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Markbass Schematics

#101
Sure. I bought a Markbass LM 800. It was blown. So, I brought the amp to my brother who is an Electronic Engineer with his degree from the University of Chicago. Anyway, he asked for the schematic and gave me a list of parts. I right away contacted MB, just as I have done with SWR, Ampeg, Peavey, and a few others. They promptly told me that I had to bring the amp into Guitar Center for repair. GC is about 60 miles away. I explained my situation to them and they said my only option was to have a certified repair center get in touch with them about the amp. The only "Certified" repair centers are GC and I would not trust them to restring a broken bass let alone fix my amp. So I had my brother contact them for the schematic via his company and they sent him a schematic that did not include any information on it that was needed. So they purposly sent erronious material to us. Again, all I want is to have this amp fixed and they are giving me not only the run around, but telling me that the only people who can fix my amp AND no one else is qualified to repair their amps other than GC... WRONG ANSWER! If I had been treated like a person who cares, IF I would have been talked to like a person who knows what I am talking about, IF they would have given me the requested information that MOST EVERY OTHER COMPANY GLADLY gives to its' customers, there would be no problem. By the way, this has been ongoing for a couple of months now and I still do not have a useable amp or a schematic.
 
#102
I am in total agreement that MB SHOULD provide the schematic to a customer who has purchased one of their amplifiers. Nothing is perfect and all things eventually fail. However sometimes you have to go with the flow whether it suits you personally or not. You have to pick the fights you can win. Swimming against the current is hard and tiring. If you want the amp to work again follow the advice that the manufacturer has given you. Once the amp is repaired sell it and be done with MB as others have.

Acting as a Devil's advocate here, you did buy a faulty amp before checking whether or not you had the wherewith all to repair it. I am in no way dissing you or your capabilities but you have to cut your losses here. Give the amp away faulty, sell it on Ebay as an as-is project or have it repaired by someone who has the means to do the repair. Whatever you choose obsessing about the situation is only going to do you harm.

Paul
 
#104
Red Planet said:
At this point it's a non issue for me, now that I no longer own any MarkBass Products.

I had been dissatisfied about some of things the company was doing from the time I purchased mine until the day the last piece of MB gear was gone.

MarkBass seems to be a bandwagon amp. It proved to be one of those products that could be purchased just to start a thread. After all they are cheap enough. The longer I had mine the more fake it became (like the loud button being on til she runs out of steam).

That whole spec moving around thing on products that were already in my possession got me miffed pretty darn good.



Oh well.
Sa La Vie.
Click to expand...
Your opinion is highly biased. If you are not happy with some things the company has done, which are fairly minor IMO, that does not effect the quality of the amp. The markbass amps are still a fantastic value and one of my favourite amps of all time. They are powerful, versatile, light and they sound VERY good.

If the company decides not change its eq points or change its limiter circuitry that's their decision and their business. Those things do not effect the quality of their previously designed amps.

Anyway, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. I just disagree!

Have a great day. :)
 
#105
BassmanPaul said:
I am in total agreement that MB SHOULD provide the schematic to a customer who has purchased one of their amplifiers. Nothing is perfect and all things eventually fail. However sometimes you have to go with the flow whether it suits you personally or not. You have to pick the fights you can win. Swimming against the current is hard and tiring. If you want the amp to work again follow the advice that the manufacturer has given you. Once the amp is repaired sell it and be done with MB as others have.

Acting as a Devil's advocate here, you did buy a faulty amp before checking whether or not you had the wherewith all to repair it. I am in no way dissing you or your capabilities but you have to cut your losses here. Give the amp away faulty, sell it on Ebay as an as-is project or have it repaired by someone who has the means to do the repair. Whatever you choose obsessing about the situation is only going to do you harm.

Paul
Click to expand...
I'm also sort of on MB's side on this one. Before buying the amp it would have been wise to check into their policy of sharing schematics. I'm guessing their hesitation stems from alot of the intellectual thiefery that sometimes happens... *cough* behringer *cough*.

I understand that their schematic policy is upsetting to you, but personally I don't think that detracts from their products and I don't think it makes them a "bad" company.

I do sympathize for your situation though.
 
#106
What irks me most, is that Markbass representatives have read this thread. No doubt about that. Still, no intervention to get this rectified. That is lame, to say the very least. Furthermore to that, I have strong feelings against the idea of ANYTHING costing this much to be "disposable". IMHO, musical instrument amplifiers should be serviceable by ANY qualified technician. The whole idea that the circuit must be "protected" like some kind of mysterious oracle, I find a tad silly. I want an EE to step in here: could a team of 5 or more EE's NOT sit down with this amp, and with proper time/effort, reverse-engineer it?
 
#107
I aslo agree that everyone has great opinions on this. I do also know that everyone should have an opinion for themselves. It is not my position to sway anyone one way or another. I just presented the fact in my situation, nothing more.
Everyone is correct, I should have called about a schematic before I bought and now I know better. As for me, MB is awful at customer service and since I am all about customer service, I personally will never do business with them EVER!!! I do not take statements like that lightly either. They did wrong to me as a customer. Me personally. So it is my place to do as I see fit. Again, it is not my place to tell anyone else how to feel or to judge, this thread started with me just looking for a schematic as I have done several times before for several other pieces of equipment. Then, MB put me in a position to have to publish my grievences over the net and they have not once attempted to correct the situation. In MY Opinion.
 
#108
majortoby said:
What irks me most, is that Markbass representatives have read this thread. No doubt about that. Still, no intervention to get this rectified. That is lame, to say the very least. Furthermore to that, I have strong feelings against the idea of ANYTHING costing this much to be "disposable". IMHO, musical instrument amplifiers should be serviceable by ANY qualified technician. The whole idea that the circuit must be "protected" like some kind of mysterious oracle, I find a tad silly. I want an EE to step in here: could a team of 5 or more EE's NOT sit down with this amp, and with proper time/effort, reverse-engineer it?
Click to expand...

:confused: They did respond. Send it to a qualified repair station. My guess is, that is what 99% of the very few that will probably have any problem with these would do, across all brands.

This has NOTHING to do with an amp being disposable. These can be repaired like any other amp, and the reliability seems stellar in general.

As was mentioned by many at the start of this thread, many companies do not condone 'user repair'. Markbass makes it clear that they don't by indicating they will not share full EE documentation.

Seems like a non-issue to me. This has nothing to do with getting an amp repaired if something is wrong. Seems like a 'tempest in a teapot'.

I agree with BassmanPaul... if the ability to buy a broken amp and then fix it yourself is key, I'd buy another brand:D:smug:
 
#109
Well, I guess one could call me a total fool, as I'm sure several have done several times. But, I'm with iriegnome. This is incredibly lame, and people have the right to whatever grievances they want. And yes, user-serviceability is a HUGE factor for me. Which is why I buy only certain computers, only certain cars, etc. etc. I am fully aware that my opinion is mine, and I am awaiting my flames patiently.
 
#110
majortoby said:
Well, I guess one could call me a total fool, as I'm sure several have done several times. But, I'm with iriegnome. This is incredibly lame, and people have the right to whatever grievances they want. And yes, user-serviceability is a HUGE factor for me. Which is why I buy only certain computers, only certain cars, etc. etc. I am fully aware that my opinion is mine, and I am awaiting my flames patiently.
Click to expand...

No flames:) Makes perfect sense. I again agree that those who want to 'fix their own amps' should not consider Markbass, or other amps/products that don't support that option.
 
#112
Another aspect perhaps not being considered here is that while most amps are not designed to be "disposable" within their normal projected lifespan, many manufacturers have increased the efficiency of their servicing of faulty products by making modular circuitboards inside the unit to be in fact disposable. IOW they have compared the cost of the labor hours of a US electronic technician with certification on that specific product, diagnosing and attempting to repair the faulty component, against the cost of just slapping in a brand new daughterboard for the section at fault. For companies at that scale, it's a no-brainer.

So GC is the "official service center", and you'd be right not to trust them with anything requiring brains; but if my guess is correct about Markbass using these modern methods, all the GC monkey has to do is order the replacement daughterboard and plug it in.

For that matter, some companies have decided that it's cheaper for them to just give the customer a new amp, and have the retailer send the faulty one back for service at the main plant, to be later re-sold as "refurbished" (or maybe even "new"). Behringer and Ampeg both do this.
 
#113
Maybe MarkBass only makes their Magic snake oil available to auth. repair people. You must be trained to refill it? Ok I admit not a fair. I just find it personally a bad practice to exclude independant repair people from proper service information. We are not talking about classified military secrets here, ITS A BASS AMP. ;)
 
#114
As far as I know, Guitar Center would just give you a new
amp or loaner till a new one is shipped to you. Even if I don't
like this policy, its a policy that's been made very public.

I've been dealing with Walter Woods for many years. Try
getting a schematic out of him. lol

As far as the sixty mile drive. I'm in Los Angeles. We drive
sixty miles for a $50. jazz gig, or a carton of milk.
I just drove eighty miles for a bass repair. I'm just saying...
 
#116
B String said:
As far as I know, Guitar Center would just give you a new
amp or loaner till a new one is shipped to you. Even if I don't
like this policy, its a policy that's been made very public.

I've been dealing with Walter Woods for many years. Try
getting a schematic out of him. lol

As far as the sixty mile drive. I'm in Los Angeles. We drive
sixty miles for a $50. jazz gig, or a carton of milk.
I just drove eighty miles for a bass repair. I'm just saying...
Click to expand...

Good point, when I was in the area driving 100 miles one way was nothing, now 20 miles to the interstate freeway seems like a trip?
 
#119
iriegnome said:
My amp is not under warranty, so the option of GC is out either way.
Click to expand...

Why?

Take the amp in and get a quote from them. It could mean that you'll end up with either a new amp or one as good as new for not too much money.

As I posted earlier it's time to resolve this issue. In a few years you'll hardly remember the facts. A few short years later you'll have difficulty with your name!!! ;)

Paul
 
#120
From all that I have read here, I am disappointed in MarkBass' lack of response. I know that Peter Murray (an excellent bassist) is just an employee, but I also feel let down that he has not participated in any meaningful way in this thread. I love the sound of my LMII. It has been dead-on reliable. As someone else had mentioned, I am one that likes to have options on repairing anything that I own. Yes, my daily driver has over 365,000 miles with the original powertrain and no needed repairs...(yes, I'm the mechanic)...but if I get stuck on repair...I have backups...either the factory (they have been surprisingly helpful on things) or outside sources that have access to the factory procedures and data. Every other amplifier that I own-or have owned-has had very good...if not excellent...support-on request from the manufacturer. I absolutely do not buy into the 'reverse engineering' argument...no schematic is needed for that...company 'b''s engineers dissect company 'm''s products and begin to manufacture their 'own' similar designs. Are MarkBass amps designed to be disposable? Not from my glimpses inside, they are not. Everything that I have looked at under the hood looked to be first rate, all the way. Well-engineered. Well manufactured. Poorly supported. Either MarkBass is ignorant of the need for good customer support...or they are arrogant. The net result is the same for me. Unless this issue is addressed properly...the next piece of gear on the block will be my LMII...and I will never buy another one of their products and will strongly advise any in our community to avoid their products.

with profound regret,

kim
 

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