Little Marcus 58R Head | CMC Music | RRP: $1795
A few years ago, Markbass released a series of signature bass heads in collaboration with revered professional bassist Marcus Miller. Like Miller himself, the amps received worldwide acclaim and the whole affair was a raging success. Now, Markbass are ready to go another round with the Little Marcus 58R, a smaller, more lightweight addition to this series of collaborations that may be the finest of them all.
Catch up on all the latest music gear reviews here.
For those uninitiated, Marcus Miller is a multi-instrumentalist and record producer that has worked with the likes of Miles Davis, David Sanborn, Luther Vandross and Grover Washington Jr. He is most widely known for his superb bass playing, having been inspired by legends such as Larry Graham and James Jamerson. A seasoned session player, Miller is deeply respected for his musical prowess, talent as a composer and his expertise in the field of Jazz.
Marcus Miller
A player like Marcus Miller does not rise to the top of the studio session world without packing some seriously good tone, it’s a field in which getting a good sound is right up there with playing ability. So it stands to reason that any amplifier Miller is willing to slap his name on has to be of the highest quality, and the Little Marcus 58R Head proves that to be the case.
Firstly, the visual design of the 58R is seriously cool. Featuring chunky, tactile controls and striking yellow and red graphics, this amp is crying out to be tweaked. Weighing just 2kg, it’s also incredibly light which will be music to the ears of road dogs everywhere. At first glance, the master volume and gain dials are noticeably large, a feature I can imagine being very handy in a live setting when quick adjustments need to be made on the fly, often in fairly dark settings.
Little Marcus 58R
The 58R packs a huge wallop for an amp of its size and weight, coming in at 500 watts. Specifically tuned by Miller to be capable of cutting through a mix in bass-forward musical settings, the 58R benefits from a fairly elaborate set of controls that allows for some serious tone shaping. The front panel is incredibly intuitive, with two exciting EQ sections to choose from.
EQ1 is a straight forward five band EQ with five discrete controls consisting of ultra-low (65Hz), low (100Hz), mid (500Hz), high mid (1.4kHz) and high (6kHz). Each band can be cut or boosted up to 16dB. The EQ2 section, a brand new addition for this amplifier, consists of two filters, the ‘Old School’ filter and the ‘Millerizer’ filter. The Old School Filter is designed for warmer, more vintage tones and the Millerizer is tuned for more aggressive slap-bass sounds. Both the EQ1 and EQ2 sections can be turned on/off with a footswitch, allowing for quick tone changes.
Bass amp
Overall, the Markbass Little Marcus 58R has a warm and natural sound with plenty of definition, punch and dynamics. Markbass have always prioritised quality of tone over all else and that is very evident with this head. The 58R also features a very well designed bi-band limiter, which responds incredibly quickly and dynamically as compared to more traditional limiters, allowing the high end frequencies to breathe for a very natural sound. For those unsure, a bi-band limiter is simply a limiting compressor that affects two frequency bands independently, allowing players to compress low and high frequencies separately to their taste. In the case of the 58R, this allows for a truly quick and punchy attack even at very high volumes, a crucial feature for slap players in particular.
The front panel of the 58R also features a ‘line out’ dial, which fine tunes the amount of DI signal sent out the the mixer/PA as compared to the raw output from the amp, allowing for proper gain to be sent and received. Also featured on the front panel is a convenient mute switch, once again exemplifying the ease of use that was clearly a priority in the design of this amp.
Miller designed this amp, as one would expect from a session player with a diverse body of work, to be capable of attaining any tone that a bass player could possibly need. The five band EQ, paired with the two tone filters, results in an incredibly powerful tone shaping section that can produce a vast array of sounds. The new tactile ridges that Markbass developed for the controls on this amp ensure that any changes can be made very quickly and accurately, an incredibly handy feature for both live and studio scenarios.
Small details such as a clip LED that works in conjunction with the gain control demonstrate the dedication that both Miller and Markbass clearly had when designing this amp, but that fact is most evident in its wonderful sound. Other than being very loud at 500w, the 58R really does sound incredibly rich and balanced, aided by its very musical EQ section. Finally, this monster comes with a high quality gig bag and a very handy footswitch, rounding off the package in style.
Whilst there are now many compact, lightweight bass heads on the market, the Little Marcus 58R stands out as a real winner. Between its powerful, highly tweakable sound and its super intuitive, ergonomic control layout, this amp is a professional bass player’s dream. Whether
you’re familiar with Miller’s work or not, this amp is a great choice for any serious players looking to downsize their rig to something that is easier to travel with, without compromising on tone or output.
Every true musician knows that whether in the studio or playing live, a good bass sound is absolutely crucial to a good mix. What the 58R allows for is genuine fine tuning of your bass sound to ensure you can cut through any mix, no matter what the situation calls for. Ultimately, it’s a bass amp designed with the blessing of one of the greatest and most experienced bassists in the world and let me tell you now, it shows.
For local Markbass enquiries, keep reading at CMC Music.
