New Trem-o-verb

Hi,

I have been eying a Trem-o-verb at my local GC for a few weeks. I tried it out a few times, and it sounds great. I finally bought it. It sounds very close to my old pre-500 DR. The Red channel on modern high gain is just brutal, and the blues mode is great too. In fact, every channel sounds great. I think it is a perfect complement to my Roadster. Here is a picture:



I have a question about serial numbers. TRs are DRs and they list serial numbers in the same format, R-00xxx. Does this mean that TRs are grouped together with DRs serial number wise? The Boogie Archive page does not discuss TRs, but I am assuming they are just another branch of DR, so their serial numbers fall in the same line. If this is true, then my TR would be a Revision G, since its serial number is R-0109xx. That is my other question, did TRs go through the same revision history as the DRs? It has most of the tell-tale signs of being a revision G, detachable power cord, parallel effects loop. I have not opened it up yet to check the board, and I don't really have a reason to just yet. The transformer taps are different since it has five, 16, 8, 8, 4, and 4. None of this matter in the long run since I love the way the amp sound. I am just curious since it is kind of fun to trace your amp's lineage.

Thanks in advance

I don't know... my '94 is R-003986 if that helps at all. I can't remember seeing any revision number on the board when I've been in there, but I wasn't looking for it. I always assumed that the Tremoverb sprang into existence God-like and fully evolved , since it came out some time after the original DR... but maybe I'm wrong. I've played a couple of other later ones and they didn't quite sound as good, I don't think. Or it may be just tubes/rooms/speaker break-in (mine was really used a lot at high volume, before I got it), or who knows!

Nice amp you have there.

94Tremoverb said:

I don't know... my '94 is R-003986 if that helps at all. I can't remember seeing any revision number on the board when I've been in there, but I wasn't looking for it. I always assumed that the Tremoverb sprang into existence God-like and fully evolved , since it came out some time after the original DR... but maybe I'm wrong. I've played a couple of other later ones and they didn't quite sound as good, I don't think. Or it may be just tubes/rooms/speaker break-in (mine was really used a lot at high volume, before I got it), or who knows!

Nice amp you have there.

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Thanks and thanks for the info. I agree about the TR springing into existence God-like and fully evolved. I have to say, I instantly loved the sound of this amp when I played it. I think it would be interesting to track the history of the TRs relative to the DRs. I am just thankful to have one.

Thats a good question... my TOV is R-017176. I'm wondering if I'm having trouble sliding the chassis out because of a modification made on this model.

gambit said:

Thats a good question... my TOV is R-017176. I'm wondering if I'm having trouble sliding the chassis out because of a modification made on this model.

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I saw your post. I think one person recommended taking the grill off the front. I think this is a good idea. On my .50 Caliber +, after taking the bolts off that hold the chassis, the chassis would not come out. It was as if it was stuck on something. Just to try something, I took the front grill off and out popped the chassis. Good luck with that.

I just think it might be time to do some research on the TRs to see how they fit in the DR lineage.

how do I take the front grill off?

gambit said:

how do I take the front grill off?

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Do you know, that is a good question. On the .50+, the front grill is attached by four screws easily visible on the front of the amp. I just took a look at the TR, and don't see any immediately visible way to remove the grill. But one other thing occurred to me, did you remove the wires connecting the reverb tank to the chassis? In the next day or so, I will try to take out the chassis since I want to have a look inside. I will let you know how it goes.

Without knowing the exact dates the amps were initially announced and released It seems the tremoverb's pcb board was developed after the Rev.G board was developed for the Dual Rectifier. There was no revision history for the tremoverb like there was for the normal rectifiers.

OK, I had a chance to pull the chassis today, and I found some really interesting information. First, the amp has Mike Bendinelli's hand written initials and the build date. They are "MB 6/98."

The revision on the board is very interesting. It is "RR-1E." I know the 2-ch Rectos revision numbers are all RF, and obviously RR stand for something like Recto Reverb. However, I wonder if the 1E portion corresponds to the RF-1E recto board?

Here are the transformer and choke numbers:

Power Transformer: 561140 E1A606-817 (the transformer is from the same year the amp was built)
Output Transformer 562105 E1A606-647 (like the other 2 ch Rectos, the output transformer is two years older than the built date)
Choke 550381 E1A606-814

On the Boogie Archive Page, the Mark III transformer number are

Power Transformer: 561136 E1A606-XYZ
Output Transformer 562100 E1A606-XYZ
Choke 550381 E1A606-XYZ

My TR uses the same choke. The numbers on the power and output transformers are very close to the MKIII numbers. Are they similar, completely different, the same?
Like I said before, I love the sound of the amp. I am just curious.

All the best,

Again, as far as I know all Tremoverb pcbs are labeled RR-1E. When mesa forked development of the rectifiers to make the tremoverbs I don't know, but all tremoverbs share the same PCB. All the pcb changes evident on the REV.G rectifier pcb are on the tremoverb pcb. On top of that looking at the development of the modern mode switching from the rev.c pcb to the rev.g pcb, the tremoverb is the next logical step after the revision G board.

In the following image the presence controls are orange and red. The orange channel is naturally orange, red channel red. The image on the left is a rectifier tone section and the right is the tremoverb. There are a couple of negatives with the rectifier tone section. Number one is even when the channel clone switch is enabled the red channels presence control is never wired like a traditional presence control, which is what happens in the tremoverb, and three channel rectifiers, likewise when the red channel is cloned to vintage, both presence knobs work at once. Although this can be handy, it is counter intuitive to how an amp usually works. The tremoverb adds an additional relay labeled Rly1 that switches the negative feedback from the output transformer to the red channels presence pot. This is how the vintage and blues modes work, as well as with channel cloning, as well as traditional presence controls. This change never happened int he two channel rectifiers, and is why it is my belief that the tremoverb was the last two channel rectifier designed. Also the three channel rectifiers use a similar setup for the orange and red channels, indicating thats the direction mesa decided to head. If the the later rectifier PCB's had been designed after the tremoverb, I'm sure they would have had the presence knob change.

Thanks MSI,

I didn't read your previous post carefully enough. I didn't think the RR-1E board number was linked to the RF-1E. It makes complete sense that the Tremoverb is the last Dual Rectifier to be made prior to the release of the three channel amps, and its board was developed after the Rev. G. Thanks for taking the time to answer, and thanks for the nice schematic comparison. It is nice to know how your amp "sits in the mix" so to speak.

All the best

I just acquired a Tremoverb combo with the following:

- S/N: R-0025XX
- attached power cord
- Serial FX loop
- PT: 561138 EIA606-322
- OT: 562105 EIA606-324
- Choke: 550381 EIA606-316
- PCB: RR-1D

Forget rev F dual recs, time to start looking for rev D Tremoverbs!

Well I think what it is is that if RR-1E (ToV) are equivalent to the RF-1G 'Rev G DRs', then it's more likely the RR-1D ToV is equivalent to a RF-1F DR. Just a theory.