Markbass Little Mark III and New York 151 Bass Stack...........

[Grog]

Has anyone given one of these a good test drive? How does it handle a Mudbucker? I've been kinda keeping my eye open for a lighter rig, now that I'm at the far upper range of middle age............   Any comments?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/markbass-little-mark-iii-and-new-york-151-bass-stack

[ack1961]

I did, and I really liked it.  I wasn't in the market for any Markbass gear and was focusing on lightweight stuff: the GB Shuttle, the TCE, Ampeg PF & G-K offerings when I ran across the LMIII/151.  Amazing punch and deep lows and I was impressed with the VPF and VLE functions - there's basically nothing that I couldn't dial in to my liking. They weigh almost nothing and have bigger balls than you'd expect from such a small footprint. They're not giving them away, that's for sure.

I only ran two basses through the LMIII/151 - a P-bass and my T-40 - I don't own anything with a Mudbucker in it, so I can't comment on that aspect of it.

The reason I didn't get one is because I was offered an amazing deal on the CMD102P combo (it's a LMII head inside a 210 cabinet) and a matching 102HF cabinet for very little money.

[Aussie Mark]

The 500 watt Markbass heads with the analog power amp module are very conservatively rated - they are very loud for 500 watts of solid state bits and pieces.  I've A-B'ed them with the 800 watt class D models in the range, and there's nothing in it.  Plus, the 500 watt models are a lot warmer than the 800 watt models (which are harsh to my ears).  You can't go wrong with the LMIII (or the TTE-500, if you like a more old school tubey tone).

I can't comment on the NY151 cab though - haven't played through one of those.

[Highlander]

I played through a small rig for half a set 2 years back or so - an 18", a 2x10" and the amp... possible the best set-up I've played through in many years... I'd love the spare greens to investigate further but...

[Grog]

I pulled the trigger on the amp this morning...........
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/markbass-little-mark-iii-and-new-york-151-bass-stack
GC was offering a 15%  discount on anything that wasn't on sale, $299.00 & up for Presidents Day. I figured that if MF would match it on both the head & the 15" speaker, I would go for it...................... They did!! The amp is listed for $1,280 everywhere that I've seen it, the 15% discount knocked off $192.00. I figured that that would be the best price I would likely be able to get. It should be here on Thursday, so they say..... I would have liked to try that combo out before I bought it, but didn't see one listed anywhere close to me. If it will handle my "67 EB-2, it'll handle anything in my arsenal. I use the Hobbit most of the time. It has a balanced low impedance jack that it describes is for an acoustic bass. I wonder how it will work for Les Paul low impedance basses. The Les Paul Sig should plug right in with it's balanced line out. Has anybody tried it in any similar amps??

[hieronymous]

I pulled the trigger on the amp this morning...........
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/markbass-little-mark-iii-and-new-york-151-bass-stack
GC was offering a 15%  discount on anything that wasn't on sale, $299.00 & up for Presidents Day. I figured that if MF would match it on both the head & the 15" speaker, I would go for it...................... They did!! The amp is listed for $1,280 everywhere that I've seen it, the 15% discount knocked off $192.00. I figured that that would be the best price I would likely be able to get. It should be here on Thursday, so they say..... I would have liked to try that combo out before I bought it, but didn't see one listed anywhere close to me. If it will handle my "67 EB-2, it'll handle anything in my arsenal. I use the Hobbit most of the time. It has a balanced low impedance jack that it describes is for an acoustic bass. I wonder how it will work for Les Paul low impedance basses. The Les Paul Sig should plug right in with it's balanced line out. Has anybody tried it in any similar amps??

Looking forward to your review, especially the lo-impedance compatibility.

[rahock]

I never noticed an input for acoustic bass I wonder if it's a 10db reduction input for an active pickup. Don't know. I think you're going to be happy with the amp though. I never used the 15" cab, but the amp is strong and makes a lot of bottom end. I get your concerns about using anything with a 67 EB2. Years ago I bought an old EB2 and brought it home , plugged in to my 2 15" Altec cab Ampeg and that EB2 just tore it up. The Altecs couldn't take it . The EB2 went right back to the store. I think I owned an EB2 for about two hours.
Rick

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Most "acoustic" inputs on amps are extremely high impedance because most acoustic/electric pickup systems are piezo-based and piezo pickups are VERY impedance sensitive. Most "normal' input stages are too low for them and as as result they end up sounding very midrangey and "splatty." Just listen to ANY "Unplugged" album from MTV for tons of examples of this sound. And as counterintutive as it sounds, higher input impedance generally makes for HIGHER gain because it is easier to induce a voltage (instrument signal) that can then be amplified by the amp more accurately. If the input impedance is too low, the amp input "loads down" the pickup system with a greater current demand that most can supply, even with their onboard preamps. The difference between a "padded" input with higher resistance is that it does not have a corresponding gain stage to offset the higher input resistance. Notice that I used the term 'resistance' instead of impedance, too. While a higher input resistance is a component of input impedance, the overall input circuit gain is also higher for  a high impedance input, while a padded input is just a 'normal' input with added resistance.

[Grog]

The description on the MF web page for the combo is............

"Little Mark III Bass Amp Head
The Little Mark III amp head's DI input features a pre/post EQ switch and output level control, so you can optimize the signal you send to your mixer or recording unit. All this capability comes in the same compact size and weight as its Markbass predecessor. Weighing just over 6 pounds, it puts out 300W at 8 ohms and 500W at 4 ohms. The Markbass amp's 4-band EQ offers precise tonal control while a Variable Pre-shape Filter, Vintage Loudspeaker Emulator), balanced input for acoustic basses, balanced DI with level control, and pre/post switch make the Markbass Little Mark III a totally pro amp head."

The owners manual only says ...
Balanced Input, Impedance 1Mohm, max voltage 25vpp.


It will be interesting to see what this lightweight package will do. The entire amp weighs six pounds less than my 20+ year old Peavey MarkVIII head alone! The Peavey MarkVIII head weighs in at 50lbs vs the Little Mark at 6.5lbs. My 215 Peavey BW cabinet weighs in at 116lbs vs the New York 115 at 37.5lbs. I can add a second New York 115 cab and still be less than half the weight of the Peavey & more power. Also in smaller, manageable pieces.
I don't expect it to handle the "67 EB-2 as well, it might not handle it at all, but I've rarely used since I started running the Hobbit. Should know tomorrow, weather permitting. Another winter storm on it's way.

[Grog]

On first try, it's pretty impressive. I pulled out the '67 EB-2 for the ultimate test. That bass has the smoothest, ballsiest speaker blowing pickup of anything I have. The New York 151 speaker handled it without any distortion that I could hear. I couldn't say that for the rest of my house. I was able to tune it in to nothing but low end mud........... It's easy to add highs if you want, but I wanted to see if the small cabinet could handle deep lows. It seems it can!
I had the initial problem of finding a European plugin in the amp box. The box was marked Italy, 230 volts on two sides of the box. One side was crossed out. The back of the amp was labeled 120 V, 60 Hz. After calling MF Customer Service, I found the proper 120v chord & tried it out.
I did try the Les Paul Sig Bass in the balanced line out, it came through very weak. Not what it was intended for...........


Back to shoveling snow............