Markbass died. Only used it for VLE. Similar options?

#23
ianrossbass said:
So... I have a tour beginning in a few days, and right as I was starting rehearsals, the Markbass Ninja I'd been using daily for the past two years decided to kick the bucket in a blaze of acrid-smelling... er, silence. Dead silence.
Not having time to shop around, I dragged my Bassman 800 rig out of studio retirement to get me through this upcoming engagement. I think it sounds fantastic, but my tone comes from my pedalboard, and I was simply using the Markbass for stage volume and the glorious, life-changing, can't-live-without-it VLE control, sending a polished signal to my ears and FOH.
Tonally, the Bassman kinda smokes the Markbass in terms of dialing a sound up at the amp, but as I've explained, that's not what I'm doing, and at the moment, I sure miss some sort of dead simple LPF; I now can't get rid of the fizz from my distortions without affecting the upper mids somewhat. The Bassman is also irritating to transport, requiring a heavy vintage-style road case for a tour. It sure looks great, though! Except this artist puts LED screens in front of the backline, so that doesn't matter.

All that to ask, what are my options for loud and dead simple but with that LPF type of control I am now obsessed with having? The Quilter Bass Block 800 looks extremely appealing but I read one user's post on here claiming the high contour knob had the effect I'm looking to avoid of cutting too broadly down into the 6k or lower range. Maybe some others of you can either confirm or deny... or recommend me one or twenty two or eighty seven different amps to check out. Perhaps I just need a power amp and a cab simulator/LPF in a pedal. I used to use a Markbass Super Booster (with tone controls) but it fried itself earlier this year, in the midst of a show. Needless to say, I'm a bit over the brand at this point. Just fishing for some opinions on my best options.
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I'm not sure if they still make it, but I'm pretty sure that Markbass used to make a DI pedal--and it had some controls. I think VLE might have been one of them.
 
#24
wave rider said:
MARKBASS | Products | Super Booster

Might be able to find one of these used if not NOS…
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THIS!!

I am right there with you. All I ever used was the VLE and sometimes VPF on my LMII when I had it. I never touched the eq. The Super Booster’s VLE acts as my ‘cab sim’ and it has a fantastic DI. It’s a shame that it’s discontinued, but it’s worth the price if you find one.
 
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#27
I switched from a Little Mark iii to the Quilter BB and Broughton hpf/lpf such as are all over this thread. The combination of the two are actually quite flexible in the eq department with the pedal shoring up the BB's non standard eq. WAY more headroom. Sounds good through all my cabs (Markbass 2x10, Mesa powerhouse 4x10, Ampeg 8x10, and Audiokinesis Hathor 2x12.) Slightly more pillowy than the Little Mark at first. Between the roll off on the head and the adjustable Lpf, you can approximate the little mark vle. And so much more. Its longevity is yet to be determined, but my GAS is apparently cured. (Yeah, yeah, spare me.)
 
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#28
ianrossbass said:
Okay, let me try to shift the focus away from the tone shaping aspect of my question and back to the stage amplification part. If I were looking to go with a class D power amp instead of a class D bass specific amp, is there a particular model that stands out in the 800-1000w range (my current cabs being Markbass NY Ninja 122 and Fender Bassman 610 Neo?)
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Mesa D800+ and the Quilter BB800. Both sound tube-like and IMO sound awesome. I have them both. Have a look on their respective owner's club pages on TB.

The Mesa's high tone control seems perfectly suited to taming a tweeter. It also has an HPF. The Quilter's tone circuit is different and doesn't quite do what the VLE does. But note that both the D800+ and the BB800 amps are not especially bright. In fact, I think they're rather neutral, but favor an un-bright (not really dark, just not sizzly) sound.

About the LPF... I, too, love the VLE. Yes, the Broughton will get it done. Another option is the Tech 21 Q/Strip. It has on/off buttons for both LPF and HPF, and work, if only a little because hey are pre-set with no variable control. The LPF does seem to tame a tweeter. It's a good unit and overall, I like it.
 
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#29
Oh, you asked about a Class D Power Amp, not heads... TB went down that road and my take was that it was a better deal overall, both in price and form factor, to buy one of the better class D amps (such as the Quilter or Mesa) and just run your board into the effects return. That way you go straight to the power amp, and have the pre section if you need it.
 
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#30
Not especially bright? Hey, that's not very nice. ;) In all seriousness, that's exactly the tonal character I want. With respect to the person who recommended a GK, brightness is exactly the reason I've never gone that route. Plenty of folks make those things sound great, but they aren't my bag. I DID gig once with just a Smoothie into a Mesa D800+ and it took literally fifteen seconds to find a sound for the evening, which is good because that was all the soundguy gave me!
 
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#31
ianrossbass said:
Not especially bright? Hey, that's not very nice. ;) In all seriousness, that's exactly the tonal character I want. With respect to the person who recommended a GK, brightness is exactly the reason I've never gone that route. Plenty of folks make those things sound great, but they aren't my bag. I DID gig once with just a Smoothie into a Mesa D800+ and it took literally fifteen seconds to find a sound for the evening, which is good because that was all the soundguy gave me!
Click to expand...
I also have a GK MB800, and think both the Mesa and Quilter are the opposite of the GK. Whereas the GK is scooped and rather bright, the Mesa is deep, and the Quilter more neutral. Both have a sort of rounded top end. If you want a lot of deep bass, the Mesa may be better for you. I recommend the D800Plus over the D800 just because there are more controls on it, but they sound pretty much the same when set flat.
 
#32
ianrossbass said:
So... I have a tour beginning in a few days, and right as I was starting rehearsals, the Markbass Ninja I'd been using daily for the past two years decided to kick the bucket in a blaze of acrid-smelling... er, silence. Dead silence.
Not having time to shop around, I dragged my Bassman 800 rig out of studio retirement to get me through this upcoming engagement. I think it sounds fantastic, but my tone comes from my pedalboard, and I was simply using the Markbass for stage volume and the glorious, life-changing, can't-live-without-it VLE control, sending a polished signal to my ears and FOH.
Tonally, the Bassman kinda smokes the Markbass in terms of dialing a sound up at the amp, but as I've explained, that's not what I'm doing, and at the moment, I sure miss some sort of dead simple LPF; I now can't get rid of the fizz from my distortions without affecting the upper mids somewhat. The Bassman is also irritating to transport, requiring a heavy vintage-style road case for a tour. It sure looks great, though! Except this artist puts LED screens in front of the backline, so that doesn't matter.

All that to ask, what are my options for loud and dead simple but with that LPF type of control I am now obsessed with having? The Quilter Bass Block 800 looks extremely appealing but I read one user's post on here claiming the high contour knob had the effect I'm looking to avoid of cutting too broadly down into the 6k or lower range. Maybe some others of you can either confirm or deny... or recommend me one or twenty two or eighty seven different amps to check out. Perhaps I just need a power amp and a cab simulator/LPF in a pedal. I used to use a Markbass Super Booster (with tone controls) but it fried itself earlier this year, in the midst of a show. Needless to say, I'm a bit over the brand at this point. Just fishing for some opinions on my best options.
Click to expand...

You could try to find one of these:

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Markbass/Super-Booster-Bass-Effect-Pedal.gc
 
#33
bdplaid said:
I also have a GK MB800, and think both the Mesa and Quilter are the opposite of the GK. Whereas the GK is scooped and rather bright, the Mesa is deep, and the Quilter more neutral. Both have a sort of rounded top end. If you want a lot of deep bass, the Mesa may be better for you. I recommend the D800Plus over the D800 just because there are more controls on it, but they sound pretty much the same when set flat.
Click to expand...
Ah. See, things are making sense to me now. I was incorrect about gigging a D800+. It was a regular D800, and that's why I wasn't aware of the existence of a Boogie with the exact controls I want on an amplifier. :banghead:
 
#35
StrangerDanger said:
You could try to find one of these:

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Markbass/Super-Booster-Bass-Effect-Pedal.gc
Click to expand...
You guys seem like you're just torturing me at this point.
StrangerDanger said:
Beat me to it. Yeah I think this is the answer if the OP can find one.
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Ooh! I found one! I found one.
20181025_203942.jpg

I still haven't thrown it out even though it is all kinds of dead. And now, a moment of silence.
 
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#37
Sorry to hear what happened to you.

MB F1 has that dial too. Very useful. I have that in my rig currently.

I am fearing the day something like what you experienced happens. because it would be very hard to get a replacement these day as the product is discontinued. I would maybe try to find similar settings from Darkglass or Aquilera class-D amps.
 
#38
Makes me wonder if the pre still works on the MarkBass? have you tried bypassing the power section? I doubt it will work, but worth a shot.

As for the D800 vs D800+, at flat settings, they sound the same. The things I like the most about the + vs the standard D800 are the variable HPF, the bright switch, and the occasional use of cutting a low frequency to remove boom.
 
#40
bdplaid said:
Makes me wonder if the pre still works on the MarkBass? have you tried bypassing the power section? I doubt it will work, but worth a shot.
Click to expand...
Yep, the pre is fine. I haven't decided whether or not to bother with a repair of the power section yet, although the repair contractors are located pretty close to me. When I have some time, I'll at least get a quote from them, but I'm pretty sure I'd rather just try something else.

Nevada Pete said:
So, OP, are you going to have the Super Booster you found repaired? Wanna sell it?
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My initial idea was having it repaired and rehoused in a more space-saving enclosure. I might not after having been reminded of the existence of the Broughton stuff, but I gotta admit that the DI, boost, and tone section combo is pretty killer and I haven't got a CLUE why Markbass discontinued it. Well, one hypothesis, anyway. Maybe they figured it was too much of what makes a Markbass head great for too little money? :eyebrow::D
 
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