Mark IV, am I being a dick? Tech Question too.

[siggy14]

So I won a Mark IV on ebay for a BIN of $800 + $52 for shipping, link will be at bottem. Turns out the amp is a version A with a FU-2 foot controller that the guy had a tech rewire so it would work with the Version A. Foot controller does work fine.

The amp was missing one of the knobs and had a crappy replacment, either 1, or 4 slider cap was replaced as they do not match, one slider has a white line, the other four are blank.

So I know you are thinking, alright I get what I pay for, but here is where I am asking if i am being a dick. I recieved the amp and there are no tubes in the box. So I email the seller and tell him he forgot to send the tubes. He replies saying that he had three burnt out tubes blah blah and wasnt including any in the auction.

Now bear in mind no where in the auction does it say that this amp comes without tubes., here is the acutall description

"Mesa boogie Mark IV amp head. I bought this from a friend and had a mesa boogie certified repairman fix and now this thing screams. I just love the tone from this amp, but the cost of school and time conflicts has forced me to sell this amp. This is a great amp used by Metallica on the "Justice for All" album, used by John Petrucci on the "Awake", and also used by Lamb of God. This amp can go from fender clean to death metal distortion. So for you guitar tone lovers that always wanted a Mark IV well he is your chance at half the price."

So Anyway I email back the seller telling him he needs to either supply me with tubes, or refund me some money so i can purchase some, do you think I am being a dick?

Now my tech question, Of course I had tubes laying around, but i had to go out and buy a 12at7 for the reverb. Anyway when I put the reverb up to around 5 on the dial I get a squeal and it gets noisey and on the clean channel it starts to distort it. Keep in mind I have a brand new Mesa 12AT7 tube that i purchased from GC today.

So my question is, would this be normal? Does it have something to do with how i have the settings? I am using a hot plate, have the master on around 3 and the channel volume between 4 and 5. It also seems like when i add reverb the amp gets louder, is this all normal?

By the way I am loving the amp, more for my rock punk music, still prefer my roadking for my heavier music, but the Mark IV I am loving as well, i keep switching between the two and I am in tone heaven! Not sure why everyone has trouble tweaking it, took me about five minutes to get settings on both R2 and R3 that I love.

Ebay Link.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330154624762&sspagename=ADME:X:AAQ:US:11

 

[disassembled]

Tubes are needed for the amp to work. If he had no intention of sending the amp with them he should have stated so in the description and I hope you haven't given him feedback yet. If you have then you are kind of stuck but if he declines to get you tubes then you should definitely threaten a negative feedback rating or returning the amp for a refund. These amps are being sold all the time you wil definitely have another chance to get one if this doesn't pan out.

Greg

 

[Anonymous]

Post removed.

 

[siggy14]

i havent left feedback yet, but trust me if he doesnt make right I will leave negative feedback.

Tubes are needed for the amp to work. If he had no intention of sending the amp with them he should have stated so in the description and I hope you haven't given him feedback yet. If you have then you are kind of stuck but if he declines to get you tubes then you should definitely threaten a negative feedback rating or returning the amp for a refund. These amps are being sold all the time you wil definitely have another chance to get one if this doesn't pan out.

Greg

 

[siggy14]

I kind of disagree with you, would you sell a car without a engine? The tubes are the heart of a tube amp, without them it does not work, and it is useless, same with the engine of a car, without it the car is useless.

I would have had no problem if he would have mentioned it in the auction, but he did not mention it at all. I have a feeling he did that on purpose, and I honestly think leaving negative feedback will hurt him, he is obvious a college kid, all his feedback on ebay is from stuff he has purchased and he probaly just doesnt care.

i have already told him in my email when i responded that I will file a dispute with pay pal and my credit card company. I probaly wont hear from him for another two days because he is not all there, never even sent me a tracking number, package just showed up at my doorstep

Well, tubes are nothing that *must* be included in an amp auction. It's like demanding that a used dildo should come with used batteries. But any musician handing over the torch should include stuff out of good will so that the buyer may enjoy the gear straight out of the box. That's common sense to me, and will most likely be awarded with positive feedback.

The ad smells funny indeed. He should have mentioned what state the amp is in, what parts have been replaced and if it's modified in any way. But no, you can't demand new tubes from him. What you can do, on the other hand, is give him negative feedback for misleading advertisement and poor description of the item.

You might be able to get a refund (and only pay the shipping), if you feel the amp is faulty or whatever. And you can always ask for a slight "tube refund". He might be an honest person.

 

[Blueracer]

I think the seller is obligated to divulge the condition of the amplifier that is beyond normal wear. The knob to the right of the input jack is clearly not correct but can be seen in the photograph. I think he should have indicated this but it is visible and as such could be considered gray area. However the incorrect slider could not possibly be determined from the picture and should have been pointed out. As has been stated in other posts amplifiers need tubes to operate and this auction implied that the amplifier was operational. Not only operational but in fact it had just been gone through by a tech. This also impacts the reverb situation. Squealing at any setting is not normal. It could be a tube but again this should have been operating correctly from the tech going through the amp. I would also question that if the amp had just been gone through how did three of the tubes go out so quickly. It could be a bad batch of tubes but coupled with everything else it does not give one a good feeling. I would want to know what the circumstances were when these tubes burnt out. It really doesn't make sense. When things don't make sense it usually indicates that there is something missing from the story.

I think the auction is very misleading and I would think you have a case to either return the amplifier for misrepresentation or have some funds returned to offset the cost of tubes, the slider and tech time to correct the reverb. The knob is iffy but it shouldn't cost much to get a replacement and is kind of in the noise compared to everything else. I would be inclined to send it back to the seller and get a refund including shipping both directions. As has been stated other amps will be available and this one just has too many questions for my liking. And no you are not being a dick. Hope this helps.

 

[siggy14]

I am not worried about the knob or the slider, however the tubes and the squeling reverb is driving me crazy. As long as i keep the reverb off I have no problem and the amp sounds killer.

All I want is money to purchase tubes and get the reverb fixed. I will keep you guys updated.

I think the seller is obligated to divulge the condition of the amplifier that is beyond normal wear. The knob to the right of the input jack is clearly not correct but can be seen in the photograph. I think he should have indicated this but it is visible and as such could be considered gray area. However the incorrect slider could not possibly be determined from the picture and should have been pointed out. As has been stated in other posts amplifiers need tubes to operate and this auction implied that the amplifier was operational. Not only operational but in fact it had just been gone through by a tech. This also impacts the reverb situation. Squealing at any setting is not normal. It could be a tube but again this should have been operating correctly from the tech going through the amp. I would also question that if the amp had just been gone through how did three of the tubes go out so quickly. It could be a bad batch of tubes but coupled with everything else it does not give one a good feeling. I would want to know what the circumstances were when these tubes burnt out. It really doesn't make sense. When things don't make sense it usually indicates that there is something missing from the story.

I think the auction is very misleading and I would think you have a case to either return the amplifier for misrepresentation or have some funds returned to offset the cost of tubes, the slider and tech time to correct the reverb. The knob is iffy but it shouldn't cost much to get a replacement and is kind of in the noise compared to everything else. I would be inclined to send it back to the seller and get a refund including shipping both directions. As has been stated other amps will be available and this one just has too many questions for my liking. And no you are not being a dick. Hope this helps.

 

[Blueracer]

I am not worried about the knob or the slider, however the tubes and the squeling reverb is driving me crazy. As long as i keep the reverb off I have no problem and the amp sounds killer.

All I want is money to purchase tubes and get the reverb fixed. I will keep you guys updated.

I think your priorities are right. Good luck getting through this and do keep us informed in case any of us have the misfortune of being in a similar circumstance. The good part is that the Mark IV is a great amp as you have found out and once this is straightened out you will be in heaven with it.

 

[scottywompas]

Some questions I would have asked if I were buying the amp would have flushed out the truth.

" how old are the tubes? and " what kind of tubes are in it now"
That's just standard for me any time I look at an amp.

Scott

 

[Johnson]

I think you have every right to expect that the amp at working tubes in it unless otherwise specified (which he didn't). I think he should refund some of the money for the tubes.

 

[siggy14]

There was a BIN of $800, not sure if you know the market on these, but they do sell for usually $1000 and above. So if i would have waited then someone else would have hit the BIN.

But just because i got a good deal, does not mean I should have to retube the amp myself. If he wasnt gonna sell it with tubes he should have stated in the auction.

Some questions I would have asked if I were buying the amp would have flushed out the truth.

" how old are the tubes? and " what kind of tubes are in it now"
That's just standard for me any time I look at an amp.

Scott

 

[sundaypunch]

I think you have every right to expect that the amp at working tubes in it unless otherwise specified (which he didn't). I think he should refund some of the money for the tubes.

This is exactly right. Technically you were shipped a non-functional amp. Did you pay via Paypal? Tell him you expect him to send a complete set of functional tubes, give you a partial refund, or you are going to file a claim with Paypal because the amp doesn't work.

 

[siggy14]

Already did that, thanks for the advice though. I always use my citibank card too when i pay for things with pay pal. Because if pay pal refuses me citi bank investigates and usually sides with me.

I think you have every right to expect that the amp at working tubes in it unless otherwise specified (which he didn't). I think he should refund some of the money for the tubes.

This is exactly right. Technically you were shipped a non-functional amp. Did you pay via Paypal? Tell him you expect him to send a complete set of functional tubes, give you a partial refund, or you are going to file a claim with Paypal because the amp doesn't work.

 

[Tuna141]

There's no question that the amp should have been shipped with tubes. I'd be pissed if some jerk tried to pull that crap on me.

If the guy was selling without tubes, then he should have stated it in his ad. When Mesa sold the amp new, did they include tubes? Of course they did. They are required to make an amp work, and are part of an amplifier. Mesa won't even sell someone an amp that is missing tubes.

He sold you an incomplete amplifier and either owes you functioning tubes or a refund so that you can purchase tubes.

 

[Jak0lantern01]

Just as an fyi: I'd deal with the tubes myself. Put my preferred tubes in and be happy that I snagged a Mark IV for $800. But that's might just be me........

 

[siggy14]

Well the guy refunded me money for the price of new tubes.

 

[shredi knight]

....used by John Petrucci on the "Awake",

Petrucci used a Mark IIc+ on Awake (along with a Recto). You should have known something was up right there. :wink:

 

[siggy14]

another update, noodles told me to check and see if the cables where backwards on the reverb, and sure enough they were, soon as i switched them the reverb works perfect!

 

[Blueracer]

Sounds like you came out of this very well. Glad to hear it all worked out. I do wonder who reveresed the reverb cables though.

 

[siggy14]

I have a feeling it was rackmounted at one time and then put back in the shell, so whoever removed the reverb did not do well at putting it back.

Sounds like you came out of this very well. Glad to hear it all worked out. I do wonder who reveresed the reverb cables though.