Why are Mesa's thumped on all the boards???

[Monsta-Tone]

I use a fan as well, but don't vent it out of the building, which I should.


I whole heartedly agree about the lead poisoning issue in kids, I wash my hands religiously and don't let my kids touch anything on the bench.



BUT!!! My house is 130 years old and still has lead paint in some rooms. We are trying to get it covered up. Eventually we are planning on removing the wood panelling and replacing it. The house has no insulation and the wiring and plumbing is severly sub-standard.


I do think that it is time that we lessen the load on the landfills, but this could also be done by recycling electronics & batteries.



I also think that the rosin in solder is possibly more dangerous than the lead when it is breathed in. I have noticed that when I solder for long periods of time without the fan, my breathing is affected.

 

[Buddy]

If they are very young , make sure the kids are out of the house and cover everything dust can settle on . Isolate the room with plastic sheeting , get a hepa filter for the shop vac ...
I don't know what its like in N.M., but here in nj it's mandatory for Md's to notify the state and county health departments for remediation when blood lead levels are considered dangerous . Bang , mandatory lead abatement on your property . Either do it yourself , ( and only family members that live in the house ) or a state certified lead abatement pro . Big bucks .
I lost a lot of weekends because of a sloppy contractor tracking lead exterior paint thru my house .
Lead free solder , I think I used it for 2 solder joints and went back to good old toxic "44".

 

[Restless Rocks]

I'm looking in the Big Digi-Key catalogue right now at the types of solder available from Kester. There is a "rosin-free" flux type which touts a "no clean" residue among it's attributes. Guitarzan, how about your thoughts on this. If you would be so kind. I too experience lung and throat irritation after a lot of soldering. Guess we should go ahead and start up a new thread on this anyway.

 

[Guitarzan]

Guitarzan, that is some really interesting stuff. Are you an engineer?

Physics, I work for a very large aerospace company doing optical setups. In addition to the certification in critical soldering I'm also a certified Fender Musical Instruments Silver Level Technician. I'm authorized to do repairs and warranty item on any instruments that Fender has under its wing. ie Jackson, Charvel, Gretsch... I was trying to get Mesa but there's a guy in Santa Fe that poeple are not too happy with and Rich DuVall is content with him having Northern NM.

There is a "rosin-free" flux type which touts a "no clean" residue among it's attributes. Guitarzan, how about your thoughts on this. If you would be so kind. I too experience lung and throat irritation after a lot of soldering. Guess we should go ahead and start up a new thread on this anyway.

Water based flux is very good, just keep in mind if your job entails any kind of Class 2 or 3 electronics then the fluxes MUST be compatible.

 

[Restless Rocks]

I was a Fender Tech 20 years ago when I lived in Central Virginia going to school. Last year when I decided to go back into the repair business, (I'm just too **** old to stay on the road playing music) I had Fender send me the paper work to apply. Given the flat warranty rates and that I would have to take out commercial liability insurance on my 12 x 15 foot shop here at my house I decided to forego Fender Warranty Repair. I do however have the passwords for Mesa's tech sites and Warranty Paper work.
I ordered (2) one lb. spools of Kester "44" and am going to try the"331" water soluble flux. My previous employer used the water soluble flux coating on boards done in the wave machine followed by a water bath that cleaned them up quite well. Thanks Guitarzan and the rest of you guys. This has been informative and fun.

 

[Guitarzan]

Given the flat warranty rates and that I would have to take out commercial liability insurance on my 12 x 15 foot shop here at my house I decided to forego Fender Warranty Repair.

That's why I affiliate myself with a local fender dealer here. I just come in and pick up the instruments that are dropped off for repair.

 

[phantomlord2oo]

Umm... I don't know what fourms you guys are visiting but I've never encountered a lot of Mesa bashing. Granted, I only visit this fourm and GuitarGeek. They're really the only 2 sites you need.

Also, I'm a sloppy player but my Mesas cover up my mistakes pretty well. They're very saturated and brutal sounding so that may explain it. But on cleans and slightly dirty channels, you better pratice up!

+Mike+

 

[jvk]

When I solder for prolonged periods first my eyes turn very red, and then my throat and the inside of my nose begin to burn. I'm going to try the exhaust fan and dryer duct thing, the extractor that I've got dumps the fumes back in the same room!

Since my early teens I was an electronics nut and spent most of my time soldering kits and working on my own whacky creations... I guess all that Pb and rosin fumes explains how inept I can sometimes be these days |

I've experienced Mesa bashing from alot of oldskool players and PTP fanatics, especially the type who get wet when they see and old Fender or Marshall. Typically they take a stab at the "Chinese" made PCBs in Boogies, with their board mounted tube sockets and pots (sic). Some of that is no doubt true, but it has created a self-perpetuating myth that this style of assembly is intrinsically inferior, in sonically and in terms of durability, compared to PTP. The quality of PCBs can vary just as much as the quality of PTPs, it just depends on who makes them and how they're deisgned. Boogies have through plated double sided PCBs, and even components that are connected to traces on just one side have solder pads on both sides, so they're well supported by the 1) pad on topside 2) Cu/Pt through plate 3) pad on bottom. I'd be quite surprised if I ever saw/heard of a tube socket having a dry joint in a Mesa amp. There's PCBs, and there's Mesa PCBs. Actually, almost all professionally made boards are plated through these days.

 

[Restless Rocks]

I was a Fender Tech 20 years ago when I lived in Central Virginia going to school.

UVA!

JMU

 

[Restless Rocks]

Given the flat warranty rates and that I would have to take out commercial liability insurance on my 12 x 15 foot shop here at my house I decided to forego Fender Warranty Repair.

That's why I affiliate myself with a local fender dealer here. I just come in and pick up the instruments that are dropped off for repair.

I make weekly rounds at the area stores myself, problem here is the closest full line dealer is two and a half hours away. I fix about as many computers as I do guitar amps and I'm the only amp shop in the local region so there's enough to keep it fun without all the "I need it yesterdays".

 

[Monsta-Tone]

This has been very informative.


The local shop here used to send stuff our way, but now we are in direct competition, so that has stopped.

I tried letting all of the stores within a 100 mile radius know that I'm here, but everybody just smiles and waves. Too many lead fumes. :roll:



I've been thinking about getting in with Fender. We already have insurance for $80,000, as well as Worker's Comp & Liabillity.

I really need some more exposure for the Music Store & Repair business.




As for Mesa thumpers, it has been my experience as well that most of them are PTP fanatics.

Just a bunch of old school guys who suffer from tunnel-vision.

 

[Restless Rocks]

This has been very informative.


The local shop here used to send stuff our way, but now we are in direct competition, so that has stopped.

I tried letting all of the stores within a 100 mile radius know that I'm here, but everybody just smiles and waves. Too many lead fumes. :roll:



I've been thinking about getting in with Fender. We already have insurance for $80,000, as well as Worker's Comp & Liabillity.

I really need some more exposure for the Music Store & Repair business.




As for Mesa thumpers, it has been my experience as well that most of them are PTP fanatics.

Just a bunch of old school guys who suffer from tunnel-vision.

I tried to set up a Fender Warranty repair deal with the local music store here. It seems Fender is only interested in licensing their "Full Line Dealers" with Warranty Repair status. We simply could not afford the inventory requirements and floor plan to stock all the Fender amp and guitar line not to mention their subsidiery's products and Accessories Line. Without being an authorized Fender Dealer/ Repair center Fender will not even sell me parts to repair their own stuff. I have to go thru this outfit they endorse called www.partsguru.com these guys mark the stuff up and the down time is 10 to 15 business days for them to order it from Fender and then ship it to you. And that really sucks when all you might need is a matching replacement knob or an amp specific pc mount pot or something. I've worked on more Fender amps probably than all the rest put together you'd think they would be a bit more freindly to repair techs. All these changes just happened in the last 5 years, used to be able to call an 800 number and get what ever I needed directly from Fender.