synthaside Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 At rehearsal this evening, about 2 minutes into the first song my trusty Markbass CMD121p bass combo appeared to give out with no fuss or noise, I wasn't driving it particularly hard or using the extension cabinet. it's about 3 /4 years old bought new from Andersons but it appears the warranty is 2 years , Its been a solid companion and not complained in all that time . I turned it off and waited a few seconds then powered it up again .... it worked for another minute or two then off again, in the middle of the next song .... I switched to a spare cable same deal, then reverted to the studio amp for the rehearsal. . I don't think it was overheating the exhaust from the fan felt cold but i'm not the most technical person so the idea of opening it up and having a look is a bit beyond me , im quite worried as were playing our first ever festival gig the weekend after next . Not really sure what to do :-S Ive reached out to a local amp tech but i fear their probably more Valve amp oriented .. Does anyone have any ideas before i have to put a new Amp on the credit card .... probably not a markbass if they only last 3 years ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agedhorse Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 Contact MarkBass and see what service options they have for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthaside Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 (edited) Mark bass warranty is 2 years here in the UK , 3 apparently if you registered ..... the date on the back of my amp says made in 2015 I probably bought it in as early as 2017 I think i'm going to be told my options are limited. Edited July 5, 2022 by synthaside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppet Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 Have you checked the output from the DI? At least you’ll know if the preamp is working. If you have the extension cab, unplug the built in speaker and connect to the extension. It might help narrow down the source of the problem. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthaside Posted July 5, 2022 Author Share Posted July 5, 2022 I've connected it up and annoyingly its now happy as larry ... its too late to play with any form of volume or length I will have to stress test it thursday .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 See if connecting the Effects Loop Send and Return with a signal cable helps any. An intermittent in the switches here might give what you describe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakester Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 16 hours ago, synthaside said: I've connected it up and annoyingly its now happy as larry ... its too late to play with any form of volume or length I will have to stress test it thursday .... It *could* have just got too warm and shut down to protect itself. Perhaps try taking it out of the cab and hoovering it all (after first leaving it unplugged for a while!) which might help? Even though you're not technical it's dead easy - four bolts hold the head into the cab. Unscrew those, unplug the speaker cable and it should shift relatively easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthaside Posted July 7, 2022 Author Share Posted July 7, 2022 So stripping it down it looks generally very clean in here .... Unsure what this white stuff is some kind of shielding epoxy as first I thought oh no but as it's very evenly applied ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 2 minutes ago, synthaside said: So stripping it down it looks generally very clean in here .... Unsure what this white stuff is some kind of shielding epoxy as first I thought oh no but as it's very evenly applied ??? The dreaded white gloop. it is a type of caulk or sealant that is used to stop large components moving. If they move during transport, they will eventually cause a dry joint, causing a fault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 On 05/07/2022 at 23:00, agedhorse said: Contact MarkBass and see what service options they have for you. Very few in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agedhorse Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 47 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said: Very few in the UK. If not in the UK, Italy isn't THAT far from the UK (though admittedly farther appearing since BREXIT) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 It's OK now, Boris has gone (nearly) so we might rejoin next week 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agedhorse Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 1 hour ago, Chienmortbb said: It's OK now, Boris has gone (nearly) so we might rejoin next week 😁 I posted before hearing the news... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppet Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 2 hours ago, Chienmortbb said: It's OK now, Boris has gone (nearly) so we might rejoin next week 😁 If only that were true! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Check out the sale of goods act rather than rely on any guarantees. You may still be able to claim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakester Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, Mykesbass said: Check out the sale of goods act rather than rely on any guarantees. You may still be able to claim. The consumer parts of Sale of Goods Act haven’t been in force since 2015, when they were replaced with the Consumer Rights Act. Unlikely there would be any basis to claim under either piece of legislation - you would need as a minimum some sort of expert evidence into the cause of the fault and opinion that it fell short of the required standard - the costs of which would almost certainly outweigh the cost of any repairs. Edited July 8, 2022 by Jakester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakester Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 As to the issue, Real Electronics in Sheffield are the Mark Bass appointed repair agents. However, they don’t do component level repairs - if there is a fault they’ll swap out the board, which makes it expensive if out of warranty. I had a fairly unsatisfactorily experience with them - I had a intermittent fault with my CMD121P, sent it to them, they said there was nothing wrong, replaced all the pots, charged me £125, and then the fault came right back again. I ended up buying a second hand Little Mark 3 and replacing the head with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agedhorse Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 13 hours ago, Jakester said: As to the issue, Real Electronics in Sheffield are the Mark Bass appointed repair agents. However, they don’t do component level repairs - if there is a fault they’ll swap out the board, which makes it expensive if out of warranty. I had a fairly unsatisfactorily experience with them - I had a intermittent fault with my CMD121P, sent it to them, they said there was nothing wrong, replaced all the pots, charged me £125, and then the fault came right back again. I ended up buying a second hand Little Mark 3 and replacing the head with that. Most repairs include a warranty on the repair. Did you follow up with them on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakester Posted July 9, 2022 Share Posted July 9, 2022 21 hours ago, agedhorse said: Most repairs include a warranty on the repair. Did you follow up with them on this? Of course, it happened outside their ‘warranty’ period as it hadn’t been used much due to lockdowns etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agedhorse Posted July 9, 2022 Share Posted July 9, 2022 1 hour ago, Jakester said: Of course, it happened outside their ‘warranty’ period as it hadn’t been used much due to lockdowns etc. That’s unfortunate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthaside Posted July 10, 2022 Author Share Posted July 10, 2022 @Jakester How much of a challenge was it to put the Little mark 3 head into the space is it just a direct swap without the cover ... ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakester Posted July 10, 2022 Share Posted July 10, 2022 30 minutes ago, synthaside said: @Jakester How much of a challenge was it to put the Little mark 3 head into the space is it just a direct swap without the cover ... ? Just a direct swap, as you say. Take the cover off the ‘new’ amp and it just slid straight in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mybass Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 On 08/07/2022 at 08:37, Jakester said: As to the issue, Real Electronics in Sheffield are the Mark Bass appointed repair agents. However, they don’t do component level repairs - if there is a fault they’ll swap out the board, which makes it expensive if out of warranty. I had a fairly unsatisfactorily experience with them - I had a intermittent fault with my CMD121P, sent it to them, they said there was nothing wrong, replaced all the pots, charged me £125, and then the fault came right back again. I ended up buying a second hand Little Mark 3 and replacing the head with that. Did they say why they were replacing the pots if there was no apparent fault, without informing you first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakester Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 4 hours ago, mybass said: Did they say why they were replacing the pots if there was no apparent fault, without informing you first? Nope, they said they couldn’t replicate the fault but it could have been the pots causing intermittent volume drops, so suggested replacement, to which I agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 1 hour ago, Jakester said: Nope, they said they couldn’t replicate the fault but it could have been the pots causing intermittent volume drops, so suggested replacement, to which I agreed. <Sigh> Nice bit of quality diagnosis there! 🙄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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