BassBunny

All jack sockets do the same job so just replace with either a Switchcraft or Neutrik one.

Here are Real Electronics, MarkBass approved repairer, charges. This is from 3+ years ago so "may" have gone up.

£35 to diagnose the problem, which you get back if you go ahead. £69 fixed labour, £18 courier fee to send it back + parts. VAT needs to added to the final bill.

I am pretty sure they don't repair to component level so they just swap a board out. MarkBass won't release circuit diagrams of their amps so it's difficult for independent repairers to track what the problem is. It's also a Class D amp, which a lot of guys won't touch.

I was looking at North of £200 when my MarkBass went on the fritz so I just scrapped it.

If you check the EMG website, it has the installation instructions for the HZ range and it looks like they are humbuckers so there will be two coils. They will be configured as either series or most likely parallel.

You could put coil tap switches in to give you single/series/parallel options or leave them as they are. I would recommend heat shrink sleeving rather than tape though. Just to be on the safe side.

13 hours ago, fleabag said:

I found some glow in the dark dots in my spares box. Must have bought them a while back. They were already shaped as dots so didnt need cutting.

 

I fired up the UV wand, gave them a 30 second burst.  I waited , and 15 seconds later , they had stopped glowing.  I guess these need some permanent

source of light.  Not that good for me really.

To be fare, they don't last as long as Luminlay but I get way more than that out of the stuff I've used. I think it's a 3M product.

I've got a Luminlay equiped bass and it needs a recharge about half way through a 45 min set.

The ones I punched out need a couple of recharges. I've made 4mm ones, which may make a difference as they are much larger than the average fret markers.

Ashdown have the best customer service in the business. They can repair anything they have ever made and are pretty inexpensive.

Speak to DG and if he can't troubleshoot over the phone just get it to Ashdown HQ and it'll be sorted.

1 hour ago, fleabag said:

Are those the sort that dont need a UV torch to make them glow, so rely on light at a gig to glow ?

They will work either way. Leave the bass out in daylight and they will charge up. A UV torch charges them and they will also get a certain amount of charge from stage lights or the lights in a venue.

I must admit I tend to use a UV torch, cheep as chips on eBay, as it's more reliable but the luminous sheet I use is designed for making luminous signs, so does glow for quite a while.

They work for me.

I made my own stickers to go on a couple of basses that didn't justify a Luminlay installation and they've worked out well.

A sheet of this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161417187491?var=460441492576&hash=item259536d0a3:g:l2MAAOSwd4tUDk3H

and a Hole Punch: 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/372487393099?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=nWCK7uxFScC&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=NXO8JSHoStK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=MORE

 Less that £10 and will make enough dots for the rest of your life. Works really well and you can make whatever size you like.

1 hour ago, Bigguy2017 said:

Meisterworks Japan will ship to UK - good prices too.

 

Luminlay Products – MeisterWorks Store

MeisterWorks are Luminlay. That's the company that manufactures the products.

Whilst a stick of Luminlay @£20 isn't too bad, £19 postage is extortionate. It used to be about £3-4 p&p.

2 hours ago, Sparky Mark said:

For information these are the drivers in my BG250 210 combo.

I was under the impression that the BG250 combos used Turbo sound drivers.

I've two bass guitar shipping boxes that are destined for the tip unless someone can make use of them.

Based just outside Altrincham, South Manchester.

22 minutes ago, Machines said:

 

18, to be precise.

 

There's some faces I recognise. Buggered if I could name them all now. 🙂

1 hour ago, ossyrocks said:

Cheers. All good info. I do have a mate who owns/runs an agency, but not for our type of stuff, he books name bands, but he might know who's around.

I think in house PA is going to be the main thing we'll need to be in place. I don't fancy running a rig of our own big enough to do this!

Even if we use our own PA, which is very rare, we bring a sound engineer in. It's a nightmare trying to play and run the FOH. Most times if we need to provide pa we bring a company in to do the full hit.

We are North West based as well. In fact Male vox and drummer, his dad, are Preston based.

I don't have anything to do with booking gigs, thankfully. We are fortunate in having one of the band that is good in that area.

Obviously due to the size of the band we can't play the Dog and Duck so it is mainly Corporate, Weddings, Festivals and dedicated music venues. We don't have a particular agent we use. Just register with every agency you can find when you have a promo vid and some decent publicity shots.

The Continental in Preston is a great place to play and The Empire in Rochdale. Both dedicated music venues with in house pa and sound engineers.

NoWe're a similar line-up to you. A 10 piece with a second female singer an have about 60% of those numbers in our set list including Seven Nation Army.

If you're doing a ska version, is it the Ben l'Oncle Soul one? We do the version he sang on Later with Jools. Cracking number.

On 27/04/2023 at 22:11, bass_dinger said:

Someone at Ashdown Amps owns BA55 AMP 

Yep, it's Mark Gooday, the main man. He's just whacked it on a Range Rover as it's been on retention for a while.

Try the effects loop trick first. Get a jack plug and insert/remove it several times in the send and return. Or connect send to return with a lead. If not used the effects jacks can oxidise causing the issue you describe.

If you need it looking at speak to Dave or Guy at Ashdown as they repair and service Trace gear now. Makes sense as Ashdown were born out of the TE purchase by Peavey.

15 hours ago, BassmanPaul said:

Do the 9V battery test on the speaker cabinet. Applying the battery terminal across the cable jack should produce a loud pop from the cabinet. No pop blown drivers.

Not necessarily. I would be very surprised if all 4 drivers have blown but to use the battery trick, you really need to take each driver out and test. There is a crossover of sorts in the cab which could have gone. This would then effect all 4 speakers in the way the OP has described.

Really it's impossible to say what the problem is without diving in with a multimeter.

It could be a duff pickup/vol pot/output jack. You really need someone who can check it out for you.

Have a look here to see if there is anyone local who can help.

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/277468-bcers-prepared-to-help-fix-a-bass/

34 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Ashdown RM500. Similar warm sound, though a more versatile eq. UK based with excellent customer service.

+1 for a RM500. I was a massive MB fan. Like you used them for years but when Real's estimate for repairing my Little Mark came to more than it was worth, I went the Ashdown route. We've gone "amp free" now but I loved my Rootmaster and Ashdown customer service is second to none.

Mine was 8.25lbs. a veritable lightweight.😁

These are fabulous basses. I had a CAR one and to this day I do not know why I sold it.

Back on an half price 😊 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354713695189?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=43vzwjbcsqe&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=NXO8JSHoStK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

17 hours ago, IanA said:

Hey, Thanks Mike

I don’t want to post at this stage… I don’t have anything big enough to package it in and I am guessing from recent dealings with the post office that the cost would be prohibitive.

If you do decide to post. I've just sent a gigbag via Parcelforce. 48hr in a rectangular bass guitar box for £8.70. Insured up to £150 and collection was cheaper than taking it to the Post Office.

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

 

 

Mine is black and is only 7.3lb.

 

What strings are you using on it? I've got Dunlop medium scale flats at the moment and they have a great old sound but sometimes I want something a little more modern.

I'm using Newtone strings. They are quite like the d'Addarios that Ibanez fit to the bass as standard, only nicer.

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

 

 

I've got a Mezzo 5 (and two 4) and they are great basses. Far better than their modest new price suggests. Even if I swap 99% to short scale I will be keeping the 5 string. It's just too good.

I was pleasantly surprised and It's so light and easy to play. Crazy thing is that having played a couple of £3k ACG'S with never a comment from sound engineers, I've had three comment on how good the Mezzo sounds. The last comment at sound check was, "Lush".

I've got the greeny coloured one but am after a black one as although I'm happy being a one bass man, I'd like a backup. The black 5ers are pretty scarce.