Mesa quality - looking for some assurance

[glennhue56]

Hi, newbie here. Have always loved the Mesa tone, from waaay back in the early 80s and the Mark/wicker series. Now am poised to purchase a Roadster head/cab, but am very concerned about the quality issue.

The majority of reviews I've read, even those on this board which is arguably populated by Mesa devotees, and the Mesa owners I've talked to, all mention how they love the product but it came with this or that broken and had to be sent back to be fixed. If this were the minority or just a few, I would dismiss them. But it's not; it's the majority. Everyone rates Mesa's customer service as excellent; because most owners have had to deal with them, which sadly tells the story.

I'm not looking to purchase a product that is like a motorcycle, guaranteeing hours of endless repair/tinkering. I realize they are manufactured here in America so there will be more gaffs than with foriegn-made products, but I'm concerned about spending so much for a product that odds are will have something wrong with it, and that hopefully goes wrong in the first 30 days (Guitar Center) or beyond that whatever the Mesa warranty period is.

 

[Silverwulf]

I've owned over 80+ Mesa amps in the last 10 years, some that were pushing 30 years old, some that were brand new...never had a single issue with one of them.

 

[MrMarkIII]

I have used Mesa gear for over twenty years, and I mean loading in and out of five hour gigs on a weekly basis, and have never had a failure that was attributable to manufacturing defect.
You need to find out what a "self-selecting" population is. If it appears that a majority of reviews are negative, that's because people with complaints post much more than people who are happy.
My take is, even most of these so-called negative reviews inevitably boil down to what may charitably be called "user error".
Tube failure also rates high up on the list, mostly from those who cannot change a light bulb, or expect their unprotected gear to regularly withstand four-foot drops to the pavement.
To make an analogy to the automotive industry, the most dangerous component in a car is the nut holding the wheel.

 

[glennhue56]

Well, it is a testament to the product that those that indicated some initial malfunctioning (reverb didn't work, whole unit shut down, etc.), still gave the product glowing reviews.

And complimented Mesa customer service for taking care of the issue. No one that I can see is complaining; rather, they are just took it in stride and it went back to Mesa.

I'm just trying to anecdotally trying to determine the probability that I'll end up in that group of folks that has to compliment customer service, if you know what I mean.

 

[thunda1216]

I have one Mesa Amp, a heartbreaker head I purchased 10 years ago as a damaged unit at a clearance price. The case was cracked, but the head functioned as intended and still does. I have had two problems with it, but they were tube related. I had to replace the power tubes twice in 10 years (40 hours/week average playing time on the amp) and a couple of preamp tubes failed, but I replaced them all with NOS USA tubes any ways. Tubes fail, after all. Not a Mesa production problem as I see it.

I will give glowing reviews of their product (it remains my go-to amp, one of my all time favs), but less than favorable reviews of their so-called customer service. Completely not satisfied, I have received multiple different responses to the same questions. It seems that the reply depends upon who answers the phone.

Yes, I will purchase another Mesa product. No, I will *not* rely on their customer service. Respect is earned. It is not a given. As we say here in the South, "they're talkin' out of both sides of their mouth."

ty

 

[GD_NC]

I've had 4 Mesa amps over the past 20 years. I've encountered two minor problems that cost less than $50 to fix combined. Both were on a well used Mark IV pushing 12-13 years old. Mesa amps are extremely well made. I would not be worried.

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

Disagree with the majority part. Mine just work fine without missing a beat. After all, this is a part troubleshoot forum. You'll find more people asking questions about problems with their amps, moreso than the guy that is happy that his amp is working, even though many would be in working condition. (not all of us want to start threads about how awesome our amps are, and how they are still working properly). Besides, some of these problems are valve related problems, which can be easily fixed by replacement of new ones. Also, you are bound to find some that aren't working properly, due to the nature of being a human. Most of the time, all you need to do is get a replacement unit that actually came out of the factory working perfectly, or just it repaired under warranty...

And if you think that's bad, the same notion applies to any other manufacturer. They do have lemons amongst their line up, but some owners refuse to let others know, perhaps to protect their ego over how they spent x thousands of dollars on a boutique amp or whatnot...

 

[Elpelotero]

My 17 year old Rectifiers survived a car crash in which I flipped an SUV 6 times at 80mph on a highway. They broke the windows and flew out. I recorded with them the next day.

Enough said. End of discussion.

 

[pokerrules47]

Just like any tube amp, you will have to maintain it. Tube amps aren't as "plug and play" as solid state amps. While researching any purchase, make sure you know where to get it serviced and also do some research on the amp tech that will be handling your gear. The first couple of times in to see him/her, make sure you develop a relationship with them. If you ever go pro, you will rely on them to build your sound.

 

[pokerrules47]

Oh, btw, in my 20 years of playing boogies, the only repairs I've made that were not tube related were an output tranny and switching diodes on a studio .22+ that got moved around and experimented with a lot and a reverb on my rectoverb. The rest of the problems I've had were tube related.

 

[domct203]

I've been playing Recto's since 2001, and the only two issues I ever had were tube related. The Triple I owned previously to my Roadster saw an average of 3 gigs a month for two years straight with ZERO failure.

Take good care of your Mesa gear and it will last forever. If you abuse or push something beyond its design it is going to break, no matter how well or where it's built.

Dom

 

[glennhue56]

Thanks for everyone's input. Kinda confirms what I thought, which is that there may be problems, but perhaps no worse than with other consumer products, and most Mesa owners consider it to be worth it for the tone.

"Most of the time, all you need to do is get a replacement unit that actually came out of the factory working perfectly, or just it repaired under warranty..." This is actually what I'm trying to AVOID.

Thanks again. Rock on or whatever.

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

Thanks for everyone's input. Kinda confirms what I thought, which is that there may be problems, but perhaps no worse than with other consumer products, and most Mesa owners consider it to be worth it for the tone.

"Most of the time, all you need to do is get a replacement unit that actually came out of the factory working perfectly, or just it repaired under warranty..." This is actually what I'm trying to AVOID.

Thanks again. Rock on or whatever.

Most of the time, it will depend on how you got the item. If you purchase it from a dealer, some of them actually check the amp when it arrives at their doorstep, some don't...

 

[echoes420]

I would say Mesa has the lowest failure rate of any of the modern amp companies.

Go look at people talk about their Diezels and new Marshall and Orange stuff... These companies seem to have an almost 50% failure rate.

 

[Cleekster]

I owned a Laney AOR Pro tube 100 that all but died after 3 months......i had a Laney GH100L that croaked EVERTIME i cranked it...i went through 7 BRAND NEW heads in 2 1/2 months.....i had a Marshall JCM900 whose preamp crashed 6 months after i bought it.....i bought my Mesa 4 YEARS AGO and the only problem i've ever had(besides the crap mesa tubes it came with)is a staticey sound comeinf from the power section when the amp feels a vibration...it's currently in the shop being looked at....if someone gave me $2000 tomorrow i'd be at my local mesa dealer the next day no question about it.....a tube amp WILL break down...some times sooner rather than later it's just the way it is and it's for that reason that i always keep a SS/digital modeling amp as a backup.

 

[droptrd]

Ive have owned 9 different Mesa's. Ive had problems with every one of them. Ive had the same deal with the 3 Marshalls and 2 5150's ive owned. It might just be me...bad luck. The only amp that has been reliable for me is my Carvin X-100B. Never a problem in 17 years

 

[thejay]

No issues with my Mesas!

 

[Animeka]

The only thing I can add is that what you find online is mostly people talking about their problems, not when it works fine...

 

[strata189]

I owned a Laney AOR Pro tube 100 that all but died after 3 months......i had a Laney GH100L that croaked EVERTIME i cranked it...i went through 7 BRAND NEW heads in 2 1/2 months.....i had a Marshall JCM900 whose preamp crashed 6 months after i bought it.....i bought my Mesa 4 YEARS AGO and the only problem i've ever had(besides the crap mesa tubes it came with)is a staticey sound comeinf from the power section when the amp feels a vibration...it's currently in the shop being looked at....if someone gave me $2000 tomorrow i'd be at my local mesa dealer the next day no question about it.....a tube amp WILL break down...some times sooner rather than later it's just the way it is and it's for that reason that i always keep a SS/digital modeling amp as a backup.

Would you mind posting the results of your amp's physical - I get a similar sound sometimes.
BTW, my amp is a '93 Dual Rec that looks like it was in Elpelotero's SUV :mrgreen:
Except for this small problem, it's a beautiful sounding amp.


Randall

 

[Elixir]

I've owned two mesa amps. A Roadster and a Mark IV. Both had tube issues for some reason. The Roadster was very fidgidy. I did enjoy the Roadsters versatility.

In the end I sold both. I run a 5150 now strictly for insane palm muting metal and I have never been happier. Oh, and it's never given me a single problem.