Markbass Little Mark III

628829mg · #1 03-29-2011, 06:35 PM

I have the Little Mark 3. On 3-27-2011, I was in a live setting playing a slap bass riff and the amp shut off. The power on light was still lit and the fan was going but, no sound. I turned it off then back on and it worked again during slap bass playing it shut off again so I just finished with all finger style no slap, it worked fine with no slap? I think the precussive spike (overload at the input signal?) from the slap bass, is trigering a protection shut down circuit. I had the gain at 2:00, master at 10:00, eq was flat, VLE knob was at 9:00, VPF knob was at 12:00, I was using a musicman stingray 5, and 2, cabs 1x12 both 8 ohm. I have owned Ampeg, GK, Fender amps never had a problem like this.

BurningSkies · #2 03-29-2011, 07:30 PM

First off, take that VPF and turn it down. Bring it down to 9 o'clock or less. Second try resetting your input gain. Make sure your clip light isn't going on at all when you aggressively slap. See if those things help. You may have two cabs that while rating at 8ohms are in fact slightly lower in their nominal impedance and when you slap and push your amp hard you're triggering the shutdown.

I've used a LMII for 3 years and used it hard and loud without any shutdowns. Ever.

hyp.spec · #3 03-29-2011, 08:24 PM

I've had that happen to me a few times with an LMIII.

I think you're hitting the money about overloading the input and the head's internal limiter kicks in. It would happen on different gain/volume settings as well.

I'd maybe look into the wiring of your bass and/or cab as well. Like burningskies said if the resistance of the cabs is lower than 4ohms you may be having issues.

GrowlerBox · #4 03-30-2011, 12:30 AM

I agree with the crazy baldhead. That gain setting is pretty hot for a stingray too, I would have thought. You're getting a fair bass boost along with your mid cut with those settings, and are no doubt having to increase the volume to compensate. High volume and high bass together are likely gonna be pretty tough on your speakers, too.

JimmyM · #5 03-30-2011, 01:53 AM

ya, you gain nothing by having the gain that hot (no pun intended). the knobs are a matter of taste, but the tone of the amp is about the same regardless of where you have your gain.

GrowlerBox · #6 03-30-2011, 02:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

ya, you gain nothing by having the gain that hot (no pun intended). the knobs are a matter of taste, but the tone of the amp is about the same regardless of where you have your gain.

Yeah, thanks Jimmy, I think I was referring to two different things in the same sentence. The "bass boost .. mid cut" bit referred to the VLE/VPF settings. My bad!

malcolm.mcintyr · #7 03-30-2011, 06:37 AM

I hope they are correct, but on the second outing with my Little Mark II and my Stingray, the amp shut down as described but didn't come back on. Needed a whole new output board, which seems a bit much for a week old amp. No explantion was given, but service from the UK importer was pretty quick.

basswave · #8 03-30-2011, 06:40 AM

Your gain is really high...I use LMII everyday and in a full setting my is at about 11 O'clock.

Just turn up your master.

KJung · #9 03-30-2011, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by malcolm.mcintyr

I hope they are correct, but on the second outing with my Little Mark II and my Stingray, the amp shut down as described but didn't come back on. Needed a whole new output board, which seems a bit much for a week old amp. No explantion was given, but service from the UK importer was pretty quick.

+1 There will be a few failures almost right out of the box with virtually any product.

To the OP, something is definitely wrong with your head. While the safety limiting circuitry might compress the low end a bit when you are really pushing it, there is no way the amp should shut down (unless your cabs are unusual... like the Acme's for example that have a combination of low sensitivity and unusual impedance curves).

I slapped the living s*** out of my LMII, full blast, 4ohm cab, outside, no PA support, hot weather, generator power... zero issues.

T-MOST · #10 03-30-2011, 08:26 AM

I have a 102P combo which has the LMII in it. I just gigged it at about 75% volume and I slapped about 1/3 of the time. I use a Smith EG5 and a Xotic J5. I havn't experienced any problems of any kind. Maybe thats because it's a combo and already paired with the optimal cab? However, I'm looking to get a LMIII to use with a Hartke 4.5 XL cab (4 ohm) on my church gig. Naturally I don't want the same issues as the OP.

628829mg · #11 03-30-2011, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by malcolm.mcintyr

I hope they are correct, but on the second outing with my Little Mark II and my Stingray, the amp shut down as described but didn't come back on. Needed a whole new output board, which seems a bit much for a week old amp. No explantion was given, but service from the UK importer was pretty quick.

I think I better sell this thing before I blow it up**!!??

GrowlerBox · #12 03-30-2011, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 628829mg

I think I better sell this thing before I blow it up**!!??

Did you buy it new? You can't have had it for that long, so why not try returning it (it's GC there, isn't it?) or having it fixed before handing it over to some other poor schmo?