WARNING: Marshall Cabs - Read this if considering an MB series

[Moos3h]

Hi all,

I'll begin with saying that this MAY just be a one-off and that I was unlucky enough to get a dud, so please take what I say with a pinch of salt.

I ordered (from a well known Internet-based retailer), a Marshall MBC410 4x10 cabinet which arrived yesterday, less than 24 hours after ordering, with the outer box looking immaculate. Result! I thought.

However, when I tested it, I found that only two of the speakers worked, now, I realize it's under warranty but where's the sense in sending it back for something I suspect is a loose connection and besides, I need a cab for a weekend gig.

So I opened it up to have a look.

Sure enough, the spade connectors that connect the speaker wire from the crossover (more about that later) to the speakers are woefully cheap and brittle. One had already snapped (which was the cause of the two speakers not working) and another snapped off when I touched it to check it was secure. I can only deduce from this that the quality of the spade connectors is below par, they are incredibly thin metal and not up to the job. I should point out that I am in and out of the insides of PCs and Servers day-in, day-out so I well aware that even basic electronics need to be treated carefully and with the right tools.

However, when I removed the speaker (having originally gone in from one of the handle recesses) I discovered worse, that the speakers are held in with four screw which run into a sort of captive nut which has 'teeth' to bite into the wood (someone will know the correct term). On mine, these are located too close to the edge of the cutout for the speaker, meaning that they are not really biting on solid 'wood' (low grade MDF) and so without any overtightening on my behalf (and using a very very low-torqued electric screwdriver to ensure I didn't damage them) they just fall out of the wood, crumbling the residue of what was there into the cab. Three out of four of the speakers in my cabinet were loose already because these had been overtightened and stripped the wood already.

Lastly, the crossover has some very poor quality soldering on it and one pathetic zip tie securing the induction coil (now replaced with two heavy duty ones and I'll be sourcing a hot glue gun to fix this further). I seem to remember reading someone else on the forum had this problem with theirs (possibly a MBC115)?

So, now i have re-assembled it, and once I have glue-gunned a couple of areas of concern around the crossover, the cabinet will be ready for use. You know what? It actually sounds really good.

I guess this should come as no surprise to most given the low cost of these, but IF this is a good example of their 'standard' out-of-the-box form, these are quite frankly not fit for purpose and evidence of their low price is to be found everywhere in their construction.

I hope this helps anyone considering buying a Marshall MB series cab, as said above I could just be very unlucky and have received a friday afternoon example but nevertheless, it highlights that quality control from Marshall's Indian plant is not what it could be.

[Mr. Foxen]

My practice space has loads of Marshall bass cabs and they all suck. I don't think they've ever been known for good bass cabs.

[chris_b]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='764862' date='Mar 5 2010, 10:26 AM']....My practice space has loads of Marshall bass cabs and they all suck. I don't think they've ever been known for good bass cabs....[/quote]
They were the only bass amps to use from the middle 60's. Shame to see how little they care about the quality of their products these days!

[WWRRSS]

My Marshall Bass 4x12 is pretty good, I've had no problems with it.

It's not MB series though, it's a VBC412 I think.

Edited March 5, 2010 by WWRRSS

[discreet]

[quote name='Moos3h' post='764828' date='Mar 5 2010, 10:09 AM']I hope this helps anyone considering buying a Marshall MB series cab.[/quote]

Thanks for this - I was looking at these only recently: 600w, 4ohms, reasonably-priced... hmm... after doing some research I'm sorry to say your report is the latest on BC and elsewhere to confirm that these items are not up to scratch.

The general consensus seems to be that 'MB' stands for 'Made Badly'. Has anyone had a positive experience with these cabs?

Edited March 5, 2010 by discreet

[stevie]

[quote name='chris_b' post='764871' date='Mar 5 2010, 10:33 AM']They were the only bass amps to use from the middle 60's. Shame to see how little they care about the quality of their products these days![/quote]
That's one instance where 'vintage' really was better. They had proper birch ply cabinets in those days. MDF - pah!

[Ancient Mariner]

That's not good - you should expect something that's at least fully functional based on the specifications, regardless of retail price. That is crazy-cheap though @ £179 online.

Personally I might have just returned it, but if you can repair it satisfactorily and it sounds good then I'd say you're probably better off. Those speaker fixing screw mounts would bother me the most, as there's not much to be done when the wood around them crumbles away, without significant surgery.

[Musicman20]

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='764973' date='Mar 5 2010, 12:03 PM']That's not good - you should expect something that's at least fully functional based on the specifications, regardless of retail price. That is crazy-cheap though @ £179 online.

Personally I might have just returned it, but if you can repair it satisfactorily and it sounds good then I'd say you're probably better off. Those speaker fixing screw mounts would bother me the most, as there's not much to be done when the wood around them crumbles away, without significant surgery.[/quote]

+1, I would have returned it. But then again Im super picky.

[dudewheresmybass]

i have two of these cabs.

never had any problems at all.

[51m0n]

IMO any cab going for £179 new has to have major shortcuts somewhere.

You cannot expect a decent bit of kit for that price.

[WonderHorse]

I've got a VBC412 which I bought off Thumperbob off here and I've never had any problems with it.

Excellent sounding cab.

[Conan]

[quote name='51m0n' post='765090' date='Mar 5 2010, 01:22 PM']IMO any cab going for £179 new has to have major shortcuts somewhere.

You cannot expect a decent bit of kit for that price.[/quote]

Maybe not "decent", but it should still be fit for purpose. By the sound of that cab, the first time it was used in anger some of the speakers would have shaken themselves loose - whether they were one of the 50% actually working or not! You might expect shortcuts in the quality of the components, but they should still be assembled properly.

£180 may be cheap for a brand new bass cab, but its still a substantial sum of money. As a customer you dserve better than that. Or that's what I think, anyway!

Edited March 5, 2010 by Conan

[basshead56]

[quote name='WonderHorse' post='765097' date='Mar 5 2010, 01:31 PM']I've got a VBC412 which I bought off Thumperbob off here and I've never had any problems with it.

Excellent sounding cab.[/quote]


I´ve got two VBC412´s driven by a VBA400 and LOVE them!
Lovely sound, plenty of rumble and clarity-perfect.

Have heard mixed reviews of the MB range.
Personally, If a Marshall isn´t a valve amp and its made in China or Asia or whatever, I would expect the craftsmanship to be sub-par. Though some Ampeg stuff and Laney stuff still sounds great, they are not without their problems. For instance, the Ampeg stuff that came out of Vietnam had serious problems with poor wiring and low-grade woods.
The MG series of SS guiatr amps are aweful! Threatened to kick in a guitarist´s cab one evenig when he couldn´t stop it from crackling and spluttering all evening at a wedding gig! That was his third one he´d had from that series.
I´ve tried the MB series Head (Is it the 450 or something?), seemed ok for the money, but nothing to write home about.
Again, with these cheaper made amps its a case of ´Get what you pay for´ I reckon

Still, if its ´stupid but saveable´, I reckon see how long you can keep it running.
Hope it works out mate