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MrNylon

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I used GK before I settled in with the Markbass. The GK is good, all wood construction, and just a well made amp. I played an SG Std. bass through a Little Mark lll/SP102P setup. It did well. But I'm just an old Roadie that likes his 12's. The Rickenbacker 4003 is another story. The 4003 neck for myself, is right there.

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I still use GK for big gigs with my Texas Blues Band and Southern Rock Band. We play a lot of outdoor gigs and big halls during the summer. When winter rolls in to Iowa, that will be the time to use the MarkBass rig for smaller clubs. I'm 65 with health issues so all of my amp gear and cabs are light weight.

 

GK1_zps36f93ad8.jpg

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Markbass LIttle Mark lll / Ampeg HSVT-410HLF

 

 

I was going to change out the Markbass Little Mark lll for a tube based amp. But, the more I play through it, the more I like it. It really has a tube sound to it when set a specific way. A little 500 watt head that really works. The Ampeg HSVT-410HLF cab doesn't hurt either. [thumbup]

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I am completely shallow - I can't stand the way MarkBass speakers look. The head isn't quite as outlandish, and a Class D head is so small that it doesn't matter anyway.

 

I'm "only" 53, but after a certain number of football and rugby seasons as well as heavy construction work on and off over the years, my shoulders aren't very happy when I lift heavy things. So, I use a fairly large powered cabinet. You would think that a smaller cabinet would work better, but my rig has a lightweight preamp head that looks like an amplifier head but is mostly hollow. The cabinet is a big W-bin with the amp in the bottom, a HF horn, and a rear firing 15. It has wheels and a handle, so getting from one place to another is very easy. I don't have to bend over, ever. It's the bending and lifting that kills me, and a 410, a 210, or a 115 requires a fair amount of that when you are moving it. I find those difficult to deal with even using a hand truck. It doesn't hurt that I prefer the big rig's capabilities in all circumstances, because it can be completely transparent when I'm playing the upright or it can add some color when I want some color. It weighs a ton, but I never have to bend over to do anything except plug it into a wall socket. It is a very different way to approach the amplifier weight problem, but it works well for me. To me, a 410 combo is the spawn of the devil, looking for a spine to destroy!

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The Heritage SVT-410HLF weighs 76 pounds, but it has 3" casters, and a pull back bar across the back top for easy moving. I recently did some studio work in Nashville, and used this same type of cab. The sound was great. I switched to the Ampeg cab. The Markbass Little Mark lll head works well with big cabs too. I may get a TC Electronic RH450 head as a back up to the LM lll. They sound very similar as the LM lll.

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A 410 with a pullback handle works better than a 410 with four wheels or with no wheels, but it is a height issue at some point. My e-freakin'-normous Acoustic cabinet probably weighs north of 150 lbs, but the handle is about elbow height, making it very easy for me to deal with. It is the right height for me to get it up and down stairs by lining it up and then just lifting with my legs. The geometry is perfect so that I don't have to bend my legs too far. If I was shorter or taller, it wouldn't work as well. We are all different and our bones work differently, so it's a good thing we aren't all stuck with the same cabinet!

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I know what you're saying about different cabs, for different players. For me the HSVT-410HLF is a good fit. I just added a TC Electronic RH450 head, to take the place of the Little Mark lll head. The LM lll is a back up to the RH450.

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It is a sound thing, too. The Acoustic is one of the new USA Acoustic 360s, and it manages to project my upright in a way that's amazing to me. It also works with all the different bass guitars. I can get growls, snarls, and pure sounds out of it if I want. The fact that it is easy for me to move, in spite of its weight, means I use it all the time in all kinds of venues. It is pretty amazing how you can dial it up and dial it back to fit the venue. Since it's a folded horn, it can knock down the back wall without being deafening on stage. I don't know why or how that's possible, but it works that way. The people in the front row sure get a face full. We played a gig on an old ferry boat and I ran the upright through it. It almost sounded muted to me, but a friend later told me that it was like getting hit in the chest at the back of the room. The whole place was jumping, so I guess the whole thing about the bass making 'em move was true that night. I never have FOH support, either, so that's the other reason I like this monster so much.

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125 is still enough! I think the new one is a little lighter, but I'm not sure. Since I have both and original and a new one, I should be able to compare them head to head, but they have never been at the same place. The other one that's a complete beast is a 320 head with a 408 cabinet. Since the power section of that one is in the head, the cabinet is quite a bit lighter, but it is still enormous. The size of my amplifiers makes up for all other shortcomings in my life! [biggrin]

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The Power Preamp in the 360, 370 cabs did add some weight. The older heads weighed quite a bit too for solid state heads

 

I lugged around an Acoustic 360 and Power head in a touring band back in the early '70s and I thanked God every day for those wheels on the speaker cabinet! The Amp was not light either! We also lugged around a Hammond B-3 and Leslie cabinet, two Marshall Stacks and PA with EV folded horn speakers, took a full bread truck to haul it around. That's what killed my arms, knees, shoulders, you name it! LOL. This light weight Neo magnet speaker stuff is 30 years too late in my opinion! Don't we all wish we had them back "in the day"?

 

John

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