Anyone with older Mark IV's send em to Mesa

  • Thread starter Thread starter anomaly
  • Start date Start date
I sent mine in as soon as I got it. It only ran me $200
 
blackba said:
there are two 3 Pin ICs T0220 package, Mesa typically adds a small plate as a heat sink to one of these. I didn't do this.
Click to expand...
lucky for me, this was already done on mine before i got it. I've had mike b fix a different IVa for me ages ago, and the explained that whole thing to me on the phone. i don't remember the "how" or "why" details, but as for the fix, they just screwed a very small piece of metal(maybe twice the size of IC, to mine, and its worked for the 5 or 6 years i've owned it.
 
I sent my Mark IVa last year January. Money well spent! Mike B worked on it. Recapped everything, tweaked the reverb tank cable, basically made it factory brand new. Absolutely amazing how it sounds after the work.
 
JimAnsell said:
lucky for me, this was already done on mine before i got it. I've had mike b fix a different IVa for me ages ago, and the explained that whole thing to me on the phone. i don't remember the "how" or "why" details, but as for the fix, they just screwed a very small piece of metal(maybe twice the size of IC, to mine, and its worked for the 5 or 6 years i've owned it.
Click to expand...
Cool, I will have to go back and do that. I could tell it had gotten warm, but nothing to the point of burning
 
JimAnsell said:
My soldering station (a 40 watt weller i inherited from my father in law 20+ years ago) finally stopped working, and this job might be the perfect excuse to splurge on one of these bad boys https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FR-301...ocphy=9016789&hvtargid=pla-568693193947&psc=1
Click to expand...

That Looks like a good one there, it's only for solder sucking from what it looks like to me. If you planning on doing your own work especially on PCB boards I totally recommend getting something like this. It's a total game changer for removing components safely without lifting traces like a solder wick or solder hand pump can. I like either Weller or Hakko, I have both at home and at work.
 
Frehley12 said:
I sent my Mark IVa last year January. Money well spent! Mike B worked on it. Recapped everything, tweaked the reverb tank cable, basically made it factory brand new. Absolutely amazing how it sounds after the work.
Click to expand...
Yup, i'm not mad about the bill at all really, i'm just happy to get my amp back and sounding better than it has ever sounded. I'm surprised at how some of the controls work a little differently now to, like the midrange control especially, it has a stronger effect now. The amp has more low end to it as well, and tighter low end. Love the bouncy feel and sound this amp has. I'm never going to sell this amp.
 
anomaly said:
Yup, i'm not mad about the bill at all really, i'm just happy to get my amp back and sounding better than it has ever sounded. I'm surprised at how some of the controls work a little differently now to, like the midrange control especially, it has a stronger effect now. The amp has more low end to it as well, and tighter low end. Love the bouncy feel and sound this amp has. I'm never going to sell this amp.
Click to expand...

Nice ! I love my mkiv a.... its from 91 , and it's a lifer for me. Amp does everything but make me dinner lol
 
Last edited:
JimAnsell said:
i bought my mark IVa combo from mesa hollywood on ebay like 5 years ago. it already had the brown axials replaced, and the OP amp chip fix done (thank god), but they didn't do all the electrolytic filter caps. those can be done without removing the board, so i'll do those eventually. everything else sounds and works right, so i don't really want to send it to them with the way shipping prices are, and things are backed up.
Even when mike b retires, they'll still be perfectly capable of servicing all those old marks. he isn't always the one doing the actual work. he might test and diagnose, and then another tech does the actual leg work. at least thats how it used to be, maybe with covid its just him or something now, idk. He does have some of his own mods where you pay him directly (i.e IIB post fx loop mod and i think the C++), but i gotta believe they'll still be doable by someone after him. The guitarologist on youtube pretty much reverse engineered the IIB fx level thing on one of his videos.

to fix those damn brown caps they have to totally remove that big board, and it takes forever. here is a non-mesa tech, doing it, and probably hating his life for those few hours:
Click to expand...

What's the op amp chip fix?
 
Anybody got a pic handy of the brown caps? I had my IVa done last year, he changed all the caps and some other cleanup work and it was under $400. I have an early IVb that I thought was safe. It's a 95 or 96 I think, it has the power cord attached so I believe it's early. Would like to take a look and see if they are in there.
 
I think it's sporadic with amps having those bad caps mentioned. That's what prompted me to send my '93? IVa in to Mesa last January. Mine did not have them. I did ask. You do get back the old caps, etc after the repair FYI.
 
I sent in photos via email and mine did not have the problem. The reply came in a few days.

I bought it 31 years ago and had a few minor problems that I fixed over the decades. My Tremoverb, Heartbreaker and Mark IV should all go in.
 
Chris6870 said:
Anybody got a pic handy of the brown caps? I had my IVa done last year, he changed all the caps and some other cleanup work and it was under $400. I have an early IVb that I thought was safe. It's a 95 or 96 I think, it has the power cord attached so I believe it's early. Would like to take a look and see if they are in there.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that I took out the brown caps and the ones I replaced where brown as well. If you look at the video a few posts up, they are the radial can caps sticking up, look for the silver top, right next to the 4 black f&t axial caps you see in the video. They are the only radial caps in the amp.

Radial means both leads come out one end. Axial means that one lead comes out each end.
 
dawnofdreamx97 said:
This is exactly how I did mine as well. Works perfect no issues and didn't seem to change anything tone wise or noise wise.
Click to expand...
I like that way better than I did mine, which was to just put the caps in their original place as low as I could go, bend them over a bit and glue. They are solid and not moving, but putting them in the other caps and gluing would have been better.
 
just ordered the parts for mine. gunna do the simul satellite first, because it looks like way easier of a job. If that ends up being difficult for some reason, i'll send the IV in. my 220uf caps are reading 250-280uf, and the 30uf's are in the 50's. so i ordered all the electrolytics. Luckily all of the large resistors near the filter caps and tube sockets are all testing within spec. gunna check some of the smaller ones too. i noticed a few orange drops were already replaced, and the LDR's are soldered, not crimped(was mentioned on someone elses mark IV repair invoice). what makes the recap take so long to do? is it just those 3 stand up caps, or just trying to be clean and careful because of the tight space?
 
Snave said:
What's the op amp chip fix?
Click to expand...
20220202_182339.jpg

20220202_182349.jpg



That chip gets hot and causes problems. this tiny make shift heat sink is all it takes to remedy it.
 
JimAnsell said:
just ordered the parts for mine. gunna do the simul satellite first, because it looks like way easier of a job. If that ends up being difficult for some reason, i'll send the IV in. my 220uf caps are reading 250-280uf, and the 30uf's are in the 50's. so i ordered all the electrolytics. Luckily all of the large resistors near the filter caps and tube sockets are all testing within spec. gunna check some of the smaller ones too. i noticed a few orange drops were already replaced, and the LDR's are soldered, not crimped(was mentioned on someone elses mark IV repair invoice). what makes the recap take so long to do? is it just those 3 stand up caps, or just trying to be clean and careful because of the tight space?
Click to expand...
I bet Mesa removes the board and also checks all the LDRs when they service. Removing the board would take a good long time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top