If it's a general solder joint issue - they shouldn't bother touching them with an iron at all. Just send them out to a board house and have them re-flowed.
Heck - I know hobbyists that re-flow PCB's using toaster ovens.
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Markbass Amp repair?
- Thread starter BassSaxMan
- Start date
If it's a general solder joint issue - they shouldn't bother touching them with an iron at all. Just send them out to a board house and have them re-flowed.
Heck - I know hobbyists that re-flow PCB's using toaster ovens.
Odds are that their circuits are not patentable - both due to prior art and lack of "novelty".
The law requires that a patentable invention must not have been obvious to a "person having ordinary skill in the art" in view of the appropriate prior art.
Yep - and big companies are ALL doing it.
When I was at Intel we would usually have numerous AMD CPU's in house, under testing (and layer dissection, and laser voltage probing, and...) a good couple months before they were even available commercially.
Interesting; so if the MB design isn't patentable, then why not offer schematics?
While I suspect that most repairs would be less expensive with a board swap, it would certainly make a tech's life better for trouble shooting with a schematic.
While a great sounding and dependable amp, it looks (to me) that they make a greater profit on board swaps than the amps themselves.
Doesn't look like customer support is high on their list unlike GK, Genz, Carvin, etc.
Precisely because it isn't patentable.
If you have a patent - you don't care much who gets the schematic, because you're legally protected.
If you don't have a patent, anyone who wants can copy the circuit - and keeping the schematic a "trade secret" makes that more difficult.
Note - while one often can't patent circuits, you can always copyright a PCB design.
Is there really 1 specific item to protect or is it the overall sum of its' parts?
We're back to the thinking that if any of it (or all of it) were to be copied by big boys, the lack of schematics is only an annoyance.
Not so sure the legitimate competitors or botique builders (which might be read US only) would steal an EQ or power amp design, but who knows.
We're back to the thinking that if any of it (or all of it) were to be copied by big boys, the lack of schematics is only an annoyance.
Not so sure the legitimate competitors or botique builders (which might be read US only) would steal an EQ or power amp design, but who knows.
My guess is the "throw it away buy another" mentality.
Which we all are finding is a bad practice. It is much better to design devices/equipment to last forever than to feed the throw away approach. Yeah the throw away makes money on the stock market but we need to get back to our roots.
What was the specific repair? I vaguely remember this but from what I thought Ken mentioned in this thread and has mentioned before... this was not a normal repair situation. Yet it's clear that some are acting like it was.
Why? It goes along with the fact that in another repair mentioned in this thread, despite the poster saying it was more than a simple pot replacement, hands were wrung about the high cost of simply replacing a pot. That's a crock.
Legit concerns I have no problem with... but sometimes people need to make things overblown and that helps no one... except maybe the competition, who might gain some business from folks who don't know any better.
See my previous post.
You should since you seem to have to look at this in a clearly skewed fashion. I honestly don't know why.
The fact is, just about any product like this can suffer a failure to the point where the cost of repair could exceed the value of the item. Even a Crate Power Block.
DOES EVERYONE UNDERSTAND THAT?
i paid $90 for the power block. if it breaks i'll throw it out. i feel a lot better about throwing out a $90 amp than a $600 amp.See my previous post.
You should since you seem to have to look at this in a clearly skewed fashion. I honestly don't know why.
The fact is, just about any product like this can suffer a failure to the point where the cost of repair could exceed the value of the item. Even a Crate Power Block.
DOES EVERYONE UNDERSTAND THAT?
so what now? am i not allowed to have an opinion?
There are innovations in everything even bass amplification. Companies feel that they need to protect their intellectual property. Right or wrong it's their choice.
Paul
to "Never equate the amount of business with the amount of profit."
Here in Minnesota that $15/hr employee actually costs areound $23 or more, add in operating and overhead and know $35-$0/ is the Loaded Labor rate.
Start your own business and plan on about 50% self employment tax.
Criminy
Here in Minnesota that $15/hr employee actually costs areound $23 or more, add in operating and overhead and know $35-$0/ is the Loaded Labor rate.
Start your own business and plan on about 50% self employment tax.
Criminy
I'm never buying another computer.
I here you. I should have thrown this piece of junk away a couple years ago. Just got done wiping it and reloading everything. What a pain.
There was a spirited and informed debate on the schematic issue on the Orange forum a little while ago. Some suggested that manufacturers are loath to release schematics from fear a do-it-yourselfer would injure themsleves and sue the company. I argued it was merely an effort to help "authorized dealers" get all the repair business.
Think about it in the context of car repairs. How would you like it if only "authorized dealers" could repair your car? Some say that by withholding the computer disgnostic codes, that's exactly what car makers are doing. No big deal? Unless maybe your daughter at college got her car repaired at a local shop rather than the dealer and then had an accident.
An interesting legal debate.
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Think about it in the context of car repairs. How would you like it if only "authorized dealers" could repair your car? Some say that by withholding the computer disgnostic codes, that's exactly what car makers are doing. No big deal? Unless maybe your daughter at college got her car repaired at a local shop rather than the dealer and then had an accident.
An interesting legal debate.
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And sometimes even with all the secret inside information the dealers can't fix them.
Ever owned a Ford with a 6.0 Diesel in it?
Ever owned a Ford with a 6.0 Diesel in it?
Who said you can't have an opinion? So what now? I can't have an opinion?
In the meantime guess the righteous indignation made you miss the basic points:
1. The $415 repair is a red herring. Lather rinse repeat... it still won't hunt.
2. Anything could have a failure big enough that it COSTS MORE THAN THE ITEM IS WORTH. Particularly your $90 amp.
3. If you have a $600 Markbass LMII/LMII it's probably new or close to it. That means it should be under warranty making your fears moot. Otherwise you don't have a $600 LMII/LMII. After all... they're only worth $330 used.
In my opinion of course.
I worked as a computer repair tech back in the 80's after I got out of the USAF. Convinced the shop I worked it that it would be more cost effective to do component level repairs. And it was... we made money and customers got lower cost repairs. Gradually that changed and it no longer was cost effective to do that.
Some known issues with products are cost effect to have a board repaired vs. a simple swap. I just had a digital board for my Samsung DLP reflowed, cost me $40 and the tv works like new. The problem is how many shops want to do that vs. a board swap anymore? How many owners want to wait for a component level repair when they're going nuts over the time to simply have a piece in the queue waitiing for a board swap?
I consider the LMII to have been underpriced when it came out. Overbuilt for the price, much like Hondas were years ago. That typically doesn't carry over into repair costs. Just my experience/opinion.
1. the $415 board replacement happened...so did the $300 pot replacement and board repair. how is that a red herring?
2. while this is true, it's still way out of line for a board replacement.
3. i sold my markbass amps. nothing personal...still love the sound of them, but i bought the power block because the markbass amps were overkill for what i needed, plus the whole reason i got them was because they sounded a lot like ampegs to me, and now they have the vt so i freed up some cash.
2. while this is true, it's still way out of line for a board replacement.
3. i sold my markbass amps. nothing personal...still love the sound of them, but i bought the power block because the markbass amps were overkill for what i needed, plus the whole reason i got them was because they sounded a lot like ampegs to me, and now they have the vt so i freed up some cash.
