Markbass TA 503 User Manual
v. 23.june.2008
owner’s manual Ta501 ~ Ta503 ~ Tsa500
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Cold Hot
Pub Stadium
TUBE FIRE
SOLID STATE GAS BASSLINE OUT INTIMITY LEVELVINTAGYZER
MASTER BOOM
FUNKYZER
PRIVATE
TOO MUCH!
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1. INTRODUCTION
Congratulations on purchasing one of the world’s best bass ampliers! Markbass amps are built to the highest standards by a small team of skilled technicians in San Giovanni Teatino, Italy.
We have spent many years researching not only the highest-quality technologies for bass amp design and construction, but also the practical needs of the working bassist. The end result is a
product that combines outstanding sound quality with intuitive features, attractive design and extreme reliability—all in one impossibly lightweight unit. This amp will allow your instrument
to speak in its natural voice, faithfully conveying your musical ideas to your audience with stunning clarity.
Your amplier has passed rigorous product testing and should survive even the toughest of environments on the road, in clubs, rehearsal halls and concert stages. Nonetheless, please treat it
with care and you will be rewarded with many, many years of glorious, rich, powerful bass tone!
If the clarity and power of this amp inspire you to play better music, we will have succeeded in our mission. Good luck and enjoy your new best friend!
Sincerely, Markbass
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1.1 A WORD FROM MARCO DE VIRGILIIS
When I began to develop the Markbass concept in Italy several years ago I had one objective in mind: to produce a top-quality bass amp that would meet the needs of profes-
sional bass players everywhere. I wanted my amps to be compact and lightweight, yet able to handle the low frequencies that today’s four, ve and six string passive and active
basses are capable of producing. Thanks to modern technology and the availability of high-quality components like low-prole toroidal transformers, neodymium speakers and
so on, I was able to accomplish this.
The Markbass amplier circuitry is designed specically not to color the sound of the bass but to faithfully reproduce the unique tonal qualities of whatever instrument is played
through it. I have worked very closely with many high-prole professional bass players around the world to ne-tune the Markbass product line.
I am condent that the Markbass line of amps and cabinets is now ready to satisfy the needs of bass players all over the world.
Thanks for choosing Markbass; I hope you will nd your new amp to be an inspiring upgrade to your sound!
We encourage you to use your Markbass gear in all kinds of musical situations-and please help us to continue developing our products by sending your comments
to info@markbass.it.
And above all, enjoy the music.
Marco De Virgiliis
MARKBASS - ITALY
www.markbass.it
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2. IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
1) Read these instructions;
2) Keep these instructions;
3) Heed all warnings;
4) Follow all instructions;
5) Do not use this apparatus near water;
6) Clean only with dry cloth;
7) Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions;
8) Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including ampliers) that produce heat;
9) Do not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized or ground-type plug. A polarized plug has two blades with one wider than the other. A grounding type plug has two blades and a third grounding prong.
The wide blade or the third prong are provided for your safety. If the provided plug does not t into your outlet, consult an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet;
10) Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched, particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from the apparatus;
11) Only use attachments/accessories specied by the manufacturer;
12) Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of time;
13) Refer all servicing to qualied service personnel. Servicing is required when the apparatus has been damaged in any way, such as when the power-supply cord or plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen
into the apparatus, or when the apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate normally, or has been dropped;
14) “Warning: to reduce the risk of re or electric shock, do not expose this apparatus to rain or moisture; and objects lled with liquids, such as vases, should not be placed on this apparatus”;
15) The socket outlet shall be installed near the equipment and shall be easily accessible;
16) The power cord must be unplugged prior to servicing.
2. PRÉCAUTIONS D’EMPLOI
1) Lire ces instructions;
2) Conserver ces instructions;
3) Suivre tous les conseils d’utilisations;
4) Suivre toutes les instructions;
5) Ne pas utiliser cet appareil au bord de l’eau;
6) Nettoyer uniquement avec un chion humide;
7) Ne pas bloquer le système de ventilation. Installer conformément aux instructions du fabricant;
8) Ne pas installer l’appareil près d’une source de chaleur tel qu’un radiateur, un fourneau, ou bien un autre appareil qui produit de la chaleur;
9) Ne pas modier le système de sécurité de la che polarisée ou de de la che pour les prises de terre. Une che polarisée a deux broches, l’une étant plus distante de l’autre. Une che pour prise de terre a deux broches et
une pointe pour la masse. La broche plus distante et la pointe pour la masse ont été installées pour votre sécurité. Si la che fournie de rentre pas dans votre prise de courant consulter un électricien pour la substitution;
10) Protéger le cordon d’alimentation an qu’il ne soit pas piétiné ou écrasé tout particulièrement au niveau des ches, des prises de courant femelles, et des parties qui sortent de l’appareil;
11) Utiliser uniquement les accessoires recommendés par le fabricant;
12) Ne pas branché l’appareil en cas d’orage accompagné d’éclairs. Le débrancher en cas de non utilisation prolongée;
13) S’adresser à un service assistance agréé si l’appareil a subi des dommages, si le cordon d’alimentation ou la che a été endommagé, si un liquide a été renversé sur l’appareil ou bien si un object est tombé dans l’appareil,
si ce dernier a été exposé à la pluie ou à l’humidité, s’il ne fonctionne pas correctement ou s’il est tombé;
14) “Avertissant: pour réduire le risque du feu ou de décharge électrique, n’exposez pas cet appareil à la pluie ou l’humidité et les objets remplis de liquides; tels que des vases, ne devraient pas être placés sur cet appareil”;
15) La prise de courant doit être installée près de l’appareil et doit être facilement accessible;
16) La che principale doit être débranchée avant toute opération d’entretien.
MORE INFORMATION
For warrantee and service information, please contact your local Markbass distributor (contact information available at www.markbass.it). For more technical information, please visit us at www.markbass.it and ll out the form on the
Contact Us page. We hope you enjoy your amp and use it to make great music!
“The Lightning Flash with arrowhead symbol within an equilateral triangle, is intended to alert the
user to the presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage” within the product enclosure that may be of
sucient magnitude to constitute a risk of shock to persons.”
“The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user
to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions
in the literature accompanying the product.”
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3. TA501 PRODUCT OVERVIEW
The Markbass TA501 is a high-quality bass amplier with a tube compressor, a solid state preamp and an analog power amp, which delivers 500W of power into a 4 ohm cabinet (or two 8 ohm cabinets), or 300W
into an 8 ohm cabinet.
3.1 TA501 FRONT PANEL
INPUT
The input jack can be used for both passive and active basses.
GAIN and MASTER
There are two knobs on the front panel of the TA501 that control the volume of your bass. The GAIN (2) control determines how much signal is passed through the preamp stage of the unit, which includes the
compressor, equalization and the eects loop. The MASTER (18) volume regulates how much output comes out of the power amp into your cabinet. If playing through the amp causes the blue “CLIP” (3) light to turn
on at all, you should turn down the GAIN (2) control to avoid distortion. When you rst plug into the amp, start with the GAIN (2) and MASTER (18) controls set at their lowest levels, in other words turned all the way
counter-clockwise. Then, turn your instrument’s volume up to its full level and play as hard as you do in your most aggressive moments, and turn up the GAIN (2) control until the blue light starts illuminating. Next,
back o on the GAIN (2) just enough so that the light stays o as you play. This method will result in the optimal gain setting for the bass you’re playing. Dierent basses have dierent output levels, mostly depending
on their pickups-and in the case of active basses, the instrument’s onboard preamp and EQ settings. Once you’ve set the GAIN (2) level, use your MASTER (18) knob to control the volume of your bass.
COMPRESSOR
The TA501 features a tube compressor equipped with one ECC81 tube, made by JJ Electronics in the Slovak Republic. The COMP RATIO knob controls the ratio of gain reduction applied to the signal. When this knob
is turned all the way to the left, the compression ratio is 1:1-in other words, the compressor is o. When turned all the way up (clockwise), the compression ratio is innity to one (1). At this setting the compressor is
acting as a limiter. The attack and release variables have been carefully preset to the optimal settings for bass guitar. Compression evens out the sound of your playing by reducing its dynamic range. The more you
compress, the more the loudest peaks of your playing are brought down in volume and prevented from “jumping out” too much. In combination with boosting volume, this allows you to “sound louder” overall. But
if overused, compression can make your playing sound unnatural, choked and less expressive. As with EQ, the best policy is to add it gradually and sparingly, listening carefully to the eect it’s having. Most players
will nd that they rarely need to turn the compressor knob past 9 or 10 o’clock.
LINE OUT
This LINE OUT (5) knob controls the volume level of the rear LINE OUT XLR (28), which is connected to the mixing console in live or studio situations.
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EQUALIZATION
Markbass amps are designed to faithfully reproduce the natural sound of your bass. If you have a good instrument, very little equalization (EQ)—if any—should be required. Bass guitars produce a surprisingly wide
range of frequencies—from extremely low frequencies that are more felt than heard, to extremely high frequencies that pass through your cabinet’s tweeter and are barely audible to the human ear.
As you experiment with your EQ settings, you will notice that all the dierent frequency ranges play essential roles in making up your bass tone:
LOW frequencies constitute music’s sonic foundation—they give power to your sound, physically resonating your listeners’ bodies (and yours!), sometimes even causing people to move and dance!
LOW MIDs (“MF LOW” or Mid Frequency Low) make your bass sound loud, projecting the sound over long distances, “lling the room.”
HIGH MIDs (“MF HIGH” or Mid Frequency High) convey the pitch of the notes that you play. Clarity of this range ensures that the melodies in your bass lines are heard. If detail is missing in this range, your melodic
contribution to the music will suer.
HIGH frequencies carry the percussive content of your playing—the attack of your notes, the sound of your nger or pick passing over the string, fret noise, and in the case of slap bass, the “tick” noise produced when
the strings bounce o the frets.
If any one of these frequency ranges is neglected or poorly represented by your amp, you are not hearing an accurate representation of the sound that your bass is generating. Since the TA501 has been designed to
give you clear, detailed and musical sound at all frequencies, when the amp is set “at”—with all EQ knobs at 12 o’clock—you should hear a very true mirror of the sound of your bass.
However, the following circumstances will require you to use equalization:
1. The signal from your bass is lacking output level in one of the frequency ranges described above.
2. The room or venue you’re playing in has poor acoustics and excites a certain frequency. For example, if you’re playing on a hollow stage, certain low frequencies may sound disproportionately
loud or out of control, and you may notice that every time you play a certain note, it sounds much louder than all the others. In these cases the oending frequency needs to be identied and reduced.
3. You’re seeking to alter the basic sound of your instrument in order to achieve a particular musical eect.
Equalization should be treated as ne-tuning. Spend some time listening to your bass through the amp with all the EQ controls in the neutral (12 o’clock) position before you start changing the settings. You’re likely
to need little or no equalization!
However, if and when equalization is required, you will nd this amp’s EQ to be powerful and impressively detailed.
The LOW EQ (7) control on the TA501 is set to a center frequency of 40 Hz. This means that it either boosts or cuts the volume of the frequencies around 40 Hz, to a maximum of 16 decibels.
The LOW-MID (MF LOW) (8) and HIGH-MID (MF HIGH) (10) controls are semi-parametric EQs. This means you have more specic control over what frequency you boost or cut. The knobs on the bottom row, MF LOW
(8) and MF HIGH (10), determine the center frequency of the range to be controlled. The knobs above, MF LOW LEVEL (9) and MF HIGH LEVEL (11), determine how much the frequency area selected will be turned
up or down, again to a maximum of 16 decibels. The HIGH EQ (12) control boosts or cuts the frequencies around 4.5 kHz, by as much as 16 decibels. The Q on this EQ (the range of frequency controlled) is quite wide,
spanning from about 2 kHz to about 30 kHz. If you need to reduce an oensive frequency using the semi-parametric EQ controls, start by turning the EQ’s LEVEL knob counter-clockwise (usually this will be in the
low-mids)—try around the 9 or 10 o’clock position. Play the note on your bass that sounds out of control. Then gradually turn the MF LOW (8) knob or MF HIGH (10) knob if the frequency is higher until you notice the
annoying sound go away. Unfortunately bad room acoustics can be very hard to compensate for... but you’ll nd that the EQ on this amplier is detailed and powerful enough that you should be able to ne tune
your amp to sound great anywhere!
VLE and VPF FILTERS
The TA501 amplier features two magic knobs that alter the equalization of your bass signal with specially formulated musical results. Most players use these controls more than the EQ since they were designed
specically to meet the practical needs of bassists.
The VLE (14) (Vintage Loudspeaker Emulator) lters out high frequencies to give you a mellower, less modern sound. As you turn the knob clockwise, you will nd that a wider and wider range of high frequencies
gets cut (see page 11 for a graph of this lter’s function). This EQ eect is especially useful for acoustic and older styles of music.
The VPF (15) (Variable Pre-shape Filter) boosts lows (around 35 Hz) and highs (around 10 kHz), and cuts mids at 380 Hz. This lter has very powerful uses for rock music and is also a favorite of many slap bass players
(see page 11 for a graph of this lter’s function).
Again, we recommend you start o with these lters in the o position, and dial them in gradually to discover what eect they have. Explore them separately rst—but you may nd that using both in combination
can lead to some very appealing and musical results!
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3.2 TA501 REAR PANEL
SPEAKER OUT
The TA501 can be connected to one or two speaker cabinets using either 1⁄4” speaker cables (do not use instrument cables) or speakon speaker cables. The two high-quality Neutrik SPEAKON COMBO jacks (22) (23)
are designed to accept either of these connection types. The TA501 delivers 300W of power into an 8 ohm cabinet (or two 8 ohm cabinets), or 500W into a 4 ohm cabinet.
LINE OUT
The balanced XLR (28) output allows you to connect your amplier directly to a mixing console (either in live situations or in a recording studio) without the need of a DI box. Simply connect a standard XLR cable
from this output to the soundboard/mixing console, or a snake connected to the board/console. If the soundman/engineer needs more or less signal from you, simply turn the front panel LINE OUT (16) control up
or down as necessary.
PRE EQ / POST EQ
This SWITCH (24) determines whether the signal that leaves the LINE OUT XLR (28) is aected by your amplier’s EQ settings (including the VLE and VPF lters) or not. In most cases, you will nd that sound engineers
prefer to receive a pre-EQ signal. Note that the line out signal includes whatever eects you’ve connected through the eects loop.
GROUND LIFT
Occasionally when you’re playing live and using the LINE OUT (28), the soundman will detect a hum from your amp’s signal. This is almost always due to a grounding problem related to your power source; you will
likely eliminate this hum simply by ipping the GROUND LIFT (29) switch.
TUNER OUT
The TUNER OUT (25) is an unbalanced signal that can be sent to a tuner, allowing you to tune as you play without passing your signal through pedals, which can degrade the quality of your signal. You can also use
this output to send your signal on to another amp, or any kind of recording unit that doesn’t require a balanced signal.
EFFECT SEND AND RETURN
If you use eect pedals or rack gear, you can route them through the SEND EFFECT (27) and RETURN EFFECT (26) on the rear panel of the amp. The eects loop is wired in parallel—this means that if something
happens to your eects chain (a battery dies or a cable gives out, for example) while you’re playing, you will not lose your main signal. If desired, however, the eects loop can be easily modied by authorized service
personnel to operate in series.
FOOTSWITCH
The TA501’s optional footswitch has two on/o switches. One is a mute control that interrupts the output signal from your amp, but allows it through to a tuner, should you have one plugged into the rear panel. This
is handy if you need to tune discreetly during live performances. The other switch bypasses your EQ and lter settings. Blue LEDs (6) (13) on the front panel illuminate when these switches are turned “on”.
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4. TA501 TECHNICAL DETAILS
INPUTS
INPUT impedance: 500 Kohm, max. voltage: 9 Vpp
RETURN EFFECT impedance: 33 Kohm, max. voltage: 12 Vpp
CONTROLS
GAIN –80 dB to +25 dB range
COMPRESSOR RATIO min. 1:1 / max. ∞:1
LINE OUT level control on front panel
PRE/POST EQ (for line out) switch on rear panel
GROUND LIFT switch on rear panel
MASTER VOLUME
EQUALIZATION
LOW center frequency: 40 Hz; level: ±16 dB
MID LOW (semi-parametric) frequency 100–800 Hz; level: ±16 dB
MID HIGH (semi-parametric) frequency 700 Hz – 6 kHz; level: ±16 dB
HIGH center frequency: 4.5 kHz; level: ±16 dB
VLE (Vintage Loudspeaker Emulator) max cut range: 250 Hz – 20 kHz
VPF (Variable Pre-shape Filter) center frequency 380 Hz (cut)
OUTPUTS
SEND EFFECTS unbalanced, max. voltage 12 Vpp
TUNER OUT unbalanced, max. voltage 2 Vpp
LINE OUT balanced XLR, max. voltage 25 Vpp
SPEAKER OUT speakon, 1/4”
FOOTSWITCH mute, EQ bypass
OTHER
HEIGHT 2 rack units (3.36 in. / 6 mm)
WIDTH 14.21 in. / 36.8 cm (19 in. / 48.3 cm with rack ears)
DEPTH 11.89 in. / 30.2 cm
WEIGHT 8.16 lbs / 3.7 kg
OUTPUT POWER 300W RMS @ 8 ohm, 500W RMS @ 4 ohm
POWER REQUIREMENT 100/120V; 230V; 240V 50/60Hz (Voltage is factory preset according to region of sale)
FUSE
EUROPE 4 A 250V T 5x20
AUSTRALIA/UK 4 A 250V T 5x20
USA/CANADA 8 A 250V T 5x20
JAPAN 10 A 250V T 5x20
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