Markbass LM Tube or Ampeg SVT3-PRO???

[kcducttaper]

Plugged into an Ampeg SVT 410HLF (500w RMS @ 4ohm, 1000w peak).

...and go!

[Endr_rpm]

What style of music? I had the 3pro/HLF combo, too heavy, and the extended low end of the HLF ate up the 3 pros already questionable power rather quickly. Next rig was a LM2 and an Avatar 410NEO. 95% of the low end capability, half the weight (ok, 65%). Still have the LM2, use it with a 2x15 these days for alt rock/americana kind of stuff, and I recently picked up an EBS classic t90 for tubey goodness. The LM2 rides in my gig bag for back up now.

The 3 pros DI was very nice, I will say that. I just did not like the cab, and the relatively low volume for the rated power the amp section put out. YMMV.

[nathantoronto77]

The 3 pro is great, never heard of the Markbass but I tried out the 3 pro recently and I really like it.

[kcducttaper]

Anything from church-y stuff to more rock style. My current head is a 320 watt, so I'd only really gain 3dB of volume, but still.... in the words of Jezzer "POWER!!!"

I've got a 5-stringer (30.8Hz on the B), so my HLF is definitely gonna stay since it's got the best low end I've seen or heard. I might even opt for a MarkBass Tube 800 just to have the headroom.

[Endr_rpm]

Originally Posted by kcducttaper

I've got a 5-stringer (30.8Hz on the B), so my HLF is definitely gonna stay since it's got the best low end I've seen or heard. I might even opt for a MarkBass Tube 800 just to have the headroom.

Just for the sake of argument- You don't actually HEAR nor does any commercial bass cab reproduce the fundamental of the B string. You hear the 1st harmonic an octave up, and your brain fills in the rest. Even Ampegs site states

"Frequency Response (-3dB): 48Hz-18kHz" for the HLF.

IME, the low end you get out of the HLF, because it is coming from porting versus speaker excursion, is wooly and indistinct below F# on the E string. This was with a G&L L2500, US. The same bass played on a Fender 400 Pro 2x10 at church had huge PUNCHY bottom end, same when I switched to the LM2/AVATAR set up.

But that set up still didn't give the fundamental. I have a home built cab with a 3015LF in it, designed as a sub, and it still rolls off. Nature of the beast.

[henryjurstin13]

In another post I was just talking about how I went from an SVT stack to a MarkBass Tube 800 > 410HLF. I'd highly advise towards the MarkBass over the 3 pro...

[kcducttaper]

Any particular reason you like it? I'll be plugging mine into an HLF as well, so I should get a pretty similar tone to yours.

[henryjurstin13]

Originally Posted by kcducttaper

Any particular reason you like it? I'll be plugging mine into an HLF as well, so I should get a pretty similar tone to yours.

Are you kidding?!?!?!?!@ Of course there are reasons I like it!!!!!

Size. Weight. Power. And that one single knob labeled VLE.

The VLE, Variable Loudspeaker Emulator, can really take this amp from sounding hi-fi to sounding very 1970's wooly. Allen Woody is one of my biggest influences on the bass & needless to say, I like that 70's wooly tone! The Solid/Tube MIX knob is very subtle & can be easily overlooked, but I find it really allows the amp room to become snappy or tubey. Or, a "MIX" right in between the two.

Actually, the story went like this:

I was getting tired of lugging around my SVT stack & wanted something smaller I could handle easily all by myself. Walked in to GC to test-drive a LMT800, ended up plugging in to the 410HLF.... knew within 5 minutes that I was about to buy both (but, not that day). Had an old 20% coupon waiting at one of the big online stores & then started searching for deal on a used 410hlf. Found one 12 hours away, worked a deal with a friend in trucking industry, and it rode roughly 750 hundred miles on a flatbed trailer all the way to me. Been enjoying it ever since & BLOW people's minds with the power I get out of such a small rig.

To be perfectly honest, for me there's only been ONE Ampeg head..
the SVT-CL. The 3Pro is cool in it's own ways, but I can get some very cool SVT tones in a third of the weight with my LMT800 & a VT Bass.

[kcducttaper]

That's incorrect to some extent. The average human ear starts picking up as low as 12Hz (in lab situations), and the full range of an ear starts roughly around 20-25Hz. Granted, your brain does do its part by filling in a little bit, and just feeling the floor shake, but you still do hear the fundamental of 30.8Hz.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu...d/earsens.html

All this is assuming no EQ on the cab. Sure if you just plug everything in with your knobs poking straight up, you won't get the fundamental as much and you'll be rolling off at a D, but who does that? I've currently got an EQ on my bass, pedalboard, and head. I also have a rack-mount 31-band EQ if I need it, but it's just not necessary. FYI, the JBL SRX728s is actually rated for slightly lower than the 410HLF.

You are mostly correct in stating that the ports are what gives it more bottom end. The HLF uses the same drivers as the 810's (I believe they're the same in nearly all of the classic series actually). Although just throwing in a couple ports won't do you squat unless you engineer it properly, have the right box volume (size, not loudness), channel the air flow properly, tune it, etc.

[Endr_rpm]

Originally Posted by kcducttaper

That's incorrect to some extent. The average human ear starts picking up as low as 12Hz (in lab situations), and the full range of an ear starts roughly around 20-25Hz. Granted, your brain does do its part by filling in a little bit, and just feeling the floor shake, but you still do hear the fundamental of 30.8Hz.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu...d/earsens.html

All this is assuming no EQ on the cab. Sure if you just plug everything in with your knobs poking straight up, you won't get the fundamental as much and you'll be rolling off at a D, but who does that? I've currently got an EQ on my bass, pedalboard, and head. I also have a rack-mount 31-band EQ if I need it, but it's just not necessary. FYI, the JBL SRX728s is actually rated for slightly lower than the 410HLF.

In that case, I HIGHLY suggest you go with more power than either of the referenced amps. Something in the 800-1000 watt range. In between the LM2 and the 3Pro, I had a Fender 800 pro that moved mountains. ~1200 watts @ 2 ohms, iirc My LM2 is pretty loud, but it does tend to run out of gas when things get super, ie metal, loud.

But if you're playing for worship, that level of volume isn't gonna happen

Originally Posted by kcducttaper

You are mostly correct in stating that the ports are what gives it more bottom end.... etc.

Yeah, the HLF is a well designed cab for what it is. I just do not care for it's sound, or relative lack of portability. For an installation like a church, that last bit is of course irrelevant. Do you mic or DI to FOH? Or just drive the room with the cab?

[kcducttaper]

My current head is rated at 320 watts (bad match, I know - hence the hankering to upgrade) and it gets along just fine for most situations. I think there was only one or two times I had it loud enough to start farting out on the low notes, so 500w 'should' be plenty of power. However, with the intense spikes of wattage amps can dish out when they start to clip, I probably will want some headroom on it. I'm slowly settling on the LM Tube 800, but I have yet to play on one.

I like it quite a lot. Granted I do have a relatively light sounding bass (Ibanez SR755). Now, if I were to plug in a Schecter bass, then yes it would be rather muddy. It is pretty bulky and awkward, but there's not really another option other than NEO and I don't have the budget for that right now.

I've done all 3 before. Typically, I use it for the main bass driver and DI to the subs as fillers because many subs I've played through have some nasty natural frequencies that get annoying. I have mic'd it too.

[CavePassivePedals]

Markbass TTE-500 for the win.

[kcducttaper]

I do like the sound of that one (on youtube). It doesn't fit in a 2-space rack mount though, does it?

[Pyramid City]

I had an SVT III pro head and an HLF cab. Hated it! I still have my HLF cab but now im running and Orange Terror Bass 500 with it and oh man! it wayyy louder and sounds much better as well.

[CavePassivePedals]

Originally Posted by kcducttaper

I do like the sound of that one (on youtube). It doesn't fit in a 2-space rack mount though, does it?

No - I think you can get rack ears for it from Markbass - I expect it would be 3 RU high.