Dual Recto 2ch advice

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4Eyes

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Slovakia
Hello,

I'm interested in 2ch older dual recto, I was told it's '94, R-002422, BlackFace/Chrome chasis. It has serial loop and also ground lift switch and that's interesting because it should be an EU version. could someone please tell me some more info about the amp? I'm concerning it's a USA version with changed PT from 110V to 240V. Also it has removable power cable.

I contacted guys at Mesa but I have no answer from them till now. Also I bought a DR pre-500 R0483 for a great price, which has not removable power cable, it is EU version and the main difference is that it doesn't have ground lift switch, which is not necessary in EU. so I'm not sure if I should go fore it or not :?
 
btw this is the pic of the pre500 chassis, does anybody knows what does this letter code means? :)

DSC00431.jpg
 
nobody can help me?

is the email to mesa support still working? [email protected] (because I still don't have the answer from them) Call to the USA from Slovakia will be too much expensive. :?
 
I know how to use search button :) the question about pre 500 was the second point and less important for me than this:
4Eyes said:
I'm interested in 2ch older dual recto, I was told it's '94, R-002422, BlackFace/Chrome chasis. It has serial loop and also ground lift switch and that's interesting because it should be an EU version. could someone please tell me some more info about the amp? I'm concerning it's a USA version with changed PT from 110V to 240V. Also it has removable power cable.
 
YellowJacket said:
who cares?

ME! I don't want to kill myself or destroy the amp if somebody was doing "something" in the amp - for example rewired the PT from 110 to 220V and forgot to unplug the ground lift switch, which can cause the amp damage when turned in wrong position, here in Europe. I just want to be sure what I'm interested in if I'm going to travel 620+ km's to pick up the amp and back home :wink:
 
That is what good amp technicians are for.

Get the amp, then get it inspected by an amp tech BEFORE using it. Common sense and common practice for acquiring used equipment. If the seller allows, you can always get an inspection done before buying. This would probably be the best course of action.
 
4Eyes -

the RecB-X means it was originally built to be an export amp and the 240V suggests it was wired for... you guessed it - 240V. The "G" in the code suggests to me that it included a 'German' power cord and thats what I know. As for Ground lifts, some may have been included even though they weren't needed or useful because it was easier to include the switch rather than have a different chassis for export models. That's just a guess but I wouldn't be too concerned with the Ground Lift being on there, myself.

YellowJackets advice is good. An amp that has been kicked around for 15 plus years could have had anything done to it by now. Not a bad investment to get a good tech's blessing on a classic 'vintage' amp that you plan to keep for a while.

Hope this helps.
 
I'm not sure the G stands for Germany because Germany uses 220V - although it does look like it was originally intended for 220V and then finally shipped set to 240. Only the UK and Australia/New Zealand use 240V as far as I know. If the amp is a 240V version it will work on 220V, but not ideally - you really need it wired to the correct taps for the internal voltages to be as designed. There *is* a difference between 220V and 240V, and in fact the new supposedly EU-harmonized '230V' rating is really just the same as whatever the old voltage was in that country, with a different tolerance specification :). (My supply here in the UK still measures dead on 240V on a normal day, just as it did before.)

You cannot damage the amp if the ground switch is flipped to the wrong position, even on 240V. The absolute worst that would happen, even if the cap was shorted, would be a fuse blow in the cable plug (if it has one) or the wall circuit. The ground switch is upstream of everything including the amp's power switch, so the only components in the current path would be the switch itself and the power cord - and unless the cap was shorted, nothing would happen at all. The cap may not even be fitted - just because the switch is there doesn't mean it has to be, and without the cap the switch does nothing. (EU models generally have a plastic plug in the switch hole, not a different chassis by the way.)

A series loop and a removable power cord indicates Rev F as far as I know, which I think also agrees with the serial number.
 
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