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Markbass still not using B&C speakers

mikecd1

mikecd1

Mar 3, 2009
2,697
2,679
New England
#1
Anyone know if this is true? I saw a review on musiciansfriend saying they dropped the B&C and are using knock-offs. Seems strange since they are still very pricey here in the states. Was thinking about another NY 121 cab, but would like to know what I'm getting first.

****Updated**** verified not using B&C nor manufacturing in Italy anymore.
 
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#3
Thanks Frealhog for the info. Since it's already on order I guess I'll give it a chance, but may decide to scour the used market instead after I come to my own conclusion. The information in the thread confirms it was done, but does however point out Marco himself replying to a member that he sets all the specs and they test extensively. It does have a bit of feel like "designed by eminence" and I have to say I've liked some of those designs that are made by quon dong over in china. I have not heard the words made in china yet, so I'll try to stay impartial till I try them out.
 
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#5
That's good to know. Although I did not specifically read anything about a change in tone, that thread had a user's dissatisfaction of a perceived lack of power handling which could be subjective I suppose. If the tone is still maybe its a non-issue. The specs look pretty close or identical to what I remember.
 
#6
I think if you read the whole thing it appears that he/she was simply miffed because Markbass failed to notify him as he expected to be notified and that certain web stores were "misleading" consumers because they never changed their web sites to reflect the fact that the speakers had changed.

The fella that runs Markbass (maybe the owner, I don't know) claims the speakers are nearly identical. just not manufactured by B&C.

That's my Reader's Digest version of it anyway.......
 
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#8
Update: Got a very nice email back from Riccardo Damiani at Markbass:
"From some years our cabinets/combos feature Markbass Neodymium Custom Speakers made under our own specs from our suppliers (as it was for B&C), designed and developed to offer amazing performance and top-quality... they have absolutely NOT inferior tone and performance."
He fell short of answering my question about where these speakers are made and whether the new speakers have cast frames like the B&C or stamped frames. I have no doubt they are Neo and just want to know where they're made and what they're made of. The only pic in the club thread is so small I can't really make out the frame. It kinda sorta looks like an oem eminence, but will have to see a better pic. It is an important point that B&C did make those to Marco's specs and so are these so I'm cautiously optimistic about my new cabs and will post when they arrive.
 
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#9
They are most definitely stamped frame.



markbass-cmd-121p-bare-speakers-set-of-two-12-8-ohm-bass-woofer-0ff33c163292eed90ae6efad7528484d.jpg
 
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#13
Well, I gave the new cab a try and have to say was not impressed with this designed in Italy, made in Indonesia offering having owned the Italian Markbass amps and cabs for a number of years. The new cab weighed in at almost 32 lbs and when I looked inside the cab (through the slot port on back) it looked like particle board construction, but tough to say for sure. As I recall, the originals are some kind of 13 ply void-free birch or something elegant sounding and lightweight and of course the speakers are cast frame B&C. The current cab did seem fairly flat in sound, but when I tried to EQ the cab, just didn't have any warmth or thickness to sound like my Italian made ones. No matter what I did, still just seemed kind of twangy. Had the piezo tweeter backed off almost completely and no difference, thin and twangy, no personality or warmth. YMMV Back to GC for return and see if my salesman knew they are not Italian made anymore. Thanks to those who posted or messaged me about the situation. - Update ** three salesmen and mgr. did not know about the switch and were just as surprized as I was. I love my Indonesian made Rumbles, but these are not in that class IMO.
 
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#14
mikecd1 said:
Well, I gave the new cab a try and have to say I was not impressed with this Indonesian made, designed by Markbass cabinet having played the Italian Markbass amps and cabs for a number of years. The new cab weighed in at almost 32 lbs and when I looked inside the cab (through the slot port on back) it looked like particle board construction, but tough to say for sure. As I recall the originals were some kind of 13 ply birch or something elegant sounding and of course the speaker is the cast frame B&C. It did seem fairly flat in sound, but when I tried to EQ the cab, just didn't have any warmth or thickness to sound like I recalled them having. No matter what I did, still seemed kind of twangy. Had the piezo tweeter backed off almost completely and no difference, thin and twangy. Back to GC for return and see if my salesman knew they are not Italian made anymore. Thanks to those who posted or messaged me about the situation.
Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing that. Sadly the company bought into the "global economy" to maximize their profits. Maybe they should have a "classic Markbass" and a "global series Markbass" for Italian products and Asian products.

I regret not buying one of the combos when they were still Italian made. My solution? I went with Gallien Krueger. They have an American made MB112 combo that will give the CMD121 a good run for the money. I can call California for tech support.

Having said that, I really wish GK would make a passive 112 and 110. I called them, and actually got a reply from the owner himself. He felt the powered 12 was a suitable replacement that would be redundant to have a passive 112. They saw no need for a 110 passive cab, I contend that a 110 and 112 would be excellent for the MB amp series.

Good luck and thanks for sharing.
 
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#15
alaskaleftybass said:
Having said that, I really wish GK would make a passive 112 and 110. I called them, and actually got a replay from the owner himself. He felt the powered 12 was a suitable replacement that would be redundant to have a passive 112. They saw no need for a 110 passive cab, I contend that a 110 and 112 would be excellent for the MB amp series.
Click to expand...

I have two of the powered GK cabs, and for a while now I've been kicking around the idea of making them passive by adding two speakon connections in the back. One would bypass the amp and to straight to the speaker, the other would connect to the amp. That way if I want to use it as a passive cabinet, I would just connect it to the amp via the 'straight to speaker' connection. Then if I wanted to use it as a powered cab, just connect a jumper cable to the two connections and it would be just like it comes from the factory. Very versatile!
 
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#16
mmbongo said:
I have two of the powered GK cabs, and for a while now I've been kicking around the idea of making them passive by adding two speakon connections in the back. One would bypass the amp and to straight to the speaker, the other would connect to the amp. That way if I want to use it as a passive cabinet, I would just connect it to the amp via the 'straight to speaker' connection. Then if I wanted to use it as a powered cab, just connect a jumper cable to the two connections and it would be just like it comes from the factory. Very versatile!
Click to expand...
Excellent idea there Mr. MMBongo! :thumbsup:
 
#17
mmbongo said:
I have two of the powered GK cabs, and for a while now I've been kicking around the idea of making them passive by adding two speakon connections in the back. One would bypass the amp and to straight to the speaker, the other would connect to the amp. That way if I want to use it as a passive cabinet, I would just connect it to the amp via the 'straight to speaker' connection. Then if I wanted to use it as a powered cab, just connect a jumper cable to the two connections and it would be just like it comes from the factory. Very versatile!
Click to expand...
I was just looking at those cabs the other night and that is a great idea!
 
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#19
Just a happy update. Returned the new and ordered some rather used, made in Italy NY121's and did a gig over the weekend. Happy to report that they sounded as great as ever and weighed in over 10% lighter than the new Indo-Marks. I opened the cabs to verify the B&C's were there and they actually look identical to the 12 HPL76 B&C drivers. Likely based on that design and tweaked to Markbass specs. Kind of like what I think GK does with Eminence. With two of these they kept up nicely with a (sadly) louder drummer and I never turned up during the gig.
 
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#20
did a search and could not find a good answer to this question - how can you tell if the cabinet has the b&c speaker or the markbass indonesian "equivalent"? I just ordered a 151HR and GC offered an open box floor model option. Hoping it's an older B&C model but I am not sure how to tell without taking it apart. suggestions?
 

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