Markbass Amp repair?

[DavidE]

FWIW,
Markbass is adding more certified repair centers now, and the way the warranty on the MB stuff is goign to work now is going to be serviced at one of these locations. I was just informed this week @ one of our morning meetings.

They're just rolling this out, so be patient, but they've seen the issues and are taking action to correct some of these bad situations by adding more repair centers and allowing for a repair to be made than an exchange for a product that could very well have been sitting on the store's guitar floor for 2 years.

I'll post more info as I get it, but things are changing.
J

What about non-warranty repairs?

What's the failure rate of these amps? So far my SD800 is working fine, but I wonder.

 

[Freddels]

From what everybody states, the failure rate is very low. However, I believe that MB has stated that they can't do out of warranty repairs b/c they would go broke. But if the failure rate is very low then I don't see how that would happen.

I have a 26 yr old Walter Woods amp that has never failed me and as far as I know, Walter would repair it even though it's been long out of warranty. I have heard of people sending in their old WW amps and he doesn't charge for the repair. EA fixes their amps for free (even the ones that were built before the current owners owned the company) and Acoustic Image does the same. If it's a quality product, then it only makes sense to stand behind it. It actually increases the value and the perception of the company.

So, how many boards have actually failed? If it's a really low number, then it would be great public relations to just fix the thing for free and make a happy customer that will sing the praises of the company for years to come.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Let me, if I may rewrite your quote:

As usual your bar is set low. Me, I like facts. Mike is taking an educated guess

It still says the same thing, Mike. I guess you even took that compliment as a slight.

With as much difficulty as you're having with your own words, maybe you should stick to rewriting them.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Exactly. PCBs and the sorts of components that go into these amps are commodities. If you can make a guess as to the volumes a manufacturer is doing, you can get a pretty good estimate of the component + pcb cost of a product. This holds true for just about any sort of electronic gizmo a person can purchase.

Heck, there are even companies that specialize in tearing down products, adding up all the components in the thing, and estimating how much the BOM costs. One of these outfits releases a report for every new generation of the IPhone. Its really fun to read these things.

It would be really interesting to know the volume Markbass is doing. Low volume is the bane of cost efficient electronics production. There's a good reason that tiny little boutique amp makers charge a holy fortune.

Just curious... do you find this holds true for proprietary items?

 

[Brad Johnson]

Ummm... we all know about Markbass pricing - we can go the store and see that.

The question is cost.

Maybe I should've used a bigger font when I wrote this:

YOU DON'T KNOW MARKBASS' PRICING STRUCTURE OR MARKET STRATEGY ON THE LITTLE MARK II.

It would be amazing if this hadn't happened this many times in this thread alone. What do you guys have against reading the actual words?


As much as you've gone on and on in your semantics battle over "loss leader" and now you can't even remember what we've been talking about?

Mike and I may not know EXACT costs for these things - but I'm willing to bet we can get within +/-20% pretty easy... and that is because we know a lot more than squat about the subject, in fact we both have extensive and recent experience building/selling PCB based electronics.

Mike said he did know. Your recent experience has what to do with determining what it took to INITIALLY BRING, that meaning when they FIRST BROUGHT THE PRODUCT TO MARKET, the MARKBASS L-I-T-T-L-E M-A-R-K II (TWO) TO MARKET?

 

[JimmyM]

i'm out of this argument from here on out, but i must say i'm quite enjoying watching it get down to the microscopic levels of semantic arguments that it's de-evolved into.

 

[Brad Johnson]

i'm out of this argument from here on out, but i must say i'm quite enjoying watching it get down to the microscopic levels of semantic arguments that it's de-evolved into.

Your side of this conversation is the one dwelling on semantics. I'm still writing in plain but apparently unreadable for some English.


Bye.

 

[Craig_S]

I'm still writing in plain but apparently unreadable for some English.

What? Have you been drinking? That's unreadable for most, if not all, English.

 

[JimmyM]

Bye. I enjoyed the personal shots you and Mike felt compelled to make. It says alot.

oh, stop your whining and give me a kiss, you hot hunk of man, you!

 

[Craig_S]

I'm gonna barf

 

[Handyman]

Just curious... do you find this holds true for proprietary items?

Could you explain what you mean by that? Aside from the chassis, and perhaps the knobs, everything in the LMII is an off the shelf part.

 

[aborgman]

Your recent experience has what to do with determining what it took to INITIALLY BRING, that meaning when they FIRST BROUGHT THE PRODUCT TO MARKET, the MARKBASS L-I-T-T-L-E M-A-R-K II (TWO) TO MARKET?

Well - I've BROUGHT TO MARKET electronics with similar PCB loads, enclosure costs, etc.

So... you tell me -

What does bringing to market electronics of a similar nature, including being involved in the costing/pricing of the PCB's/enclosures/interface have to do with determining the cost of bringing to market of another piece of electronics involving PCB's/enclosures/interface?

 

[Mike Dimin]

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=685557

 

[Mike Dimin]

Dear Brad,

You turn others statements to fit your sense of entitlement, then you play the victim when called out. I am not sure if your just so fervent about MB/GC or if you just don't get it. Either way you are not willing or able to listen, ciao!

 

[jeffwo]

Can we just get back to getting MarkBass amps repaired??? My combo needs some TLC.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Dear Brad,

You turn others statements to fit your sense of entitlement, then you play the victim when called out. I am not sure if your just so fervent about MB/GC or if you just don't get it. Either way you are not willing or able to listen, ciao!

You clearly couldn't be more full of it, Mike. I didn't "turn" a word you've said. What a load.

BTW I'm not playing the victim, that's your malfunctioning logic at work as usual. It's amazing that people can be so thick as to have to think that. I've neither been upset nor angry in this thread, unlike some of you. Look at the interaction between Cybersnyder and me... we don't agree on this issue, have asked questions back and forth and there's none of the nonsense you keep pulling. I guess I'm not turning him.

And as I've said a few times in this thread, if this were about any other brand and it was as clearly skewed as it is, I'd take the same stance. And I've done that on a pretty regular basis. Some people probably think I have a Fender endorsement for as often as I counter some of the brainfarts I read about them. I even did that with Euphonic Audio when I thought they got dogged unfairly. I guess you forgot to complain about me then. I've had zero issues talking to Larry and John and still feel the same way about EA.


later

 

[Brad Johnson]

Well - I've BROUGHT TO MARKET electronics with similar PCB loads, enclosure costs, etc.

So... you tell me -

What does bringing to market electronics of a similar nature, including being involved in the costing/pricing of the PCB's/enclosures/interface have to do with determining the cost of bringing to market of another piece of electronics involving PCB's/enclosures/interface?

You win. The formula of costs + proft margin = selling price are all singular, finite numbers. There is only one price Markbass could've sold the LMII for. $600. Got it.

 

[Brad Johnson]

oh, stop your whining and give me a kiss, you hot hunk of man, you!

See?

 

[aborgman]

You win. The formula of costs + proft margin = selling price are all singular, finite numbers.

Well, yes - they are all singular and finite numbers. Costs and prices always are.

There is only one price Markbass could've sold the LMII for. $600. Got it.

No - they could sell it for any price they'd like.

There IS a very limited range of COSTS associated with building a piece of equipment like that though, and anyone who has been in the business can give a rather accurate guesstimate.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Well, yes - they are all singular and finite numbers. Costs and prices always are.

No, they aren't. A company is not locked into whatever profit margin they want to shoot for. As such, they aren't locked into a selling price either.

No - they could sell it for any price they'd like.

Then why say price is a finite number? It isn't.

There IS a very limited range of COSTS associated with building a piece of equipment like that though, and anyone who has been in the business can give a rather accurate guesstimate.

I think I've explained my position enough for almost anybody.