Mesa recto 412 stereo problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pantsleg
  • Start date Start date
P

Pantsleg

New member
Ive got a Mesa 412 recto cab and powering it with a Vht 2502. Running it at 4ohms stereo and one side of the cab gets really quiet when both stereo inputs are plugged in. I have swapped both sides of the amp to the cab and it's always the same side of the cab. I have also used a different cab which worked fine. Also if I only plug in the side of the cab that gets quiet it runs at normal volume but as soon as I plug in the other side it goes really quiet. I haven determined it is my cab and not the amp. But I'm looking for opinions.... Would this be my stereo inputs I need to change on my cab? Please help. Thanks
 
Sounds to me like a wiring issue. Can you remove the jack plate and post a pic?
 
Hi, I am a buddy of the OP who originally had the problem happen to me, The first time it happen I thought it was a tube problem because I had been playing the amp(VHT 2/50/2) for a while when out of no where one side of the amp lost most of it volume.
I turned it off and when about doing some other shit and about a hour later I went back to the amp and started playing it again and it was fine right out the gate, both sides of the amp where putting out equal volume for about 20 min. or so when it happened again, so now im really thinking its a tube problem......So I turn it off and hook it to another cab with all the same cabling and what not and play it for nearly an hour at really loud volume's and it never act's up.

Yesterday we hook it back up to the original cab and about 15-20 min. into playing it does the same thing, we put the amp in standby and swap it to the other cab and its fine/work correctly....put it back to the first cab and bam problem still going on.

Really seems like a problem with the cab but it doesn't act up right off the bat and the wiring looks good for what its worth.

anyone have any ideas?
here is a pic of the jack plate on the cab
joshjack_zps57efe256.jpg
 
Wow, sorry to say but that's some poor wiring. Bare wires floating around, and it looks like you might have a cold solder joint at the upper-right jack (upper right in the photo). I'd say take it all out and start over.
 
BC Audio":2vh7lrxe said:
Wow, sorry to say but that's some poor wiring. Bare wires floating around, and it looks like you might have a cold solder joint at the upper-right jack (upper right in the photo). I'd say take it all out and start over.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply man!!!!
Yea, now that you say it that does look pretty bad as for the wiring goes.....the bad part that is the factory wiring because im pretty sure this is the first time he has taken it apart.

A cold solder joint would explain the sporadicness of the problem.
 
That's not factory wiring. No manufacturer would:
-use two different kinds of jacks
-twist the wires together, then partially untwist them
-trim insulation inconsistently
-have generally sloppy workmanship
 
BC Audio":pmsjww9a said:
That's not factory wiring. No manufacturer would:
-use two different kinds of jacks
-twist the wires together, then partially untwist them
-trim insulation inconsistently
-have generally sloppy workmanship
Click to expand...

He bought it brand new and this was the first time it had ever been opened up, unless it got jacked with at the dealer before he bought it 12 years ago.
 
Were you using the right jack ? It seems the bottom-right has the switch in it. Also, it seems smart to replace the solid rods with wire to eliminate the risk of cracked solderjoints due to movement of the jacks.

Giga
 
Here is a pic of the jack plate from my stock mesa cab, the joints are cleaner but the jack types are the same.
cab2_zps7ed15603.jpg
 
I stand corrected about the different jacks. Learn something new every day... It still appears that it was messed with at some point, given the un-twisting and sloppyness, but maybe it was built on a Monday or Friday. ;) If it were mine I'd re-wire it completely.
 
I had the same problem with my mesa cab when I bought it on craigslist. It would cut put after awhile of playing. Turns out the guy accidentally ripped one of the wires off the jack and didn't have a soldering iron to put it back. He just twisted the wire onto the jack and left it. I re-soldered most of the jack plate stuff and the problem was. solved
 
Hey thanks for all the replays and helpful posts. I havent been able to sign in for awhile. Thanks to mindseye for posting those picks, afterall the cab is at his house anyway. I did buy the cab brand new from a mesa dealer and as far as I know it's all factory. I've owned it for about 12 years and I never used the stereo inputs. I'm going to try to rewire it sometime this week and go from there. I'll let y'all know the verdict. Thanks.
 
A cold solder would make sense on the upper right jack in the pic. That's the one that was going very low volume.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top