What to do with a broken Markbass F1?

slyjoe · #1 12-29-2011, 04:28 PM

Looking for suggestions on what you would do with a broken Markbass F1. I have plenty of amps, so I don't really need it. Tech said a board (power supply) is burned out - will take $350 to fix it. Liked the amp, but don't want to put that much into it since I have plenty of others.

1. Toss it
2. Sell it (how much?) - maybe someone will put the money into fixing it or using it for parts
3. Give it away (to who?)

Other suggestions?

lowfunk99 · #2 12-29-2011, 04:29 PM

Give it to me...

:-)

slyjoe · #3 12-29-2011, 04:31 PM

Thought of another one:

4. Trade it for something.

Downunderwonder · #4 12-29-2011, 04:35 PM

Trade you a box of mojo for it. Never open the box or the mojo will escape

will33 · #5 12-29-2011, 04:36 PM

1. I don't toss anything, can always use knobs, switches, jacks, tubes, fans, chassis, other parts, etc. "No user servicable parts inside"....yeah, right.

2. I don't know, might get $100 for it or something with the techs estimate on paper with parts needed, cost, etc. Maybe have to wait for the right buyer but there are tinkerers out there.

3. If you give it away, someone will take it just because it's free. At least it might get used some more and not be just another piece of crap in the landfill. Even if it doesn't work, some people make artwork out of stuff like that. Kids like turning knobs, etc.

JimmyM · #6 12-29-2011, 04:43 PM

$350 for a board swap, eh? Well, it's better than the $415 that was quoted for a motherboard swap in an LMII a couple years ago, but it's still absolutely ridiculous. You could buy one used for that or slightly more.

I wouldn't toss it, but I doubt I'd give it away, either. Don't know what I'd do, quite frankly. That's a shame...Markbass started out with having so much promise as a new company, and with the hassles of getting warranty work done in the US (a warranty job that should have taken a week for my old 121p combo took almost a month and a half) and the ridiculous price they want for board swaps, the bloom really fell off the rose for me. Sorry, dude...that really sucks.

Mojo-Man · #7 12-29-2011, 04:44 PM

Is it under warranty ? Send it back MarkBass.

slyjoe · #8 12-29-2011, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

$350 for a board swap, eh? Well, it's better than the $415 that was quoted for a motherboard swap in an LMII a couple years ago, but it's still absolutely ridiculous. You could buy one used for that or slightly more.

I wouldn't toss it, but I doubt I'd give it away, either. Don't know what I'd do, quite frankly. That's a shame...Markbass started out with having so much promise as a new company, and with the hassles of getting warranty work done in the US (a warranty job that should have taken a week for my old 121p combo took almost a month and a half) and the ridiculous price they want for board swaps, the bloom really fell off the rose for me. Sorry, dude...that really sucks.

$415 - ouch! I assume you didn't pay the board price since you had a warranty, correct?

I bought this here in the classifieds, so I have no warranty option. Used ones are going for $400-500, so it doesn't seem to make sense to have it repaired. Who knows how long that would take. I already have enough into it that I don't want to throw more money at it.

The LMII I have is still going strong - like their products but if anything goes wrong - you said it, the bloom falls off the rose.

Maybe the thing to do is offer it up for 50 bucks or so - I don't feel like just tossing it.

murphy · #9 12-29-2011, 04:58 PM

I am sorry that they want so much to replace a part....doesn't do their Public Image much good.
Sometimes companies seem too short sighted.

I do love my Markbass amps....had good service here in Canada from Club Bass
and Long and Mcquade......thankfully

Foamy · #10 12-29-2011, 05:00 PM

A "board" shouldn't cost more than $100. The bad one should pop out, and a new one slide in. That's my "perfect world".
I'm fortunate as my LMII is pounding. That quote of $350 is freakin' ludicrous.
Wasn't there a Markbass rep around a couple years back? When we were all looking for ship dates, rack ears, etc?? Where's that guy? Peter something? Damn, getting old....

Musicman20 · #11 12-29-2011, 05:01 PM

Exactly why I don't own MB products. Hopefully they can see this thread and do what GBenz would do! I hope you get it sorted.

Passinwind · #12 12-29-2011, 05:10 PM

Is it totally DOA, or?

Maybe you can find a sympathetic tech who will trade you a little something for it. To be perfectly clear, I'm not volunteering though!

I had a friend with a broken Carvin Class D amp that was out of warranty and would have cost around $325 to have replaced by Carvin via their exchange deal. The schematic is online and I wanted to take a stab at repairing one to see if I could, so I worked out a multi-tiered deal that depended on how successful I ended up being. I have now gigged the amp a few dozen times and my friend has a nice rack channel strip for his home studio -- win/win. In this case, the power amp section was working fine though, so I was counting on a low parts cost and a somewhat simple repair scenario all along.

Without a readily available schematic, your options look a lot more limited, IMHO.

slyjoe · #13 12-29-2011, 05:15 PM

It's pretty much DOA. Thanks for the suggestion. What do you mean not volunteering - it sounded like it to me

Although a EE, I don't have the time or inclination to really dig into this. As far as I know, Markbass doesn't publish schematics. If it is the switching power supply, those can be a little tricky, especially if you don't know the replacement parts.

anotherlin · #14 12-29-2011, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slyjoe

1. Toss it
2. Sell it (how much?) - maybe someone will put the money into fixing it or using it for parts
3. Give it away (to who?)

Other suggestions?

4. Buy a new one, but keep the old one as spare parts (not everything is broken, right ?).

will33 · #15 12-29-2011, 05:19 PM

I take it you can't just buy a circuit board from markbass or wherever unless you're an "authorized service center"? I guess that's likely the case. Too bad.

Mark connections...take out old board...put in new board. You don't have to know what everything is or what it does as long as you put it all back in the same place.

dog1 · #16 12-29-2011, 05:21 PM

So....what would you need to ship it to me? Really. PM me

slyjoe · #17 12-29-2011, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anotherlin

4. Buy a new one, but keep the old one as spare parts (not everything is broken, right ?).

Thanks - the power supply board is broken as far as the tech could tell me. Everything else seems fine, but without the power supply it's kind of hard to tell. Everything was fine until it just stopped working.

I have a Shuttle 9.0 and LMII, plus various pre/power amps, so I don't really NEED this fixed - it would be nice, but certainly not critical.

JimmyM · #18 12-29-2011, 05:52 PM

Just to clarify...it wasn't me who needed a board swap...I got out while the gettin' was good

This was another poster on here...wish I could remember who it was.

2milehighspike · #19 12-29-2011, 06:02 PM

throw it in the dumpster and buy a gk mb800, just sayin

dog1 · #20 12-29-2011, 06:09 PM

Let's face it fellows. This is not garbage. I would not keep it for parts because that would be accepting the fact that future MB heads would break and need repair. Pitiful.

Repair it. Sell it for repair. Markbass should be ashamed. If it were a Genz Benz, Jeff would probably offer to repair it for free. But, almost no manufacturer stands behind their products like Jeff Genzler does.

Hey Jeff! Thanks for your past commitment to your customers. Hey Markbass. Where are you? Shame on you.

No kidding. We will remember your commitment to your customers.