my main bass rig. switched from the ampeg svt-5pro with the 410hlf cab 4 years ago and never looked back.
markbass f1 head / special edition(red face plate)
- 300W RMS @ 8 ohm, 500W RMS @ 4 ohm
- 4 band eq
- vpf (Variable Pre-shape Filte)
- vlf (Vintage Loudspeaker Emulator)
- dimension: 10.04 in x 10.87in x 1.73in
- weight: 4.63lbs
traveller 102p cabinet
- 400W RMS
- freq response - 45 Hz to 18 kHz
- dimension: 23.4in x 13in x 17in
- weight: 33 lbs
the ampeg was my first serious gigging rig i got in 2007, it was huge, fancy and big sounding that made me the happiest boy, it was equipped with the korg dtr-2000 rack tuner in a gator case.
the nightmare came in about 1 year after, when i started to gig 3 nights a week. for every single gig, i had to move the 40+lbs head/case and the 90+lbs cab into my wagon from the basement. drive all the way to downtown, unload everything with my bass and effects to different venues and it was not fun at all. alot of time you could have friends help you to move the things together, but always always i was the only one that move all the shxxs back home, into the basement by the end of the night. i told myself, life is not supposed to looked like this.
that was life for about a year+something, until one day i saw the exploding markbass rig at local music store(first one was the little mark ii), when i plugged it in for the first time i was blown away by the amount of power this thing makes, the sound was so clean that you hear mainly how the instrument sounds in a bigger scale. i was sold right away. then i started to hook up other rigs at the store for side by side tests, this amp with a 210 cab can make more than enough bass volume that can blow your head off. the frequency response was full, and smooth. this is basically what you'll ever need in any situations. a week later i got it home, and sold the ampeg not too long after.
the f1 and the lmii are very similar, f1 was a tad more brighter and that's it, tonal wise it's a more personal thing, they are both great. i went with the f1 just because it's the smaller.
gigging experiences had a night & day difference. i could load all the gears in 1 trip by 1 person, and got to help others moving their stuffs. the amp itself is loud enough to fill up a bar with 100+ people, not being amplified by any pa system. well, for larger venues you'll have the monitoring rigs setup anyways and it works as my own monitor. it sounds great at pretty much all volume level.
it's that good, as portability is my main concern for the rig. it's now the digital poweramp(class-d) era for bass amplifications, and i'm so glad this is the era i'm in. lol .
as in 2012, micro heads are getting very popular. many makers out there do have similar products. now just want to see what my next amp is going to be.