Got my TA-30 but... !

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GuyB

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You can imagine that I was excited to take my newly arrived TA-30 head to my weekly jam yesterday. But after an hour or so, problems arrived:

1- When changing channels (with or without the footswitch) the sound shut up completely, not even a hum ! I had to toggle between the 3 steps of the wattage switch (for exemple, from 40 W to 30 W to 15 W and back to 40 W) a few times before the sound came back. But then, changing channels again and the same thing happened : no sound.

2- It seems that there is almost no difference between the 3 wattage settings. I can not hear a distinct volume increase as there was with the TA-15 (wich I had before and made an exchange for the TA-30).

3- When these problems arrived, I also heard a "click" repeating with regularity in the reverb.

Then, after a while, everything return back to normal, except for the difference in volume between the different wattage settings.

This morning, I've tried it again at home and everything seems normal (except again for what I sense like a lack of difference in the volume).

Last remark : you can see the four EL84 tubes at the back of the amp. From left to right, they are at position V7, V8, V9 and V10. In 15W mode, it uses V8 and V9 and all four of them in 30W and 40W. The V7, V8 and V9 have a red glow and the V10 does not. Could it be that it does not work ? Could it be the cause of all this ?

I'm gonna call the store tomorrow but I wish someone here could give me some infos before. Thanks in advance.

And oh ! by the way, while it worked it sounded marvelously good ! I'll report back when this thing gets fixed.
 
Just came back from the music store. The tech guy is almost sure that it was only the EL84 that was not glowing that caused all that. He changed all 4 power tubes, we checked it at the store and it sounds o.k. At least I could hear a difference between the different wattages. Going to give it a run tomorrow and espacially next saturday where it will be on a heavy use.. and we'll see !
 
Glad to hear that!!!

Does the boogie gain... with gain cranked, works for high gain?
 
If you mean the new Gain Boost feature that you get by "pulling" the gain button on channel 2 : yes, it works with the 3 modes (a little bit less for the Tweed mode). I still have to give it a good try but it does what it is supposed to do, at least for the little time I used it. I will have a good try at it next week-end. With this gain boost, just beware to bring down the Bass control, especially when the gain is quite high on H1 and H2 modes.
 
Well... if you mean big heavy metal, I would say : no. Let's say that this amp is like a tribute to vintage amp tones we've learn to appreciate (Fender, Vox, Marshall, Boogie).
 
My TA-30 2x12 combo arrived on Monday, everything seemed fine until on Channel 2 I activated the reverb/fxloop switch. When that switch is engaged on Ch.2 a humming hiss noise is present. Knob positions, mode and power switches have no effect on the noise. I called Mesa and they are sending me a replacement tube to try in V5 & V6. Another thing I notice is the bass knobs seem to do very little, maybe this is because I am playing at low volume, about as low as the amp will go. Just thought I would share my experience here in case anyone is having a similar problem or knows of a solution.
By the way, I agree this is not a "metal" amp, but it does handle my high gain metal pedal very well!
 
I also noticed that hum-hiss when the reverb/fx switch is on not only on Channel 2 but on both. What did Mesa told you : will you have to change the 2 tubes in V5 and V6 or only one of them ?

In my case, the bass control is effective. As an example, It makes a big difference when in TopBoost mode : the more the gain, the more I have to bring the bass down, to almost nothing and it works very well in removing the "muddiness" created with too much bass.
 
Mesa is sending just one tube, they said to replace V5 and if that doesn't fix it then try V6.
I suppose I do have an issue with the bass control, I have it maxed out on both channels and it still isn't enough. I really hope the new tube cures everything.
 
Thanks for the info. I would appreciate if you could post the results after changing the tubes.
 
Well, I did'nt wait to see your results, dabluesman, and I went to the music store to check the 2 tubes (V5 and V6) responsible for the reverb. BTW, the hum-hiss on mine was much more sensible on channel 1 and is independant of all the other controls besides the reverb/fx bypass switch and the reverb control : the more you turn it up, the more the noise.
We checked both tubes (and we even checked the 4 others) and nothing changed, the noise was still there. I had to leave the amp there to be seen by the technician. I'll report as soon as I have an answer.
 
Mesa just shipped me a replacement tube so when it arrives I will try it out and let you know the results.
 
dabluesman said:
My TA-30 2x12 combo arrived on Monday, everything seemed fine until on Channel 2 I activated the reverb/fxloop switch. When that switch is engaged on Ch.2 a humming hiss noise is present. Knob positions, mode and power switches have no effect on the noise. I called Mesa and they are sending me a replacement tube to try in V5 & V6. Another thing I notice is the bass knobs seem to do very little, maybe this is because I am playing at low volume, about as low as the amp will go. Just thought I would share my experience here in case anyone is having a similar problem or knows of a solution.
By the way, I agree this is not a "metal" amp, but it does handle my high gain metal pedal very well!

Just picked up a TA-30 1-12" combo and notice the same noise with the reverb/fx switch on with either channel. Looks like a call to Mesa for a pair of new V5-6 tubes too. Not a shredders amp (normally 84's are not) but loaded with tones nonetheless.
 
Hi Dodger,

FWIW, I demoed a TA-30 head through a C90 in a MKV combo, fresh out of the box at Northeast Music in Scranton a few weeks ago. I took my LSS combo with me for comparison. After owning (and gigging briefly) with a TA-15, I was quite excited to try out the TA-30, given that it now had the features I wished that the TA-15 had (i.e. reverb and the loop). To make a long story short, I thought that the TA-30 was noisey (hisssssss......) overall and really didn't offer me that much more than I had with the LSS, despite the multiple voicings. Just my two cents and YMMV, but I would seriously would check it out for yourself.

Matt
 
Thanks, Matt. I'm looking forward to demoing one. Hopefully either GC or House Of Guitars in Rochester will be getting one soon. I'm hoping Mesa will address the noise issue like they addressed the Clean volume issue on the Electra*Dyne.

Thanks again.

Frank
 

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