Tremoverb Head Low (Diminished) Output

[koneytwo]

Hello all, searching the posts here yielded no results that I wanted to jump on right away, aside from just retubing.

I'll start with my problem...I have a DR Trem-O-Verb from August of '94 (serial 4279) and I'm experiencing very very low output on the Orange channel. Red seems fine, loud and full, even with Orange cloned to it, but Orange is a different story. I can crank the volume and gain to max and I can have a conversation with you at normal talking levels over the output. Gain and volume pots are indeed working, as rolling either off fades to no sound at all.

It does have Mesa branded Sovtek 5UG4 rectifier tubes, Groove Tubes (sovtek) 6L6's in the power slots and a mix of Mesa and Groove Tubes 12A7X's in the preamp.

I have not started swapping tubes as of yet, as I'm not entirely sure if that will remedy my problem.

Speaking with Mesa I was informed no one tube will have any effect on one channel specifically (at least none of the preamp tubes), and they advised boxing the head up and sending to them (roughly $200 in shipping round trip).

I have tried switching between bold and spongy, double- and triple-checking I'm not being fooled by FX loop, and switching between rectifiers, all to no avail. Just making sure I'm not missing something before I order tubes or have it tech'd. I read somewhere that a faulty rectifier tube could be to blame, but I haven't tried this yet, just looking for maybe a point in the right direction before I start throwing cash at it.

Thanks.

 

[bzni]

Sounds like you've got a dead LDR in the orange channel.

 

[domct203]

Sounds like you've got a dead LDR in the orange channel.

+1

You should see if there is a Mesa Certified Tech in your area.

 

[koneytwo]

Sounds like you've got a dead LDR in the orange channel.

+1

You should see if there is a Mesa Certified Tech in your area.

I'm close to Nashville and I think there might be a Mesa factory supported warranty shop there, but I'm not entirely sure. Calling around and asking is a crapshoot, as places either don't want to talk about services or just flat out say boogies are too complicated to work on. While I understand not wanting to get technical with a customer, both if these instances leave me feeling unsettled and willing to hand over my amp.

I'm fairly competent at electrical repair, as I've done several car amplifiers in my day, but alternating current isn't something I just want to go prodding around in. I just wanted to see if someone else has run into this issue and had a resolve so I had an idea at least, but I'll check and see if there are in fact any techs in my area.

Thanks for the replies! I'll keep you posted.

 

[domct203]

If you go to Mesa Boogie’s website you can go to the support page and get a list of certified techs in your area.

The first three I see in Nashville are:
Hime Amplification(5mi)
2127 Utopia Ave, Nashville, TN, 37211, USA
P: (615) 562-0089

Nashville Amplifier Ser.(6mi)
2616 Grandview Ave Nashville TN 37211
P: 615-750-5726

British Audio(7mi)
5343 Charlotte Ave, Nashville, TN, 37209, USA
P: (615) 891-1788

There are 29 pages returned when I search ‘Nashville’, I’m sure someone is close to you.

https://mesaboogie.com/support/index.html

Good luck

 

[bzni]

To be fair, the repair can be a major pain. I wouldn't begrudge any tech who wouldn't want to take it on.

 

[domct203]

Hello all, searching the posts here yielded no results that I wanted to jump on right away, aside from just retubing.

I'll start with my problem...I have a DR Trem-O-Verb from August of '94 (serial 4279) and I'm experiencing very very low output on the Orange channel. Red seems fine, loud and full, even with Orange cloned to it, but Orange is a different story. I can crank the volume and gain to max and I can have a conversation with you at normal talking levels over the output. Gain and volume pots are indeed working, as rolling either off fades to no sound at all.

It does have Mesa branded Sovtek 5UG4 rectifier tubes, Groove Tubes (sovtek) 6L6's in the power slots and a mix of Mesa and Groove Tubes 12A7X's in the preamp.

I have not started swapping tubes as of yet, as I'm not entirely sure if that will remedy my problem.

Speaking with Mesa I was informed no one tube will have any effect on one channel specifically (at least none of the preamp tubes), and they advised boxing the head up and sending to them (roughly $200 in shipping round trip).

I have tried switching between bold and spongy, double- and triple-checking I'm not being fooled by FX loop, and switching between rectifiers, all to no avail. Just making sure I'm not missing something before I order tubes or have it tech'd. I read somewhere that a faulty rectifier tube could be to blame, but I haven't tried this yet, just looking for maybe a point in the right direction before I start throwing cash at it.

Thanks.

Been a month now, how did you make out with the repair?