Markbass Little Mark II Head

The amp has a fairly simple but very effective EQ, offering Bass, Low Mid, High Mid, High, then two more nobs, one that cuts out highs, and one that boosts lows and highs,.
I find I can get a great tone by leaving everything flat, then tweaking the two last nobs.
Other then that, it is fairly basic. There are two things I think it is lacking, such as a mute switch and a switch that would engage the FX loop, but without that it is still a very nice amp.

The sound quality on this amp is fantastic.
I am playing an Ibanez SR405 - nothing special at all, and this amp makes it sound fantastic.
As I said above, I like to leave the EQ set to flat, then I use the VLE and VPF nobs to quickly switch from rock to funk to disco tones.
I found with my old Traynor amp I would have to playing with my basses bass mid and treb. nobs a bit to get a good sound, but with this amp I leave them flat and give a boost when needed.
It would have been nice to have a second channel on the amp for distortion, but it is not terribly missed.

I have had no problems, but I have only had it for about two months.
I have used it for one show, and practiced with it many times and so far no complaints, but I suppose time will tell.

I have not had to deal with customer support yet, and don't expect to.

I have given solid eights so far and will stick with it.
The amp is lacking one or two things I have stated above, but for under a grand I am not going to complain.
If it were lost or stolen I would probably repurchase it. Before I bought it I tested out many amps, and it was by far my favourite.
The amp fits my wide range of musical styles, and I don't expect I will ever have to purchase another amp.

500W at 4 ohms and 350W at 8 ohms.
1 Channel (solid state) 4 band eq, VLE filter (kinda like tone knob), VPF filter (mid scoop)
Effects Loop, Variable Speed Fan (Super Quiet!!), Tuner Out, DI.

EQ is basic but more than enough for me. The two filter controls are quite wonderful and can be easily used to get 'your' sound without using the EQ.

Two big things missing though, there is no headphone jack and there is DI level control. Both of these would have been very nice to have, also a mute switch would be nice.

Very solidly built and feels very high quality.
Oh and 6 lbs!!!

I play this amp through a markbass travleller 102P cabinet and a passive jazz bass.

The sound of the amp is very clean and natural, no hyped or middy but very natural. It is a fairly bright head which can be a bit much for the average rock/pop songs but that is where the VLE knob comes in. The VLE knob acts in some ways like a very linear tone knob on a bass. Using this to varying degrees softens the top and can get you all sorts of nice thump. I don't find much use for the other filter (VPF) as I never really scoop my mids, but I do find that it seems to be a bit better than the eden enhance knob at not thining out your sound.

The size of the amp can really fool you into thinking that it will sound wimpy. This thing really has tons of punch loads of clean head room. Even when pushing the gain and volume past 3 o clock it never runs out of breath. Always manages to sound punchy and huge in live settings.

I've owned the amp for about 4 months now and it was been gigged and rehearsed regularly. 4 months isn't all that long so its tough to say how it will hold up, but absolutely no problems yet.

I should also mention that even after an hour and a half long set the amp is barely warm to the touch!.

Haven't had to deal with the company at all.

I think that this head is really a breakthrough product. Now it obviously isn't for everyone, but people looking for a naturel but ballsy sound well be very pleased with this amp.
Not to mention that it weighs 6 pounds and is a great deal!

Very versatile amp...very light & confortable to carry on ... i play rock, pop and some soft jazz music... I'love the neutrality of this head. There is a lot of power ready to go out under my finger. ^_^
I use this head linked to a "traveler 102P" 2x10" cabinet and a trace elliot 4x10" cabinet... it's big big sound, clean...i'm very happy whith this head.

It's a very simple unit:
FRONT
1 input (balanced & unbalanced)
1 gain control
4 eq control (low, mid low, mid high & high)
1 VLE filter (vintage loudspeaker emulator)
1 VPF filter (variable pre-shape filter)
1 master out control

BACK
2 speaker out (1 speakon & 1 normal jack)
1 balanced line out (with gnd switch)
1 tuner out
1 effect loop (send/return)
1 quiet cooler fan

no other things necessary...6,3lbs weight!... for a 500w/4Ohm head it's fantastic!

No noise, no distortion, only good sound. I use a couple o self made bass equipped with Bartolini soapbars and Aguilar OBP-3 preamp. From the head and cabinet i hear the quality and the original sound of my instruments...and this is simply wonderful!
The equalization i use is simple...just add a little bit of "bass" and "low mid"... with the VLE and VPF filters i went out my favourite sound..

nothing to add... italian quality ....i feel it from the first switch on...

I have not still used this service and I hope not to use it? ^_^

I have played with Ampeg, Trace Elliot and Hartke head amps... but now i have found what i'm looking for ...for years!!...if stolen i'll purchase another one...i love the simplicity of this head!!

Gain - Very powerful, does not clip very easily!
Low - Subtle, so lots can be used! You don't realise how much you're using till the plaster on your ceiling starts raining down on you...
Low mid - Punchy! Gives my Double Buck 5-string a really nice growl!
High mid - Carrys the overall tone of the bass really nicely
High - Crisp, but I'm running it all through my 2x15 MarkBass cab so
VLE - Cuts the highs and the mids and leaves just bass... Makes the sound warmer and warmer as the knob is turned clockwise
VPF - Boosts the low and the high fequencies simulaneously (we're talking down to 25Hz!)
Master - As the gain is at around 1o'clock I only have to set the Master to around 10% to shake everything around the house!

It does everything you'd need it to do, yet doesn't sport any useless features that are unreliable and will give up on your after 3 gigs...

It makes my bass sound like my bass! My old Warwick TubePath made my bass sound like a Warwick TubePath... If I crank certain knobs and cut others, I get an alternative version to my exsiting sound!

It has a ground lift switch as most amps do nowadays, so there's no hum..

I play reasonably heavy music in a band called A Place Far Away (www.aplacefaraway.co.uk // www.myspace.com/aplacefaraway) and it suits our music by the fact that bass is felt and not heard so much... Just the way I like it! It's SO loud and SO powerful I could never need another amp...

Only had it a little while so after 50-100 gigs I'll let you know!

Never had to use them

I've been playing years and years and this is the best thing since they started to slice bass guitars... I'm really in love with this thing!

Don't get anything else, just get this and you won't regret a thing!

It's TINY too! And if you ask nicely they should give you a free cary case for it (which is DARLING too!)

According to the sticker on the rear panel, my Little Mark II was born in Marcg 2006,
This is a solid state amp which delivers 500 W @ 4 ohm and 300 W @ 8 ohm.

As we are going to see a few lines further, new users may get fooled by the front panel : we are in the era of bells and whistles on so many amps, and this small amp has only 8 knobs, including input and volume levels. So at first sight, some could think this amp is simplistic and limited. As soon as at second sight, they are obviously wrong.

The EQ section has only 4 knobs (lows, lo-mids, hi-mids and highs), but two filters, VLE and VPF, have been added (such as they are now on all MarkBass heads). Explanations a few lines below.

On the front panel, one will notice an XLR balanced input. I did not test it, but it should be useful to amplify electric-acoustic basses, even double basses, or virtually any non-electric bass instrument being miked. Good point !

The rear panel includes 2 speaker connectors (1 x Speakon, 1 x jack), 1 XLR DI output with ground lift switch, 1 send & 1 return for the effects loop, and at last 1 tuner out.

All this is included in a box that is smaller than a Letter standard paper leaf and only weighs a bit over 6 lbs.

Only one channel and no distorsion here, but I personally don't need that. And due to the huge tone I can dial with, I really wonder what I would do better with a second channel and/or a distorsion.

So I brought this little head and linked it to my Ashdown MAG210T cabinet. Plugged my bass, put the power on and adjusted the input level. Being used to turn the volume of my previous head (Ashdown MAG300) up to 3 or 4, I did the same spontaneously with the MarkBass, and two of my walls went tumbling down... Well, actually, this Little Mark II has huge power inside.

Now tilme to start dialing with my tone. First I set all the EQ and filter knobs flat, and start by adjusting the tone on my bass (active). While the amp is set flat, I get some kind of < raw > tone, but the natural sound colour of my bass is there. The definition is excellent. The least detail or element of the sound of my bass goes out through the speaker. We are in the hifi world there, the tone is uncoloured with flat settings, and this give some kind of < organic > feel to the sound of the bass.

Then the search of the Holy Tone really starts. Trying so far not to dial up with EQ, I focus only on the VLE and VPF filters. So, before telling the following of the story, here is a small explanation of what these filters are.

VLE (Vintage Loudspeaker Emulation)
The more you crank it up, the more it will cut the high frequencies, so that you come closer and closer to old school 70's cabs (any Sunn Coliseum or Acoustic 301 owners there ?).

VPF (Variable Pre-Shape Filter)
This filter cuts some mids and simultaneously boosts some lows and highs.

With these two filters, you virtually have a wide range of tones, let's say form Jack Bruce to Marcus Miller. Not exatcly what we can call a restrictive amp !

Back to my tone shaping. Still with the EQ set flat, cranking the VPF a bit, then another bit on the VLE, and you know what ? Didn't take two minutes until I reached MY tone, the one I has in mind for so long.

Can't say at this time. Got it 15 days ago. But seems solid and well built.

Didn't have to deal with them.

I play all kinds of music, since I am hired in some music bands of all sorts in the South of France. My main (and currently < only >) bass is a Fender American Deluxe Jazz Bass 5-string.

Besides its very light weight, this amp is stunning in the versatility department. Except maybe bass players who require tubes and/or drive, I can hardly figure out this amp wouldn't fit your needs. Did not have the opportunity to try it with a passive bass, though.

One of the best amps on the market, at a very reasonable price. For me, the best amp I've ever played through. No more, no less. Congrats MikeBass !

I think this is a 2005 model as in the other reviews.
It has great tonal possibilities with 4 Eq and 2 Eq shapers.
It has all the features I need and more.
More than enough power to play gigs and also super light and compact. It is in essence it is a no b****** amp that will not be surpassed in simplicity and performance.

No noise from head and the fan in the back of the unit is super quiet.
The tweeter in one of my cabs emits a tiny hiss but is easily removed with a slight cut to the high Eq.
I dont blame this on the head but rather the lack of control on the cab 8^)
This amp has no distortion channel BUT after you hear how good your bass sounds clean you will leave that to the guitarists anyway.
Let them envy your tone.
I get the most perfect silky tone out of my P bass with flats on it.
I am sure this thing will produce any tone a bass player could wish for.

All good so far with and doubt it ever will give me trouble.
It has auto breakers which are always good in times of trouble.

I sent support an Email which was quickly replied to providing information I required. Riccardo at Mark Bass is super friendly and very proud of his product, as he should. These ARE the best thing on the market and will gain more recognition as time passes, you just wait and see.

Another glowing review that truley represents the quality and performance of the head and it's producer.
These things are this good, try one for yourself and see.
If stolen I would beg, borrow, steal and work lots of overtime to build the money for another, better still I am getting insurance on it soon 8^)
Nothing is Perfect maybe but Mark Bass is as good as it gets and I'm yet to see ANY negative to this product.

I think it must be the latest model (2005). The main features that interested me were (in this order): 1. Light weight (under 3KG!!!!!), 2. Power (300-500w!!!!!!), and 3. Tone (it's a very sort of "pure" sounding amp).

The bass I play is a passive custom Fender Jazz style bass, and I use various effects including distortion, flanger, phaser and also a compressor. The sound of this amp is really stunning compared to other amps I have used (including Trace Elliot, Gallien Krueger, Peavey), and is light years ahead of them in my opinion. The other amps mentioned I find add their own sound, whereas this amp seems to just amplify the sound of the bass. The amp does have a couple of interesting "EQ-based" effects (VPF and VLF) which can give you a very dub-reggae or wiry punk rock type sound at the flick of the wrist.

The amp is dead quiet regardless of how I set the EQ - any noise is usually from my bass's pickups which are unshielded. Can't blame the amp for that.

The music I play is reggae / ska / rock / punk and this amp cuts through and definitely lets the character of my bass shine through. My guitarist and drummer have both commented on how good my bass sounds. This amp sounds great and I reckon is versatile enough to give you whatever sound you are after.

I haven't had any issues so far (had the amp for maybe about 1 month now). It feels like quite a solid little amp, although only time will tell how reliable Markbass gear is, especially since I hear the company is relatively new. Still, I have no reason to doubt that reliability will be anything less than excellent.

No issues so far

This amp has completely revolutionised my attitude towards bass amplification. Before I used to turn up to rehearsals knowing that the quality of my sound would be determined by the quality of whatever bass amp happened to be supplied with the room. Now I simply put this amp in to my laptop bag and take it to every rehearsal. Same with gigs. Amazing power and sound quality all in a compact light weight package. Brilliant work Markbass. I've been so impressed that I have just ordered a Markbass Traveler 102p 2x10 (only 15KG!!!!!). I tried one in the shop with my Little Mark 2 and bought it on the spot. I figure that this light weight, miniature 300w 'rig' will kick butt in all but the largest gigs. I have a mesa 15" that I can always throw in the mix to get the full 500w if I really need it. Apologies for giving such a glowing review, but I really can't think of anything bad to say about this amp!

This amp is the 2005 model of little mark I the Amp delivers 300W at 8 ohm and 500W at 4 ohm 1 speakon power output 1 jack power output 1 tuner out and a effect send return
with a weight of 2,7 Kg.
I used it with a 2.5xl Hartke cab or with a 4.5xl cab or all two togheter with a power of 500W

I use generally active pick-ups such as MEC or EMG
I play a lot of music styles and it was every time great and loud enough from a little pub to a very big gig
It has lot of sounds with not so much difficulties to obtain them.

I think the best bass amp that i ever had ( and i had Ampeg -
Hartke - Trace elliot and others )I changed a lot of amps because i was contant in search of the natural sound of my custom basses)

30 consecutive gigs without a problem and a quiet operation
2 years garantie no problems and they are helpfull for every question ( from a amp problem to any sound regulations)

I made a lot of comparing tests (with My Hartke HA 3500 my Ampeg svt pro and a swr( of one of my friends) such as Spectrum analisys of different riffs recorded with my loop station,many effects and repoduced and recorded with a professional mic and the results where great the little Mark II has the best spectrum ( punchy and round basses clear and rocking mids and cristal clear highe with a easy to use controls ( maybe a baby can repoduce great sound from it )I played with the little mark I and i said Horrible in comparison with the Hartke 3500 but now i said a weight of 2,7 Kg and 500 w of power at 4 ohm Great!!!
If it were stolen or lost, i would buy it again.
Sorry for my perfect opinion about this product but if jeff berlin can say that mark bass produces the bet amps on the market why i can't do the same ??????