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My LMII died :(

lunarpollen

lunarpollen

Aug 6, 2007
4,905
964
Rio Linda, CA
#1
Last night, the final practice before a gig tomorrow night, I arrived at our main guitarist's house and set up my gear, but my Markbass LMII decided to give me the silent treatment. The power light was on, but no sound at all. Verified that it wasn't a bad cable or a bad cabinet. The head just wouldn't produce sound.

Fortunately the aforementioned guitarist had an big old Peavey Musician Mark III Series head laying around, so I just played through that and it seemed to do the trick. I guess I'll be using that Peavey head for the show tomorrow night.

I don't remember how long ago I got the LMII, but it's at least a couple years past the warranty period. Not sure what do do with it or where to take it; I probably can't afford to get it fixed at the moment, and I don't know if it even *is* fixable yet... Bleh...
 
#3
True, I would be grateful for some advice from a Markbass rep on what I should do... I wouldn't expect them to replace it for me or anything, but maybe a couple of troubleshooting tips and info on where I should take it to have it worked on would be cool...

I am the original owner, and the amp has served me well so far...
 
#4
Have you checked out Invalid Link Removed? They've got an FAQ section with a troubleshooting guide. And you can also contact the company through that page, too. They don't have a list of authorized repair shops, but they might be able to provide you that info.
 
#9
Use the guitarists Peavey as the second amp for this test. Run a guitar cord from your markbass effects send to the poweramp in jack on the peavey. Your amp is now a preamp, the peavey a power amp, see if it works. Then run the cord from the peavey's preamp out jack to the markbass effects return. The peavey is then the pre, the MB the power. See if it works. That will isolate the problem to your amps pre or power sections. If it doesn't work either way, your problem might be in the power supply.

Also check the speaker out fuses on your markbass and look if there are any inside, most amps have one or two in there. Dirty effects loop jacks are also a common problem, especially if you never use them.
 
#14
I checked the main fuse by the power cable jack; it's fine (the power light and fan probably wouldn't work anyway if that were dead)... Checked inside the amp, couldn't find any other fuses... Verified that the pre section is fine, it's definitely the power section that's not working... I'll try contacting Markbass support this weekend and see what they advise.
 
#15
was gona suggest some of the above mentioned troubleshootin but seems ya done that. I think a couple folks had same issue on LMII while back and found repairs costly but that was awhile back, maybe its' better now.
 

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#17
B-string said:
Sidechain? You mean they are parallel loops? Unusual if correct and will not allow you to separate the pre and power amps for testing with another preamp. You can still use the effects send to another poweramp to check the MB's pre.
Click to expand...


I can verify that this is true, at least for the LMIII, not sure about the LMII but maybe someone else knows if they are the same.

I use my Effects Return as a second 1/4" input for my keyboard, and I can also verify that the effects loop then passes through the EQ and Filter section from there, but not the input gain control.
 
#19
Every type of amp has problems. It’s always good to have a backup like a GK MB200 or a Carvin BX250, both of which are small, cheap and have enough power to gig with (if needed). Repairs are no fun (and never cheap) but chucking the amp for another amp might bite you also. It’s nice when an old amp lasts for decades but some just don’t for whatever reason.
 
#20
I hate to say it, but my MB500 shat the bed recently. Out of warranty.

The repair tech says it was the main power board that went, and they are basically unrepairable; you have to install a new board (around $200 for the part). Miniaturization has its downside.

I have decided to stick with mid-size amps, with big ol' capacitors and resistors that I can replace myself.
 

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