Watch Out! (The recall/"Ive had a problem" thread!

[musicbox]

If you've had a negative experience with your Mesa/Boogie, and think other's should be aware of possible issues, here the place to post it! Suggest possible causes for the problem, and solutions. This way we can all avoid ending up stuck with a buggered *** amp, as I'm sure most of us are aware of the headache that can be caused when your expensive investment in tone doesn't work as advertised. Please note year of production as well! If you're aware of a recall or an upgrade that was needed on your amp, please post it!

Note: This is in NO way intended as a boogie thrashing thread. This is intended to inform owners and potential buyers of issues so that headaches can be avoided! Please avoid badmouthing the amps we all know and love!
(mod, sticky please???)

 

[NoGlassNoClass]

The only "problem" I've ever had with my Triple is a popping noise when switching channels. This only seems to happen the first time I make a channel change. The fix (havent taken it to a tech) seems to be switching thru all the channels while the amp is still warming up on standby. If I do this before playing, the popping does not occur. My guess is a sticky switching relay, or maybe there is some sort of capacitor in the switching circuit discharging on the first stomp? If it doesnt get any worse, I'm not going to worry about it.

 

[mrdylan]

The only "problem" I've ever had with my Triple is a popping noise when switching channels. This only seems to happen the first time I make a channel change. The fix (havent taken it to a tech) seems to be switching thru all the channels while the amp is still warming up on standby. If I do this before playing, the popping does not occur. My guess is a sticky switching relay, or maybe there is some sort of capacitor in the switching circuit discharging on the first stomp? If it doesnt get any worse, I'm not going to worry about it.

I have the same problem with my triple I will try the switching while in standby to see if it helps here too. It seems to be more "apparent" when switching between channels 2 and 3.

 

[mloiaco]

Problem:
I had a problem with the Road King and it's footcontroller, the "King Kontroler." Basically, the amp sounded like garbage when the footswitch was plugged in. Namely, when the footswitch was plugged in to the amp, and the channel switch was set to "Footswitch," the bass would get very heavy, the signal was muddy, and on any channel, the entire sound was very distorted and weak.

Solution:
None. I'm currently using a loaner Road King from Guitar Center while mine is being built. The problem is either with the controller itself, the cable, or the circuitry inside the head. I'm not going to waste my time fixing this since the amp is only a loaner, and it's not at all likely that my brand new head and controller will have this problem. The loaner has a serial number in the 20's (00020-00030)...I don't remember the exact number off of the top of my head.

 

[marlon]

Hey guys call me crazy, but listen to this: The other day I decided that instead of using the long Mesa cable between the foot controller and my LSS, I would use a short 6' guitra cable instead. Well, I wasn;t thinking because as you all know, the control box uses a stereo cable. Anyway, I went about my merry way and was absolutely marveling at the BETTER sound my amp had until I realized I could not switch channels nor go into LEAD mode. OOOOOps...but the moral of the story is that the amp sounded really, noticably 'better' using the short guitar cable versus the Mesa mile-long stereo cable!!! FAct! I even had to retweak my settings when I plugged in the other cable. Another thing: I bought a Radio Shack guitar cable (with gold plated ends, etc.) and it really sounds better than the cheapies I was using before. The reason I got the RS cable is because they have a store in my building at work...sorry, I know there are tone frreaks out there that will deplore my cable selection, but it really does sound good. I might even go back and see if they have a stereo cable and try it in place of the milelong Mesa crappy cable :lol:

 

[Erik]

I had to have the pentode/triode switch in my Road King replaced. One day I flipped the switch and smelled this really bad burning odor...then the sound from my amp just stopped. I switched to 6L6 mode and it was all better. Mesa knew of the problem because my amp tech had the replacement part and I had my amp back in under 36 hours. It still scared the crap out of me to smell that odor and know that the fuse didn't blow.

 

[G.I.G.]

The only "problem" I've ever had with my Triple is a popping noise when switching channels. This only seems to happen the first time I make a channel change. The fix (havent taken it to a tech) seems to be switching thru all the channels while the amp is still warming up on standby. If I do this before playing, the popping does not occur. My guess is a sticky switching relay, or maybe there is some sort of capacitor in the switching circuit discharging on the first stomp? If it doesnt get any worse, I'm not going to worry about it.

I have a triple channel dual rectifier and have had the same problem. I called Tim McKee at Mesa and he told me that the popping is normal and that it does not harm your amp. He explained to me that when the amp is turned on that it can develop a small static charge and that when you switch channels for the first time it will sometimes make that popping sound which is the static charge being released. It should not occur again while the amp is still on.

No cause for alarm. However, I think they should put a note of that in the owners manual so people know about the static charge before hand and realize that the popping sound is normal.

 

[dylan7620]

ive heard the trem o verb has many little problems that alot of repair guys just dont want to deal with, whats up with that? :roll: