Mesa Boogie 50/50 with broken OT worth?!

[Ricotjuh]

I have seen a Mesa Boogie 50/50 second hand that has some problems. I quote part of the ad.
"Only internally it is a different story. 2 years ago a transformer and a tube broke. I then had this checked at NEL and had a new tube inserted. Since I still play mono, I decided not to use the broken transformer. According to the manual, the poweramp can remain perfectly "on one leg", as long as you turn the volume knob of the unused channel closed.

At TAD such a transformer costs 139 €, if you can replace them yourself. This gives you an idea of what you would have to put in to play stereo again. "

I then asked the seller what caused the output transformer to be killed and whether all the tubes were replaced. To this I got the following answer:

"Indeed, an output transformer. There is still sound coming out, only very weak. Earlier whisper level. No idea, at NEL they said it could have multiple causes. One of the four lamps was cracked so that pair was taken out and replaced by a new pair. Channel B now has the old lamps. Channel A new. Furthermore, they have (if I remember correctly) also replaced some diodes and capacitors. There is nothing wrong with that. "

Is this plausible? And would it be worthwhile to take over this amplifier and try to restore it to original condition?

 

[woodbutcher65]

Contact Mesa and ask for a repair estimate on that amp based on the presumption that it needs one OT at the least.

Use that estimate as a reference. Any competent tech likely won't charge more than Mesa.

Get the transformer from Mesa. Don't mess around with other sources. The Mesa one will be correctly configured. No fiddling around swapping hardware or splicing leads to make some other randomly sourced transformer fit and function.