New member, new (old) Mesa!

[meisterjager]

Hi guys!

Figured that now I'm a Mesa owner I'd sign up to the boards! Hoping to get some information about the new Mesa I bought, just little things really!

Firstly, it's a very old Single Rectifier Solo 50 - serial number is 00317. When I bought the amp, and it was demo'd to me, it didn't quite sound right, although the sound was hard to describe. The tone was almost dominated by a crackling sound.. The guy I bought it off threw some new Mesa power tubes in and it then worked fine. When I got it home it also worked fine, but then the next day it done the same thing - though I narrowed this down to a slightly loose connection on my pedal board.. I think?! Either way, I managed to bring the amp back to life, and it was ok all day yesterday.

TL;DR - does a crackling sound on palm mutes and a lack of gain normally indicate dead/dying power tubes?

Secondly, about the FX loop - I've only read about Dual and Triple rec's having the 90% wet parallel effects loops. Now, running my G-Major through the Single's loop sounds fine to me, which is just making me wonder if these early Singles have series FX loops?

I plan on hitting up Eurotubes and getting a whole retubing kit - JJ6L6's and JJECC83S's - and then taking it to a tech friend of mine for a service.

Here's some pictures! This thing is insanely mint - not a single mark ANYWHERE except a few light dings on the corners!

 

[domct203]

Congrats on your new Mesa Recto and welcome to The Board.

That's a fine Series I Single Recto for sure. Be sure to download the manual from MesaBoogie.com if you don't have one. It will clearly explain all the features of the amp including the FX Loop. They are very well written.

The crackling could also be preamp tube related. It could also just be dirty jacks/pots/tube sockets as well if the amp was not being used for a while.

Dom

 

[meisterjager]

Thanks Dom - I downloaded that manual and it says they are indeed parallel loops. So I guess I'll open her up soon and have a go at modding it to serial, though the reported loss of volume scares me a bit.

The problem with the crackling sound seems to have disappeared - maybe it just needed firing up a few times to wake itself up and blow the cobwebs out. There's still a pretty hefty boom when flipping the standby switch on, but I have my fingers crossed that that'll maybe disappear with new tubes. If not - so be it, I'll learn to love it!

Currently running this through a Basson 4x12 and it's definitely the tone in my head. Boosting using a Boss SD-1 gets it to such a sweet spot - I couldn't be happier! I'm a true convert.

 

[domct203]

Glad your liking your new rig. If a boost is w/the SD-1 is working out, you should try an Ibanez TS-9 or 808 also. IMO they are much smoother.

Dom