Pontius2000
Active member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2009
- Messages
- 27
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I bought a new Roadster 2x12 in July. almost from day 1, the amp was crap. the amp would shut down by itself. sound would come and go, sometimes there would be little to no sound with all the gain and volumes turned half way up. awful sounds (not feedback) would squeal out of the amp when the fx loop was bypassed. sometimes, there would be no apparent problem with it, but I still couldn't get a good sound out of it.
They first sent me new rectifier tubes. this did nothing to alleviate the problem.
Then, they had me take it to the local Mesa repairman. he could find no problem with it. it wouldn't perform any of the problems in his presence and he apparently didn't try too hard to get to the bottom of the problem. basically, "I can't fix it if I don't know what's wrong with."
Today, it started again. I called Mesa. and of course, it was playing fine while I was on the phone with them. same story, "I can't fix it if it's not screwing up while I'm trying to diagnose the problem". I then went into a mini rant about how I paid $2000+ for this amp and have not had 1 minute of satisfaction from it since I've owned it. I told them (truthfully) that I've had Mexican and Chinese made amps that were better than this one.
I hang up the phone and lo and behold, the amp immediately goes into screw-up mode again. I immediately called Mesa back and said "listen to this". in less than 30 seconds, the problem was fixed. it was the V5 position tube that controls the reverb. he had me take it out and now it's like a brand new amp. now, for the first time, I'm finally realizing what this amp was SUPPOSED to sound like all along. not only did it (knock on wood) fix the problem, but I finally realized that even when the amp wasn't apparently screwing up, it was still sucking tone out because it now sounds 1000 times better.
they are sending me some more preamp tubes, but I honestly don't think the tube was the problem, I think it was the amp. BUT, if that's the only problem, I will get a reverb pedal and do without the onboard reverb as long as it doesn't screw up anymore.
They first sent me new rectifier tubes. this did nothing to alleviate the problem.
Then, they had me take it to the local Mesa repairman. he could find no problem with it. it wouldn't perform any of the problems in his presence and he apparently didn't try too hard to get to the bottom of the problem. basically, "I can't fix it if I don't know what's wrong with."
Today, it started again. I called Mesa. and of course, it was playing fine while I was on the phone with them. same story, "I can't fix it if it's not screwing up while I'm trying to diagnose the problem". I then went into a mini rant about how I paid $2000+ for this amp and have not had 1 minute of satisfaction from it since I've owned it. I told them (truthfully) that I've had Mexican and Chinese made amps that were better than this one.
I hang up the phone and lo and behold, the amp immediately goes into screw-up mode again. I immediately called Mesa back and said "listen to this". in less than 30 seconds, the problem was fixed. it was the V5 position tube that controls the reverb. he had me take it out and now it's like a brand new amp. now, for the first time, I'm finally realizing what this amp was SUPPOSED to sound like all along. not only did it (knock on wood) fix the problem, but I finally realized that even when the amp wasn't apparently screwing up, it was still sucking tone out because it now sounds 1000 times better.
they are sending me some more preamp tubes, but I honestly don't think the tube was the problem, I think it was the amp. BUT, if that's the only problem, I will get a reverb pedal and do without the onboard reverb as long as it doesn't screw up anymore.
