TA-30 Quality

[GnLguy]

New to the forum and not a Mesa owner yet but hoping to in the future. Currently using a Blackstar Artist 15 which is a pretty decent amp but not a Mesa.

I like the sound clips that I've heard of the Mesa Boogie TA-30 but I see several complaints of various problems with this amp line.

Would you buy a used TA-30, considering the complaints that is seen on this board? Most like it would be purchased thru either Reverb or Guitar Center, considering that I live 10 miles from nowhere LOL

If I come up with the money, I will be flipping the coin on either a Fillmore 50 or a California Tweed but in the meantime, the TA-30 is a definite possibility


Many Thanks in Advance
Keith
aka GNLguy

 

[user 35567]

What complaints are you concerned about? If it's about the effects loop/reverb issues, I asked the same question and a few members chimed in. Just look for my question a few posts down from yours. Seems that the general opinion is that the early models may have issues, but the later models are okay.

 

[Waycooler]

I have one and it is far from reliable. It sounded fantastic when it worked. Having owned it for about 6 months, I was using it for practice at home and decided to switch out the Matchless Chieftain and pedal rig I was using at band practice with the TA 30. About two months later, it developed a hum and a crackling sound and the volume dropped out while on channel two. I switched to channel one and the hum disappeared for about two minutes then it reappeared along with a burning odor. I took it to a Mesa authorized repair center. They said the tubes were shot (the old ones had very little playing time on them), replaced a small component on the board and made some voltage adjustments in the amp. That service cost about $250. I took it home and it seemed to work fine. Over the next couple of months I played it for a total of maybe 10 hours and thought I could take it back to band practice. About three weeks in, the hum and crackling came back and the volume dropped out. The TA 30 now sits on a shelf in my basement.

I have to say that the Matchless has been very reliable and has never failed me in the 25 years I’ve owned it. I recently retired it as I have gotten older and it is too heavy to drag to gigs. I bought a Vox AC15 and while it does not sound as rich as the other two amps, it has been very reliable and I get the sounds I need from my pedal board. If I buy another high end amp I will look at the Matchless Lightning, a Dr.Z or maybe a Tone King. In hind-site I think Mesa was trying to do too much with the TA30 and the design was too complicated.

 

[Amptech]

Waycooler, might the broken TA30 be up for sale at any point?