Beware of new Mesa's: Mesa QC sucks now I guess...

[LUCRETIA]

honestly thats what i thought about their new stuffs.all rubbish.blah,blah....
i love their old stuffs.Call them on monday.

 

[Barry]

When did you buy the amp ? did you buy it new ? If so you have a warranty , assuming you registered it . Call Rich Duvall in the service department . They will give you a return authorization number to send it back to them .

 

[Storm]

I think the whole point is that crap like this shouldn't happen when you spend big $$$ on 'quality' equipment.

Ciao ...

 

[cant play pool with a rop]

Ya know sometimes I get the feeling that Mesa is becoming more like Gibson in the QC department....

 

[ursinus]

Rich Longacre will be at the AT clinic on 8-11-07 at Rockit music. I am going to complain to him as well because I opened my Ace head before I turned it on and did find a couple of "iffy" solder joints where the OT leads connect to the main board. I touched them up and then put everything together and tested the crap out of the head. So far no problems, but I'm afraid of what might of happened if I had not inspected it first....... MY MKIV joints did not look like that and it isn't much older (2005')

 

[Rocky]

Rich Longacre will be at the AT clinic on 8-11-07 at Rockit music. I am going to complain to him as well because I opened my Ace head before I turned it on and did find a couple of "iffy" solder joints where the OT leads connect to the main board. I touched them up and then put everything together and tested the crap out of the head. So far no problems, but I'm afraid of what might of happened if I had not inspected it first....... MY MKIV joints did not look like that and it isn't much older (2005')

I believe you voided your warranty.

 

[siggy14]

Honestly, you got a bad amp, does not mean all there new stuff is crap. Mesa is still one of the best built amps and occasionaly a lemon will get through.

There are many reasons this amp could have gone bad, someone dropped it from the factory (after testing), to a surge or just in general a faulty resister, diode, cap or something etc... Things do fail, and redesigns do have to happen sometimes, it is part of electronics, as well as everything else in life, another example would be cars and recalls.

Not to mention many other things could cause issues, for example the user could be one. I dont know you, and also do not know how you treat your equiptment. I personaly treat mine like gold, I always have a fan blowing on the back for the extra cool breaze to keep the amp cool so things do not overheat. I do not bang my equiptment around, and my guitar amp will always ride close to me in my car so I know it is not getting banged around.

Honestly, I would have never bought that amp, since it needed two new tubes before you even left. I would have asked for a new one sealed in a box etc.. If they didnt have it, I would have waited.

I was able to reproduce the loud buzzing sound in the RK1 with the pair of "damaged" EL34's from the Deuce. I replaced the "damaged" EL34's with known good Mesa EL34's in the Deuce head and went to the studio again tonite (with a bad feeling honestly).

I played for 30 min's and it blew a fuse again. I put in a new 4 amp fuse and it blew again (in 100 watt mode). And then again (in 50 watt mode) after another new fuse.

This Deuce amp, as siggy has suggested, is f%&# up. It's not the tubes as this is the 3rd incident in less than a week. That's COMPLETELY unacceptable for a BRAND NEW professional level (and expensive) amp.

That piece of sh!t Petaluma is closed tomorrow. I wonder if I can get a replacement head? This seems like an amp that would have failed extensive QC. The guy at the studio (who was there working last nite as well) felt bad and said he may go to Mesa Hollywood to "scope out" the guys that work there.

BEWARE OF NEW MESA'S. I HAVE LOST RESPECT FOR THIS COMPANY AFTER THIS AMP AND MY RK1 PENTODE/TRIODE PROBLEM AND THE WRONG REVERB TANK IN THE REPLACEMENT HEADSHELL FOR THE RK1. I DIDN'T HAVE ANY ISSUES WITH THE MARK III.

I WILL NOT TRASH TALK MARSHALL ANYMORE. I HAD FEWER PROBLEMS WITH MARSHALLS THAN THIS MESA BULLSHIT.

THANK GOD I'M NOT A PRO MUSICIAN. I WOULD HAVE BURNED THIS AMP BY NOW...

 

[Barry]

When did you buy the amp ? did you buy it new ? If so you have a warranty , assuming you registered it . Call Rich Duvall in the service department . They will give you a return authorization number to send it back to them .

I just bought it last Sat. (08/04/07) @ mesa hollywood. it's brand new. i mailed the warranty card yesterday to petaluma (you have 30 days to do that).

At this point, I feel this is an issue I should take up with Petaluma (I've never talked to Rich but I talked to Marcus about this yesterday). If I get a return auth # to send it back, then what happens? Should I talk to Rich before taking this amp back to Hollywood?

I like the Stiletto Deuce a lot. I just want to swap it for another brand new "properly QC'd" one.

Has anybody else on here had a similar experience with a brand new Mesa amp?

I did flip the recto/diode switches in the back while it was on (not in standby). And the 50w/100w switch during play as well (but that is ok, it's specifically stated in the manual). I wonder if that has anything to do with it. I asked a petaluma guy about flipping switches while it's on (and not in standby), and they said "we do it all the time during testing".

And if that did cause the problem, it should state "don't do that" in these extensive Mesa manuals.

When you send it back you will ultimately be dealing with Rich Duvall anyhow as he runs the service department . Put a detailed note in with the amp of what the problem is . Do you have the original box ? It would be best to send it back the same way . I would rather have the amp that they went over than a brand new one . They dont want your amp to come back so Im sure they will get you fixed up .

 

[ursinus]

[/quote] I believe you voided your warranty.[/quote]

That's ok with me, I do most of my own tech work anyway. I the 20+ years that I've owned Mesa amps, I've never had a warranty issue, well except for the Roadster popping and bleed resistor upgrade which I performed and got warranty approval on anyway when I sold it.

 

[phyrexia]

I work for a dealer. I've played pretty much the entire line. The only problem I've seen in a year was a bad tube in a MkIV that blew a fuse.

We have had lots of amps fucked up by UPS, though.

There are always going to be bad examples and good examples. I have a coworker with a IIB that has crapped out a number of times on him. He burnt a hole through the PC board of a subway rocket. But I played my F50 loud for three years and never had any problems, and my Mark III seems bulletproof enough.

You think a Ferarri would last if you drove it 12,000 miles a year?

 

[ursinus]

Out of all the amps they sell, I think that their QC is excellent. It is the shipping that causes most problems IMO. Once in a great while there are little annoying "booboos", but they always make good on it, at least in my experience......

 

[Barry]

Its a pain in the wazoo but take it back to the dealer and get them to send it back for repairs . They will fix you up .

 

[stompboxfreak72]

Man it stinks when you plop down that amount of cash and something does not work. I bought a Roadster head that I had issues with but in the end I determined that the amp itself was not for me and decided to return it. If I had ultimately wanted to keep the amp I believe Mesa would have made it right for me.

I hate to sound preachy/fatherly but focus on the solution and not the problem.

If you like the amp and the way it sounds than focus on whatever it takes to get your amp in working order to your satisfaction. It does not take the " suck " out of your situation but will ultimately improve your outlook. Mesa bent over backwards for me to get my DR in working order after I had it for 4 and 1/2 years. In the end the amp had faltered because I had made a moronic tube error. I know this is not your situation but the thought process is the same : If you want to keep the item then Mesa will take care of it for you.

I love my Mesa and would never buy a Marshall based on sound preference alone. be patient and get that tone monster to your liking. Keep us posted and good luck bro !

 

[lockbody]

I work for a dealer. I've played pretty much the entire line. The only problem I've seen in a year was a bad tube in a MkIV that blew a fuse.

Well, of course it wasn't your store's fault, but your tech mentioned that my first Roadster (that smoked) had possilbly the worst soldering job he had ever seen in a Mesa product.

I just get the feeling that this comes down to a/some new supplier/s, or someone new at QC. Lots of these stories popping up, but no way would I ever go back to Marshall.

 

[siggy14]

I would like to find out who the Tech was on that amp that did the work, and stay away from anything that person puts together.

I work for a dealer. I've played pretty much the entire line. The only problem I've seen in a year was a bad tube in a MkIV that blew a fuse.

Well, of course it wasn't your store's fault, but your tech mentioned that my first Roadster (that smoked) had possilbly the worst soldering job he had ever seen in a Mesa product.

I just get the feeling that this comes down to a/some new supplier/s, or someone new at QC. Lots of these stories popping up, but no way would I ever go back to Marshall.

 

[Platypus]

Just using this board I've seen a trend in the last year of absolutely ridiculous problems..

1) I see a LSS with a blown 5Y3 rectifier tube thread about once a week
2) Express amps with jacked preamp tubes / random problems
3) RKII's with cracked preamp tubes
4) Roadster reverb issues / popping on rectifiers


What the hell is going on at Petaluma...?

I hope they're taking note of these threads...

 

[gooberizer]

I had a Trem-o-Verb combo many years ago that spontaneously caught fire while jamming and by the time we got it put out there wasn't enough left of it to diagnose what could have caused it. I'd like to think it was my blazing licks :twisted:, but the Mesa tech back then couldn't even figure it out. I ended up with a full refund and an apology. Even after that I still viewed Mesa as a quality product, I was just unfortunate to get one of the rare bad ones. Probably built at the end of the day on a Friday, if you know what I mean :wink:

 

[Living_justice]

they dont work on a friday mate lol, lucky for some.

 

[LUCRETIA]

Just using this board I've seen a trend in the last year of absolutely ridiculous problems..

1) I see a LSS with a blown 5Y3 rectifier tube thread about once a week
2) Express amps with jacked preamp tubes / random problems
3) RKII's with cracked preamp tubes
4) Roadster reverb issues / popping on rectifiers


What the hell is going on at Petaluma...?

I hope they're taking note of these threads...

you left out the Triaxis...


Dont send your amp to hollywood,dealer or whatever **** for repair.
Call them and be firm that you want your amp in ther factory for repair and check up!

 

[Murphy Slaw]

My .02.

You bought it on a Sat. in Hollywood? You live in L.A.?

I'd go back in the morning (Sat) and return, or exchange it for a new one. If they don't have one, or something else you like get your money back. NOW. Period.

I would NEVER feel confident with a new amp with so many problems in a week. Two years from now I'd worry every time I was on stage. Piss on that.

I like Boogies, but am funny like that. Once the confidence is gone in an amp, it's gone. I'm going shopping.

Best of luck.