so... my damn power amp is being repaired again... Update 10

[again with this]

Again?!

I take the damn thing to the Mesa factory and they replace a screen resistor. It's all good for a week or two, and bam. Same thing. Overwhealming volume imbalance between the two channels.

I sorta thought if I took the thing to the place where it was built, they would figure out the cause of the blown screen resistor not just replace it and call it good.

For the first time, I am fucking pissed and dissapointed with Mesa/Boogie.

I just hope they get to the root of the problem this time and honor some kind of warranty on the first repair. God damn used fucking evilBay poweramp.

Ugh.

The worst part is I really love that power amp. It is such a big part of my sound. I only want it to work correctly.

Not like they care about my used, no warranty, evilBay power amp, but Mesa is on the verge of loosing a loyal user if they fuck up the repair again.

Something tells me I am on the way to a VHT product to replace it. No more evilBay.

 

[Aedez]

what mesa poweramp?290?

 

[stephen sawall]

Amps are like cars- they well need repairs. People do make mistakes. I think the 290 is a great amp. So are the VHT's. Who knows how much heat/smoke/dampness - what ever it has seen. I try not to get mad at objects. It's not always easy.

 

[Qweklain]

Actually I think he has a 2:100 if I remember from the first time correctly. Second it's spelled LOSE, not loose.

As for Mesa/Boogie, I have heard from many dedicated Boogie users that as the years go by, their quality control/reliability has become slightly less and less. I have never heard of anything from the early 90s and before having problems, except I think someone had a Reverb go out on a MKIV, but like that matters. Todays gear however I have heard of almost every problem in the book, and quite a few to boot. It is quite unfortunate since they do sound pretty godamn good IMO.

 

[again with this]

Thanks Quickie... yeah, it's a 2:100.

I know, I know... people make mistakes. It's certainly not the amp's fault. It's just frustrating to take something to be rapired again. As for the car analogy, wouldn't you be pissed if you took your car to the dealer or the factory and they didn't get to the root of the problem and only treated the symptoms?

I dunno. Heaven knows, have had some insanely hot and sweaty practices this summer... Maybe it's been abused. Maybe it's a lemon. I just want it to work correctly.

Taking the 5150 to practice tonight. I think we're going to work on drum tracks anyway. Ugh.

 

[moronmountain]

VHT ........................ Get it and smile forever...........

 

[Mudder]

^^ Agree. Fix your Mesa and sell or trade it to get a VHT.

 

[guitarslinger]

Just to ease your pain a little.

I had a resistor get funky in my VHT 2150.

I didn't know Steve Freyette didn't let local, non-vht techs look at the schematic. So, my guy had to spend like five hours in the thing.

repair bill:

parts: $0.15
labor: $250.00

I'm glad I'm learning amp repair now.

 

[again with this]

Just to ease your pain a little.

I had a resistor get funky in my VHT 2150.

I didn't know Steve Freyette didn't let local, non-vht techs look at the schematic. So, my guy had to spend like five hours in the thing.

repair bill:

parts: $0.15
labor: $250.00

I'm glad I'm learning amp repair now.

Thanks man.

Similar situation with the last repair. $ 2 parts / $ 100 labor... still not fixed.

 

[again with this]

^^ Agree. Fix your Mesa and sell or trade it to get a VHT.

That's really what I am thinking, except... I really do like the 2:100.

 

[Qweklain]

That's really what I am thinking, except... I really do like the 2:100.

I loved my 2:100 when I had it. It made everything sound 5x better with MODERN engaged. Unfortunately mine had problems too so I never heard it at 100% functionality.

 

[again with this]

Okay, here's the latest. I get a call last week that the techs at Mesa couldn't reproduce my complaint. WEAK! Rich the Service Manager offers to let me bring all my gear up there and show tham what I am talking about. So... I take the afternoon off work and drive up to the Mesa factory with my toys.

At this point, I am fairly frustrated. I took my stuff to be repaired at the most qualified outlet - the damn factory. I know I am not imagining the problem. Long story short, I was able to show them the volume inbalance I described. All the guys that were helping me couldn't understand how they could have missed it.

Rich the Service Manager goes to ask someone else their opinion... Who comes into the room? John Marshall. Who, in ten seconds says, "Ooohhh, I know what that is... You have to turn up." Great. Well, the preamp up and the power amp down...

Seriously, what they said was the main output volume on my preamp needs to be up louder because of the dual whatever potentiometers. That the paddles don't line up at the far ends of the range of sweep. I still haven't decided if this is bullshit.

In the interest of taking my gear home, because I was having major Mesa/Boogie withdrawl, I accepted the explanation and went on my way. Rich and the kind folks at Mesa didn't charge me a cent. Thanks for that.

That night (Wednesday) I put all my toys back together and relegate the 5150 back to the home amp. What a difference! I tell you, once you go rack you can't go back.

End result: I turned down the volumes on the power amp and up the output on the preamp. I loose a lot of the power amp "wugga wugga". Serious drop in low end, but in a good way. The rig is no longer "boomy" or "flubbly". It's much tighter and I feel the EQ on my preamp is much more... reasonable. Before I was turning the bass down almost to nothing. Now it's back up around 3 o'clock.

I am still a little pissed they couldn't just tell me that over the phone a month ago when I first called them back about the initial repair.

Oh well, at least I got to go into the production area of the Mesa/Boogie factory and meet John Marshall.

 

[Giga]

I don't understand; first you say the amp sounds great when in good shape and then you say it's no longer boomy or flubby which, in my book, are negative comments ?

Didn't the manual point out your preamp levels need to be at a certain level ?

Giga.

 

[bill]

My 59 has never been in the shop. I did replace 2 caps about 15 years ago myself. The quality in the old hand wired tube amps from back in the day is amazing. I did have to change the speaker out when it fried but for being almost 50 years old it does the job and I never worry about it. A good tech can fix that power amp. Oh one more thing, the leather handle dry rotted so its also new.

 

[Subclavian]

I've also heard about Mesa's QC going downhill. I've never had any problems with them.

Of course, if you had a marshall, everybody'd be lighting up about how Marshall's quality sucks, etc.

I'm very wary about buying amps on evilbay just for one reason...there's alot of jackasses who don't know how to take care of gear.


sub

 

[again with this]

I don't understand; first you say the amp sounds great when in good shape and then you say it's no longer boomy or flubby which, in my book, are negative comments ?

Didn't the manual point out your preamp levels need to be at a certain level ?

Giga.

Not really on the preamp, unless I missed something. the power amp manual suggested starting with the volumes about 2 o'clock.

The boomy/flubby qualities were a little difficult to tame. Like I said, I had the bass almost completely rolled off. But I did like the results and there was noticable power amp tone. Now, not as much.