Bad Trade on a Tremoverb - HELP!

Hey folks,

I recently brokered a deal on a mint Tremoverb head - or so I thought was mint. The guy that I bought it from claimed he was the original owner (he had the receipt from the inital purchase) and the pictures of the amp loked perfect.

Upon receipt of the amp, it was as described - until I tried to use it. Here is what I am encountering:

The issues that I have encountered so far are as follows:

1. There are scratchy pots (potentiometers). Not a huge deal as this can be a symptom of an amp sitting for a prolonged period of time. Usually some pot cleaner will help - I just wanted to mention it.
2. The red channel master gain pot is broken. It will go up to about 4:00 and then completely cuts out only to have the sound come back in at around 5:00
3. The reverb is completely dead. It doesn't work on either channel and the reverb knob has seemingly no effect on the sound whatsoever. I have tried everything to get it to make some sound but it is completely useless on both channels.
4. I believe there is an LDR issue in the amp. The channel cloning feature doesn't work at all. It also has no effect on the amp on either the orange or red channels other than a slight pop when selecting any of the modes.
5. There is another issue I cannot identify the source of in the amp. The symptom is that when either on the orange or red channels, when selecting the driven mode voicing (higher gain mode) on either channel the volume completely drops out. The manual even indicates that when going from the clean to gain voicing on either the orange or red channels, there should be a noticeable increase on volume as more gain and volume is being added to the channel. This amp does just the opposite! The volume completely drops off when engaging the pushed mode.

Any ideas on what could be causing these issues? I am pretty good with tube amps and have had several over the years, but this one is completely jumped the fence...

I am trying to debate if I should just box it up and send it back for a full refund or if it is worth while to send it to Mesa or a licensed repair facility for full repair and work out the cost with the seller...

Any wisdom would be appreciated!

Thanks.

it depends if you gotten a great deal off it. If there was a discussion that everything works fine electronically and this is what you got? I would return it back.

cradlefish said:

it depends if you gotten a great deal off it. If there was a discussion that everything works fine electronically and this is what you got? I would return it back.

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Yea. The deal was the standard going rate - no steal here.

It was described as perfectly functional in all ways. Guaranteed as a matter of fact. :?

I'd definately send it back!

I would be getting my money back and punching someone in the face.

The EXACT same thing happened to me. I totally acted like the "nice guy" and felt sorry for the seller. In the end I ended up dumping $500 into the head over time. It wasn't all at once, but the added total was $500. I got totally screwed and I couldn't send it back because it took so long to fix, one thing broke after another.

I BEG YOU SEND IT BACK! It's not worth it. There are TOVs on ebay and Craigslist all the time. In fact, you can search all the ebay AND Craigslisting adds simultaneously, nationwide, with this:

http://instrument.jaxed.com/cgi-bin/music.cgi?cat=msg&itm=mesa

I use this all the time to compare Craigslist prices to ebay to see what the going rate is. It has all the major gear brands.

Seriously, send it back and inform the seller that an LDR repair is going to cost you WAY too much money. Mesa does the LDR repair for free, but there will inherently be other things they'll want to fix (ie: the reverb) and you'll pay shipping. Totally not worth it bro.

fluff191 said:

I would be getting my money back and punching someone in the face.

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Yeah, seriously!

...off topic-Um, Ryan... (Fluff191) your music is amazing bro. Seriously. Your tone kinda sorta reminds me of an older Milwaukee/Madison band that I used to be crazy about. Band's name is Coalesce.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iBwM3vuSFE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PU5TAWE1mo&feature=related

The album by them to get is Functioning on Impatience.

They sound like garbage now but they used to be incredible. They where kinda coming out at the beginning of like Metalcore a long time ago and where very different. Big beats and sorta sloppy noise-metal guitar but it was really good.

Back then, Dillinger Escape Plan was a totally different sounding group. They where hot too...I still dig DEP kinda. Im more into the Periphery techy stuff now though. Animals as Leaders and all that.

SEND IT BACK! ok, that is all. lol

Sorry to hijack the thread.

Send it right back unless the seller will guarantee to cover the cost of a full overhaul at Mesa or an authorized service center. If he's sensible he will do this since it will cost him that before he can resell it anyway - he can't claim to not know about the problems now.

Mine was a bit like that when I got it - but I got it very cheap, so I was willing to let it ride and fix it myself. The pots were scratchy (easily fixed with some cleaner), the channel cloning wasn't working and the reverb was intermittent on the Red channel - but the seller said he never used either of those things so he hadn't noticed... maybe believable.

Yours does not sound so, it's much more messed up and from the number of functions that are down it could be one from a batch with faulty LDRs - it certainly sounds like more than a couple are out (what year is the amp?) - but if it's dead on both channels, the reverb is more likely a broken connection in the tank, and may even be shipping damage.

It's a great amp, but they are prone to some problems and it's not worth paying full price for it *and* having to fix it.

Thanks guys. I believe the amp is around 2000 due to the high serial number (162xx). I owned a 17xxx serial number a few years back and had verified that it was one of the last runs at that point, so i am thinking that a 16xxx cannot be too much older than that.

I already corresponded with the seller and he was very apologetic and immediately offered to take it back with no hassle. He also offered to see if I wanted to explore getting it repaired. I am not worried about his integrity as he is a decent guy. As soon as these things happen, i think it is easy to vilify the seller, but I really don't believe he knew about this as he is not a guitarist and was selling it as something he inherited through a family death. I spoke with him several times via phone prior to making the deal and was not worried a bit. He actually wants me to call him today to get this sorted.

That said, I really wanted to get a great TOV and thought this was the one! I even (like an ***) ordered the slip cover yesterday from Mesa online because I saw the UPS tracking number was delivered! Dam.

I would love this to work, but don't want to get stuck with a brick. I understand that these things are money pits once the LDR's act up, but once it is fixed, is it truly fixed or does this just keep happening once they go south? I really want to get some input as this will guide what I am going to do. I know the seller will work with me, but if it get's to the tune of $500 to have it overhauled, is it worth it for either of us? Maybe so, but NOT if it becomes a recurring issue that never truly goes away... I suppose it needs to get repaired be it by him or me or it is dumpster bound.

Thanks for the help guys.

I had a similar expperience, too. I bought a used TOV that had problems that sound alot like your problems. In the end, the cost was almost $500 in tubes, pots, switches, etc... and the whole thing was a nightmare! On the bright side, the seller agreed to foot the bill because he knew it was the right thing to do.

vitor gracie said:

Mesa does the LDR repair for free...

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Are you sure about that? My understanding is that they only do free repairs during the warranty period (5 years). The orginal poster's amp is probably about 10 years old now. I can't see Mesa fixing the LDR issue "for free".

formisano said:

vitor gracie said:

Mesa does the LDR repair for free...

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Are you sure about that? My understanding is that they only do free repairs during the warranty period (5 years). The orginal poster's amp is probably about 10 years old now. I can't see Mesa fixing the LDR issue "for free".

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Hey Formisano - did you go through a repair center or send it back to mesa? Was the amp the same after it was fixed (good as new) or did you have issues down the road?

Sorry for the questions.

From the serial number it sounds like one of the bad LDR batch ones.

Send it back to Mesa, they will replace all of them and anything else it needs done and it will be as good as a new amp. There's no reason for it to be any less reliable than any other fairly complex amp once overhauled - and then it's a better bet than buying any other Tremoverb with *unknown* issues or ones that haven't developed yet. There's no way it can cost more to fix than it's worth, and my guess is that these amps will only go up in value from now, they're just beginning to be thought of as 'vintage'.

It's got to be worth it for the seller, at the very least it will save him the cost of shipping and re-advertising, and he'd pay the same repair cost before it was possible to sell it to someone else anyway.

94Tremoverb said:

From the serial number it sounds like one of the bad LDR batch ones.

Send it back to Mesa, they will replace all of them and anything else it needs done and it will be as good as a new amp. There's no reason for it to be any less reliable than any other fairly complex amp once overhauled - and then it's a better bet than buying any other Tremoverb with *unknown* issues or ones that haven't developed yet. There's no way it can cost more to fix than it's worth, and my guess is that these amps will only go up in value from now, they're just beginning to be thought of as 'vintage'.

It's got to be worth it for the seller, at the very least it will save him the cost of shipping and re-advertising, and he'd pay the same repair cost before it was possible to sell it to someone else anyway.

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Good advice. I spoke with the seller and he is a good guy - we are working through it.

I brought it to a Mesa authorized repair center and they went through it. Funny, they found things wrong that I never thought could be wrong such as a broken input jack, etc. They also identified a bunch of bad pots and broken reverb tank. The tech was intimately familiar with the LDR issue and is going to test each one. He did indicate that they were the most recent version and not the old faulty ones, but could still be bad.

I will know more monday or tuesday when I pick it up. Hell of a nice guy and seems really knowledgable. The amp isn't repaired yet, but if he does a good job, I will definitely throw out a HUGE endorsement for this shop as a reputable repair shop in MA /New England...

vitor gracie said:

Your tone kinda sorta reminds me of an older Milwaukee/Madison band that I used to be crazy about. Band's name is Coalesce.
They sound like garbage now but they used to be incredible.

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KC band and they still rule!

vitor gracie said:

...off topic-Um, Ryan... (Fluff191) your music is amazing bro. Seriously. Your tone kinda sorta reminds me of an older Milwaukee/Madison band that I used to be crazy about. Band's name is Coalesce.

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Hey thanks man!!

Never heard of Coalesce before but I like them ALOT!! Thanks for that! And Periphery is good stuff. My buddy almost played drums for them but didnt want to move across the country for no pay. You should check out a guy under the name Cloudkicker. You will dig his stuff if you like Periphery.

Jmango said:

Good advice. I spoke with the seller and he is a good guy - we are working through it.

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Good to hear hope you come out of this ok man.

vitor gracie said:

...off topic-Um, Ryan... (Fluff191) your music is amazing bro. Seriously. Your tone kinda sorta reminds me of an older Milwaukee/Madison band that I used to be crazy about. Band's name is Coalesce.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iBwM3vuSFE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PU5TAWE1mo&feature=related

The album by them to get is Functioning on Impatience.

They sound like garbage now but they used to be incredible. They where kinda coming out at the beginning of like Metalcore a long time ago and where very different. Big beats and sorta sloppy noise-metal guitar but it was really good.

Back then, Dillinger Escape Plan was a totally different sounding group. They where hot too...I still dig DEP kinda. Im more into the Periphery techy stuff now though. Animals as Leaders and all that.

SEND IT BACK! ok, that is all. lol

Sorry to hijack the thread.

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Thanks for the kudos man that means alot to me! Periphery is good stuff and so is Animals As Leaders. You ever heard of a one-man band called Cloudkicker? He makes these records and gives them away (with the exception of the newest one). It all instrumental Meshugga-meets-ambient goodness. Anywaysm thanks again for the kudos and I am looking for Functioning on Impatience right now!

UPDATE:

I got my TOV back FINALLY last week and just had a chance to really put it through it's paces...

HO - LEE - SHE - IT!!!

It friggin smokes and is perfect! It is a late serial number unit and after a complete re-tubing, a few pots replaced, a new reverb tank and an LDR switched out it is like brand new!

I am really happy with the incredible tone in that thing... Now I just need to figure out if that incredible tone is for me or not...

Glad things worked out for ya.

You just have to realise that the Tremoverb is now a vintage amp - even at only ten years old for the youngest ones. A lot of people complain about vintage amps for being unreliable and always needing things fixed, but it isn't really true - if you have them properly overhauled, they can be just as reliable as new amps. The good news is that the Tremoverb is probably also a vintage amp now for the other reason, which is that they will begin to go up in value (as well as sounding great). It makes no difference to me because I'll almost certainly never sell it, but it's nice to think that we probably have the MkIIC of the future... if perhaps not quite the '59 Bassman.