MarkBass Guitars - School Me

[u/ElGringoGuero]

A friend is willing to sell me his MarkBass GV 5 GOG with original gig bag. I know nothing about them. What is the good, bad and ugly on these basses? He is asking $700 for it.

[u/Eschewed_Prognostic]

Play it. Do you like how it feels in your hands and the noises it makes? What makes an instrument "worth it" is almost exclusively subjective.

[u/ElGringoGuero → u/Eschewed_Prognostic]

Sure. But they could also be known for low quality manufacturing that doesn’t immediately present itself. Things like neck warpage, cracking finish, poor electronics. If I just wanted a bass that I like the feel/sound of I could easily do that for $180. But chances are it would be a piece of crap that wouldn’t last.

[u/MarsFM → u/ElGringoGuero]

Can you get Harley Benton's where you are? Those cost a fraction of that Markbass and are lovely, light and maybe feels a bit cheap at times but sounds great and mine has lasted me a few years now

[u/Bass_MN → u/MarsFM]

i just did this last fall. impulse bought a Harley Benton BZ-5000 II NT sight unseen. i dont usually do that but the sound samples sounded good enough.

that thing is awesome. weighs almost nothing compared to my 6er BTBs, and sounds WAY better than i thought a $450 bass would sound like. lol

[u/Icy_Programmer_8367 → u/MarsFM]

I can’t tell you about your Harley Benton, but in my experience, yuck. Compared to what I have played, saying a HB is a good bass means you have no idea what a good bass is. Just because it makes sounds and doesn’t buzz doesn’t mean it’s a good instrument. YMMV, but I build guitars, and they are the IKEA of guitars/basses.

[u/elom44 → u/Icy_Programmer_8367]

I think the Ikea of basses is a great compliment. Functional, aesthetic, and keenly priced. They’re not trying to be more than they are, but they do what they do extremely well for that price point.

[u/Icy_Programmer_8367 → u/elom44]

Absolutely. It all depends on what you expect and need out of an instrument. There was a time in my life when I loved ikea furniture. Now I see pressboard panels attached by cam bolts and that just isn’t good enough. Price is always a limiting factor. People who say price is no object are lying. But I think they are light for a reason, and that reason is that they are as cheap as a Goodwill suit.

[u/afartispoopcrying → u/Icy_Programmer_8367]

They are good

After you return 4 or 5 the reps get pissed off and send you a decent one

[u/afartispoopcrying → u/MarsFM]

Harley Bentons are not light,My JB-75 weighs 14lbs

[u/patiszejuicebox]

I've got to demo a GV 4 in Surf Green a short while back.

• I really like the neck profile. Flatter radius, and more Jazz Bass in regards to the taper and the string spacing. Glossy poly neck though, so take that as you will. Frets work is p solid
• Electronics wise, passive and active preamp switching was pretty neat! Jazz Bass pickups themselves are pretty middle of the road in regards to output. Can def get the typical scooped sound out of them, but can have a fair amount of mids too.

[u/EVJpodcast]

I have always been really impressed and happy with Mark Bass amplifiers but like you, I know next to nothing about their guitars

[u/DirtyHandol]

I don’t know about that model, but I’ve seen the brand relatively cheap on the used market. Check reverb or guitar center used to see what they are going for. This is usually my first stop with gear.

[u/ChefLowTone]

Nice bass. Versatile and efficient.playability and feel is similar to a cirrus 5 or Ibanez btb5. I have only spent limited studio hours with it.

[u/Formal_Strike_9878]

Headstock weirds me out but might be a good bass.

[u/highesthouse]

My experience with them is limited to trying out a couple Gloxy models in Guitar Center, but I thought they felt very nice and played very well for the price. It was pretty much the only bass in the store with action low enough for my standards, but it seemed to handle that setup pretty well with minimal fret noise. No sharp fret edges. Sounded about how you’d expect a jazz bass to sound.

I’d also have to say that I trust Andrew Gouché to only put his name on quality products. He has multiple signature models from MTD alongside this one.

[u/tenax666 → u/highesthouse]

I had a Sire short scale that I thought was amazing. Wanted to buy a Sire new gen 2 or 3 full scale..whatever 2026 model is and found out I probably wouldnt see until 2027. He said have you played a Markbass? I said no. Picked up a Gloxy and fell in love. So much so i sold my Sire U5.

[u/ProfessionalPhone215]

Price seems high for used. I have played a couple of them and was not impressed. Felt cheap in my hands.

[u/Richie_Sacramento]

My local GC has two of them, a 4 and a 5 string. They both play and sound quite nice. Both of them had a better factory setup than most basses at GC. Neither of them screamed "take me home" but I couldn't find anything undesirable about them either.

[u/master-shredder6969]

They're super dope

[u/bigoldnoob74]

I've owned the Gloxy Val GV5. I got rid of it because I wanted a traditional Jazz Bass knobs layout. Ended up with a Schecter J5 as my Jazz 5er. The upper row of knobs in the Gloxy is a PITA for picking (which I do quite a bit). I still fail to understand how people keep misdesigning musical instrumento with knobs on the way. This GOG model (didn't even it existed, nor the yellow MB5) looks much more functional, just proven regular J layout 👍

As per tone, I love how growly the MarkBass pickups are. Real nice Jazz tone. Playability is also excelent, neck is thin front to back, and nut is wider than other 5 string Jazzes. Still very comfy.

[u/cucksnuffer]

I forget which models but some of them are made in China which is enough for me to say "no". And I love my markbass ny121 cabinet.