DC-3 My first Mesa

[Teleman]

Well I did the deed and got a DC-3 off eBay today.I have been eyballin Mesa amps since they came out and finally bought one.I play in a couple of GB bands and need an amp that covers a lot of ground.I had a Delta Blues 210 and currently use a HR Deluxe both were modded but getting a variety of sounds has been a constant struggle.I'm excited about the DC-3 and have read every post on here as well as downloading the owners manual.
I have been using this setup-Rt 66 OD,AC+,Echohead delay.My guitars are a custom 53 Tele copy and a Yamaha AES 1500.Now to see just how slowly time goes by waiting for delivery.

 

[MusicManJP6]

Congrats and welcome to the forums! The DC-3 is a great, great amp. It's one of Mesa's best IMO. You'll love it! Did you get a head or combo?

 

[LTE]

Enjoy! You've come to the right forum as well, you won't get any help from ultimate guitar. They think the only mesa is the dual rectumfryer

 

[Teleman]

Thanks, I am really looking forward to get on the path to shape my tone.I gotta say this forum is very impressive,loads of information.I have a couple of speakers available if that needs to be addressed.My HRD has an EV12 and I have 2-1x12 cabs with JBL E120's in them.The seller is not sure about being able to find the footswitch so I will wait and see.If this works out I guess its time to unload some stuff.

 

[rocksalt7]

Congrats and welcome....did you get a combo or the DC-3 head? Sounds like you have some speaker options either way!

 

[Teleman]

I got a Combo-I also have a couple of old Celestions and an old Jensen P15.I can't find specs anywhere(Dimensions ,weight).How do I determine replacement footswitch replacement type or are they easy to build? What's up with the FX loop mods? Why do people change it?

 

[GD_NC]

I got a Combo-I also have a couple of old Celestions and an old Jensen P15.I can't find specs anywhere(Dimensions ,weight).How do I determine replacement footswitch replacement type or are they easy to build? What's up with the FX loop mods? Why do people change it?

Mesa still sells replacement footswitches for DCs. There are two different versions of the DC-3 that have different footswitches. Identify your amp first then you can order the right switch. See: http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=36820

The standard FX loop is parallel. Meaning the signal is split and run out effects loop AND direct with a knob to balance the return signal mix. I personally like this feature and never saw a reason to change it. Others seem to prefer a serial loop which runs all the signal through the loop (like Mark Series amps).

 

[Teleman]

I got a heads up that delivery on my DC-3 will be delayed a couple of days.Man thats like tellin a kid that Christmas will be a few days late!! I had the day off today so I plugged in the TeLe and cranked up my heavily modified HR Deluxe,still searching for the tone that satisfies.The DC has some big shoes to fill,this Deluxe is pretty sweet even if the OD sucks.I am going to jam this weekend with a project that we want to get started,that should take the edge off .

 

[MusicManJP6]

The wait will be WELL worth it, fella. You can always A/B between the HR and DC if you like the cleans on one better and the distortion better on the other or something.

 

[Teleman]

I got a message that the DC-3 was shipped on Friday-Looks like I will need to get a footswitch,or convert one that I have on hand.I may have to warn the family that Dad wont be comin up from the basement for a while!!

 

[briguy1960]

I too have recently acquired a DC-3. If I lived in the US I'd just order one up but I find when I order anything from the states by the time international shipping and customs/taxes are applied the price on a sub 100 dollar item is often double. Sooooooo, can anyone tell me if there is anything special about the footswitch for an OLD style DC-3 combo that would be great as I have lots of parts to make a pedal.

2nd problem is that the middle band of the 5 band eq does not do anything. Not a deal breaker but an annoyance. Is this a common problem? The circuit looks simple but are the discrete parts easily available.

Finally a request to whomever oversees the board. Is there any way the search term DC-3 can not be ignored in the search engine.

Many thanks,

It took me thirty years but I can finally say I own a mesa boogie!

Brian

 

[Teleman]

YeeHaa,I came home today and found My DC-3 had arrived.Plugged it in and NOTHING-twiddle and jiggle to no effect,so I put in on the bench to pull the chassis and see the mute switch is engaged.Problem solved.My initial feeling was that the amp lacked bottm end,but I couldn't crank it my wife gets pissed when I crank up so I plugged in an EV speaker,much better!! I only had about a half hour so there is obviously a learning curve.I am impressed with how my effects sound.In a couple of days I will find the time to really give it a workout.I am a Happy Camper.

 

[MusicManJP6]

YeeHaa,I came home today and found My DC-3 had arrived.Plugged it in and NOTHING-twiddle and jiggle to no effect,so I put in on the bench to pull the chassis and see the mute switch is engaged.Problem solved.My initial feeling was that the amp lacked bottm end,but I couldn't crank it my wife gets pissed when I crank up so I plugged in an EV speaker,much better!! I only had about a half hour so there is obviously a learning curve.I am impressed with how my effects sound.In a couple of days I will find the time to really give it a workout.I am a Happy Camper.

Awesome, man. Keep us posted!

 

[Teleman]

Now that the adrenaline has worn off I have to say my first impression is of an amp that is somewhere between lifeless and dull,with scratchy pots.Cosmetically the amp is in excellent shape and came with a peavey footswitch that seems to work but with no LEDs on the footswitch and the way the amp is now the EQ, unless set to extremes is barely noticeable.Now I have to mention that I have been repairing and modifying amps for a local music store for the past 5 yrs so there is no panic,what I have is an amp that has been played and needs maintenance.The power tubes are a mismatched set,3 mesa and 1 sovtek that are worn out.The factory preamp tubes are also needing replacement.
Tonight I cleaned the pots and will clean all the jacks and connection points(Reverb cables,tube sockets and such).A friend has some Caikleen fader lube,I find that pot cleaner(DeOxit or CRC) doesn't work well on faders.Gonna order a complete set of tubes,probably from EuroT***s I have had pretty good luck with them.I believe after that I will have a different amp altogether,I have done this for many customers with great results.I think this is a revision B chassis with only a front panel footswitch jack,metal toggle switches and a toggle switch on the rear panel not a rotary EQ switch.So there it is,a sleeping beauty and I will post updates as I make progress.As for mods or changes I will wait until its in prime operating condition before making any decisions.Any recomendations,tips or advice is welcome.Sorry for the long post but I have seen too many people make bad choices too early in the game.

 

[bigjav]

Congratulations for your new "toy"!
I hope you will be happy with it.

I attached two videos at the end, but first read the info below. Thanks!

Well, your story reminds me very much of my experience when I got the DC-3 a couple of months ago: second or may be third hand, very dull, lifeless, harsh sounding amp at the beginning. I was very, very disappointed, HOLY CRAP, it is MESA, it should be brilliant!

Then I changed all the tubes withh JJ's bought from http://www.eurotubes.com Great services from those guys, and most important, as everybody says, the best for Mesa are the JJ Tesla. Period. When I put the new set of tubes the tone improved for sure, but still dull and with no so much punch and life. Then I read in some topic here about bad solder connections of the tube pins to the board. Well I decided to open the amp. Man, yes, I was expecting to find some imperfections, but can you believe me? What I saw was every single pin connection of the four EL84s in bad situation. I suppose this was due to the high temperature of this amp when it is working. I installed a cooling fan now, and I am happy with the results. No more melting chassis.
Then I grab the soldering tools and resoldered carefully everything there. Talking about change? A HUGE one, man! This amp finally became to live.
Unfortunately, I can not say I am 100% happy with my DC-3, I am trying to find if the sound now is the original Boogie or something else is still bad. It is all because, while the amp now is punchy, with character/life, much more clearer and adjustable, it is still lacking some things, such as bottom end punch of my ENGL Screamer (previous amp), for example, some more presence that the ENGL's had which is awful when you play alone but is just AMAZING when you play in a band. The DC-3 is the opposite: sounds outstanding alone, but is just lacking character in the mix.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=57572455 (Mesa Boogie DC-3 prior to the service - old tubes, bad connections)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-LyHjzUycI (ENGL Screamer - one of the few times in my life when I was really happy with my sound on stage, just missing that tone, MESA DC-3 could not give it to me till this moment)

 

[MusicManJP6]

Yea, dude. You're on the right track. Get you some new JJs in there and you'll be on your way. I've got all JJs in my DC3 and love it! I also did the output volume mod and the serial FX loop mod. Highly recommend both!

Also, I've had the chance to plug my head up to a short body F50 combo (same size as DC3 combo) and can say that the tone was instantly 'classic rock' sounding and was missing quite a bit of tone compared to the 3/4 back 1x12 cab I usually run it through. I would recommend converting to a head or at least adding an extension cab eventually.

 

[GD_NC]

+1 on the JJ tubes for the DC-3. I had JJ's all around in mine. Loved it.

 

[Teleman]

I decided to do this one step at a time,so last nite I cleaned all the pots,tube sockets and jacks and reinstalled the tubes.When I got home today I played for about 10 minutes and had enough,all kinds of funky noises and 2 of the GEQ faders do not work at all.Banging on the amp created intermittent noises.Back on the bench and like others I found all the power tube connections needed to be repaired,some of the pins could be wiggled.I swapped out the preamp tubes with some I have on hand and replaced 2 power tubes with used JJ's .Fired it up and a big improvement.So I'm on the right track.I ordered a Mojo BV30 and some caps last night and the tubes from Eurotubes will be next.Now for some questions-
1.Any tips on how to remove the GEQ board,the stand offs are not familiar to me and I need advice?
2.Are GEQ parts available or maybe a whole new board?
3.Does the Revision B footswitch have LEDs?
4.And just for fun-would an AC30 style transformer work in this amp.If it comes to it Mercury Magnetics are a bit pricey but there are Heyboer and others out there.
So I can see the need for the master volume mod now because even as it is this amp has balls.I have to think about my ebay feedback because this amp is not in A+ condition but then I don't need to be rude just truthful.More to come,at least now I can crank it up tomorrow when the Fam is out.I am real pleased with the range of sounds,I can hear that a lot of what I have been searching for is in this bad boy.I do wish I could just send it off to Monsta-Tone and get it all done at once but money is an issue and I do enjoy the work.

 

[Teleman]

I did get a chance to crank it up today,Man I do like what I hear.After a couple of hours I decided to tackle the GEQ problem.Some how the eq board got pushed so far on to the standoffs that it took a bit of grease and some judicious prying to release it.I noticed the chassis at the GEQ was pushed in,having watched a video of Boogies hammer test I used a block of wood and a hammer to straighten it out.The eg board had a broken cap and the leads for one of the inductors were broken off,so I fabricated a repair,reinstalled and did the master vol. mod.I also replaced the 120pf ceramic cap at the input jack with a silver mica.Fired it up and the GEQ works fine.More to come.

 

[MusicManJP6]

Hey, Teleman! Sounds like you are getting her straightened out slowly but surely. I can't believe the condition that thing was in when you got it. I would definitely contact the seller and ask for a partial refund. That's just not how you do business. Did he disclose any of these problems in the auction?

Keep us up to date. I like hearing about this stuff. I especially enjoy hearing how you keep liking it more and more! I really love mine so be patient and keep at it. Your tone is in there!!

FYI - Rev. B has LEDs on the footswitch, metal switches, toggle on back for GEQ (not knob), and footswitch jack in front among other things - but those are the most noticeable. There's also more headroom and better reverb.