6v6

IMO it's not really a minefield, we're spoilt for choice these days, and in real terms a lot of gear is cheaper than ever. My main advice is to try before you buy, don't just trust online reviews (unless you're going for something cheap and/or used), and don't buy waay more than you need if you're only playing at home - even a small ~200w combo will be adequate for jam nights and small gigs provided there's a DI out.

[quote name='BassBunny' timestamp='1430424624' post='2761399'] Be interested to know who repaired it as Real Electronics are the UK authorised repairer for MB and all I have heard about them is excellent. They usually turn things round in a matter of days, so could be the retailer got it fixed elsewhere. [/quote] It was Real Electronics. Including time spent communicating with the retailer it took about 3 weeks.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1430393563' post='2760933'] I'd be getting back to MSl about that if it was mine and asking for some new screws [/quote] Not sure I can face the hassle tbh - I emailed them complaining about the delay and lack of communication re the repair and they didn't even bother replying.

Finally got the amp back! It was repaired under warranty, eventually. Communication and turnaround time were pretty poor overall, but at least it's done. I won't be gigging without a backup from now on.. Even less impressive is that they've managed to muller half the screws holding the lid on by using the wrong size screwdriver

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1430213517' post='2758910'] In my experience, music fans (in pub covers land) don't travel. They stay at their local because that venue will have a reputation for always putting on good music, they won't travel to see a band at a pub they're not familiar with. Ergo, you need to do your research and find the pubs that have a good live music fan base. Or just do parties all the time. Or, organise your own party and invite everyone. Guaranteed a good crowd then aren't you? [/quote] Yeah, nailed it there - finding and getting into the places with a good live music fan base is the challenge we are facing, basically. We don't get enough party bookings to do them all the time, but that's certainly an avenue we could explore, feels like a step in the "wedding band" direction though I guess. Organizing our own event is a good shout, once or twice a year (we've actually done similar before). In terms of publicity, we send posters to the venues and publicize the event via Facebook, what other channels do folks find effective?

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1430212169' post='2758880'] 6v6 are you playing covers or originals? The market is completely different for each. [/quote] Both, actually - the set is more covers orientated in many pubs as that's what folks seem to want (funky music anyone? sigh...) - the originals are actually really well received, particularly with the "home crowd" who know the songs now. On most gigs it's probably about 60-70% covers, with the set list slanted towards bluesy, poppy or rocky depending on the venue and the crowd.

I've been playing pub gigs for the last 15+ years, in various bands, and it's always the same - after a while you end up going through the motions playing to near-empty pubs for many (most?) of your gigs, and it slowly becomes a chore. Obviously you're there to help the pub sell more beer, but it's frustrating how few folks turn out for live music a lot of the time, so unless you bring a mob of folks with you (which, realistically, you can't do all the time), you run the risk of a depressingly small turnout. How do folks break out of this cycle and get into the better, more well attended gigs/venues? I'm realistic, we're never going to be a big-time act, but I'd be content playing a few small niche festival type events a year, maybe do some beer/car-festivals, that kind of thing. We've done a few parties etc, but have stopped short of doing the whole wedding-band thing, as none of us really want to make the musical compromises associated with that, but feedback on our gigs is normally good, and we're regarded as one of the best live bands in the local town. Lately, we've been trying to break out of the local town (as we've somewhat saturated the market there, playing sometimes too-often in various places) and play places further afield, but then we're back to the empty-pub syndrome, because outside the local area, nobody knows us, and folks don't turn out for a band they've never heard of, evidently Any tips, sympathy or words of wisdom folks?

They seem to have accidentally put a "6" in front of the real price

[quote name='mazdah' timestamp='1429653219' post='2753751'] It is usually the best choice to buy the amp made in your country. [/quote] Very true, but I think there's a very limited choice of amps actually manufactured in the UK nowadays - most UK based businesses get the amps made in china or wherever to keep the costs down. Nonetheless, it's a good point - it sounds like Ashdown may be the way to go based on the feedback here, or switching to used old-tech amps which I can most likely fix myself (e.g not class D and SMPS). Contacted the retailer for a status update yesterday and no response at all May contact the distributor directly today.

[quote name='alexclaber' timestamp='1429613939' post='2753122'] 3x10" is a bit of an odd one in terms of impedance because you have to do all series or all parallel wiring, so it has to be a very high or very low impedance driver. We can get pretty much any driver made as a prototype so we can do one-offs if they're interesting enough but to go into production we then have to commit to bigger numbers of drivers (and have the space and cashflow to hold stock). [/quote] Yeah, I was assuming you'd use 16ohm drivers and end up with a cab impedance of about 5.3 ohms, which is close enough to 4 that any amp could drive it and produce decent power. I can appreciate if you wanted to offer an 8ohm version of such a cab that things get a bit more tricky

Not that stupid, but I'd love to see a 3x10 designed to be used vertically, e.g a compromise between a 2x10 and a 4x10 - something which sounds like an ampeg 8x10 but more appropriate size and portability for pub gigs. Or, getting a bit sillier, a similar 3x12 or 3x15

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1429524739' post='2752177'] Where are you based? Our shop has a pre-owned LMIII you could borrow for a gig if you're desperate. Might not be practical if you are a long way off though [/quote] That's a very kind offer, thank you. I'm not that far away actually (about an hour south in Hampshire) - so there's a reasonable chance I'll turn up with credit-card later this week to buy a backup. A loan amp would be great, but I gig too regularly to risk putting myself in this position again - I should really get a spare head after having this one fail. See what I did there, I turned the exploding amp disaster into a new-amp-day! Don't tell the wife!

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1429520207' post='2752106'] Sounds like a shop problem rather than a maker problem, so my question would be about the shop rather than amp warranty..?? If you feel the shop has been poor, then maybe raise THAT with the distributors? [/quote] Overall the shop has been adequate, other than the initial phone contact, which was poor, so I don't really feel I've got grounds for complaint, other than the whole thing has taken longer to get sorted than I'd like. My main problem, as stated previously, is I still don't know how much warranty is actually offered. The retailer made out like the distributor has made a case-by-case determination and that they'd "agreed" to deal with this on a warranty basis, with the amp being 15 months old, although the shop said they "normally only offer 12 months". That knocked my confidence in MarkBass, and made me start this thread looking for companies who definitely do stand by their products for more than the statutory 12 months - in this case it's was quite obvious some component had gone poof spectacularly, yet I was still subjected to several days of email discussion before any agreement was reached that my amp would be fixed under warranty. For me this is all just a reminder of the value of local shops over large mail order retailers, even UK based ones - I guess I'll have to pay a visit to one later this week if the LM3 isn't going to be fixed in time for the weekend.

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1429463817' post='2751611'] I can confirm that the XLR out is effected by the master volume and all the other controls [/quote] It's kinda baffling why any designer would do that (at least without a pre/post switch), for me it's pretty much a deal-breaker - thanks for the confirmation!

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1429431378' post='2751246'] Did the shop fob you off regarding the LM3 or did they send it to MarkBass? [/quote] After an initially poor response on the phone, they responded via email and (after several days of to-ing and fro-ing) agreed it could be looked at under warranty. To be fair to them, they sent a courier to collect and communication was OK, although slow, via email. It's just frustrating that the whole process took so long, and that I'm still none the wiser as to the actual warranty period MarkBass honour for UK customers. Maybe next time I should go direct to the distributor, given molan's positive comments. Apparently the turnaround time is 2-3 weeks, and I've not even got any confirmation they received it and acknowledge a fault yet - got a gig next weekend, and it's not looking likely that I'll have it back in time Oddly, I powered it up before sending it back, because the retailer wanted to know what lights were on - with some trepidation (considering last time it had power applied it looked like it was on fire..) I powered it up, and to my surprise it actually worked. It was a bit distorted, so I'm guessing one or more output transistors have blown spectacularly resulting in the acrid mushroom cloud that it emitted.

Thanks all, this is not helping my mild GAS for an Ashdown CTM100 at all

Hi all, I'm considering a replacement amp purchase after having my LM3 go up in smoke. Which manufacturers offer the best warranty terms? I'm looking for a combination of long warranty and fast repair turnaround (e.g responsive after-sales support for those based in the UK). What are the best options out there? Or am I best to just buy from Thomman who offer a 3 year warranty for all products? Any first-hand experiences of manufacturers that help you out (fast) when their stuff bites the dust would be great - most manufacturers seem really vague about the length of warranty, stating it's country specific etc.

[quote name='AntLockyer' timestamp='1428864393' post='2745456'] [url="https://youtu.be/ivgKU3fnWzY"]https://youtu.be/ivgKU3fnWzY[/url] [/quote] Awesome playing (and gurning!)

Ok thanks all, I finally got an email response asking for more details after a day of waiting, so will persevere with the retailer for a bit longer and see what happens.

[quote name='6v6' timestamp='1427370725' post='2729410'] Certainly my LM3 hasn't got a big transformer in it, but it's light, sounds great and has been reliable, FWIW. [/quote] Ok, that was evidently a *stupid* thing to say - the LM3 blew up last night in an impressive mushroom cloud of acrid smoke. So, chalk me up as another dude desiring a simple reliable amp which sounds like a Mark Bass I guess

Sigh. Retailer is being non-commital on the phone - "we only offer 12 months", then referred me to an email contact page on their website. Anyone know who the UK distributor is for MarkBass?

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1428479940' post='2741571'] Sale of goods act will give you upto 6 years to cover manufacture defects. Take it to the retailer first as that's where the legal obligation to provide you with goods fit for purpose lays. [/quote] Wow really? I always thought the minimum manufacturers were legally obligated to offer was 12months. Going to get on to the retailer now and see what they can do..

So, clearly I've jinxed myself saying a few times that my MarkBass LM3 has been reliable - this evening at rehearsal without any warning it went quiet and thick smoke started pouring out the back of it! Needless to say I unplugged it immediately, but I know it was something fairly catastrophic from the smell coming out of the thing (burning components/circuit board!) It's only about 15months old, so does anyone know what the UK warranty honoured by the distributor is? (please tell me more than 12months..) Fair to say I'm pretty unhappy. Until now the amp has performed great but I probably won't trust it now, even if it gets repaired Only positive thing is at least it blew up in a rehearsal and not in the middle of our gig last Friday!

[quote name='alexclaber' timestamp='1428400651' post='2740839'] Bob, just had a thought - you might want to try blocking the hybrid resonator's port on the bottom of the cab. A rolled up t-shirt will do the job (that's what I used in testing), just make sure it's a tight fit! This will reduce the output in the lows and also cause the cab to overdrive sooner. You may find that this is the best way to use the cab for all your indoor gigs if you want that extra growl - then outdoors take advantage of the extra output and power handling from the hybrid resonator. [/quote] Dumb question, what actually is a "hybrid resonator"? It looks like a port, so what makes it different to a port?