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Am I the only one having problems with MarkBass tweeters?

#61
KJung said:
You have one of the MB cabs that uses a piezo tweeter. As far as I know, piezo's don't even typically use a crossover, so if yours is blown, your driver would still run full range and no harm will be done to anything.

The way to tell if the tweeter is working or not (since some basses don't even put out frequencies as high as those piezos 'start point') is to unplug your bass (so you in no way risk hurting your ears), turn you VLE filter all the way off, turn your treble control all the way up, and crank both the input gain and master. That extreme setting will pump out all kinds of hiss above 10k, and you should hear that screaming out of that little piezo. If you don't, it is trashed.
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Thanks, I will try that exactly as you prescribed. I tried something like that a while back, but heard nothing. My cab seems to sound alright, though. I must say that I am playing passive basses, both with flats. But, my old Fender Bassman 150 has a piezo and lets me hear it, or not hear it when I turn it off. It's noticeable.

Markbass specs say the piezo is crossed over at 3.5Khz. It says that for all their cabs, I think.
 
#62
Russell L said:
Thanks, I will try that exactly as you prescribed. I tried something like that a while back, but heard nothing. My cab seems to sound alright, though. I must say that I am playing passive basses, both with flats. But, my old Fender Bassman 150 has a piezo and lets me hear it, or not hear it when I turn it off. It's noticeable.

Markbass specs say the piezo is crossed over at 3.5Khz. It says that for all their cabs, I think.
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I think piezo's are usually just hi passed, or even just allowed to sit there without any sort of extra protection or filtering. However, I'm not an EE, and that gets a bit over myhead. BillF would probably know.

Anway, not much above 3.5K coming out of a bass with flats (at least somewhat broken in flats), so my 'crank the hiss' test is probably a good way to see if the piezo is 'working but not needed' given your bass's range, or if it is blown.

Either way, with your bass and strings, you should be just fine!
 
#63
Any thoughts on a possible design flaw in the crossover? I had an Epifani cab that somehow the tweeter blew. Called up and they said get a new diaphragm. I bought a new diaphragm and installed and no luck. Figured it was a fried crossover. I ended up trading the cab away before getting a chance to bring it to Nick and have him troubleshoot in the shop.

I also obtained a Genz Benz 4x10 cab and the tweeter wasn't working. It ended up being a blown light bulb/fuse protection thingy. Had my tech replace with an OEM from GB and it's working fine now. Do the Markbass cabs have any sort of protection for the tweeters?
 
#64
DWBass said:
Any thoughts on a possible design flaw in the crossover? I had an Epifani cab that somehow the tweeter blew. Called up and they said get a new diaphragm. I bought a new diaphragm and installed an no luck. Figured it was a fried crossover. I ended up trading the cab away before getting a chance to bring it to Nick and have him troubleshoot in the shop.

I also obtained a Genz Benz 4x10 cab and the tweeter wasn't working. It ended up being a blown light bulb/fuse protection thingy. Had my tech replace with an OEM from GB and it's working fine now. Do the Markbass cabs have any sort of protection for the tweeters?
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I believe Nick uses a hi pass filter without an protection. I remember back in the day he made a bit deal about how those protection circuits mess with the tone. Just like those who make a big deal about an LPad on a mid driver, I'm sure there is something to it, but sometimes these guys miss the forest for the trees, and don't consider the positives versus the negatives.

The only tweeter I've ever blown was on an Epi cab, but a simple diaphragm replacement took care of it, and I was abusing the cab when I blew it.

I don't think they would use a protection circuit on those cheap little piezo tweeters.
 
#65
I just tried the test last night with my LMIII head and 151P cab with my gain and master full on. The amp was still so quiet I had to get down on the floor. I could hear a little hiss from the speaker, but none from the tweeter. My bass was unplugged. I forgot to turn the tweeter knob full on, but it was at -2db, so I'll have to try it again. But, sounds to me like I may be tweeterless.
 
#66
Russell L said:
I just tried the test last night with my LMIII head and 151P cab with my gain and master full on. The amp was still so quiet I had to get down on the floor. I could hear a little hiss from the speaker, but none from the tweeter. My bass was unplugged. I forgot to turn the tweeter knob full on, but it was at -2db, so I'll have to try it again. But, sounds to me like I may be tweeterless.
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Yeah, sounds like that little piezo gave up the ghost. Tends to happen with those. Easy to plug in a new one if you so choose, or just run it as a one way cab if it sounds good to you.
 
#67
KJung said:
I believe Nick uses a hi pass filter without an protection....

I don't think they would use a protection circuit on those cheap little piezo tweeters.
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I've had Radio Shack piezos in my EV cubes for many, many years. I wired them in parallel without a cross-over or protection. They have never failed me.

I've had a couple of MB tweeters fail....are they that cheaper than Radio Shack piezos from the early 80's?
 
#68
StereoPlayer said:
I've had Radio Shack piezos in my EV cubes for many, many years. I wired them in parallel without a cross-over or protection. They have never failed me.

I've had a couple of MB tweeters fail....are they that cheaper than Radio Shack piezos from the early 80's?
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I have no idea. The Markbass cabs with the compression driver type tweeters are quite nice, and very few reports of any issues. The models with the piezo tweeters seem to have significant issues with those blowing out. So, I have no clue, other than to recommend that those looking to purchase a Markbass cab make sure they (IMO) screen out those cabs with the piezo pickups.
 
#69
I too am having problems with blowing the piezo tweeter in my MarkBass amp. It's such a great amp and it's too bad they put such a cheap tweeter in an amp with so much power and so much tone. I am on my fourth tweeter. Problem is, I find it makes such a big difference with a working tweeter especially since I slap quite a bit. Which is probably the reason why I am on my fourth tweeter. I am thinking about using a compressor...maybe that would help. Does anyone know of an upgrade that will fit?
 
#72
Apparently these are a good substitute for the cheap piezo tweeter but they are near impossible to get here in North America.

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I put in an email to the manufacturer asking if there was any way to get one here either direct or through a dealer and did not get any response. There are a bunch on Ebay in the UK but all the sellers wont ship overseas. I wish I could get a couple of them so bad for my SWR Baby Baby Blue 110 combo. They use the same tweeter as the Markbass.
 
#76
I have to disagree with the post saying the combo amps aren't as well made as the separates. I have had my cmd121p for years,and sounds fantastic,and has been extremely reliable. I did bypass the tweeter pretty early on,i don't like them,and they sound especially bad if you're using any kind of grit/distortion devices. (I use a VT pedal at all times). I recently added a traveller 112 cab,which has a compression horn instead of a piezo,and for the rare occasions i go for a clean sound,it sound great. Fortunately,it also has an attenuator,so it can just be turned off completely. I have never thought my sound was lacking in high end going through just the 12" drivers.
 
#78
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