bassmagazine.com ; ISSUE 4 ; BASS MAGAZINE 91
SPECS
LITTLE MARK VINTAGE
Street $800
Pros Legit vintage tones, beauti-
ful aesthetics, tube preamp
Cons No onboard mute switch
Bottom Line The Little Mark Vin-
tage is a compact but powerful
amp with classic tones and styl-
ish looks.SPECS
Inputs ¼"; 500kΩ
Outputs ¼", Speakon; xlr
balanced DI out (600Ω);
¼" tuner out
Effect loop Unbalanced; return
impedance 33kΩ
Front-panel controls Gain
(–46dB–+23dB), master volume,
DI level, limiter (0–max), 3-way
flat/cut/old switch
Rear-panel controls Ground-lift
switch, pre/post EQ switch
EQ Low, ±16dB @ 68Hz; low mid,
±16dB @ 400Hz; high mid, ±16dB
@ 2.2kHz; high, ±16dB @ 10kHz
Power 500 watts rms @ 4Ω, 300
watts rms @ 8Ω
Weight 5.5 lbs
Dimensions 10.87" x 3.27" x 9.84"Made in Italy
Contact markbass.itall the lights in my studio to check
it out, and I wasn’t disappointed.
True, how an amp looks matters lit-
tle when compared to how it sounds,
but I like rigs that look good on stag-
es small enough where the audience
can check out your gear. The soft or-
ange glow of the input jack and pre-
amp tube looks great.
With “Vintage” in the amp’s
name, I felt that it was only fair to
test out the head with my ’76 Fend-
er Jazz Bass, so I hooked the head up
to an Aguilar GS 410 (a 4Ω cabinet).
I began with the EQ settings at 12:00
and the 3-way front-panel tone-selec-
tor switch set to old, which is where
I left it for most of the testing. I tried
out the flat and cut settings, but I
enjoyed the tone created by the old
setting most, at least for this bass.
It offered plenty of bottom, yet still
sounded clear and crisp on the top
when I played funk-style lines. The
tone overall is as promised: warm,
full, and traditional in vibe.
A few other front-panel controls
offer features that go beyond the usu-
al options. The limiter provides play-
ers the rare option to vary the amount
of this effect, although I preferred it
either all the way on (for a modern,
clean tone) or all the way off (for that
vintage-style distortion). I also appre-
ciated the DI-level option, for those
times when you want to regulate how
much signal you are sending to the
front of house; I’ve played small clubs
where that mattered to the sound en-
gineer. The front-panel footswitch
option, fsw, can be used with the
Markworld Footswitch Dual for mut-
ing the amp and/or engaging/disen-
gaging the 4-band EQ. Herein lies my
only issue with the amp: I prefer an
amp to have an onboard mute option.
I don’t want to have to attach a pedal
to the amp to mute it. The Little Mark
Tube amp has a “pull to mute” option
built into the master volume knob,
so I wondered why that isn’t offered
here. It would be great to see it added
on later versions.
Whereas the name of this amp
implies it was designed for players
looking for an old-school tone and
vibe, rest assured it can deliver for
modern-genre players, as well. For
part of the test, I plugged in my Al-
leva-Coppolo LM-4 with active elec-
tronics, which I use for a variety of
modern-style gigs, and I was quite
pleased with the results. Still, if you
are like me and still have your re-
cord player in use, have vintage in-
struments in your arsenal, and think
James Jamerson and Chuck Rainey
should be declared national heroes,
then you will surely want to give the
Little Mark Vintage a test spin. It will
take you back musically to a place
that inspires us all. l