new Lonestar on the way back to Petaluma :(

[fjs1962]

Well I finally found a new 10/50/100 Lonestar to buy. Got it home and played it and the first day it sounded great. The second day (today) I decided to try the "tweed" power setting (I'd been playing on full before). Well when running on tweed every time I go from the 10 watt setting to 50 or 100, then when I go back to 10 watts the amp starts to spit and sputter and otherwise sound like crap. If I put it back to full power it's fine, and if I go back to tweed it's fine, until I try to use the 50 or 100, then the sputtering comes back if I put it on 10 watts. The guy at Mesa CS said it need to come back to them and not a service center 1) because of the symtoms and 2) becuase it's still brand new. What a bummer! So now I have to pay to ship the chassis cross country and wait for it to be repaired. Anyone else have something like this happen on a new Mesa? Did they take care of you pretty fast?

 

[nick a]

My tech told me he fixes the lone stars all the time because of the different wattage settings. He said that was just a bad amp design.

 

[cb101]

I know you probably already tried it but have you changed out or reseated your tubes? I'm really sorry to hear of the problems and I know it's a bummer to get something new and have it not right.

 

[fjs1962]

I know you probably already tried it but have you changed out or reseated your tubes? I'm really sorry to hear of the problems and I know it's a bummer to get something new and have it not right.

Yeah, I actually had an extra set of 6L6s and a couple of rectifier tubes laying around so I swaped a few around. No matter which tubes I put in I got the same results.

I hope it's not because of a flawed design. I've always had great luck with Mesa amps in the past, and that's one of the reasons I bought this one. I guess it's a good thing I bought new instead of trying to save a few bucks going used.

 

[cb101]

Well, I'm not an engineer and maybe I'm somewhat naive but I can't imagine Randall Smith taking a great amp like the original Lonestar and screwing it up with a bad design.

 

[Barry]

Im a LS player with the 10/50/100 watt option and never had a seconds trouble since buying it brand new last july .

 

[fjs1962]

Im a LS player with the 10/50/100 watt option and never had a seconds trouble since buying it brand new last july .

Do you ever use it on the tweed setting and 10 watts at the same time? Just curious, as mine sounds fine until I do that.

 

[wilerty]

I use mine on the tweed setting at 10 watts and have not had a problem.

 

[Barry]

no problems here with any setting

 

[fjs1962]

Well I talked to my dealer this morning and he's going to get me another LSC to replace this one. After thinking about it I'd rather start over than to have a new amp that's already had to be repaired. Hopefully it won't take forever to get the replacement. This one sounds great until you try to switch between from 50/100 down to 10.

 

[zeeman]

Well, I'm not an engineer and maybe I'm somewhat naive but I can't imagine Randall Smith taking a great amp like the original Lonestar and screwing it up with a bad design.

To a certain extent, I agree. Randall can test new amp designs to death but it is possible that on occasion, he (and his staff) will miss something and the issue will eventually pop up in the field (i.e. after a few hundred/thousand are sold and used night after night on stage).

However, once a problem is found, there is no doubt that Randall will find a fix for the problem and newly manufactured amps will have the fix.

The Lonestar has been out for a while so I would assume that all newly manufactured amps have no design issues.

My tech told me he fixes the lone stars all the time because of the different wattage settings. He said that was just a bad amp design.

Since I live in Texas, I would be curious as to who is your tech.

*********** EDIT ***********

I was reading a few other threads and I came across this thread.

Did you send just the chasis or the headshell/combo too?

I just sent in the chassis. Actually my local tech shipped it for me because he was unable to repair it. The lead channel sounded really weak, no gain only slightly overdriven.

A few posts later...

Mesa shipped my Mark IV yesterday. There was a bad LDR causing my lead channel to lose gain. My tech should receive it Tuesday.

So your "tech" could not determine that an LDR had gone bad and had to send the amp back to Mesa to replace a part that is (probably) less than $10?

He should have easily been able to trace an audio signal through the circuit and determine that the LDR had gone bad.

And this guy has the nerve to accuse Randall of a bad design?

Your "tech" sounds more like a twit.

zeeman

 

[zygoat]

I've been having problems with my Lonestar Special combo. The reverb on the clean channel is noisy, and I'm getting some static sounds on the clean channel as well as vibration noises. It's only 4 months old and I just replaced all the tubes.

 

[BobL]

Well, I'm not an engineer and maybe I'm somewhat naive but I can't imagine Randall Smith taking a great amp like the original Lonestar and screwing it up with a bad design.

To a certain extent, I agree. Randall can test new amp designs to death but it is possible that on occasion, he (and his staff) will miss something and the issue will eventually pop up in the field (i.e. after a few hundred/thousand are sold and used night after night on stage).

However, once a problem is found, there is no doubt that Randall will find a fix for the problem and newly manufactured amps will have the fix.

The Lonestar has been out for a while so I would assume that all newly manufactured amps have no design issues.

My tech told me he fixes the lone stars all the time because of the different wattage settings. He said that was just a bad amp design.

Since I live in Texas, I would be curious as to who is your tech.

*********** EDIT ***********

I was reading a few other threads and I came across this thread.

Did you send just the chasis or the headshell/combo too?

I just sent in the chassis. Actually my local tech shipped it for me because he was unable to repair it. The lead channel sounded really weak, no gain only slightly overdriven.

A few posts later...

Mesa shipped my Mark IV yesterday. There was a bad LDR causing my lead channel to lose gain. My tech should receive it Tuesday.

So your "tech" could not determine that an LDR had gone bad and had to send the amp back to Mesa to replace a part that is (probably) less than $10?

He should have easily been able to trace an audio signal through the circuit and determine that the LDR had gone bad.

And this guy has the nerve to accuse Randall of a bad design?

Your "tech" sounds more like a twit.

zeeman

Early or premature component failure is nothing new to the electronics industry, and this sounds like one of those cases. Even though every amp that comes out of Mesa's factory is tested individually components do fail prematurely. The quality of the component will limit the number of failures, but even the best components have a failure rate as nothing lasts forever and there is little that can be done to prevent this from happening. The OP did the right thing by requesting a new amp. As for the poor design statement, the day that tech comes up with a better desin than the Lonestar will be the day I take his word for anything. I'll file his words under "Not qualified junior class bullshit."