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Mark Bass Reliability

#61
portpc said:
Dealing with a major case of GAS, Not fighting it, doing some window shopping for the time being.
The MM model combo with the 3X10 array is calling to me..

I've met a few players who while they love their Mark Bass gear have had issue with it & getting them repaired was an ordeal.

Curious if this was an exception to normally great gear or is it something a lot of players experience?..
Click to expand...

Reliability?
No trouble, as far as I can tell, and I've owned a few MB amps over the years and know many others who do too.

Repair trouble?
That depends a lot about where you are. Over here in the UK it looks like it's relatively easy, but in the US it seems it's harder to get to an approved repair centre for MB. The chances of you needing it are low... but if you do... yeah, that would factor in my decisions.
 
#63
It's like most other gear...could be flawless...or have issues. Some depends on the way you care for and maintain your gear.
I've had several combinations of MB amps and cabs. I now only have the 2x10 combo.
Had ONE issue with it blowing a fuse and took it to a certified repair shop. It's not inexpensive but is ANY repair inexpensive?
 
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#64
gorneyg said:
It's like most other gear...could be flawless...or have issues. Some depends on the way you care for and maintain your gear.
I've had several combinations of MB amps and cabs. I now only have the 2x10 combo.
Had ONE issue with it blowing a fuse and took it to a certified repair shop. It's not inexpensive but is ANY repair inexpensive?
Click to expand...
I've had many inexpensive repairs in my day.
 
#67
portpc said:
Dealing with a major case of GAS, Not fighting it, doing some window shopping for the time being.
The MM model combo with the 3X10 array is calling to me..

I've met a few players who while they love their Mark Bass gear have had issue with it & getting them repaired was an ordeal.

Curious if this was an exception to normally great gear or is it something a lot of players experience?..
Click to expand...

Both of these statements are true. It is great gear and there are significant issues with getting it repaired, so you just need to hope for the best.

MarkBass seems to be a very proprietary company, with only authorized service centers, and not many of them. I had a problem with the fan in my 801, and it would have cost me more than the thing was worth to send it to the nearest authorized repair center. My local repair place (not authorized by MB) refused to do the work because MB is so stingy with information, and sometimes parts. A friend found the fan -- a very common, computer-type fan -- online for $8 and fixed it for me. But even he had trouble getting into the cabinet because MarkBass doesn't make it easy for anyone but their own service network. Before buying, either find the nearest service center on the MB site and figure out how much it would cost you in both time and money to send your amp there, or have a friend who's handy with electronics.
 
#68
Great amps, my amp GAS. but any single component can fail. Most brands use the same suppliers in parts/components. Generally there are 2 grades of components. If the dont have one, they use the other. Except for speakers. Then there are only 3 or 4 brands of speakers used.
Have some type of backup
 
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#70
Thanks to all! My OP was related to a conversation last summer (a carefree/mask free time..) when I was doing sound at a street fair.
The bassist had a great sounding MB rig but told me about the grief he went thru when his previous head had failed during a gig, His tale stuck with me!
 
#76
I’ll have no doubts that MB gear is reliable but I won’t personally own Hartke XL cans for the same reason - if or when you need to replace a driver you must buy a new one as they can’t be reconed (or better stated, reconing kits are not available for them). My church has them and I play through them; I might even like them. But, I won’t own them.
 
#77
Razman said:
I’ll have no doubts that MB gear is reliable but I won’t personally own Hartke XL cans for the same reason - if or when you need to replace a driver you must buy a new one as they can’t be reconed (or better stated, reconing kits are not available for them). My church has them and I play through them; I might even like them. But, I won’t own them.
Click to expand...
There are a lot of drivers these days that do not make any sense to recone, it's less expensive to replace.
 
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#78
20200709_133346.jpg
I've kicked my F1 across the country and overseas, not always being gentle with it for nearly a decade. Just now starting to get a little fan noise but it looks easy to replace and I plan to do it myself. Would buy again.
 
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#79
I had a lot of problems with my Little Mark 3.

My amp broke after very little use and well within warranty. They fixed it eventually but it is now not trust worthy....

The older MB equipment seems reliable but I wouldn't touch new Mark Bass equipment.
 
#80
Lowtown said:
I had a lot of problems with my Little Mark 3.

My amp broke after very little use and well within warranty. They fixed it eventually but it is now not trust worthy....

The older MB equipment seems reliable but I wouldn't touch new Mark Bass equipment.
Click to expand...

"Not trustworthy" is a very odd way of looking at it, and it is by some (to me) unclear, maybe arbitrary criteria you have chosen.
Reliability for many kinds of electronical products follow a so called "bathtub curve"; where risk of failure is relatively high when the unit is put into use, mirroring the footend of the tub and the steep wall. If the product survives this initial time, risk of failure drops dramatically to a very low level, where it remains virtually flat for a long time (bottom of the tub). After years (even decades) of stable, low risk, the probability of failure will start rising in a more gentle way, like the backrest of the tub.
Your amp had a (rare) early failure, when repaired it is as gig worthy as the next amp from the same range. I have not seen that Markbass had issues with short life due to errors in design or execution, unlike ie Ampeg, where some members have had multiple units failing at different occasions, in spite of Ampeg doing board revision after board revision.

That said, my MII LMII (bought new in 2009?), has been reliable through many gigs, rehearsals and lots of home use. After a decade or so, there has been the occasional reluctance to close the speaker output relay (I think), but restarting the amp or turning the up volume high will make the contact close. Changing the relay is fairly straightforward, but in the meantime I bought a Markbass Ninja 1000 for gigging. No early failures in that amp either.

Oh, and the brand is "Markbass", nothing else. Example below:
MARKBASS | PRODUCT REVIEW - MARKBASS STRINGS
 
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