BassBunny

Here's an overview of the current situation. https://www.ism.org/advice/eu-work-permit-requirements-for-musicians

When I replaced my SA450, ended up buying and evaluating quite a few amps. One that impressed me massively was the Peavey MiniMax 500. I actually prefer the tone than my MB and I've been a MB user for about 15 years. Phil Starr is also a big fan and longtime MB user. Thomann were clearing out the Mk1 at around £180 but sadly that deal is gone. Only moved it on when a pal of mine, who also had a faulty MB amp, was in desperate need. Now an Ashdown fan with a Rootmaster. Awesome amp, legendary customer service and 5 year warranty.

Real Electronics in Sheffield are the authorised MB service agents but as mentioned previously, they are pretty expensive. They don't seem to repair at component level, just swap boards. I know a few people who have used them and all the repairs were around £200 or more. Probably worth it if you love the amp. My estimate was £ 225 for something worth very little more than that so didn't bother.

That is the major issue with MarkBass. Most repairers won't touch them, particularly the ClassD ones, as there aren't any circuit diagrams available. The authorised repairers, Real Electronics in Sheffield, are pretty expensive. I wrote my MB amp off as the estimate to fix it was about the same as it was worth.

I've never had a problem with Interparcel. Usually ships with UPS and full insurance cover.

Me too. Excellent bit of kit.

You can run 2 cables from the amp to the cab and run it as 2 4x10's. It is no different to running a single cable but would be my personal choice. You then have an in-built redundancy if you develop a cable problem or a driver goes down. It also splits the output current so each cable is carrying 50% instead of 1vcable carrying 100%.

Correct.

Black Carbon Wrap. Job done for about £4.

Depending on the pre-amp it could still be possible to make it active/passive. If it's a Noll or Delano, Sandberg may just have decided not to bother. The wiring diagrams for either of these should be easily available. If you fancy putting up some pics of the control cavity it would help.

How old is the bass? The one above is a fairly recent one with a Sandberg design pre-amp built by Glockenklang and definitely has the active/passive switch as part of the volume control. It is part of the design and not a mod. Older versions used Noll and Delano pre-amps which didn't always have the active/passive option. A picture of the electronics would help.

Hi and welcome. Either of those solutions would do the job but as you say it's at a price. If all you want is something to use until your amp is fixed you could do for half the price of either solution. A dedicated headphone amp and a pair of headphones or probably better still a small 2 channel mixer an a set of phones. This solution would allow you to plug your bass in 1 channel and a music source, (phone, mp3 player, cd player etc.), in the other channel and play along. The Yamaha Sessioncake is the perfect solution. They were being sold off for £10 at a retailer recently, I got 2, but the deal is done. They are still good value at £20 - 30 and there's 1 on ebay you might get for £20 including postage. Add a set of phones and you're off. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yamaha-Mixing-Headphone-Amplifier-SESSIONCAKE-SC-01-Guitar-Bass-Aux-Mixing-/224295290620?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292 I'm sure there will be some more knowledgeable members along in a minute.

+1 for Aaron Armstrong.

Bass Centre still exists but online only now.

I' m sure 1/4" jacks are only recommended for up to 150w.

Just remembered an email I got from @johnny2shoes who managed to get his LM3 fixed by someone in Bolton. Might be worth messaging him. I'm pretty sure his was a Class A/B one, same as the SA450, rather than a ClassD, which most tech's won't touch.

I had exactly the same problem with an SA450. I ended up selling it cheap as a " half output" job. The alternative is to send it to Real Electronics in Sheffield who are the Mark Bass official repairers. The problem is that it would cost more to repair than it is worth. MB won't release the circuit diagrams and Real just swap circuit boards.

I regularly buy wine from Portugal and the retailer has informed me that prices will rise by 7% from Jan 1st. This being the difference between VAT in Portugal of 13% and UK VAT of 20% so additional VAT on delivery should not be levied.

A quick Google and they do make a 2 pole and it is stamped on the outside thus avoiding trying to shove a 4 pole in. Thanks for the heads up @Chienmortbb

You are right, my bad. I think most kit I have come across has 4 pole sockets fitted as standard, in fact do they make a 2 pole?

Must admit I've never had a problem with interchanging them but I've only ever used genuine Neutrik ones. The only difference is one is 2 pole and the other 4 pole, they should be physically the same size. That said unless you have a Gallien Kruger bi-amp head, you only need 2 pole.

Looks correct to me. The wire top left - bottom right and top right - bottom left can be either desperate wires or an extension of the ground/ output wires. I always use separate wires as I find it much easier to wire up.

My go to wine supplier in Portugal has already sent an email out indicating prices will increase by 7% to allow for VAT differences. VAT in Portugal is 13% so they will be charging UK VAT rates of 20%. As yet don't know about Import Duty, Release Fee etc.

You can use NL2 plugs as well. The NL4 is a 4 pole plug, generally used in bi-amp situations. The NL2 is a 2 pole and will work fine. Genuine Neutrik is the way to go and if you need a custom length Award Session are great.

They seem to have their finger in a lot of pies including cycling and motor cycling gear. My Son lives in Prague and uses them a lot.