for the responses It's definitely a LMII (I called and checked yesterday). I don't have the chance to try it out as the shop is a bit far from where I live. I'll have 7 days to return it if I don't like it anyway (I can also exchange it before 30 days, and by that time I'd have enough money to get a LMIII... but I don't think I can justify spending £550 on an amp), and I can try it properly with my cab... I'm thinking of sticking it in the garden and cranking it

[CHRISDABASS]

[quote name='SuperMaximo' post='915684' date='Aug 5 2010, 10:05 AM']Cool, thanks for the responses It's definitely a LMII (I called and checked yesterday). I don't have the chance to try it out as the shop is a bit far from where I live. I'll have 7 days to return it if I don't like it anyway (I can also exchange it before 30 days, and by that time I'd have enough money to get a LMIII... but I don't think I can justify spending £550 on an amp), and I can try it properly with my cab... I'm thinking of sticking it in the garden and cranking it [/quote]


Go for it mate



I have an LMIII and i love it!

So much so that i bought a 5 year old LMK (2 channel head) second hand from someone here on basschat

I had concerns regarding age/reliability of this head so i emailed markbass directly! i got a response a few hours later and had a good conversation with one of the team over in italy (someone pretty high up, i forget their name)

They said i shouldnt have any problems at all as they have one of the lowest amp failure rates in the business and should a problem arise the tech support with the UK distributers (Proel) is apparently very good!

£300 sounds like a good deal to me

[SuperMaximo]

Ordered today, should arrive on Monday or Tuesday

[SuperMaximo]

Made October 2008 so it should be okay for a good while!

It's a very very clean sounding amp. Sounds great just set completely flat (with VLE and VPF off) with everything on the bass set to maximum. Need to have more time with it and try it in a band situation I think though

[dave_bass5]

Nice one, im sure you will be very happy with it.
I think most MB owners tend to use very little EQ on the amp, probably use more VLE and VPF IME.

[allihts]

Is portability the main reason people like amps like the Little Mark and the Tc RH450? Or do they sound different to larger heads (mine is big!)

[dave_bass5]

For me it's the tone and lack of things I really would never use.

I had a GK head for a while a few years ago, just for a tone change but soon went back to my MB heads.

[allihts]

Do you not miss having a seven band graphic though? I find it so useful!

[dave_bass5]

No. I've never really been one to need a lot of EQ and I fine small adjustments don't always make a difference out front.
Maybe I'm just lucky.

[jonny-lad]

[quote name='SuperMaximo' post='920722' date='Aug 10 2010, 03:23 PM']


Made October 2008 so it should be okay for a good while!

It's a very very clean sounding amp. Sounds great just set completely flat (with VLE and VPF off) with everything on the bass set to maximum. Need to have more time with it and try it in a band situation I think though[/quote]
Really great rig you have there...exactly the same set-up as me!...except for the bass.

I haven't had the chance to gig mine much recently as most of my work has been on guitar and the bass gigs I've done have required a smaller backline, but whenever I do have the chance to gig it, it always blows me away by how much I enjoy playing through it!

Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine!

[SuperMaximo]

[quote name='jonny-lad' post='923228' date='Aug 12 2010, 09:26 PM']Really great rig you have there...exactly the same set-up as me!...except for the bass.

I haven't had the chance to gig mine much recently as most of my work has been on guitar and the bass gigs I've done have required a smaller backline, but whenever I do have the chance to gig it, it always blows me away by how much I enjoy playing through it!

Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine! [/quote]
Haha, awesome

I'm starting to become more accustomed to the sound of the amp now, and I'm really starting to appreciate the sound. Very nice and defined, a big difference from my Peavey TNT115 which I suppose is quite boomy in comparison (although the LMII can definitely do boom. 'Tis always fun to crank the bass knob and shake everything ). I also love how harmonics literally jump out at you (the 10" speakers probably help). The Peavey's 15" muted them a lot. I have the tweeter turned completely off, but I think I need to experiment with it more. It opens up the sound of the neck pickup soloed nicely (it sounds be a bit boxey without the tweeters), but can be a bit 'brittle' sounding for my tastes... I haven't played around with the knobs that much actually... I've just been happy with flat I think tomorrow I'll have a good mess around with the tone, maybe see how close I can get to certain sounds from my favourite songs to see how versatile it really is

I'm dying to hear how it sits with the band, although it will sound a little different as I'll probably be plugging from the DI into the power amp input of my Peavey until I get a 210 cab (a matching Warwick WCA211 Pro of course!).

[jonny-lad]

[quote name='SuperMaximo' post='923390' date='Aug 13 2010, 12:06 AM']Haha, awesome

I'm starting to become more accustomed to the sound of the amp now, and I'm really starting to appreciate the sound. Very nice and defined, a big difference from my Peavey TNT115 which I suppose is quite boomy in comparison (although the LMII can definitely do boom. 'Tis always fun to crank the bass knob and shake everything ). I also love how harmonics literally jump out at you (the 10" speakers probably help). The Peavey's 15" muted them a lot. I have the tweeter turned completely off, but I think I need to experiment with it more. It opens up the sound of the neck pickup soloed nicely (it sounds be a bit boxey without the tweeters), but can be a bit 'brittle' sounding for my tastes... I haven't played around with the knobs that much actually... I've just been happy with flat I think tomorrow I'll have a good mess around with the tone, maybe see how close I can get to certain sounds from my favourite songs to see how versatile it really is

I'm dying to hear how it sits with the band, although it will sound a little different as I'll probably be plugging from the DI into the power amp input of my Peavey until I get a 210 cab (a matching Warwick WCA211 Pro of course!).[/quote]
Hehe, funnily enough, I have a Peavey TNT115 aswell, which I quite like with everything set flat!...great minds think alike!

I tend to run everything more or less flat on the Little Mark II and then just use the VLE knob to take off however much top end I feel like, and the VPF knob in small doses when I want to sit in the mix a bit more...Normally I set the tweeter on the 411 at around half way, but using the VLE knob on the amp really helps to keep things from getting too brittle sounding.

Either way, I tend to find myself trying something a bit different everytime i use this set-up, as my taste in tone varies from week to week!...It is a really versatile set-up in my opinion, although I never really use it's versatility to the fullest - nice to know I can if I want to though!