It's time to change electolytic cap on my '92 DR...but......

[TheSoulsRemain]

Hi,
I'm a French guitar player and it's time to change the electrolytic caps on my old 2 channel DR.

A question is there a way to have original Mesa Parts ?
On mesaboogie.com, there is no mail to contact anybody.
The french distributor are not doing well their job and an "official mesa tech" ask me 650€ / ~850USD to change them :shock: by another new JJ ones.

If someone can help me to contact by mail a technician @ Mesa, it could be really nice.

Thanks


Richard

 

[fluff191]

Mesa does not have an email because they actually care about their customers and would prefer to talk to you over the phone rather than run the risk of you getting some general e-mail from someone who actually lives in India.

That being said, give Mesa a call. They can send you O.E. parts for your amp no problem and have them sent to you directly.

 

[msi]

I have to disagree with that statement. I think the reason they don't give out their e-mail address has to do with the amount of time it would require answering those e-mails. It takes no time to send an e-mail, and a person might send an e-mail out just because. Questions like, how does the transatlantic sound become common. Actually calling requires more time, and some effort. I actually think they only provide phone support to limit the amount of support traffic they get. I'm not going to call them to ask why a knob is a little scratchy, but I'll call them if I need a major repair.

This is especially true when you take into account that anyone in the world can e-mail anyone else in the world. Now they are providing support for the whole planet and are possibly receiving e-mails about trivial problems. Support in other countries is handed out to companies in those countries to prevent this. To sum up, it is my belief that the no e-mail thing is to keep their support costs down, not to provide better support. Because lord knows I've called them a few times and got less than stellar support. It's usually pretty good, but sometimes not so much.

 

[94Tremoverb]

Richard - first, are you sure they need changing? Are there definite signs of failure? If not, don't believe a lot of the things you read on the net about them needing doing every 10 years... which is just ridiculous. I would not ever even consider changing caps at less than 20 years old unless one has actually failed, and even then I would probably just change the one cap (or pair, if it's one of the first stack). Modern caps last far better than the old ones did, and even those will usually go 20 to 30 years or more with no problem. At about 30 years old I will change all the caps if one has failed or if other major work needs doing on the amp. No amp made after the early 1980s has reached that point yet.

Second, those prices are ridiculous too. A full cap job on an amp that's fairly easy to service like a Mesa Rectifier should be about €200. For example I just did an old 100W Marshall - which is slightly harder, since one of the caps is difficult to get at - for that much.

Third, I wouldn't worry too much about getting "original" Mesa caps. Mesa do not manufacture caps, they buy them from one or other of the large companies that do. JJ caps are fine. I personally don't believe there is any significant tone or reliability difference between any of the major brands of filter caps. (Unlike signal path caps, which are a different ballgame.)

 

[Elpelotero]

the email is on their site, but it is EXTREMELY well hidden.

You can use [email protected]

 

[polotska]

the email is on their site, but it is EXTREMELY well hidden.

You can use [email protected]

I've had mixed success e-mailing them—sometimes I've gotten replies within a day or two, other times I've never gotten any reply at all. It's well worth giving them a telephone call if at all possible.

 

[TheSoulsRemain]

Richard - first, are you sure they need changing? Are there definite signs of failure? If not, don't believe a lot of the things you read on the net about them needing doing every 10 years... which is just ridiculous. I would not ever even consider changing caps at less than 20 years old unless one has actually failed, and even then I would probably just change the one cap (or pair, if it's one of the first stack). Modern caps last far better than the old ones did, and even those will usually go 20 to 30 years or more with no problem. At about 30 years old I will change all the caps if one has failed or if other major work needs doing on the amp. No amp made after the early 1980s has reached that point yet.

Second, those prices are ridiculous too. A full cap job on an amp that's fairly easy to service like a Mesa Rectifier should be about €200. For example I just did an old 100W Marshall - which is slightly harder, since one of the caps is difficult to get at - for that much.

Third, I wouldn't worry too much about getting "original" Mesa caps. Mesa do not manufacture caps, they buy them from one or other of the large companies that do. JJ caps are fine. I personally don't believe there is any significant tone or reliability difference between any of the major brands of filter caps. (Unlike signal path caps, which are a different ballgame.)

Changing caps is like changing the belt of distribution on a motor.
It's not alway necessary, but one day, it 's breaking and the damages could be very important.

I Know that Mesa does not manufacture electronics parts like that.
I don't know if JJ are better than X or Y, I just want original parts.....

the email is on their site, but it is EXTREMELY well hidden.

You can use [email protected]

Yes, I've already mail them but still no answer.
And about my pm 2 days ago ?


I should call them, but I speak English like a "vache espagnol"....I'm French.

Thanks anyway

 

[94Tremoverb]

No, changing the caps is not like changing a timing belt. If a cap fails, it's extremely unlikely that any other damage will occur, contrary to popular myth. I've replaced hundreds of filter caps, including many that failed in the amp in use, and I can't think of one case where any other damage occured. There is a huge amount of hype on the net and elsewhere about this, and is completely unjustified - it's almost up there with the myth of blue glow in tubes meaning they need replacing. I'm a professional tech and it's my business to get paid for changing caps, and I absolutely would not, or recommend to, change caps on a modern amp less than 30 years old for no good reason. It's just work for the sake of it and will have no benefit whatever.

I changed the caps in that old Marshall because one had begun to leak, and at that point, 41 years old, there is no sense in not doing the others at the same time - but that's a totally different case from a '92 Mesa. Anyone who is recommending changing caps at 10 years old, or even 20, really must have shares in a company that makes them or something...

 

[JF Omalycat]

I've always been under the impression that older caps = less headroom?
Any truth to that, or common misconception? Pretty cool having techs on here!

 

[Monsta-Tone]

No, changing the caps is not like changing a timing belt. If a cap fails, it's extremely unlikely that any other damage will occur, contrary to popular myth. I've replaced hundreds of filter caps, including many that failed in the amp in use, and I can't think of one case where any other damage occured. There is a huge amount of hype on the net and elsewhere about this, and is completely unjustified - it's almost up there with the myth of blue glow in tubes meaning they need replacing. I'm a professional tech and it's my business to get paid for changing caps, and I absolutely would not, or recommend to, change caps on a modern amp less than 30 years old for no good reason. It's just work for the sake of it and will have no benefit whatever.

Well...Usually I agree, but there are tons of ancient Fenders and Marshalls in my area. I have seen some serious damage occur in Vintage Fenders when the filter caps go.

I offer the service for older Mesas, around 15 years old or so because I happen to agree with the Preventative Maintenance theory. Yes, the caps in newer amps are way better than the older ones. But, I feel that if you send your amp to me and it is 15 years old or older, and if you want it done (I don't push it, ever) then it is worth doing. Just because my car gets me where I'm going does not mean that I will neglect to change my spark plugs every 50,000 miles. I think this may simply be differing views on the same subject. Maybe I'm wrong, but then again, maybe peace of mind and preventative maintenance have their place in the real world.

As for headroom, I have changed the caps on lots of Calibers and DC's (older ones, not the newer ones). There is a definite difference in bottom end and definition.

I wouldn't do this in my Heartbreaker or Tremoverb because they were made in '98. But I did it in my DC-10 which was made in '94-95 because I don't want to get in there again anytime soon.