Trem-o-verb combo cabinet question

[dsouza.b.a]

Hello there. New to the forum. My first post actually. I am a Mesa owner. Previously in the 90's I owned 3 trem-o-verb combos and now own a Road King II combo. The RK2 is a beast but really is more than I need. I am happy with 2 channels, less adjustments on the back of the amp (because I play at home with it up against a wall and a large pedalboard in front), and I prefer the V30 speakers. As such, I am contemplating switching back to the T-Verb and have been looking around for one.

I just noticed something I hadn't previously regarding the cabinet of the combo. Some seem to have the routine metal strips on the top with the screws to secure the chassis to the cabinet. However, I have seen a few without the strips and instead appear to have a recessed cup. Anyone know why this is? Did Mesa use speaker cabinets on some so the cups were pre-routed to accomodate the feet of a head or cabinet to be stacked on top? Or is there another reason? I tried searching around online but couldn't find any information. Thought someone on here might know the answer. I do recall some minor cosmetic differences on some of mine 2 decades ago (ie. pointer knobs vs knurled) but I don't seem to remember this difference. But let's be honest, there's a lot I don't remember bout the 90's! :lol:

Anyway would appreciate any responses because the curiosity is killing be if there is a benefit to be had by the different design.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Ua the Destroyer]

I don't know why they used the cups. I would assume they are shocj mounted chassis hardware They were on very early tremoverbs. Most early tremoverbs with the cups have a real leather covering (not Taurus), and a big *** mesa logo in the center. If I recall correctly the serial look tremoverbs have a board marked rr-1c whereas most tremoverbs have a board marked rr-1e (not to be confused with the solo head dual rec revisions) Many have a serial loop with just a level control. Any tremoverb is modded to the serial loop pretty easily if needed though. If I remember correctly early tremoverbs have knurled knobs with the machined dot indicator, then they switched to pointers, then back to machines dot knobs. Also the first few years of tremoverbs have a permanently connected power cord and ground lift switch. The earliest ones are reported to have a different transformer. I haven't noticed a huge difference in sound in any of the tremoverbs I've ever played. I've owned the combo and still own a head version.

From a purely cosmetic point I've always liked the look of the combos with the cups, leather and big logo.

 

[dsouza.b.a]

I don't know why they used the cups. I would assume they are shocj mounted chassis hardware They were on very early tremoverbs. Most early tremoverbs with the cups have a real leather covering (not Taurus), and a big *** mesa logo in the center. If I recall correctly the serial look tremoverbs have a board marked rr-1c whereas most tremoverbs have a board marked rr-1e (not to be confused with the solo head dual rec revisions) Many have a serial loop with just a level control. Any tremoverb is modded to the serial loop pretty easily if needed though. If I remember correctly early tremoverbs have knurled knobs with the machined dot indicator, then they switched to pointers, then back to machines dot knobs. Also the first few years of tremoverbs have a permanently connected power cord and ground lift switch. The earliest ones are reported to have a different transformer. I haven't noticed a huge difference in sound in any of the tremoverbs I've ever played. I've owned the combo and still own a head version.

From a purely cosmetic point I've always liked the look of the combos with the cups, leather and big logo.

Thank s a lot. This is great information. I did find a T-Verb over the weekend which should arrive around the end of this week or next Monday. It's supposedly a 1994 model. It does have the cups but the smaller Mesa logo. Hoping for real leather but not holding my breath based on your comments. A scan of the pix shows a send and return level for the EFX loop so this must be a parallel one. That is all a non issue for me as I likely won't use it. I have a fairly simple pedalboard and with my RK2 I have a couple of Line 6 pedals in the loop, a DL4 and MM4, but have since learned that they are really designed to go in front of the amp so will likely be reconfiguring. I will report back my findings upon its arrival.

 

[Ua the Destroyer]

Sweet. That's awesome. Let me know if those cups are just mounts for a shock mount chassis, I'm now curious about it. One other note, a run of these amps had ldr (light dependent resistors) that seem to go bad. If you experience any wierd issues that can't be attributed to tubes, its a good place to look. Any tech, or mesa themselves can replace this. That being said, mine has never had any issues. Now I'm gassing for a combo again. Have fun with your new amp.

 

[dsouza.b.a]

UTD, the T-Verb arrived today. As it is a 1994, some of the features see, different that I remember in the past. For example, there is no 'Stash Bag." Fixed power cord. The speakers seemed to be installed with a vertical orientation as opposed to horizontal. Also I think this is the leather covering as it looks like the 1993 ones, and maybe not the taurus but not sure exactly how to tell. I know it is different from my Road King. Whereas the RK has "veins" running through the material in a random pattern, the TOV is more smooth but does have a uniform texture. Honestly, I'm not that impressed by it because it seems somewhat thin and more like vinyl.

I haven't unbolted the chassis from the cabinet to see if there is some sort of shockmount system, but there does seem to be a bit of springiness when I push down on the screws through the cups.

I am having a problem with the amp, though I am not sure it is the amp itself. I happen to live next to a bunch of radio/TV transmission antennas. Previously I was having an issue with RF interference with my Road King but only really noticed it when I added a tubescreamer to my EFX chain and only had it on CH 4 which I used as my highest gain channel. With the TOV, I am now getting radio transmissions on both the orange (set to very clean) and red channels however it seems tied to the reverb. I am plugged directly from guitar into amp with no pedals and it is far worse than on the RK, however when I turn the reverb down past the 8 o'clock setting, it goes away completely. If I go up over 8 oclock, it comes back really bad. Any thoughts on this? It would be a disappointment not being able to use reverb. Think it might have anything to do with the LDR issues you mentioned? I don't know if that is the cause because like I said, I have that on my other amp with a tubescreamer plugged in, but I am wondering if the LDR may exascerbate things.

 

[jbird]

You may have a grounding issue with your guitar, or dwelling!

 

[dsouza.b.a]

Well it's not the guitar. I tried it with both a ESP KH-2 with active EMGs and a Gibson Les Paul Classic with passive pickups. Also it is still present even without a cable plugged into the amp.

 

[Ua the Destroyer]

I remember my combo doing that when I lived in an old apt. Have you tried flipping the ground left switch? It's sounds more like interference that the springs in the reverb tank could be picking up. Both my head and combo get a of buzz with the reverb and volume at mid to higher levels

 

[dsouza.b.a]

I remember my combo doing that when I lived in an old apt. Have you tried flipping the ground left switch? It's sounds more like interference that the springs in the reverb tank could be picking up. Both my head and combo get a of buzz with the reverb and volume at mid to higher levels

Yeah I fiddled with it. At neutral and A it was manageable but on B it was out of control. I ended up moving it to another room farther from my wifi router and network extender and it was greatly reduced but still present. Unfortunately, I did not buy this amp as a bedroom amp as it's way too big. I am leaning towards keeping my Road King as my main amp and maybe sellin gthis one off for a smaller second amp like a Fender Deluxe Reverb.

If anyone is interested in a Trem-o-verb, let me know!