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What happened to Markbass popularity?

I told you guys that I had a private email, which I thought you'd appreciate. No one asked for it (stinkweeds), but here it is anyway.

"Mr Jimmy!
Dude, that whole email was funny as poopie! LOL! The line "if the Koreans were capable of building such weapons of mass destruction, how the f%*k did they lose the war?" literally just made coffee fly outta my nose. I'll letcha in on a few trade secrets.... Back when I started working with overseas companies, they would ask me questions like "Would you like the frets dressed so you can have low action with no buzzing?" Well, of course!

"That will be an extra $25 cents per guitar.

Would you like the fret ends filed down so they're not sharp?" Isn't that a given?

"Well, that is extra labor. That will be an extra $12 cents per guitar"

And on and on it went...do you want good wiring, do you want good pots and hardware etc etc, each crucial upgrade being a nominal additional charge. So to have the best of everything...name brand hardware (everything is either Gotoh, Grover or Wilkinson) the best wood, my own designed pickups, the best workers in the factory to do the fretwork, paint and assembly etc came to like an extra $22 bucks per guitar. A measly $22 bucks!

BUT, if you're somebody like Epiphone, Dean etc that orders 10,000 guitars a year, that extra $22 bucks REALLY adds up. So all those companies for-go the upgrades, and you get guitars made out of balsa wood, with buzzing frets and sharp fret ends, all because they're worried about the bottom line. I don't order NEARLY that many, and I have to be able to sleep at night and couldn't be able to if I was cranking out poopie guitars to teenagers, so I shoot the moon on every guitar. I gotta tell ya too, those things rival the hand-built guitars that I make for you-know-who!

Another cool thing... when I was looking for an overseas factory, is that there's only 4 big factories over there, and one factory.. World Music...makes 99.9% of all the import guitars in the USA: Dean, Gibson, Fender, BC Rich, Epiphone, Schecter, ESP, PRS etc etc which is why they all have a similar feel.

The only difference between those guitars is how much extra those companies are willing to pay extra for the upgrades. Now ya know the rest of the story!

And a cool little side note, I didn't go with World Music, I went with a smaller company that doesn't build anything for the US market, they build for the European market. So that's why the "removed" guitars have a unique feel...because there's no other guitars in the US made by this particular factory, AND since they're a smaller factory, they have more attention to detail.

Bet ya didn't think there was so much crazy behind the scenes poopie goin' on!!
Oh hey, just got an email that you paid up on The Beast! Thank you Sir!! You're a good egg...

Ok I'm off for more coffee...it's one of those days. DEFINITELY shoot me some vids when you have the time, of The Beast going through your monster rig! Woa, Nelly! LOL, Talk to ya soon bed,
T&%y"
 
When I bought my first Markbass in '08 I had never heard one or tried one, or even seen one.. I just researched best I could. They were lighter than what I had and had more power and reviews were favorable, including input from pros. The fact that they were a bit expensive made me "assume" that they were made well. I know that's no guarantee, but... Nine years later, now, I believe my Markbass gear has proven that I made a good choice. Great sound, no failures.
 
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When I bought my first Markbass in '08 I had never heard one or tried one, or even seen one.. I just researched best I could. They were lighter than what I had and had more power and reviews were favorable, including input from pros. The fact that they were a bit expensive made me "assume" that they were made well. I know that's no guarantee, but... Nine years later, now, I believe my Markbass gear has proven that I made a good choice. Great sound, no failures.

I was overseas when I first saw Markbass. I had a little time to look at gear, and saw the Little Mark-something or other, IIRC lower output than the LMII which first lit things up here, and I even recall that it had a different color combination.
I remember thinking that there was nothing like it back home, except Walter Woods which is not exactly something you pick up at GC!

Fast-forward, and here we are, now "blase" about an amp like MarkBass, and we're now given the option to simply choose from dozens of similar products.

Maybe we should reflect that this brand was one of the OG's of the micro-head, and they haven't stopped putting out for us!
 
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I'm sure there are other products that would suit me out there, but my Markbass keeps pleasing me enough that there's no need to change. Although, I did buy a Fender Rumble 100 v3 recently to fill a gap, being that it was so lightweight and only cost $300.
 
But if you spend 22 extra bucks making a quality guitar versus a crap one, you just charge $25 or $27 more for it, it's not rocket science. And then that 5 bucks extra that you make on those 10,000 guitars just made you 50 grand. And you actually sell and have repeat customers because you gain a reputation for being a good value and good quality gear.

Ironically, what most "businessmen" don't understand is that the guy that's the least greedy is going to push the highest volume most likely. Instead we have clowns like in the WH who think "how can we scam people for a few cents more or a few dollars more?". And a lot of people might not notice, at least not right away, but a bunch do, and that's the swing of the pendulum towards your competitors. If you're business model is to scam people for more money, you will probably fail in the end. If your mind set is "how can I provide a better product and/or at a better price", then you will likely go far as long as you make smart decisions and prioritize investments appropriately.
 
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BLAST from the PAST!:roflmao:

markbassfront.jpg
 
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But if you spend 22 extra bucks making a quality guitar versus a crap one, you just charge $25 or $27 more for it, it's not rocket science. And then that 5 bucks extra that you make on those 10,000 guitars just made you 50 grand. And you actually sell and have repeat customers because you gain a reputation for being a good value and good quality gear.

Ironically, what most "businessmen" don't understand is that the guy that's the least greedy is going to push the highest volume most likely. Instead we have clowns like in the WH who think "how can we scam people for a few cents more or a few dollars more?". And a lot of people might not notice, at least not right away, but a bunch do, and that's the swing of the pendulum towards your competitors. If you're business model is to scam people for more money, you will probably fail in the end. If your mind set is "how can I provide a better product and/or at a better price", then you will likely go far as long as you make smart decisions and prioritize investments appropriately.
As a used car salesman told me "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times, but you can skin them only once." I think many manufacturers' (including Markbass) decision to manufacture in Indonesia without passing the savings on to loyal customers skinned a lot of sheep, and in doing so lost a lot of popularity. I own Italian-made Markbass (and Mackie) gear and it is quality stuff.
 
I don't think they skinned any sheep at all. Sounds like they would've had to raise prices or go out of business, or lower quality without going to Indonesia, according to Marco's statement above. I believe it. And their Indonesian products seem fine. And I still don't believe their popularity has declined other than on TB. And THAT may be due to the bias that, for some reason, seems to float around this place.
 
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As a used car salesman told me "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times, but you can skin them only once." I think many manufacturers' (including Markbass) decision to manufacture in Indonesia without passing the savings on to loyal customers skinned a lot of sheep, and in doing so lost a lot of popularity. I own Italian-made Markbass (and Mackie) gear and it is quality stuff.

I own Indonesian-built MarkBass and IT is quality stuff as well. I guess you missed the accurate information given earlier that there is no difference whatsoever in the build of MarkBass products other than it is manufactured elsewhere, same as if they had moved their location within Italy.

When someone can provide evidence of a difference in the bill of materials, or the manufacturing process itself, maybe a case could be made. But again, it was stated clearly there is NOT a difference, so.....
 
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I own Indonesian-built MarkBass and IT is quality stuff as well. I guess you missed the accurate information given earlier that there is no difference whatsoever in the build of MarkBass products other than it is manufactured elsewhere, same as if they had moved their location within Italy.

When someone can provide evidence of a difference in the bill of materials, or the manufacturing process itself, maybe a case could be made. But again, it was stated clearly there is NOT a difference, so.....
.....that means the Italian made products were of the same quality as currently made Indonesian products. ;) :D
 
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.....that means the Italian made products were of the same quality as currently made Indonesian products. ;) :D
You seem to mean that as a playful jab but if it's true I would go ahead and recommend the new Markbass stuff in a heartbeat. My old LMII is probably the most-used yet least troublesome piece of gear I've ever had.
I think the point about the Class D scene expanding is a good one.
Also, gear heads like myself can be restless and fickle. After 9 rock solid years with my LMII, I have no real complaints - I'm just ready to try something different.
Those of you knocking the look, IMHO you do yourselves a disservice. The first few times I spotted Markbass at GC I figured it was just some cheesy new cheapo brand. Then I actually tried it. Over 1500 or so rehearsals and gigs, the yellow hasn't bothered me one tiny bit.
 
The Company decides what quality they want. If they request of any manufacturer, Indonesian, British, Icelandic, that they build with cheap components that have a high failure rate then that's what we get. If they request high quality components and pay for it that's what we get.

To be specific "Made in...." doesn't mean poor quality or high quality. It's what the owners spec. That's where the blame or fame stops or starts.
 
My experience with Markbass has been nothing but pleasant.
As the story goes, 10 minutes before the gig starts, my Mesa Carbine M9 goes poof in a puff of smoke. (Yes-M9 through a fridge..call me old school, but we are a loud classic rock outfit that does very well financially, but I realize that kind of power is ludicrous to some TBers) Not nearly as offensive to me as a GK super mini head with a 1x10 extension cab for any gig, but that's just personal flavor and my back.
Anyway, I bust out of the gig to GC. I picked up a Little Mark III anniversary chrome edition. (I've always despised the color scheme.)
I picked up their floor demo for $370, made in Italy, the whole thing. Race back to the gig, plug in the DI and start immediately with no chance to dial up any sound, and was convinced I'd return it after I figured out the problem with the Carbine.
I have never in my life been so shocked at how great that head sounded from note 1. Threw all my preconceptions out the window. Absolutely love that amp. Still have it, it's the backup for my Chrome face Ashdowm ABM II. What a champ that head is!!!
Anyway, just thought I'd throw out my awesome Markbass experience I had when I was convinced that all microheads just SUCKED!! Great head and great service when I had a problem. Although it had to go to Italy for repairs, I got a Big bang to use meantime. It's not ALL bad at GC, just a whole lot of the time!! Hahaha
 
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Played my LMIII head through an SVT 810 once at a jam. Holy smoke, what a sound! I liked it more than the V4B head I've normally used there. Another time I took my LMIII head there with my two Traveler 151P cabs. To me, it sounded better than the V4B/SVT 810 rig. It certainly cut through better.

Now, I know there are Ampeg guys out there listening right now who beg to differ, some of whom might say, "That's impossible." Ok, ok. Let me just clarify that I am not bashing Ampeg. I love the Ampeg sound, and have always enjoyed playing that rig. I also enjoy the Fender sound and others as well. I'm just pointing out an instance where the Markbass rig really impressed me. After all, what better contender could I have put it up against?