Question Couple-O-Markbass Questions

[MingusBASS]

I have been gigging my LMII for the past couple years with absolutely no problems. We play at least 6 times a month and we play LOUD. I also play 2 times a month on Sunday mornings. No issues driving two 8 ohm Bergantino cabs. We'll see how it handles a 4 ohm NV610 soon.

 

[theoldmiami]

TSanders - What caused your TA501 to cut out? Was it clipping?

 

[mynan]

I've never had mine cut out, but I do notice that the sound starts distorting before the clip light comes on. I can run my input gain at 12 o'clock all day long and never see the clip light, but the sound is like it's over-driven. Therefore, I usually run it at 11 o'clock. The clip light doesn't come on unless I'm running the input gain at about 1 o'clock.

 

[bob atherton]

What are the Markbass cabs like? I have an Ashdown ABM 500 head that I'm really pleased with, loads of gigs and recording. Never let me down.

I also use two 2x10 ABM cabs that I've never been happy with. The problem is they have large rear ports and depending on the venue I get a lot of unwanted low loose bass that muddies up my sound. What I would like is one or two cabs with 10" drivers but no port at all. I know Markbass make 'vintage' 4x10 6x10 and 8x10. Anyone tried these yet? They might be just the job used with the trusty Ashdown.

Also.... why when the stuff is made in the EU does it cost soooo much more here in the UK than it does in the US????

 

[oli@bass]

"rather warm and humid" is fairly subjective, any chance you got measurements?

You're right... unfortunately no measurements, the temperature was about 28 degrees Celsius, the whole day was cloudy... it didn't "feel" dry, so it was probably over 60% humidity.

the statement that a speaker cabinet has an 8 ohm load is a bit of a lie

That was what I had in mind.... depending on how it is driven, and whether the impendance drops when the driver gets warm (yes, speaker coils can get hot), an 8 Ohm cab can be much lower than 8 Ohms... and thus trigger the power amp protection in the amp head.
It seems as if only those who use the MB heads with cabs of other manufacturers have observed the inexplicable shut downs.

(again, this is not really a conclusion, but a possible tendency from the sample data so far)

 

[oli@bass]

What are the Markbass cabs like?

Very nice! Clear and punchy midrange.

 

[mynan]

Also.... why when the stuff is made in the EU does it cost soooo much more here in the UK than it does in the US????

My only guess would be because GC is their distributor and GC has a lot of leverage with their buying power.

 

[silverburst]

I had a CMD 2-10 combo that completely died on me. Guitar Center was unsure about how to deal with it, and eventually they exchanged it for a new one. I sold it right away and got a Genz Shuttle 6.0.

I believe Randy had a tweeter problem with his, as well.

 

[Rano Bass]

I have gigged with my LMII for the past year from 4 to 5 days a week and never had a problem, i even plug it into an svt 8x10 cab at the bar we play on weekends and i haven't had a single problem with mine.

To be fair i used a GK 700rb for five years and never had a problem with it either.

 

[timmy5strings]

I've never had mine cut out, but I do notice that the sound starts distorting before the clip light comes on. I can run my input gain at 12 o'clock all day long and never see the clip light, but the sound is like it's over-driven. Therefore, I usually run it at 11 o'clock. The clip light doesn't come on unless I'm running the input gain at about 1 o'clock.

The F-1 head I had input was never past 10 oclock and it cut out twice. This is not even close to pushing IMO. We played this Sat night in Annapolis. A storm came in, the power flickered then went out briefly and came back on. The GK came back on with the rest of the power, thats all I ask I'm sold. I'm not sure the F-1 would have done this without having to wait to be reset.

 

[mynan]

The F-1 head I had input was never past 10 oclock and it cut out twice. This is not even close to pushing IMO. We played this Sat night in Annapolis. A storm came in, the power flickered then went out briefly and came back on. The GK came back on with the rest of the power, thats all I ask I'm sold. I'm not sure the F-1 would have done this without having to wait to be reset.

xx o'clock is relative. I run the volume on my Bongo at about 50%...if I dimed it, I'd probably have to run the input gain on the Markbass at less than 10 o'clock. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not sure that overdriving the input would cause the amp to shut down anyway.

I've heard that digital amps don't do well if the power coming in isn't steady. I'm surprised that Peter from Markbass hasn't chimed in on this one. I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that it is something designed to protect the amp.

 

[smallequestrian]

Trying to gauge the reliability of any piece of equipment through and internet forum, especially a relatively small one such as this is a fruitless exercise for the most part. Even on a busy forum like TB no one has any idea how many LMK2's have been sold so when a few people say they have problems with the amp, especially if they are prominent posters, then things get blown out of proportion.

Why do you think Big Poppa doesn't like people posting CS issues on his forum?

I know if I had an issue with a piece of equipment I would be more hesitant to recommend to other people or do buy another one for myself. However, as an outsider looking for advice on reliability a smallish internet forum is not the most accurate way to look at it.

Most electronic equipment will fail within the first 90 days or sooner or its going to happen much later. Really the only thing you can do, other than taking care of your gear, is to protect yourself against those first 90 days. So as long as you have a decent warranty, you should be alright.

 

[T-bone]

I know if I had an issue with a piece of equipment I would be more hesitant to recommend to other people or do buy another one for myself. However, as an outsider looking for advice on reliability a smallish internet forum is not the most accurate way to look at it.

Very true and thanks for putting it in perspective, smallequestrian. However, I don't belong to any other forums and this seems like a good cross section of players (even though we're all fanboys) where a variety of styles, venues, and environments can be sampled.

That, or I could have just asked the sales rep at GC where I'm pretty sure the answer would have been "dude, they're great."

tbone

 

[smallequestrian]

Very true and thanks for putting it in perspective, smallequestrian. However, I don't belong to any other forums and this seems like a good cross section of players (even though we're all fanboys) where a variety of styles, venues, and environments can be sampled.

That, or I could have just asked the sales rep at GC where I'm pretty sure the answer would have been "dude, they're great."

tbone

Yeah, this is definitely a good place to ask in regards to tone and what that will mean for you considering everybody plays similar instruments, but unfortunately any reliability issues that crop up here will be statistically insignificant.

 

[Peter Murray]

Yeah, this is definitely a good place to ask in regards to tone and what that will mean for you considering everybody plays similar instruments, but unfortunately any reliability issues that crop up here will be statistically insignificant.

hey Guys,

There are protection circuits in all our amplifiers that shut down the amp when the power is too high, the amp is too hot, or the impedance load is too low. This protects the amp from blowing up, essentially. Better that it shut down than fry!
And the shut down is temporary, if you try again when the power/impedance temperature are acceptable, the amp should be fine.

It's hard for me to say much more than that as a general statement, there's always so many different variables that it's dangerous to make too many general statements without knowing all the variables... even then, I'm not an engineer myself.

Our amps operate at a 4 ohm minimum, and it's true that some cabinets are not accurately identified as far as impedance goes. So if you plug into a couple of 8 ohm cabs that are actually 7 ohms each, you're at 3.5 ohms, which is below 4.
We have experienced very few problems, so it seems to be a rare issue, but I think this has happened. If it does happen, your amp isn't broken, it's just protecting itself! And be glad that it is!

I've seen the list of defective amps returned to GC, and honestly, it's a handful compared to the amount sold. Our reliability rate is currently around 0.6%, which means that 6 in 1000 experience some kind of problem. Those are pretty good odds.

Cheers,
Peter

 

[T-bone]

Thanks Peter! Your reliability rate says it all.

Okay, enough words, time for action.

tbone

 

[maddog]

Our amps operate at a 4 ohm minimum, and it's true that some cabinets are not accurately identified as far as impedance goes. So if you plug into a couple of 8 ohm cabs that are actually 7 ohms each, you're at 3.5 ohms, which is below 4.

How do you come up with the impedance number? An average, minimum or ?

I've seen the list of defective amps returned to GC, and honestly, it's a handful compared to the amount sold. Our reliability rate is currently around 0.6%, which means that 6 in 1000 experience some kind of problem. Those are pretty good odds.

getting close to 3-sigma. Very nice.

and T-bone, no picture no amp

 

[RaginRog]

Get it!!

I'd recommend the MarkBass CMD102 combo amp if you like the 210 sound. Check out GC as they have awesome sales from time to time.

A pic of my rig below...

 

[Jimmyb]

^ I really like the combination. I've been looking around for an amp to go with my Bongo 5 and am thinking that the CMD102P might be a good start, then if I ever get around to playing somewhere that needs extra volume, I could go for a 15" cab.

Any thoughts guys?

Jack, you've got the 102 haven't you? Do you like it with the 5 string?

 

[mynan]

^ I really like the combination. I've been looking around for an amp to go with my Bongo 5 and am thinking that the CMD102P might be a good start, then if I ever get around to playing somewhere that needs extra volume, I could go for a 15" cab.

Any thoughts guys?

Jack, you've got the 102 haven't you? Do you like it with the 5 string?

+1 on the CMD102P. This was my rig until a few months ago.

Since then, I put an Avatar B410 Neo under it and I'm liking it better than the 15. I would have gotten a Markbass 410, but was a little short on cash and heard good things about the Avatar...which I've found is a really, really good cab for the money.