Brand New Roadster Problems - FX LOOP & Channel 3

Hi -

First I'd like to introduce myself: my name is Jeff, I'm 22 and I've been playing guitar as a serious hobby for about 9 years now. I've always been a fan of Boogie products; used to own an Express 5:50, but I've just finally been able to buy a Dual Recto Roadster - one of my dream amps. Onto the fun stuff...

I bought my amp head about a month ago and everything was working absolutely golden until a few days ago I went to hit the FX LOOP on the foot pedal after turning on the amp off of standby. I heard an unusually loud POP. Now, I've noticed a few things:

1.) The one that scares me the most is that the LOOP indicator light on the front of the amp never goes out - it's either dimly lit (about half power it looks like) when the loop is off, or it acts as normal when the loop is on. I have no idea why this light would stay on all the time now after that pop...
2.) The FX LOOP pop very loudly now when switching it on via the foot pedal. Once on, I feel it also acts differently than it used to - it seems the volume levels are messed up (this COULD be entirely in my head)
3.) Channel 3 always gets a very loud pop when being switched to.

I understand the regular pops are normal, but the aforementioned pops I'm experiencing are insanely loud. I experience these when I play at my place at only moderate levels, as well. If anyone could give me any insight (ESPECIALLY ON THE FIRST ISSUE I MENTIONED), it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

-Jeff

Update - in case anybody's interested.

I talked to my Mesa dealer, and given that I'm from MN and it's currently extremely dry here, they said it's likely that there was a mishap with static. It shouldn't be a huge deal, most likely a connection or soldering joint that needs attention. I'll post again as I find out more in the chance that this may be able to help someone else in the future. As always, though, if anyone has any input, comment, etc. to put my mind at ease for the time-being, that'd be great too.

-Jeff

Hey Jeff welcome!

The pop your referring to is a well known, well talked about topc on this board. Its the result of having a very complex amp... multiple power, tube, circuit options for each channel. Basically when you make a switch from one channel to the next there is both a mechanical sound with a slight pop in the switching jack. The mechanical sound you can;t do anything about as its just part of the amps nature, but the static is something that can be relieved. Basically while on standby, cycle through all the channels a few times and when you come out of standby make sure your in channel 3. From then on you should be good to go with no popping.

If you still get popping with the fx loop after the cycling through the channels in standby, check the level of the fx loop. If you have it at 100%, your actually going to boost your signal.

If you still have the problem with the LED for the FX Loop always staying on. check 1) to make sure the loop is foot switchable and if it is 2) you may have a problem that a mesa tech can address. Either way if your concerns continue find a tech near you and bring it there... it should be covered under the warranty if something is actually wrong.

Thanks for the response man.

Yeah, I can deal with the normal pops, but now the pops on both Channel 3 (and of lately Channel 1) and the FX loop are significantly louder than they used to be - as in they can really catch you off-guard if you're not consciously thinking about it when you switch to those channels. Anyhow, the problem is persisting. My dealer is going to check to w/ Mesa to see if they can have one of their techs work with a Mesa tech via phone so I don't have to send it in and/ or drive to the nearest "authorized" repair facility (over an hour away...which would be nice to avoid if at all possible). Hopefully I'll have this sorted out by the end of next week.

P.S. - I like the avatar!

EonBlueApocalpyse said:

Thanks for the response man.

Yeah, I can deal with the normal pops, but now the pops on both Channel 3 (and of lately Channel 1) and the FX loop are significantly louder than they used to be - as in they can really catch you off-guard if you're not consciously thinking about it when you switch to those channels. Anyhow, the problem is persisting. My dealer is going to check to w/ Mesa to see if they can have one of their techs work with a Mesa tech via phone so I don't have to send it in and/ or drive to the nearest "authorized" repair facility (over an hour away...which would be nice to avoid if at all possible). Hopefully I'll have this sorted out by the end of next week.

P.S. - I like the avatar!

Click to expand...

thanks man... alex grey is an incredible artist. The boys in Tool were really smart to hook up with him to do their artwork and videos.