big foot problems or internal amp switching problems

[lowbass5]

hello
my name in Adrian i live in Romania (eastern europe), i just bought a second hand mesa triple from guitar center....anyway long story, i have a friend who lives in the states..etc:
The amp is awesome..blow everything!
but..always has to be one..
i have a few problems, questions..
1. is it ok that when i turn on the amp and the Fs(bigfoot) is connected to hear inside the amp a 2 sec bzzzzz (not a trasformer bzzz), and then on the footswitch everything is on?
2.when i play at high volumes my footswitch vibrates and i don'y know why my amp start to go crazy..the chanels start to switch them self and the sound from the amp is switched like. (maybe i have a small chinese in it...
3. when the bigfoot is disconected everything is normal! no volume intreruoting no nothing..everything is ok
is my bigfoot..bad, or somekind of switch inside de amp?
thanks
Adrian

 

[titan7]

did you get an answer, mine does the same thing.

 

[acidguitar]

I dont really have an answer but I can tell you this:

Some models that have the transformers changed for different power operation - say from 110 volts to 240 volts, if the transformers aren't up to spec you can apparently get this sort of problem, especially when you run the amp in the rectifier and spongy modes, the voltage drops too much. Is this problem happening when set to Bold and Silicone Diodes? I've noticecd some triple rectifiers can suffer this channel confusion when running rectifiers and in channel 2 with the loop engaged. The standard rectifiers that MTRs come with drop the voltage by 50 to 60 volts and further if in the spongy setting.

 

[wildmandan]

I have a dual rectifier that I can't use the bigfoot footswitch with. With the amp in standby...(Now realize this, in standby!) if I attach the footswitch, I get a huge buzz. If I turn the amp on, more than one channel is on at a time. It's unusable. I am forced to use the amp without the footswitch.

What I am wondring is: There are jacks in the back for 'midi' type switching of the channels, lead switch and effects loop. What kind of switch can you use with this?

I guess I can send the amp back and wait for 2 months to get it fixed, but I am gigging and I need the amp.

Any info out there?

 

[AtownBcat]

I have a three channel dual rec, and i was having the problem of the amp wanting to switch channels or go into "solo" mode by itself. (although there was not any real buzzing)It ended up being the cable!!! Nothing was wrong with the amp or footswitch!

 

[dct]

What I am wondring is: There are jacks in the back for 'midi' type switching of the channels, lead switch and effects loop. What kind of switch can you use with this?

There are audio loop/switcher units that can change amp channels, turn off/on amp features, etc. along with enabling/disabling FX in the loops of the unit. A MIDI foot controller is the usual method of changing FX and swithching channels when using one of these units.
Two such models are the Voodoo Lab GCX Audio Switcher (http://www.voodoolab.com/gcx.htm) and the RJM Music Tech. RG-16 (http://www.rjmmusic.com/rg16.php). These are both rack-mountable units.
I assume there are other type units, probably floor models, similar to a large stomp box, that will do the same thing.
RJM Tech. also makes cables that are made specifically for many of the pro amps-these cables plug into the back of the RG-16 and then to the 1/4" jacks on the back of these amps.
I'm considering getting the RG-16 and their cable that goes to a Mark IV to control 6 of the Mark's functions.

 

[junior]

This may sound stupid, but try changing your midi cable. I had a bad one, and my DR was going crazy changing the channels by itself.

 

[mercedesrules]

.......I am at wit's end with my Triple-Rec, also. Some similar problems to the ones mentioned above. Without the bigfoot it operates normally but with it, channel-changing is unpredictable, noisy, random and unusable. I guess I will try the cable first. I don't like the idea of reaching around behind the amp to change channels. FWIW, the amp sees a certain amount of temperature and humidity change even though it is inside.

 

[caves89]

hello
my name in Adrian i live in Romania (eastern europe), i just bought a second hand mesa triple from guitar center....anyway long story, i have a friend who lives in the states..etc:
The amp is awesome..blow everything!
but..always has to be one..
i have a few problems, questions..
1. is it ok that when i turn on the amp and the Fs(bigfoot) is connected to hear inside the amp a 2 sec bzzzzz (not a trasformer bzzz), and then on the footswitch everything is on?
2.when i play at high volumes my footswitch vibrates and i don'y know why my amp start to go crazy..the chanels start to switch them self and the sound from the amp is switched like. (maybe i have a small chinese in it...
3. when the bigfoot is disconected everything is normal! no volume intreruoting no nothing..everything is ok
is my bigfoot..bad, or somekind of switch inside de amp?
thanks
Adrian

Hello Adrian, I know this post is a million years old... but I've found a definitive solution to this problem. I've recently moved to a very rural location in the middle of a Mountain Range. I have a 2004 3ch Dual Rectifier Solo Head that I love and its my main amp, so the thing is that I soon as I plugged the amp in and turn it on at the new house it started doing the exact same thing that you describe, first I thought it might be the MIDI Cable but it didn't make sense since I really take care of everything very well (I still have the original amp manual and paperwork!). Anyway later that day I was working and noticed that the lightbulbs on my house started to dim slightly on and off, so I then realized that maybe I have a voltage stability issue. I went and bought a Voltage Stabilizer without even measure the voltage output on my new house, so I plugged this thing into the outlet and then plugged the amp, turned it On with the Bigfoot connected and all, an BAM! it did the trick!!, no more random channel switching or volume drop. So to anyone that's still having this issue, this is the problem solver!, go grab a good Voltage Stabilizer and make your amp happy, a 1000w unit will work just fine, stay safe you all!

 

[Ariloum]

Hello, today I got similar problems with my old Mesa Triple head and BigFoot footswitch, there was a few glitches that I faced during investigations:
- BigFoot channel switching works but no sound at all on any channel
- channel 2 only buzzzz, no sound at all while channel 1 and 2 works normally
- channel 3 volume drops if I became very loud
- channels switching itself randomly

and I have no any problems if I just unplug the footswitch.

So, the thing I've discovered - there is connection issues within the cable and the switch port - some of these pins was poorly contacted with the footswitch port (or it might be the mesa port), so the way I fixed that:
1 totally unplug the cable, get something like a screwdriver and pull with it on each pin to make it stand with a little angle slightly closer to the border (not too big angle coz it won't plug in)
2 get some needle and try to decrease the hole of pin-holders since it is too wide to hold the pins with a good connection

That's it, keep it loud.