TA-30 reverb problem

[GuyB]

So I'll make a change to my precedent post : welcome to this-happy-crowd-with-a-hiss-in-their-reverb, MBJunkie !

 

[MBJunkie]

LOL GuyB.....you got me good!

FWIW...I will say the extra noise levels I am hearing with the FX/Reverb toggle engaged would not stop me from using the TA-30 in a recording studio...if I ever get there again....it is really not that bad at all IMO.

Cheers

 

[FORMAT]

There are 2 or 3 threads where this topic has been discussed, so it seems as a good idea to regroup all this in one thread. It will be easier to follow the infos. Here's an update :

- New owners of the TA-30 (mainly heads I think, would like to know from combo owners) have reported a problem with the reverb circuit. There is a noise, hum/hiss, when the circuit is on and the noise increases when using the reverb control. Not a real problem when gigging at high volume but annoying when not playing loud or mainly, when the amp is miked.

- A change of tubes in V5 and/or V6 as been suggested. I did the changes but nothing changed.
- Here is Mesa's response which seems to implie that it's "normal". I've copied it from another thread in this forum :

"This is actually somewhat normal for the TA-30's. The higher the reverb
is turned up, the more hum you will hear. The heads will have a tad
more hum due to the proximity of the reverb tank right next to the
transformers in the amp. This is usually the same scenario for any of
our amps that have reverb. No matter what, once you turn the reverb
control up, you will normally hear more hum. Some amps are just more
noticeable than others.

For most guys that use moderate reverb settings in a live gigging
situation, it's usually never an issue. However, customers that use the
amp at lower volumes in there studio/bedroom and have the reverb cranked
all the way up will be the ones that hear this the most.

There is obviously always a chance that it's the reverb tube causing
more noise than it should in V5 or V6, or that something happened to the
reverb tank in transit.

If the customer has further concerns you can definitely have him contact
us directly in customer service. Then we can further diagnose the
symptom with him over the phone while he has the amp in front of him."

So that's about where we are on this. I sent this message to the technician at the store where I bought the amp and waiting to see if he can do something. I hope that everybody concerned whith this problem could post their infos here. Thanks in advance.

I am experiencing the same hiss/hum, much more so in CH1, when switching on Reverb/FX loop. It really is quite loud. It's bearable, but still noticeable, in Ch2. When toggling the footswitch FX loop, there's no noise so it seems to be the reverb. It also gets slightly louder when you turn up the reverb, but it's there even when turning that know all the way down.

 

[FORMAT]

Update!

Ok guys.....today I did notice additional noise with the FX/Reverb toggle engaged in both channels of my 112 combo. I really hadn't noticed it before, but maybe I wasn't really listening that carefully previously.

Today, I found it most noticeable in Ch1.....it didn't seem to matter which mode, but the difference was most noticeable in the 30W setting of both channels.

I will say that the amount of reverb that I dialed in didn't seem to matter at all (off to full).
Normally, I run my reverb anywhere from off to 9 o'clock....10 o'clock tops, but the added noise from the FX/Reverb circuit engaged did add additional noise.

All that being said......the added noise level that I am hearing today with FX/Reverb engaged still doesn't bother me because the sounds that I am achieving out of this amp are terrific.

This is definitely not a problem for me while playing at home or gigging, however, I suppose it could be a limitation for some in a recording studio. I don't get to the recording studio very often.....in fact, my last session was about 15 years ago! :mrgreen:

I just thought I'd post so as to not accidentally mislead others who may be considering the 112 combo version, but are concerned about background noise issues. Personally, I still highly recommend it...as it sounds amazing to me!

Has anyone here who noticed this hum been so bothered by it to return it or try to have it fixed? If I knew it possible that the hum can be removed, I'd probably try to do so. In all fairness though, it won't matter much once I play outside of my home studio. Still, for low-volume "home" use, it's quite loud.

 

[mainstreetexile]

I returned the second TA-30 head I received because of the hum. The first went back because it lost power, came back on, then one of the power amp tubes started to glow orange and smoke. I didn't get enough time with the first one to notice the hum but the hum on the second was considerably louder than the TA-30 heads I tried out at various stores (I purchased mine through Sweetwater - they were great about the problems I had, very good customer service). When I got the third TA-30 head, there was a loud intermittent crackle, loud enough to be heard over my playing. The crackle also occurred when nothing was plugged into the amp with all controls set to zero. We tried a new set of power amp tubes and that didn't fix the problem, so that one went back too. Three times was enough and I moved on - too bad.

 

[eltrain858]

I took the plunge today :twisted:

Bought a TA-30 head used/mint from CL, tried it out at the guy's house through a carvin closed back 2x12" and it was all i was hoping for and more.

Switching on the reverb gave a noticeable hum that got louder the higher i turned up the reverb, but i still thought it was fairly mild and definitely not a deal-breaker. I didn't crank the volume all the way but it seemed as quiet/quieter than I remember my Mk IV being.

I don't have a cab at home yet so it's a little torturous having it sitting in the room with me, but I'm gonna try out a few 1x12's next week when I have some time (thiele is at the top of the list).

 

[dgr888]

I have posted a fix for hum/noise problems in the Mark series of amps and MAYBE it will work with these and other newer amps. Check for the post on Mark III and possibly other boogie reverb hum fix in vintage amps before 1991. It is an easy fix which involves just turning the tank around so the input transformer in the tank is not directly below the power transformer which induces hum/noise into the circuit. It works great in combos but the tanks are physically farther apart than they are in the heads.
If it lessens the noise when you turn it but doesn't eliminate it all the way shield the bottom of the tank if it doesn't already have a metal cover. Read my post and let me and others know if this helps or not.

 

[Jared Purdy]

I'm really glad that one of the local stores that carries Mesa asked if I'd like to take it home for a nite and see how I like it. In the store it sounds fantastic, and of course all of the glowing reviews that one watches/reads on youtube never mention this. How odd. For that amount of money I do not expect to have to live with hiss or hum with the reverb engaged. Reverb is one of the selling points of that amp. I hope that it is not it's achiles heel.

 

[MBJunkie]

This seems to be a never dying thread, and I do understand people's "concern" about this so called issue. However, the "hum concerns" that have been discussed about this amp is way over hyped in my opinion. My TA-30 combo sounds GREAT in all power settings and modes of each channel, and yes, with the reverb switch engaged!! I always set my reverb level very low on this amp and also "with all of my other great amplifiers" amplifiers.

The amount of "noise" that I receive while playing this amp is far less than older low watt vintage amps that it is replicating (Fender, Vox, etc.) and should not be of any concern IMO.

If you are experiencing "unacceptable noise levels" from this amp.....it is possible that it could be your guitar pickups/cables, effects, etc. It is also possible that "you acceptable noise level threshold bar" is set too high for the vintage sounds this amp was designed to achieve.

Personally, I feel that MB did a great job of recreating the vintage Mojo with this amp, and I don't find it to be particularly noisy at all.....especially considering the noisy and iconic amps that it is trying to "copy". Bottom line, low end guitar pickups, cables and effects boxes can add to the "noise".

I absolutely love the sounds that I achieve in this amp....especially with "Top Boost" pushed and H1 modes!! While playing medium to high levels at home, practice or gigs.......the so called "noise" is non-existent.

I love the sound of this amp for vintage Mojo!!

 

[Jared Purdy]

To be fair, I too did not hear any aberant sounds from this amp when I was playing it at a local store, and I was the only one in the store playing, and I was sitting on a squat stool almost at the same level as the amp and about 2 feet in front of it, and for most of the time, it was on a volume level that made me somewhat aprehensive that I was making too much noise in the store. I also do not crank the reverb on any of my amps. On a scale of 12 o'clock, I'd say that I keep it around 3-3:30. I look forward to bringing it home and running it beside my Swart AST Master, a hand made $2500, 18-20 watt tweed inspired amp, and the one that might be replaced by the TA30.

 

[Jared Purdy]

A local store let me bring home a TA30 yesterday to try out. Regretfully, I have to return it today. It is an amzing amp that really captures the VOX and Fender vintage sounds really, really well. ANd, I have absolutely no issues with the reverb making any strange noises, or any other part of the amp hissing or humming. Mesa did a good job on that amp. I only wish that it had a 5 watt setting like the LSS.

 

[MBJunkie]

Jared, don't take the TA30 back because it doesn't have a 5W mode. The 15W setting on the TA30 easily captures the spongier vibe similar to the 5W setting on the LSS! You can capture very good sounds at very low volumes with the TA30 set to 15W if that is your concern. You can also capture awesome tight sounds out of the TA30 when it is set to 40W mode that is really not achievable out of the LSS. The tightest sounds/highest headroom that I was able to achieve out of the LSS was setting it to 35W. Yes, 35W is possible by switching something in the back, but you need to refer to the owners manual because I don't remember how to do it of the top of my head. There is not a 35W toggle on the front of the amp.

Anyway, I would like to add that many people think of wattage in terms of volume......lower wattage = lower volume and vice versa. In reality, wattage settings have more to do with the feel of the amp than volume per se. Lower wattage settings typically offer more of a vintage feel with early power tube breakup while higher watt settings offer more focus to your sound with less forgiveness to your playing.

When I owned my LSS and my Express 5:50......I was able to achieve gig volume levels in the 5W mode setting of both of these amps. I would never gig my TA30 in 15W mode because even though it is a higher wattage than my LSS in 5W mode.....the TA30 just lacks the focus and cut that I need while playing with a band at rehearsal or on stage. However, the 15W mode of the TA30 sounds very good for low volume playing at home because the power tubes overdriving sooner and is a fun mode to play on occassion.

Hope this helps, and best of luck to you whatever you decide!

 

[Jared Purdy]

Jared, don't take the TA30 back because it doesn't have a 5W mode. The 15W setting on the TA30 easily captures the spongier vibe similar to the 5W setting on the LSS! You can capture very good sounds at very low volumes with the TA30 set to 15W if that is your concern. You can also capture awesome tight sounds out of the TA30 when it is set to 40W mode that is really not achievable out of the LSS. The tightest sounds/highest headroom that I was able to achieve out of the LSS was setting it to 35W. Yes, 35W is possible by switching something in the back, but you need to refer to the owners manual because I don't remember how to do it of the top of my head. There is not a 35W toggle on the front of the amp.

Anyway, I would like to add that many people think of wattage in terms of volume......lower wattage = lower volume and vice versa. In reality, wattage settings have more to do with the feel of the amp than volume per se. Lower wattage settings typically offer more of a vintage feel with early power tube breakup while higher watt settings offer more focus to your sound with less forgiveness to your playing.

When I owned my LSS and my Express 5:50......I was able to achieve gig volume levels in the 5W mode setting of both of these amps. I would never gig my TA30 in 15W mode because even though it is a higher wattage than my LSS in 5W mode.....the TA30 just lacks the focus and cut that I need while playing with a band at rehearsal or on stage. However, the 15W mode of the TA30 sounds very good for low volume playing at home because the power tubes overdriving sooner and is a fun mode to play on occassion.

Hope this helps, and best of luck to you whatever you decide!

I think that "fun" is the operative word with respect to this amp, in either the 15 or the 30 watt incarnation. And, that is not to distract from it's abilities, of which there are plenty. The LSS is a "fuller" sounding amp, at least to my ears. If you crank it, it holds it's own. If you turn the volume down, on either channel, while the tone is obviousoy not as great as if it was turned up, you can still get a decent tone at low volumes - for house playing when the wife and kid are home. That is the quest: to find an amp that delivers the tone and the volume, turned low, for a Strat and a Lester. How many amps can do that, without pedals??

 

[MBJunkie]

No problem, I was only trying to provide my experiences with these two amps. For me the "fun" factor is definitely much higher with my TA30, but that is just my opinion.

Regarding which amp sounds "fuller" is a very subjective topic and depends a great deal on how each amp is set and the guitars that are being played through them

I will say that I feel Ch2 of the LSS is a much darker voicing than any offered by the TA30, which I didn't like as much as the voicing offered with the TA30.

I also agree that both amps provide excellent clean sounds in Ch1 regardless of power setting. Both the LSS in Ch1 and the TA30 in "Normal Mode" offer incredible clean sounds. I might give the LSS a slight edge here, but ever so slight. However, the TA30 also offers the "Top Boost Mode" which to me offers a "Voxish" high gain clean distorted sound that is to die for and not offered in either channel of LSS or any other Mesa Amp as far as I am concerned (including my MkV)! This mode of the TA30 is incredible, and possibly the best in the entire amplifier IMO....especially while playing guitars with single coil PU's.

Also, I must mention the H1 mode of the TA30 because it offers excellent high gain crunch sounds that are just not available in either channel of the LSS IMO. I also like the alternate clean sound of the "Tweed Mode" in Ch2 of the TA30. This is very useful when I am utilizing Ch1 in "Top Boost Mode" for high clean gain rhythm stuff and still wish to footswitch to a cleaner sound for some songs.

Anyway, I just wanted to assure you that you can easily get a wide variety of great sounds with the TA30 112 combo, and at bedroom volumes when set to 15W at low volumes.

I wish you the best of luck in whatever you choose!! :mrgreen:

 

[borisson]

Any more news regarding the reverb issue? Ive just got the head, very little almost nothing on the channel 1 but on the channel 2 it is there, playing at home at low volume it gets worse turning up the reverb.

 

[BostonRedSox]

There is NO reverb issue! It is just the nature of the reverb tank, and how it is reacting in proximity to the transformers.

 

[dgr888]

Guys check my post on the reverb hum fix for the Mark series amps as all it involves is turning the tank 180 degrees around. This puts the reverbs input transformer farther away from the power trans and reduces the hum.. Try it out as it works on a lot of mesa's amps. Post it and let us know what you find out...

 

[stir66]

I'm just going to pile on to what others have rightfully pointed out here and express my concerns as well. The reverb noise is a big problem with all of the TA-30s that I have played. Yesterday I played through a 1x12 and a head and both were very noisy on both channels with the reverb engaged. Today I went to a different store and played through two more TA-30s with the same results. One 1x12 went beyond the annoying hiss with the reverb into full-scall buzzing on one channel. It doesn't seem any better or worse in the heads vs. the combos. Upping the reverb levels or gains didn't aggrivate the hiss much. I intend to buy a TA-30 and two 1x12 cabinets in the coming days and I wish I could use the reverb. With this level of added noise I can't put a mic in front of this thing with it hissing into everyone's monitors constantly. That is a real shame for an amp that will cost me $2500. I would love to hear if anyone discovers a way to fix this problem (e.g. new reverb tube, rotating the reverb or some type of shielding). All I have heard are "proposed" solutions that "might" work. I don't get why any would say this is "normal". I'm not finding this reverb issue with other amps.

 

[MBJunkie]

stir,

I don't find the background noise on my TA30 112 combo to be a problem. Is there some there....yes, but not enough to cause a problem for me at all. However, I am using fairly high end guitars with excellent pu's...

It sounds to me like you are experiencing a huge amount of hiss while playing through several TA30s in a store. You mentioned that you didn't notice any difference between the head or combo versions. I can't say if there is any difference from my perspective between head versus combo versioin because I have only played the TA30 112 combo in the store.....loved it....and purchased it without auditioning the head version.

Bottom line, if you feel the TA30 has an unacceptable noise level for you....than definitely don't buy it. You might want to give the mini recto a try as it is getting excellent reviews. It does have a bypassable effects loop, but no reverb. Clearly, the TA30 and Mini Recto are very different amps, but who knows.....you might light the Mini better.

Best of luck, and I hope this helps.

 

[glotts71]

Hi all, new to the forum -- just bought a TA-30 rackmount unit, and having a lot of hissing on channel 1 as well (even with the reverb turned down and/or switched off via footswitch). Posted a quick video of the problem. Seems like a lot of noise for an amp in this price range . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMI1BfWgM9U&list=UUR1TjrGYjzXHwimPXszwIxQ&index=1&feature=plcp