this was posted on the Marshall Forum and I wanted to post my reply here.
Question; completely off-topic but there's a thread going on over at the Boogie Board about the lack Mark V mods available and someone posted that "Voodoo" amps won't touch a Mark V. Is that because the amp is so complex it makes modding difficult?
This is a difficult topic to address for a variety of reasons. Let me preface this by saying I have no desire to post anything negative about any manufacturer. I do not look at this business as competition and as such I am often called on to consult or to aid in designing by other amp/product companies. IE: we tend to see factory defects before they are common knowledge and if we have a working relationship with a company I provide our findings along with a resolution. I also aid in various stages of design, etc. Our choice to not work on the Mark 5 series does not relate to its complexity. We routinely work on products that are equal or more complex in design. IE: Military products, Neve / SSL consoles, etc.
Modding the Mark 5 - We were asked to design a transformer Upgrade for the amp. The amp arrived to us brand new in a box. After testing all features the reverb circuit stopped working. Once I tracked down the problem, reviewed the datasheet for the component that failed, etc I realized that if I installed the same component that the problem would reoccur. Upon doing the necessary research I ordered a component with improved specs to avoid future failures in that section of the circuit. It should be noted that shortly there after Mesa released a tech bulletin to all authorized servicer centers to resolve said defect (good on them).
Upgrading Transformers – Upgrading transformers is not something I would recommend as you need to have a high level of experience with this as well as specialize tools (short of taking the entire amp apart). The Mercury Magnetics transformer set sounded amazing (truly it did) however on average it takes 1.5 hours to change a transformer set and the Mark 5 takes 8 hours. I cannot in good conscience charge a player for 8 hours of labor to install a transformer set.
Retubes & Service – The Mark 5 is not what I consider to be an easy amp to work on / service. I would suspect that other techs have arrived at this conclusion, hence the lack of Mods being offered for this model. I have always had a hard time charging a customer noticeably more money to service / retube an amp, which is directly related to the additional time required to disassemble/reassemble the amplifier. IE: factually a majority of musicians are not rich and as such no one wants to get hit with a costly service / repair bill. IE: the amp sounds the same but you have a costly repair bill (which I imagine most of you can relate to--lol).
Having said that let me say this; To be fair Mesa is in business to make money and to make a profit they have to be able to manufacture a product in timely manner. It is not up to Mesa to make my job easier (lol) and I get that. I would also like to point out that Mesa is not the only MI manufacturer to experience a factory defect. Point of fact we’ve seen factory defects by every major manufacturer.
I am not posting to disrespect Mesa (or any other manufacturer) but rather to address your question and at the same time offer an explanation as to why we do not wish to work on the Mark 5 model. We service and Modify a great deal of Mesa models and very much enjoy doing so. Mesa makes a good product and in that respect offers more in terms of quality compared to other brands selling products at the same price points.
With respect;
Trace
