42 TONE ZONE MARK BASS RIG
S
et up by Marco De
Virgiliis, Mark Bass are an
Italian company that we
first looked at, and were very
impressed by, in the November/
December 2004 issue of BGM.
2005 sees a whole new range for
Mark Bass, along with glowing
endorsement from bass icon
Jeff Berlin and a very distinctive
new colour scheme. The aim is
to increase their profile in the
bass community and spread the
gospel, according to Mark, of the
bass variety.
The philosophy behind the
design and construction of Mark
Bass equipment is very clear;
to provide top-quality gear that
meets the needs of professional
bass players everywhere. To meet
these needs they have made the
amps and speakers as compact
and lightweight as possible, and
the amplifier circuitry is “designed
specifically not to colour the
sound of the bass, but to faithfully
reproduce the unique tonal
qualities of whatever instrument
is played through it”. To me this is
an admirable mission statement
and Jeff Berlin says that this
is the best bass amp he’s ever
played through, so let’s see how
it shapes up.
TA503 Head
The TA503 is the highest spec’d
amp Mark Bass offer and has
four bands of semi-parametric
EQ, whereas other amps in the
range only have two parametric
bands that control high and low
mid. There are two valves in the
input stage and a power amp that
delivers 500-watts into 4 ohms, or
300-watts into 8 ohms.
The very first thing to
say about this amp is how
unbelievably light it is - it weighs
only 8.16lbs. The next thing to
say, which is made even more
impressive by the first statement,
is how momentously loud it
is. I used the amp on some
reasonably loud gigs and never
had the volume past 9 o’clock,
which is just past the first of six
markers on the master volume
knob. Now we all know that most
of the volume increase is at the
start of the sweep, but honestly,
turning the master to half way
resulted in earth-shaking bass that
at the very least could loosen a
few fillings! Raw power without
control is of no use to anyone so
it’s good to know that the TA503
isn’t short of control and tone
shaping capability.
On the front panel the TA503
has Passive and Active 1/4” jack
inputs, and an input Gain control
that has a blue LED to indicate
peaking. There is a Line Out level
control that regulates the output
of the rear line out XLR and
another blue Mute LED that can
only be activated via the optional
footswitch.
The EQ section takes the
form of four level and four
frequency selector controls
described as Low, Mid Frequency
Low, Mid Frequency High and
High. The top row takes care
of the level of the selected
frequency with up to 16dB of
boost or cut, and the bottom row
is where you can fine-tune at
what frequency the cut or boost
is applied. Each band has a very
useful, wide range that overlaps
a little with the adjacent control,
giving you a great deal of flexibility
and many tonal possibilities.
The owner’s manual that
comes with the TA503 is very
clear on the use of EQ and its
advice is in keeping with the
overall construction and design
MARK BASS TA503 HEAD
Price: £985
Made in: Italy
Power Output: 300-watts RMS
@ 8ohms, 500-watts RMS @
4ohms
Preamp Type: Tube (1 x ECC81,
1 x ECC83)
Output Stage: Solid-state
Dimensions: 37cm x 8.5cm (2U)
x 30.2 cm
Weight: 3.7kg (8.16lbs)
MARK BASS STANDARD 104HF CAB
Price: £751
Speaker Config: 4x10”
neodymium speakers, 1 x 1”
compression driver with custom
horn
Power Handling: 800-watts RMS
Frequency Response: 35Hz to
20kHz
Dimensions: 59.4cm x 73.9cm
x 48cm
Weight: 29.9kg (65.92lbs)
TA503 HEAD &
STANDARD 104HF CABINET
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