lee4 Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 Ok,my Markbass LMII has developed a fault in the input stage(distortion and crackling)and whilst it is being(hopefully)repaired,I wondered if any of you had any suggestions for a possible replacement. I require an amp no costlier than £300,about 300 watt(into a 4 ohm cab),I do not need a fussy EQ section,or gadgets such as built in sub-bass or FX,and it must be reliable. I play rock covers,some ska,and pop/rock originals. Over to you now.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 Marshall MB450H - some people have mentioned reliabilty issues, but I`ve had 3 different models in the range, no probs with any of them. Modern & Classic channels, to be honest only ever used the Classic, which has boostable gain as well (very Lemmy when used). Lovely warm valvey sound. Used it at many a gig with one 4 ohm cab, never needed it on more than 5, plenty of headroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 Another LM2? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 SWR SM400..if you can find one. Not sure about the price though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 Hartke LH500. 500W into 4 ohms, very simple EQ (but decent), mine has been reliable - not a single hiccup in 18 months of gigs and rehearsals, they are £300 new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee4 Posted September 13, 2010 Author Share Posted September 13, 2010 [quote name='thisnameistaken' post='954258' date='Sep 13 2010, 01:12 AM']Hartke LH500. 500W into 4 ohms, very simple EQ (but decent), mine has been reliable - not a single hiccup in 18 months of gigs and rehearsals, they are £300 new.[/quote] I've only heard good things about this amp.Seems like the current favourite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee4 Posted September 13, 2010 Author Share Posted September 13, 2010 [quote name='chris_b' post='954037' date='Sep 12 2010, 09:02 PM']Another LM2?[/quote] Whilst the sound is great,I really don't trust MB gear now.Starting to hear bad things reliability-wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 [quote name='lee4' post='954707' date='Sep 13 2010, 01:27 PM']....Whilst the sound is great,I really don't trust MB gear now.Starting to hear bad things reliability-wise....[/quote] I know that some of the early ones had power supply problems but that was a few years ago. I thought they were pretty good these days. What problems are you hearing about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 (edited) [quote name='lee4' post='954005' date='Sep 12 2010, 08:45 PM']Ok,my Markbass LMII has developed a fault in the input stage(distortion and crackling)and whilst it is being(hopefully)repaired,I wondered if any of you had any suggestions for a possible replacement. I require an amp no costlier than £300,about 300 watt(into a 4 ohm cab),I do not need a fussy EQ section,or gadgets such as built in sub-bass or FX,and it must be reliable. I play rock covers,some ska,and pop/rock originals. Over to you now....[/quote] My backup amp is an Ashdown MAG250. It sounds pretty good to me (that's why I have it!) and you should be able to get a MAG300 head (300W into 4ohm) for about £150 or maybe a little more. It has a kind of built-in octaver and deep/bright switches which I rarely use, but the basic amp is good. I especially like the EQ section: besides the bass/mid/treble you get two extra knobs at 220Hz and 1.6KHz, which I find very useful. I just checked, it seems Dolphin Music have the MAG300 EvoII model at £230 new. Edited September 13, 2010 by mcnach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee4 Posted September 13, 2010 Author Share Posted September 13, 2010 [quote name='chris_b' post='954774' date='Sep 13 2010, 02:11 PM']I know that some of the early ones had power supply problems but that was a few years ago. I thought they were pretty good these days. What problems are you hearing about?[/quote] Nothing specific,just general "me MB amp is on the fritz"kind of stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee4 Posted September 13, 2010 Author Share Posted September 13, 2010 (edited) [quote name='mcnach' post='954803' date='Sep 13 2010, 02:27 PM']My backup amp is an Ashdown MAG250. It sounds pretty good to me (that's why I have it!) and you should be able to get a MAG300 head (300W into 4ohm) for about £150 or maybe a little more. It has a kind of built-in octaver and deep/bright switches which I rarely use, but the basic amp is good. I especially like the EQ section: besides the bass/mid/treble you get two extra knobs at 220Hz and 1.6KHz, which I find very useful. I just checked, it seems Dolphin Music have the MAG300 EvoII model at £230 new.[/quote] Ah,Ashdown is another make that I have been told to avoid due to reliability.That said,I was told by a drummer .But he is a drummer who builds loudspeakers for a living so he knows a thing or two!I have also been advised to avoid Eden Nemesis amps for the same reasons as the Ashdown gear. Edited September 13, 2010 by lee4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee4 Posted September 13, 2010 Author Share Posted September 13, 2010 I've just seen that Carlbro are still in buisness.I have fond memories of my first head/cab rig which was all Carlbro.An e-mail has been sent to them to get prices and stockists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee4 Posted September 18, 2010 Author Share Posted September 18, 2010 OK,lastest news is that the amp has been stripped,all conections checked,ribbon leads cleaned and re-seated,amp assembled,and after 3 hours of testing by the repair guy,no crackles. I am going to get some acoustic foam,glue it to a board,and stand the amp on it as it looks like it could be vibration loosening the leads. Watch this space..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee4 Posted September 29, 2010 Author Share Posted September 29, 2010 A quick update;After a 15min test,all seems good.The amp is now sitting on a chair to isolate it,and I am looking for some acoustic foam to build an insulating board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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