Markbass Mini CMD 121P

[spencer]

Well now that I have a 8x10.... Im looking for a smaller combo for practice [leaving the 8x10 at church] and I was intrested in one of these new markbass amps. I played this combo at guitar center and liked it, I also liked the walkabout but can't believe the cost of it, and I think the markbass is going to be very close..

Anyone know the cost of it? They didn't have the price on it at guitarcener and I forgot to ask....

[oddjob]

Think the 121 is around 750 or so - I know the 102 is 999

[universe777]

I wanted to take a second to write and see if anyone else here has been using one of those 121p's. I've been eyeing up the one they have at my local GC and ended up demo'ing it twice. (I love the sales staff at the Lancaster PA GC. I was funking & fingerstyling away quietly and the asst. manager came over and turned it almost all the way up - just to prove it could take it without blowing itself up, awesome!)

I am totally sold on the sound and headroom this amp has. The only thing that has stopped me from pulling the trigger is I haven't heard anything about the durability of speaker/cab and the warrenty. I looked on Markbass' site and I could not find any information pertaining to the warrenty, more specifically if it covered speaker overexcursion.

I'm sure the speaker has been perfectly matched to the amp, but I do play an active bass and because of the amps size (1x12) I would probably end up running it at around 50-70% capacity in order to sit with the band I'm in. When I had started Demo'ing the amp I had the volume around 2 or 3 and depending on the eq dialed in on my bass...that speaker was really moving, like whoa, maybe a 1/2 of excursion. When the manager encouraged me to really open it up the amp still sounded rock solid-but it was scary to watch the speaker for the 1 or 2 minutes that I had it at that volume. I was so afraid it was going to blow!

Has anyone on the forum been using one of these for gigs long term? Do you see any problems with the life of the speaker? Again, I know the guys are MB are top notch and I'm sure this amp can handle the volumes. I know seeing is believing, but man...an combo amp that small putting out that kind of volume and clean headroom just defys everything I've known to be true in the world of bass amps.

-=Backstory=-
Currently I am using a 78lbs. 1x15 Hartke. The old 2115 combo. Hate the sound and Hate the weight.

[universe777]

bump...I hated to do that, but I can't find any info anywhere on the details of the warrenty, even on the "other" forum...I'm hoping someone here has been using one and can help out.

[mynan]

The warranty used to be through GC...3 year replacement. Not sure if that's changed.

[universe777]

Thanks Mynan! I was asking them about it at the store, and currently they are offering 2 years coverage, but they couldn't get a written warrenty I could look at and scrutinize the coverage details. My main concern is if any damage would occur due to over excursion of that single 12 inch speaker, my gut would say that all bets are off then and MB/GC wouldn't cover that repair.

In an ideal world the speaker would be able to handle enough that it could take anything the combo head could throw at it, but I think we all know sometimes that isn't the case. Especially since I would be playing an active bass through it with the combo/head volume running about 50-70% capacity. My style is such that I never play with a pick and I constantly switch between fingerstyle and poppin' and funkin'.

In general, anyone who has had extended playing time with MB 12 inch speakers, do you feel comfortable with extended sessions when your head is almost running at full capacity? I'm ready to pull the trigger, but I'm not gonna let myself do it until I'm convinced that I wouldn't be throwing 800 dollars away..

[adouglas]

I bought one of these last night. Partly because I decided I "need" a small, simple practice amp, but mostly because I had some GAS pains.

The current GC promo (12 months zero-interest financing, a free -- and decent quality -- 18 foot cable, and a six-month subscription to Bass Player) sealed the deal for me.

One bonus that I wasn't aware of until I looked closely at it... it's not just the guts of the LMII in there. It's a whole LMII that's just bolted into the cabinet. Remove four screws and you've got a standalone head.

So far I'm liking it a lot... it's doing just what I need it to do and if for some whacked-out reason I ever need to gig with it, I can always add a bigger cabinet or remove the LMII head and use it with a different cab.

[57fenderjazz]

Very cool of them to put an actual head that can be removed. Now that has caused me to gas!

[mynan]

Interesting...I was under the impression that if you removed the head it had everything except the top.

[adouglas]

Originally Posted by mynan

Interesting...I was under the impression that if you removed the head it had everything except the top.

Okay, that may well be the case. I haven't actually taken the thing out and was basing what I wrote on the weird placement of the back panel jacks... if it were only the guts in there, I would have expected the back panel to be different. As it is, it looks like the amp was just slid into the cabinet from the top.

Guess I'll yank it tonight and see what the deal is.

[57fenderjazz]

Unslide it and let us know.

[universe777]

According to the FAQ on the markbass site the head cannot safetly be removed because the electronic components are exposed. So while it "is" the same head - it's not intended for stand alone use due to the rick of electrocuting yourself. I also belive it said removing it voids the warrenty...I HOPE YOU SEE THIS BEFORE YOU PULL IT OUT!!!!

I have the feeling their might be a "seal" or tab that you inadvertantly break when you pull it out that will alert them to the head having been pulled out of the cab if it ever needs service.

[phat5]

Originally Posted by universe777

Thanks Mynan! I was asking them about it at the store, and currently they are offering 2 years coverage, but they couldn't get a written warrenty I could look at and scrutinize the coverage details. My main concern is if any damage would occur due to over excursion of that single 12 inch speaker, my gut would say that all bets are off then and MB/GC wouldn't cover that repair.

In an ideal world the speaker would be able to handle enough that it could take anything the combo head could throw at it, but I think we all know sometimes that isn't the case. Especially since I would be playing an active bass through it with the combo/head volume running about 50-70% capacity. My style is such that I never play with a pick and I constantly switch between fingerstyle and poppin' and funkin'.

In general, anyone who has had extended playing time with MB 12 inch speakers, do you feel comfortable with extended sessions when your head is almost running at full capacity? I'm ready to pull the trigger, but I'm not gonna let myself do it until I'm convinced that I wouldn't be throwing 800 dollars away..

777, are you using a 4 banger or a 5''r when testing this amp? I demoed one last week, and even with the amp and my Bongo 5 set flat, the B string caused the spkr to "fart". I had to back off the mids on the amp to control it. I'm thinking it could be opperator error? I didn't spend enough time with it.....but it did sound good.

[adouglas]

Heh... shame on me for not doing my homework.

The FAQ says:

No, the combos are not designed to allow the removal of the head from these combos. For one reason, the head is without a top inside the combo, and removal will expose you to the possibility of electric shock.

Any user modification of the combo will also void your warranty.

I seriously doubt there's any kind of anti-tampering seal that would trigger upon head removal. Why bother with the cost and added assembly steps when the amp is obviously nothing more than a LMII? That last line smacks of plain old CYA legalese.

The very first amp I ever played through, back before the Earth had finished cooling, was a Fender Bassman that had been pulled out of its cabinet. Just a bare chassis. I got a few zaps off it. I didn't know at the time (hey, I was a teenager) that the voltages and amperage in a tube amp can easily kill you if you touch the wrong thing (volts hurt, amps kill). This is what they're trying to avoid.

It'd be a near-trivial matter to make your own cover, but I've got no reason to pull the head anyway.

At least now I don't have to go find my metric hex wrenches....

[universe777]

Originally Posted by phat5

777, are you using a 4 banger or a 5''r when testing this amp? I demoed one last week, and even with the amp and my Bongo 5 set flat, the B string caused the spkr to "fart". I had to back off the mids on the amp to control it. I'm thinking it could be opperator error? I didn't spend enough time with it.....but it did sound good.

I'm using a 4 banger...I'll lovingly call it the "buddy 4" thats running off a 9 volt system (so it's probably not as hot as your bongo). Do you remember where you had the volume set on the amp? Did you dial down the drive on the amp until the clipping light stopped? I'm just curious because I think this might really be the amp for me, I just cant afford to spend 800ish if it might not be durable enough to handle all the low end we throw around.

How did you feel about the excursion on the speaker...that thing really moves, huh?! Did it make you worry too? The more I think about how much that speaker looks like it wants to jump right out of the cab I just keep telling myself to have faith in MB's engineering.