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Markbass Amp repair?

#266
Brad Johnson said:
You're on you own with that one, hoss.
:D

Hey Jimmy... in the spirit of that wheelhouse nonsense, do you think it would've helped if I said "doorbuster"?

Or would people then argue about how difficult it would be to bust an actual door with an LMII?

:p
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it wouldn't be difficult. it would just cost over $1200 to repair it ;)

and no, "wheelhouse" is fine, though i prefer "strong area."
 
#269
Brad Johnson said:
From http://www.bizhelp24.com/marketing/the-loss-leader.html

"What is a ‘Loss Leader’?
The loss leader is a pricing strategy which involves selling products/services at a price that will generate little or no profit and in some cases not even cover all associated costs (marketing, overheads, direct costs, etc).

This may sound crazy but it is a technique that is commonly used to attract customers to their business via a bargain. These bargains will attract customers to your business who may then purchase other products/services even if they don’t buy the product that you have initially reduced. This is where you will make up for the loss* as you will be selling other items that generate high profits"

*The "loss" being what you would've made had you sold it at the real price vs. the discount. It does not have to be a negative though it is in many cases

Highlights added to point out what I've been talking about.
:D
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I understand what a loss leader is, I'm just saying that the LittleMark II doesn't seem like a loss leader to me. I respect your right to a differing opinion.
 
#270
So where is this vast reapair network MarkBass has? No mention of it on their site that I could see.

And I believe (please correct me) the 300 buckaroo repair on the volume pot/board damge was a recent repair?

Limitted time so I can not go back and reread a bunch of stuff.
 
#271
Red Planet said:
So where is this vast reapair network MarkBass has? No mention of it on their site that I could see.
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ken brought up one new place in this thread a few pages back. technically that's a network ;)

And I believe (please correct me) the 300 buckaroo repair on the volume pot/board damge was a recent repair?
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right.

Limitted time so I can not go back and reread a bunch of stuff.
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same here, and that's why i'm not posting a link to the new markbass repair website ;)
 
#275
Bravo Jimmy and Brad. I actually read the entire thread and i don't even give a sh** about the repair stuff. very entertaining.
I do own a LmII, and yeah it would be great to be able to get it fixed cheap and easy, but that does not appear to be the way it is. If mine breaks i'll just trash it and get another down the line.
 
#277
Brad Johnson said:
Nice try.
:smug:

My source is all of the people I see using Markbass gear, here, elsewhere on the internet and in real life. Plus all of the Markbass gear up for sale used... it had to be purchased new at some point. In a relatively short period of time business-wise they attained a very sizable piece of the market.

If you have, even in your opinion, a candidate for that kind of relative market establishment, lay it on me. None of their competitors grabbed the market as widely and quickly.
:D
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If you held yourself to the same standard that you demand of others you'd be more convincing. In this case we'd need comparable sales figures.

Although I've seen a lot of MB buzz on TB, I've rarely seen an LMII in real life in my city. So I would suggest using TB as our sample pool. I agree with your statement that "bad news travels faster than good news" so let's say there is a very low rate of failure for the LMII.

Most of us here are bass players and consumers, so short of discussing business semantics lets, for the sake of argument consider this scenario:

If a product has an average 3% fail rate, and it costs more than 55-60% of the value of the product to get it fixed, would you purchase it given the risk?

My answer would be no, not for the failure rate, but because the repair cost is too high.

MB should've looked carefully into the amps that did fail and compensated the users with either a new amp or a less expensive means of repair.
 
#279
adbass said:
If you held yourself to the same standard that you demand of others you'd be more convincing. In this case we'd need comparable sales figures.
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I have no idea what market saturation Markbass might have "somewhere else" (your location) but barring your location and looking at the country/industry at large you'd have to be blind not to see how they're doing as far as market saturation. Here's the original tangent:

Originally Posted by Mike Dimin
Brad,

I do not know their cost model, but I know what it takes to get things to market. Could the LMII be a loss leader, perhaps, but you have to be able to sell enough other gear to make up the loss.

Me: I think they may have done that. In spades:D. That was about the most successful bass gear product launch that I can recall:D.

Obviously you take exception to my recollection. OTOH JimmyM agreed on this point. Like me, he gets around and pays attention to the industry. It's hardly a secret. Markbass sold a bunch (or buttload as Jimmy said) of units since it's launch. Bass Player magazine spoke of it's success on more than one occassion. If you need a link, let me know.
:D

Now if you're the type who doesn't believe what they actually see, cool, get the sales figures and prove me wrong. Better yet, give me the name of a bass gear product launch you consider to be more successful than Markbass.

Okay?
:D

Although I've seen a lot of MB buzz on TB, I've rarely seen an LMII in real life in my city. So I would suggest using TB as our sample pool. I agree with your statement that "bad news travels faster than good news" so let's say there is a very low rate of failure for the LMII.
Click to expand...

The buzz is not limited to TB. I know lots of people who aren't on TB who own MB gear. More than any other new brand in fact. In addition many people are still just finding out about them.

Most of us here are bass players and consumers, so short of discussing business semantics lets, for the sake of argument consider this scenario:

If a product has an average 3% fail rate, and it costs more than 55-60% of the value of the product to get it fixed, would you purchase it given the risk?
Click to expand...

New or used? It matters... I'd hope you understand that.
:hmm:

My answer would be no, not for the failure rate, but because the repair cost is too high.
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That does sound like the typical answer if you only think in generalities... no offense. If you can buy a used 500w 6+lb. amp that you like with a 3% failure rate for $330 (;)) you wouldn't buy it because it might cost 55-60% of new (or used?) value if it had a bad enough failure?

I would... in a heartbeat. And I've seen nothing that correlates to a failure rate that high for Markbass which would make it even more of a no brainer. The problem with no brainers though is that at some point prior, one should've actually put some thought into what you're doing.

MB should've looked carefully into the amps that did fail and compensated the users with either a new amp or a less expensive means of repair.
Click to expand...

Okay.
 
#280
cybersnyder said:
I understand what a loss leader is, I'm just saying that the LittleMark II doesn't seem like a loss leader to me. I respect your right to a differing opinion.
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I was just pointing out once again that the term does not mean that the company actually has to lose some of their money (vs. getting less of a profit which is not a complete negative) selling the product. And that they did in fact sell alot of their other products in the meantime.

Funny thing is I've explained my use of the term, which is the same way many others have used it for years and it gets called a redefinition.
:D
 

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