Markbass amp issue

[ricksterphil]

Hi all

I have a Markbass Blackline 250 which I use as a practice /back up

It's old and a bit beat up - I bought it for not a lot off of evilbay

I fired it up t'other night and got a lot of buzz and fizzle, especially on the the E and A strings. Then it fizzled out and there was no sound output. Tried using different guitar and speaker cables with no joy

Tried it just now and it's working ok

Anyone any ideas?

I should probably get it serviced but not sure it's worth the cost

 

[lownote]

I is no electric Ian.  But a while back I had a Markbass LM2, which I dropped at a gig.  Thereafter it had an intermittent buzzy distortion. I couldn't find anyone to fix it anywhere - "ooh [sucks teeth] that's a Class D head, you're having a giraffe, incha?", except a company in Sheffield who actually take your kidney out and sell it before doing the job in the factory... they have a full operating theatre called Payments. So, no...  But enter a bloke in Norwich, who argued whatever had been loosened in the original drop could be unloosened with a clout from a length of 4x2. Amazingly, it seemed to work, although even that cost me £30.   

Edited August 7, 2020 by lownote12

[itu]

FX loop = Send/Return? Put an instrument cable there. Those connectors tend to oxidize.

[ricksterphil]

12 minutes ago, itu said:

FX loop = Send/Return? Put an instrument cable there. Those connectors tend to oxidize.

Thanks, I'll try that

[BassBunny]

12 hours ago, ricksterphil said:

Thanks, I'll try that

And if that doesn't work, abandon it. Seriously, when my MB SA450 went quiet, I checked with Real Electronics in Sheffield, MB authorised repairers, the cost of repairing and basically wrote it off.

There are no user serviceable parts and MB won't release the circuit diagrams. Gee electronics in Warrington had a go at it and failed.

I have since moved over to Ashdown after a process of elimination involving 5 different amps.

Edited August 7, 2020 by BassBunny

[Nobatron]

Sadly this is my experience as well.

My Black Line LM 250 won't come out of protect.

I contacted a local amp repair shop who were recommended to me and they explained that they're not really repairable at a component level and that the D in class D stands for disposable!

Real Electronics quoted me £69 + parts + £15 shipping back, and £35 if not repaired. That doesn't include shipping to them so you're looking the best part of £100 plus parts (no idea how much that would have been).

In my case I decided to get a new TC Electronics BAM200 for £130 which I think is a small step down but to pay £30 more (possibly less depending on parts) to get a known working new amp with 3 years warranty was worth it to me. Also the tiny size was in it's favour!

It seems like with most modern electronics there is a repairability tradeoff with the smaller overall package you get with class D.

[ricksterphil]

I'll just use mine at home for practice I think. It's working at the moment so it's obvs an intermittent issue

Thanks for the heads😂 up everyone