Issue with a Mesa Recto 2×12

[nightlight]

Ran into an issue with my Recto 2x12.

The cab is wired for either 4- or 16-ohm in mono, or 8-ohm in stereo.

I've noticed that when I use the 16-ohm socket, sound is louder from one speaker and softer on the other.

When I try to run the amp in stereo 8-ohm, the cab which was softer becomes louder, while the louder one in 16-ohm becomes softer.

Haven't tried the 4-ohm imput, since most of.my amps don't have that output.

I can't diagnose what's wrong as there's a circuit board soldered to the input plate. But looks like very complex wiring.

Can anyone help me troubleshoot? Could it be some kind of phase issue?

 

[BackCrack]

A picture is worth 1,000 words. The more pics, the better.

 

[nightlight]

A picture is worth 1,000 words. The more pics, the better.

Sorry, didn't see this reply. Will try to get the back off the cab.

 

[nightlight]

Managed to pry off the back. Here are some pictures.

Is there anything specific i need to shoot? Don't see the point of unmounting the circuit board cause the wiring looks complex.

 

[bubucci]

The jack plate isn't original, i assume You know as it looks like whole cab is a copy.
Soldering looks really shitty and sooner than later it could end with damaged amp. Another weird thing is why one speaker is Red - hot, Black - ground and the other is opossite.
9V battery test for phase issue, then rewire it correctly.

 

[nightlight]

The jack plate isn't original, i assume You know as it looks like whole cab is a copy.
Soldering looks really shitty and sooner than later it could end with damaged amp. Another weird thing is why one speaker is Red - hot, Black - ground and the other is opossite.
9V battery test for phase issue, then rewire it correctly.

I'm responsible for flipping the cables connecting to the speakers, did it as a test to see if the sound would improve, but it did not.

Here's the jack plate.

 

[griff10672]

looks like cold solder joints all over that little PCB ..... especially ground pads .... ground pads take longer to heat up most of the time because they're attached to the ground plane of the PCB so there's more mass ...

but I would just double check the connections are where they are supposed to be ..... and re flow that badboy

 

[nightlight]

looks like cold solder joints all over that little PCB ..... especially ground pads .... ground pads take longer to heat up most of the time because they're attached to the ground plane of the PCB so there's more mass ...

but I would just double check the connections are where they are supposed to be ..... and re flow that badboy

Thanks, @griff10672 . Unfortunately for me, I have no idea where the connectors should go and will have to take it to a tech.

The cab sounds good, but the lower volume on one speaker does dampen my enthusiasm. It is definitely a Mesa cab though, unless it's a very clever fake.

 

[nightlight]

Hey, what do you know? I flipped the speaker wiring on the cone that was louder and the other speaker came to life! Thanks for the help, everyone.

 

[Nigel]

Hey, what do you know? I flipped the speaker wiring on the cone that was louder and the other speaker came to life! Thanks for the help, everyone.

Is that a Standard or Compact Mesa 2x12?

 

[nightlight]

Oh my God. I had an accident. I hadn't put the back panel into the 2x12 and it fell down, yanking the circuit board out and breaking the jacks. The stereo switch also broke.

Luckily my amp wasn't on.

I'm SOL, I have no guitar tech near me, I think. Anyone have some advice on what kind of repairs are needed?

All might not be lost, I'm thinking of just making it a 16-ohm cab without a stereo switch. How should I go about this? Would it require minimal soldering?

 

[Nigel]

@nightlight

All you need is a Weller 25 watt iron, solder, a switch craft jack, a sponge, and a wire stripper. Simple job and perfect first soldering experience.

Was the cab “Boxy” or harsh?

 

[nightlight]

@nightlight

All you need is a Weller 25 watt iron, solder, a switch craft jack, a sponge, and a wire stripper. Simple job and perfect first soldering experience.

Was the cab “Boxy” or harsh?

Thanks for the tip, @Nigel . Prior to this, the cab sounded great in 16-ohm when paired with my Orange 2x12, though one speaker (the louder one) was harsh.

How do I go about it? I can order the solder and most of the parts. Do I just wire directly to the jack? I'll check a schematic.

How do I figure out what ohm-rating each speaker is, I saw nothing in the pictures I took.

 

[Nigel]

Thanks for the tip, @Nigel . Prior to this, the cab sounded great in 16-ohm when paired with my Orange 2x12, though one speaker (the louder one) was harsh.

How do I go about it? I can order the solder and most of the parts. Do I just wire directly to the jack? I'll check a schematic.

How do I figure out what ohm-rating each speaker is, I saw nothing in the pictures I took.

Yes, wire the jack’s positive terminal to one speaker’s positive and vice versa for the negative to the other speaker’s negative. Then connect the free positive and negative terminals of each speaker with one wire and you’re done. Six points to make total.

If the cab sounds boxy or harsh, grab a 20 oz. bag of poly fill and stuff it.

This will give phenomenal recorded tones and a nice contrast to the Orange.

 

[Nigel]

If you add the poly, make a reaction video for us.

 

[BackCrack]

I've got a diagram buried in my hard drive somewhere that I drew up for another forum. It uses two Cliff switching jacks for 16/4-mono/8-stereo. It would be perfect for this thread. I'll see if I can find it.

 

[nightlight]

I've got a diagram buried in my hard drive somewhere that I drew up for another forum. It uses two Cliff switching jacks for 16/4-mono/8-stereo. It would be perfect for this thread. I'll see if I can find it.

Please share if you find it. Might be a bit too complicated for me, however.

 

[BackCrack]

I lied. The diagram I had come up with was for two switching cliff jacks: one jack provides 16 ohms mono, the other provides 4 ohms mono (with a pair of 8 ohm speakers).

Another pair of switching jacks would have to be included in order to provide the additional option of 8 ohms stereo. I could draw that up if you wanted.

 

[cobrahead1030]

Have you tried calling Mesa?

You might be able to order a whole new jack plate from them, which could simplify the repair.

 

[Kagami]

fwiw Mesa puts 16 ohm speakers in their 2x12s not 8 ohm speakers so whoever put that plate in there also swapped out the speakers. Well, that and the labels/orientation are also wrong.

I've got a diagram buried in my hard drive somewhere that I drew up for another forum. It uses two Cliff switching jacks for 16/4-mono/8-stereo. It would be perfect for this thread. I'll see if I can find it.

I don't remember what it's called but in my Rivera cabinet it has a jack with twice the connections and when a jack is inserted it disconnects them which switches it from mono to stereo. Each side of the cabinet is wired to one of the jacks, so this way when the 2nd jack is connected it disconnects the primary jack from it. This is more limiting in that it's only 1 mono setting but it won't break at least like the crappy pcb jack plates.