Need help to refurbish/repair Mesa Mark IIB

[TheHysteria]

Hi all,

I just bought a used Mesa Mark IIB today. It was selling for around $799cad, but the store guys let me have it for $700cad. It's a nice sounding amp, but there's a few things I want to touch up on myself.

1) The tolex (covering) is quite beaten up with a few tears and minor chipped wood. Can I use sandpaper to rub off any dirt then use spray paint or house paint (from a local depot) for a new covering?
(is paint safe for tube amps?)

2) Some of the knobs on the panel are chipped. How can I take them out and replace them with new ones?

3) I also want to replace the grill with a custom design one. Any step-by-step process?

 

[JAMz]

I'm not quite following you here; Does your amp has a vinyl covering?, Tolex? If so you have several options.

1. Strip down the cabinet by removing all the comonenents (amp, fan, reverb tank, speaker , grill cloth) and give it a good clean up. Usually a good clean up will make the amp look a lot nicer as a start. Glue back the areas where the tolex is torn. Titebond does a fine job. For areas where the tolex is long gone I use a sharpie to cover up the shipped area.
2. You can re-tolex the cabinet. Mesa can provide you with the original material for doing so. You can look up on the web for tutorials. The same goes for replacing the grill cloth.
3. What kind of knobs to you have in your amp? Most likely the black with silver inlets. Those arew long gone, at least thats the answer I got from boogie back in 2002 when I got my IIb. You can remove them by unscrewing the small fixing screw that attaches them to the pot shaft. I believe you can replace them with the all black as seen in the MKIII, but im not sure about that.

I hope this helps. Enjoy it in good health!

JAMz

 

[Elpelotero]

a few places online sell Mesa tolex officially...google it a little and you're sure to find. (ex. vibroworld.com). THe knobs look like the fender style, which are sold anywhere (guitar center)

 

[TheHysteria]

Hey all!

To be honest, I'm not sure what the covering is. It feels 'plastic-ky'. I already went to Home Depot to buy sandpaper and black spray paint. I don't think I am ready to remove all the components right now, especially when I have no idea what I am doing.

All I plan to do right now is just some minor touch-ups. Anything heavy-duty, I'll probably bring to a certified guitar-tech. So yeah, not really 're-tolexing' but more of 're-painting'. I don't have a lot of cash after this purchase...haha. I was thinking of painting it blue like the YCV50BLUE.....but then I bought black paint....I don't know....maybe refund....

Anyways, I'm still unsure of what you mean by the screws on the knobs. Are they located at the back of the panel? Because it seems pretty fixed and I have trouble pulling them off (which I don't want to, because this panel operates on 'pull for bright' etc.) I don't want to break the pull switch.

The knobs are black and round and have digits 1-10 on them. The good ones have a silver coloured circle in the middle.

 

[JAMz]

In regards the covering I don't think that paint is a god idea, just my HO. Specially when you're not removing the components from he chasis. I suggest a good clean and leave it there. Also, you have in your hands what I consider to be a very nice & vintage amp. It just doesn't deserve to be painted.

About the knobs there is a gap between the 0 and 10 marks. That is the location of the screw, in the knurled part (where you grab the knob for turning it.)

Good luck with your project!

 

[Elpelotero]

read this--->>>> http://homepage.mac.com/mesaboogie/resto.html

This is the option I would personally do if I was reviving an old amp.

 

[JOEY B.]

The knobs look like Fender style but with a 0-10 instead of the 1-10 Fender knobs that I found at my local store. Does anyone know where to find these knobs with a set screw and 0-10 numbers?

 

[TheHysteria]

Whoa....I have to remove the whole thing?

Okay....that seems pretty crazy.....the inside of the amp is the last thing I want to touch and I'm afraid I might lose a screw and the chassis will fall apart or something stupid like that.




I was planning to leave the amp unplugged for a couple days then wrap the inside chassis and knobs (also any footswitch holes/inputs, etc) with lots of newspaper, then fixing tolex tears and stuff. I already used a pocket knife to scrape off some sort of sticky 'gum'.....I know...who puts this kind of stuff on a vintage amp?

 

[stokes]

The sticky gum can be removed with lighter fluid and a rag.Dont spray paint the tolex,the paint will just peel off eventually.Just clean it as best you can if you cant recover it and leave it be.If you cant do something as simple as loosen the set screw on the knob then you should not be trying to restore this amp,theres a good chance you will devalue it.A vintage amp like this is not a good learning platform.Removing the chassis is a very basic procedure and if you dont have the confidence to do that,then leave the restoration to someone else.Dont mean to sound like I am putting you down,but you said yourself in one of the responses that you dont know what you are doing,and it is abad idea to start on an amp like this.

 

[TheHysteria]

Okay, I jsut loosened the handle and now I can't put it back together.

When I unloosened the screws on the handle, I heard something fall out. Now one of the screws won't screw back on and now I don't have a handle.....

What can I do?

 

[stokes]

You have bigger problems then having no handle.You have a nut inside your chassis on the loose.If it lands in the wrong place it will short something out and really screw things up.You better take that amp to somebody who knows what they are doing.You are going to screw things up for sure.The chassis has to be removed to retrieve the nut,no way around that,dont turn that amp on until you get that nut out of there!

 

[Dutchman]

I agree, What ever you do DO NOT PLUG THAT AMP IN UNTIL YOU HAVE SOMEONE GET THE NUT OUT!!!!! KABOOM!!! MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!!!

 

[TheHysteria]

I agree, What ever you do DO NOT PLUG THAT AMP IN UNTIL YOU HAVE SOMEONE GET THE NUT OUT!!!!! KABOOM!!! MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!!!

I called my local music shop and they told me to do it myself. I wrote down my procedure, but before I do something crazy, can someone check my steps to see if I am missing something or doing something incorrectly?


- How to fix handle on Mark IIB-

1) Wear rubber gloves and bring chopsticks.

2) Unscrew the top 4 screws to free the chassis.

3) Disconnect the speaker from the chassis and slowly slide chassis out.

4) Slide chassis out until T-nut visible.

5) Using chopsticks to pick out the T-nut. (Everyone advises me not to touch the inside and I don't want to use metal to poke it. Therefore, I am going with chopsticks).

6) While chassis out, assemble the handle and screw it back together.

7) Afterwards, slide chassis back in and screw the top 4 screws.

8) Don't unscrew the handle next time, unless you want to go through steps 1-7.


How does it look? Thanks for advice on this loosened handle.

 

[stokes]

If it has reverb that must be disconnected also.If the power cord is screwed to the cab that should be disconnected also.Take the tubes out too or when you put the chassis down they may break,or god forbid you drop it.I wouldnt wear the gloves,just be sure you dont stick your fingers inside the chassis,gloves will make things clumsy.

 

[TheHysteria]

If it has reverb that must be disconnected also.If the power cord is screwed to the cab that should be disconnected also.Take the tubes out too or when you put the chassis down they may break,or god forbid you drop it.I wouldnt wear the gloves,just be sure you dont stick your fingers inside the chassis,gloves will make things clumsy.

Alright, thanks for the advice.

Should I just disconnect all cables then? And mark down where each cable is located.

Is the reverb cable grey?[/img]

 

[Dutchman]

Get yourself some multi colored Sharpies and color the spot on the amp and the cable your unplugging with a small dot. One color for each cable. This wouldn't be a bad idea for you to do to the tubes also, just in case there's a 12AT7 in there some where. When your putting it back together just match the colors up and you should be fine.

Don't force the tubes in, they should be firm but still slide in.

While you have it apart you should get some Caid Deoxit and give the pots a squirt to clean them up too. Just don't touch anything on the inside with your fingers or you might get bit.....

 

[stokes]

There are 2 reverb cables.I would make some sort of markings like Dutchman suggests.

 

[TheHysteria]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the advice. I learned my lesson - DO NOT UNSCREW HANDLES UNLESS YOU WANT TO DO HAVE HASSLE.

I actually took a picture of the reverb cables and just matched it back. So it should be okay.

One thing I did not do was mark the power tubes; however, when I took the left one out, I put it on the left side of a towel and when I took out the second power tube on the right, I put it on the right side of the towel and then just matched them again.

I tipped the amp back and forth to check if anything was still stuck inside and it was okay.

As for putting the chassis back, I guess I have a minor problem. 3 of the 4 screws are tight; however, I think the last one is a bit weak or the grip is gone. When I tilt the amp back and forth, it doesn't move out though. Should I just leave the last screw alone or fix it before I start playing again? The 4th screw is 'in the hole' and Ii couldn't pluck it out with my hands, but I don't think it's screwed onto the chassis.

I have band practice really soon and my vocalist said the scheduled gig is next Thursday, sorry if everything seemed like a rush.

 

[stokes]

Loosen-dont remove the 3 screws that caught,then you should be able to shift the chassis a bit to get the screw you say didnt catch to start to thread.You will have to remove the screw that didnt tighten first.Just get a needle nose plier or the like and pull it out,then loosen the other three,just loosen them dont remove them.

 

[Harry the Horder]

Don't forget to UNPLUG THE FAN from the Chassis
You'll see it has a two pin plug if you follow the wiring back from the fan it just unplugs from the chassis but can be a bit fiddle diddly to do
Harry. Soory I see you've got it out already didn't read the second page before putting my big mouth in it