Markbass Blackline Little Mark 250 Review – Proven Performance At Reasonable Prices

Controls:
Features:
Performance:
Value:

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Markbass is another very famous name in the bass amplification business. Their solutions are often times compact yet powerful. The one we are looking at today fits that description perfectly. It is a lightweight head that is very mobile but capable of moving some serious air. If you are trying to find a good, balanced bass amp head at a reasonable price, this one is among the best bass amps currently available. Lets take a closer look and see what it has to offer.

Controls

One of the inherent traits of Markbass amps is their pretty intuitive control layout. Little Mark 250 from the Blackline series follows this ideology pretty closely as well. Going from left to right, we see the gain knob clearly marked in yellow. Next comes a four-band EQ, with mid low and mid high controls. What comes next are the VLE and VPF knobs. VLE stands for Vintage Loudspeaker Emulator while VPF stands for Variable Pre-shape Filter. Each of these cut the frequency and set a specific center frequency. Lastly, we have the master level control as well as line out level knob. Even though the controls look fairly simple, what we have listed above is pretty much all you need to dial in a killer tone.

Features

As its name says, this head is capable of producing some 250 Watts of power @ 4 ohms. On the other hand, if you are hooking it up to an 8 ohm setup, you will get 150 Watts RMS. The whole idea behind the Blackline series was to offer the user a relatively inexpensive way to get that awesome Markbass tone. In many ways, this head succeeds in doing exactly that. Simple to use, Little Mark 250 brings just the right amount of versatility to satisfy both casual and professional demands. In addition to everything we've mentioned so far, there is a built in FX loop as well as a tuner output in the back. Markbass also included a pre and post EQ switch as well as a ground lift switch.

Performance

In terms of performance, Markbass Blackline Little Mark 250 comes across as a perfect choice for a practice/studio amp. It has enough power to serve as a light gigging setup, although using it in larger venues may leave you somewhat underpowered. What this head does well is tone quality. Thanks to their four-band EQ that is expanded with VPF and VLE, you can dial more refined and niche tone configurations. On top of that, the intuitive nature of the controls allow you to rather quickly get familiarized with the head. Considering what it offers and the price we are asked to pay for one, Markbass Blackline Little Mark 250 is by far one of the more competitive mid range heads out there.

Conclusion

Finding a relatively powerful bass amp head that isn't full of compromises is harder than it sounds. Markbass is one of the few brands out there who offer a decent solution. While it might lack power to be used on stage, Markbass Blackline Little Mark 250 is one potent little amp that brings the core of Markbass tone to those on a budget.

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