R.I.P Markbass CMD121P...3rd time (good riddance!)

[byacey]

Sure. For as much as a new one. Designed Obsolescence is here to stay. I consider nearly all offshore electronics to be disposable.

Unfortunately a lot of domestic electronics is in the same category. A well designed piece of gear likely won't suffer catastrophic failure, so it should still be cost effective to repair by someone who knows what they are doing. If it's not-so-well designed, I guess it ends up in the landfill as part of the natural selection process.

 

[SJan3]

Yeah, but I'm avoiding anything in the future where I need a lot of watts. I gotta protect what hearing I have left like it's gold.

I "hear" ya. But seriously, it's a big issue for me as well. So, I do hear you.

 

[SJan3]

The differentiating factor is if factory service / support is available. It's wonderful if a company offers support within the warranty period, but what happens after the warranty is up?

I agree!

 

[BobKos]

I have to say I bought my Italian LMII in 2007. I am still very happy with it. If it died tomorrow I would be sad but would not feel the amp or Markbass owes me anything on it. I think the perspective of how reliable these amps are needs to be kept. I used to own old Fender amps back when they weren't old. They always needed tubes, made weird noises, etc etc. The fact that there are any properly working originals is amazing to me. Same with the old Peavey, Acoustic etc solid state stuff. They used to blow up all the time. Even my wonderful Eden had reliability issues. I don't miss any of those amps and their sketchy reliability. New amps are lightyears ahead in terms of reliability and features. If one breaks every 8 or 10 years so be it. Most last a long time.

 

[SJan3]

What I'd like to know is the cost of repair for other products with similar repair issues. Is the MarkBass pricier to fix vs it's peers?
That would sway me in a certain direction.
I consider Mesa, Aguilar and GK the Big 3 in USA built amps. Is their cost of repair similar, more or less than MarkBass?

 

[byacey]

New amps are lightyears ahead in terms of reliability and features. If one breaks every 8 or 10 years so be it. Most last a long time.

I dunno, personally I expect 20 to 30 or more years out of a piece of quality gear, with some minor maintenance.

 

[Frunobulax]

I had the original 15 inch combo.
Besides always fighting with it to get a sound I liked, it kept shorting out at the power switch.
Reliability was now a serious issue. I could no longer trust it. So, out it went.

I now own the original 152 cab and was considering the S.T.U 1000 amp to go with it but since there's no way I can try before I buy, and its a heck of a lot of cash to spend on something that reliability may still be in question, I'm forced to trust my gut instinct and stick to the amps I already own. At least I know they work.
I can't speak for amps of the past but I lean towards believing there are some quality, reliability, issues that need to be rectified with today's modern amps...maybe it's a disposable world mindset in production that causes this, maybe it isn't.... but I digress..

 

[byacey]

They always needed tubes, made weird noises, etc etc. The fact that there are any properly working originals is amazing to me. Same with the old Peavey, Acoustic etc solid state stuff. They used to blow up all the time.

In my experiences, Peavey gear was well built with solid engineering. I personally own a couple pieces of Peavey gear from circa 1985 that have bounced around thousands of miles in the back of a truck for 30 years, endured storage in temperatures from -42C to +32C year in, year out. I think I had to clean some of the controls around 1999, and replaced the foam filter on the guitar amp speaker around 2010.

 

[BobKos]

I dunno, personally I expect 20 to 30 or more years out of a piece of quality gear, with some minor maintenance.

I would agree with that and my $1000 WD-800 is in what I consider to be the higher quality arena. I expect it will last according to your statement. But a $500 amp is not in that arena, does not promise to deliver that level of reliability, and typically wont. However it will be far more reliable during it's useable life span than same class amps of yesterday.

Your sig line indicates that you are capable with electronic services. Most are not. So 'minor maintenance' to you will likely mean costly upkeep / repairs to the rest of us. That has to be factored into the value and reliability of a piece of gear. I will still maintain that a 1970's Fender Bassman 50 is less reliable than my LMII. If you enjoy working on, restoring, and maintaining old gear, more power to you. I don't so I enjoy my relatively trouble free modern gear.

 

[Peteyboy]

Our mileage varies with all our gear based on how many hours we put on these things. Admittedly, I'm more of a hobbyist since I "retired" from the full-court press I'd moved here to do. I love my LMIII but I'm with @RichSnyder on the lower wattage thing lately - planning on using my backup head if I ever book another gig. I want to rely more on FOH support. My hearing is more important than the full-on bootyquake.

 

[Sparky Mark]

I had the original 15 inch combo.
Besides always fighting with it to get a sound I liked, it kept shorting out at the power switch.
Reliability was now a serious issue. I could no longer trust it. So, out it went.

I now own the original 152 cab and was considering the S.T.U 1000 amp to go with it but since there's no way I can try before I buy, and its a heck of a lot of cash to spend on something that reliability may still be in question, I'm forced to trust my gut instinct and stick to the amps I already own. At least I know they work.
I can't speak for amps of the past but I lean towards believing there are some quality, reliability, issues that need to be rectified with today's modern amps...maybe it's a disposable world mindset in production that causes this, maybe it isn't.... but I digress..

That combo also has the head mounted vertically at the rear facing upwards and had the same fault as my CMD121P. I'm becoming convinced there's something in the head that is impacted either thermally or mechanically (speaker vibration) more seriously than in a horizontal orientation.

 

[Slevage]

Is there nobody doing board level repairs on these amps?

I've repaired (component level) the power supply and the amplifier section of 2 different Markbass amps. I did it as a learning experience. It would be Duffy to do those repairs for a profit due to the labor involved. My Markbass 1-12 combo has worked flawlessly for 10 years, but at least I know what's involved should it need a repair. I carry an Elf head for backup on "important gigs" where playing through FOH isn't practical on the fly.
(Theater type gigs).

 

[Jason Schulhz]

How would you know? You've only been a member for a year.

What does that have to do with anything? Count them for yourself. Numbers don't lie.

 

[Sparky Mark]

I would always recommend buying second-hand backups to your favourite amps. My admittedly OTT collection of MB heads was purchased for a fraction of the new price. Each one of my two SA450, TA500 and LM2 cost less than a Markbass authorised service centre repair.

 

[crobasster]

I don't know how many time per week/month is OP using the amp on gigs ?! We're talking about electronic products that is made for pro use and must keep up daily use, so is not strange that an amp from 2007 get a failure .

On the other hand, my vintage amps from 70's and 80's never fail, don't wana die, still working good .

 

[SJan3]

What does that have to do with anything? Count them for yourself. Numbers don't lie.

There's no way to accurately count amp failures on this site. And the point is, you haven't been here long enough to know.
You're just slamming the product for some reason. You yourself admitted that all products have their failures. But there are MarkBass haters and GK haters. Don't be swayed by the naysayers and make claims you can't back up with hard statistics, please. Better you simply say you don't favor the product. That would be much more palatable than wild claims that you can't document.

 

[SJan3]

I dunno, personally I expect 20 to 30 or more years out of a piece of quality gear, with some minor maintenance.

Hmmm, a bit optimistic I'd say. But I like your thinking..

 

[SJan3]

That combo also has the head mounted vertically at the rear facing upwards and had the same fault as my CMD121P. I'm becoming convinced there's something in the head that is impacted either thermally or mechanically (speaker vibration) more seriously than in a horizontal orientation.

You make the case for separates. In today's age, separates are not much more burdensome than combos, although pricier.

 

[woodyng2]

Remember like 15 years ago when the CMD121P and a BDDI or VTDI pedal was the rig of choice on TB?

Yes! It's more like 8 years for me, but it's Still my everyday go-to.
I Used that exact rig (with 2nd Markbass Traveller 1-12 cab) for a gig just a couple of weeks ago.
It's been 100% reliable (knock wood) since I've owned it. I've had the opportunity to play through GK,Mesa,tech 21,Kustom,and currently a '70s Fender 135 bassman rig, but I still prefer the sound of my Markbass/VT setup.

 

[Sparky Mark]

You make the case for separates. In today's age, separates are not much more burdensome than combos, although pricier.

It could be that Markbass sells more CMD121P combos than anything else which is why there seem to be more faults reported. However, I do prefer the slightly fuller sounding LM3 with NY121P over the CMD121P combo.