Mesa MarkV / Saturation 'mod'

[Markageddon]

At least you can be assured that it will be done well.
Glad to hear they've gotten further along the trail.

Did you ask them to do the mod for you, or just 'restore to stock'...?

Told them I'd tried to do the mod, didn't think to ask them to do it. Ampguy up in Norwich reversed it when he had it. Dunno, will ask their opinion on it and maybe ask them then. Hope to hear something soon, getting really itchy now.

Very "The last leg of the journey is the hardest" kinda situation. Hang in there.
"Its always darkest before dawn" is another old addage that comes to mind too.

Mince pies, beers and crushing tone are your future.

 

[Wayno]

At least you can be assured that it will be done well.
Glad to hear they've gotten further along the trail.

Did you ask them to do the mod for you, or just 'restore to stock'...?

Told them I'd tried to do the mod, didn't think to ask them to do it. Ampguy up in Norwich reversed it when he had it. Dunno, will ask their opinion on it and maybe ask them then. Hope to hear something soon, getting really itchy now.

Very "The last leg of the journey is the hardest" kinda situation. Hang in there.
"Its always darkest before dawn" is another old addage that comes to mind too.

Mince pies, beers and crushing tone are your future.

Has anybody ever told you you make a bad situation bareable? You proper made me smile with that :lol:

Yeah hopefully on the home leg.

Meanwhile, Here's three of the babies waiting patiently to rock...

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1CubgyZDA1wQszfc3QfnVRMCrllhCHFmB

 

[Markageddon]

Very nice! I have a Fusion HH. Looks very circa your Jackson's era.
Yes they have much to look forward to indeed.

And not too often hahaah :lol:

 

[bandit2013]

Sorry to bring this up..... not trying to beat a dead horse or shovel anything into a fresh wound.......

Any insight as to repair on your V, Wayno? Also, since you are in the UK, any cool stuff over there that is not available in the USA? I can understand the drive or travel for amp repair or to even find a dealer..... Where I am at, there is nothing close enough that is not a day trip.

Hope everything works out for you.... one way or another.

 

[Wayno]

Sorry to bring this up..... not trying to beat a dead horse or shovel anything into a fresh wound.......

Any insight as to repair on your V, Wayno? Also, since you are in the UK, any cool stuff over there that is not available in the USA? I can understand the drive or travel for amp repair or to even find a dealer..... Where I am at, there is nothing close enough that is not a day trip.

Hope everything works out for you.... one way or another.

Hi Bandit, no joy yet im afraid. Gonna give them a call if no news by the end of the week. Not looking forward to the bill after this long!

Wouldn't think there's anything available over here exclusively that you guys don't have over there. Mesa's are still ridiculously expensive, Marshall's are relatively cheap, the opposite to you guys I suppose just as normal.

I miss my V

 

[bandit2013]

I would be in the same boat if I had no other amp to keep my guitars happy.

I hope you get good news when you call them... Good luck with this.

 

[Markageddon]

Definitely nothing wrong with asking for a progress report Wayno...!!
I'd be wondering by now too.

Let us know what they say. Sounds like a long time to swap out a ribbon cable.
Maybe there have been knock on effects it endured?
Pretty confident that it was taken to the right place though, and they should have something to report back to you by now, I'd have thought.

 

[APEMAN]

-

 

[Markageddon]

...checking in daily, hoping for good news since day 1 of your issue. I can't understand why it takes so long to solve the problem. Disappearing problems can be hard to find, but this amp has no output... maybe their tech doesn't know how to solve the problem. I would considering picking it up... Best wishes!

Could've been waiting on parts too... then finding out that they needed more for something else...get that happening a few times and thats a big chunk of time. They are industry recommended and apparently one of the top guys for dealing with Mesas in the UK. So I would have assumed that either I was right about parts etc, or maybe it wasnt just the one issue...well you'll soon find out, I guess.

Keeping 'em crossed that the being-in-time-to-enjoy-with-some-mince-pies prophecy was true.

 

[Wayno]

Hi guys,

Sent them a message last week, they replied quickly and said they'd be getting it back on the bench that afternoon. Hopefully on the last leg now. They did apologise for the delay also. I'm happy, they had loads of work on when I dropped it off and I did tell them that it wasn't desperate for gigs or anything so I don't mind if they've got priority work on. Hopefully not too long now, absence makes the heart grow fonder hey!

Cheers,

Wayno.

 

[Markageddon]

That it does mate.

Soon you will be drowning in the finest crunch tone on earth.
Will be interested to see what the total effect of that legsnip was in the end.
Maybe with the time taken considered, they'' surprise you with a very merciful bill at the end...!

 

[bandit2013]

Sounds like they will have it up and running again soon.

 

[Markageddon]

Fingers crossed.

 

[Wayno]

Very cold, wet, covered in crap day cleaning cooling towers in the middle of the fens. Get home to a telephone message from Essex Amp Repairs saying my Mark V is fixed and ready to collect!!!!! Really sh!tty morning turns into really great day. Now to figure out when I can get to pick her up and what the price is gonna be. Super chuffed!!!

 

[bandit2013]

Good to hear the amp is ready...

 

[Markageddon]

Glad to hear it mate...! 8)

How get those mince pies in, and forfilllll your destinnnnnyyyyyyyy... \m/

 

[Wayno]

SHE'S HOME!!!!

Man am I happy to get her back. Can't speak highly enough of Essex Amp Repairs. Stirling job done by some genuine nice guys. Defo recommend them to anyone who's in the South East of England. Price was half of what I was expecting so sorted them out a drink on top of the bill.

As originally suspected it was the Jfets on the temporary muting circuit that had shorted out. Two of them. He had to remove them all to find the culprits as the broken two where pulling them all down making it impossible to find the faulty ones. Anyway, they found the culprits, replaced them, and gave the amp a service as well. She's like new. They said they ran the amp hard both with and without the C39 mod I'd performed. No adverse affects so they left the mod in place. When I asked him about it he said obviously the capacitor was introduced into the circuit design for a reason and given the high gain nature of the amp it could potentially cause oscillation issues but if it sounds good and stays stable then it shouldn't be a problem at all. If I have any issues with it they'll reintroduce the capacitor for me properly rather than me just soldering the leg back on.

Looking forward to getting her cranked up hopefully this weekend if I get some spare time.

Happy happy joy joy...

Cheers for all your help guys.

 

[Markageddon]

SHE'S HOME!!!!

Man am I happy to get her back. Can't speak highly enough of Essex Amp Repairs. Stirling job done by some genuine nice guys. Defo recommend them to anyone who's in the South East of England. Price was half of what I was expecting so sorted them out a drink on top of the bill.

As originally suspected it was the Jfets on the temporary muting circuit that had shorted out. Two of them. He had to remove them all to find the culprits as the broken two where pulling them all down making it impossible to find the faulty ones. Anyway, they found the culprits, replaced them, and gave the amp a service as well. She's like new. They said they ran the amp hard both with and without the C39 mod I'd performed. No adverse affects so they left the mod in place. When I asked him about it he said obviously the capacitor was introduced into the circuit design for a reason and given the high gain nature of the amp it could potentially cause oscillation issues but if it sounds good and stays stable then it shouldn't be a problem at all. If I have any issues with it they'll reintroduce the capacitor for me properly rather than me just soldering the leg back on.

Looking forward to getting her cranked up hopefully this weekend if I get some spare time.

Happy happy joy joy...

Cheers for all your help guys.

Excellent news Wayno.... Good to know my force powers are still on point. 8)
Cheers for the tech info confirmation too... Bloody marvellous to hear they were gentlemen about it, as per their rep.
And in growing wobbly times, you gotta still have your constants to believe in. If I develop probs I know I'll not hesitate to get on to them immediately.

This has all been like "Its a wonderful life" and this mod failure is your Clarence, showing you a dark life without Mesa tone in it, a shadowy glimpse of a life of gigging with a lesser amp of quality and power.. and from the same POV, any disatisfaction you may have had with stock but AT7'd tone led you to that bridge, after that its like you're now the richest man in Bedford falls. Something we can all take a little learning from.
Merry Xmas.

 

[APEMAN]

-

 

[nevermind]

I hope you find your perfect tone now with her. Merry Christmas!

Perfect tone??? I did not know I could do that with the 90w Mark V or I would have bought that instead! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Although getting the amp back to be able to rock the holidays away is doggone near perfect! Merry Christmas to everyone too!