Guest Jecklin Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Thoughts and experiences please. Got a couple of dates lined up in Europe later this year. It's most likely I'll be buying a markbass head (blackline 250) very soon and it would be this that I'd be taking out. Although Europe has virtually the same voltage supply as us, I'm wary of Markbass saying their amps are set to the voltage of country of purchase. Am I losing sleep over nothing, or has anyone actually had issues? Cheers Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Why don't you just ask them to supply it in the rider.. you aren't taking a cab are you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mybass Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 [quote name='Jecklin' timestamp='1404070803' post='2489028'] Thoughts and experiences please. Got a couple of dates lined up in Europe later this year. It's most likely I'll be buying a markbass head (blackline 250) very soon and it would be this that I'd be taking out. Although Europe has virtually the same voltage supply as us, I'm wary of Markbass saying their amps are set to the voltage of country of purchase. Am I losing sleep over nothing, or has anyone actually had issues? Cheers Thomas [/quote] I've used my MarkBass amp in Europe with no problem. Better to get a 500 watt head maybe for touring, you never know what cabs will be supplied? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Worry not. Our mains voltage is 220V ± 10% @ 50Hz. So your amp will happily accept anything from 198V to 242V. There's a complete list of local voltages here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country#Table_of_mains_voltages_and_frequencies. Just look up the country, make sure the voltage is within the range above and it's delivered at 50Hz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 The voltage thing ( as well as protecting national distributors) was to stop people bringing them over from the USA where the voltage difference would fry it! Europe has never really been an issue. Best prices on MB are with Thomann at the moment.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Having used mainland gear in the UK as well as UK gear on the mainland without any problem ever, I'd say go for it. That said, some gear is more sensitive to low or high voltages than other gear. Taking for example some 240V gear to a 220V country and then using it in a remote area where the actual voltage might be well below 200V, may pose a risk. Here where I live, TV sets on the islands always broke until the system voltage was raised. Another issue is whether the loval system has one or two live wires. This may cause trouble for [b]some[/b] gear. The charger for Tesla electric cars for example had trouble in Norway - most probably due to Norway's use of two live wires of 120V each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 [quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1404084866' post='2489214'] The voltage thing ( as well as protecting national distributors) was to stop people bringing them over from the USA where the voltage difference would fry it! Europe has never really been an issue. Best prices on MB are with Thomann at the moment.... [/quote] Agreed...absolute bargain price on Thomann. The UK market needs to react to those prices or they will lose sales. I suspect the argument will be 'well, you need to buy it in the UK to get a warranty' which is another ancient way of looking at buying products. If you buy it within the EU you should get a warranty in the EU. I suspect Thomann offer their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jecklin Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 (edited) It was exactly this that worried me bass tractor. Also the whole warranty malarkey too. There is no rider - these are shows in art gallery settings on performance art bills. I can borrow gear but would rather know how my set up is working, there's a bit of a balancing act with the acoustic and electronic elements. Thanks for all the comments Cheers Thomas Edited June 30, 2014 by Jecklin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dincz Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 UK and continental Europe are 230V these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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