TA-15 owners beware of hidden update mod ...

[Gooseman]

Just an FYI -- according to this fellow over at the Boogie Board, Mesa is apparently being a little secretive with a service mod to their TA-15 amp line. I copied his post onto this thread and will also leave the link to the original thread. I like Mesa a lot, but I can attest that I too had a similar experience with a Mesa tech that treated me with very little respect. Regardless, that is hardly the point of this thread, since people have bad days. If you are TA-15 owner, you may want to know about this mod:

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=58068

So I was perusing EBAY the other day and saw a TA-15 head for sale. The owner stated that it had the "bias update" and "mute circuit update" for the TA-15. I have never heard of such a thing. I emailed him and he said that it was an older TA-15 and that Mesa tweaked it for him.

I called Mesa this morning. Marcus wasn't sure about the update and sent me to Rich in repair. He was quite obnoxious when he said, "So you think Mesa should send out information every time we do a little tweak to your equipment?" I kept my polite tone and didn't get nasty as I wanted to. I did tell him that since I registered my amp with them, it would have been nice to receive something from them.

So anyway, I finally got him to tell me about the "bias update." Apparently, any TA-15 with a serial number before 1289 is eligible for the update. He claimed that the update lowered the voltage by 1 volt to the power tubes.

When I asked him if he meant mA, he asked me if I was a tech or something, of which I responded that I was not.

I expressed a concern that is there anything else running a bit warm besides the power tubes, and he said that I can choose to get the update or not, that it is up to me. He totally dodged my question.

When I asked him to repeat which resistors would be changed, he refused to repeat himself and again told me that I can have the update done or not.

It doesn't sound like this update is a really big deal, but what I do find to be a big deal is that a Mesa loyalist as myself, who registered his amp with Mesa, was not notified about an update. And I'm not happy with the way I was treated by Rich in repair. I will be talking to somebody at Mesa about the lack of notice and Rich's jerkish attitude.

This was the first negative customer experience I've had with Mesa.

This appears to be the ebay ad: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mesa-Boogie-Tra ... _500wt_966

Wow, that is a high price for a used TA-15!

 

[petejt]

Hmmm. Yes I understand that people have "off days", but that behaviour is still uncalled for. I think it is only fair that the customer not only should receive a full apology, but also a full explanation of the mod and even a discounted service.

If I fucked something up at work- then I get in trouble for it! I'm not excused for anything! and deservedly so.
So would should Customer Service be excused? It's not just part of the job but common courtesy to treat others with respect! At least if the other person is treating you with respect.


I've personally spoken with Mike Bendinelli (the bloke who designed the MarkIIC+) about my MarkIV, even when it blew up and the circuit board needed replacing. He was nothing but an absolute gentleman to me, even though I was getting a local amp tech (well, Mesa/Boogie Certified) to service my amp rather than sending it direct to Mesa/Boogie for repair.

Whatever behaviour is displayed by a member of a business or company, is a reflection of that whole company. That Rich should remember that.

 

[tripstan]

Hmmm. Yes I understand that people have "off days", but that behaviour is still uncalled for. I think it is only fair that the customer not only should receive a full apology, but also a full explanation of the mod and even a discounted service.

If I fucked something up at work- then I get in trouble for it! I'm not excused for anything! and deservedly so.
So would should Customer Service be excused? It's not just part of the job but common courtesy to treat others with respect! At least if the other person is treating you with respect.


I've personally spoken with Mike Bendinelli (the bloke who designed the MarkIIC+) about my MarkIV, even when it blew up and the circuit board needed replacing. He was nothing but an absolute gentleman to me, even though I was getting a local amp tech (well, Mesa/Boogie Certified) to service my amp rather than sending it direct to Mesa/Boogie for repair.

Whatever behaviour is displayed by a member of a business or company, is a reflection of that whole company. That Rich should remember that.

This is why you by a Diezel. . . . .

 

[Gooseman]

Hmmm. Yes I understand that people have "off days", but that behaviour is still uncalled for. I think it is only fair that the customer not only should receive a full apology, but also a full explanation of the mod and even a discounted service.

If I fucked something up at work- then I get in trouble for it! I'm not excused for anything! and deservedly so.
So would should Customer Service be excused? It's not just part of the job but common courtesy to treat others with respect! At least if the other person is treating you with respect.


I've personally spoken with Mike Bendinelli (the bloke who designed the MarkIIC+) about my MarkIV, even when it blew up and the circuit board needed replacing. He was nothing but an absolute gentleman to me, even though I was getting a local amp tech (well, Mesa/Boogie Certified) to service my amp rather than sending it direct to Mesa/Boogie for repair.

Whatever behaviour is displayed by a member of a business or company, is a reflection of that whole company. That Rich should remember that.

This is why you by a Diezel. . . . .

I agree. I just figured since I was sort of spreading the word about this "secret" mod, I didn't also want to look like a complete Mesa basher. Some people are really touchy and stand by anything they have had good experiences with. Believe me, I was quite pissed when I encountered the same level of disrespect over the phone from Mesa.

 

[Skrapmetal]

Hmmm. Yes I understand that people have "off days", but that behaviour is still uncalled for. I think it is only fair that the customer not only should receive a full apology, but also a full explanation of the mod and even a discounted service.

If I fucked something up at work- then I get in trouble for it! I'm not excused for anything! and deservedly so.
So would should Customer Service be excused? It's not just part of the job but common courtesy to treat others with respect! At least if the other person is treating you with respect.


I've personally spoken with Mike Bendinelli (the bloke who designed the MarkIIC+) about my MarkIV, even when it blew up and the circuit board needed replacing. He was nothing but an absolute gentleman to me, even though I was getting a local amp tech (well, Mesa/Boogie Certified) to service my amp rather than sending it direct to Mesa/Boogie for repair.

Whatever behaviour is displayed by a member of a business or company, is a reflection of that whole company. That Rich should remember that.

This is why you by a Diezel. . . . .

I agree. I just figured since I was sort of spreading the word about this "secret" mod, I didn't also want to look like a complete Mesa basher. Some people are really touchy and stand by anything they have had good experiences with. Believe me, I was quite pissed when I encountered the same level of disrespect over the phone from Mesa.

This thread seems like it's more about spreading the word of someone who says Mesa treated them poorly than letting people know about some super secret modification, though.

Never heard anyone with a negative complaint about Mesa's customer service before, so you'll have to forgive me if I take this claim with a grain of salt. We're only being told one side of the story.

 

[blackba]

Not everyone should be speaking to customers directly. Have you seen the movie Office space? That's why they had the guy that took the specs from the customer to the engineer, he was the 'people person'

It sounds to me like Rich should not be one that talks to customers directly.

 

[roadifier]

My 50 caliber that I have been trying to fix for awhile now is still humming. When I took it to a repair shop here, the techs talked to Rich, and he was a real jerk to them when they asked him questions. He was like, "The amp is normally like that. If you don't have the balls to tell your customer that it is normal, and can't be fixed, just give it back" he said some other stuff, but I can't quite remember it. He was no help to them, and I refuse to send this amp to them, They would think it's a waste of time, and probably just send it back with nothing done to it.

Still trying to fix it by myself though I just don't have much time to devote to it.

 

[Gooseman]

Hmmm. Yes I understand that people have "off days", but that behaviour is still uncalled for. I think it is only fair that the customer not only should receive a full apology, but also a full explanation of the mod and even a discounted service.

If I fucked something up at work- then I get in trouble for it! I'm not excused for anything! and deservedly so.
So would should Customer Service be excused? It's not just part of the job but common courtesy to treat others with respect! At least if the other person is treating you with respect.


I've personally spoken with Mike Bendinelli (the bloke who designed the MarkIIC+) about my MarkIV, even when it blew up and the circuit board needed replacing. He was nothing but an absolute gentleman to me, even though I was getting a local amp tech (well, Mesa/Boogie Certified) to service my amp rather than sending it direct to Mesa/Boogie for repair.

Whatever behaviour is displayed by a member of a business or company, is a reflection of that whole company. That Rich should remember that.

This is why you by a Diezel. . . . .

I agree. I just figured since I was sort of spreading the word about this "secret" mod, I didn't also want to look like a complete Mesa basher. Some people are really touchy and stand by anything they have had good experiences with. Believe me, I was quite pissed when I encountered the same level of disrespect over the phone from Mesa.

This thread seems like it's more about spreading the word of someone who says Mesa treated them poorly than letting people know about some super secret modification, though.

Never heard anyone with a negative complaint about Mesa's customer service before, so you'll have to forgive me if I take this claim with a grain of salt. We're only being told one side of the story.

I get how you perceive it that way. From my perspective, since I didn't get this information first hand, I had no other choice but to copy and paste the thread here, for others TA owners to see. I did include my own odd mishap with Mesa too, but that was to add more of a sympathetic response to both parties -- Mesa and the original poster.

 

[Gooseman]

The point of this isn't to bash Mesa -- just to inform TA users of a potential factory mod to their amps that they may not know about.

 

[roadifier]

I'm not trying to bash, just sharing my little mishap with Mesa's customer service. I am a Mesa fanboy, but their customer service can be iffy at times.

 

[Gooseman]

I'm not trying to bash, just sharing my little mishap with Mesa's customer service. I am a Mesa fanboy, but their customer service can be iffy at times.

That is what I'm thinking too. If you are lucky enough to get Marcus or Tien on the phone, I can guarantee that you will be treated with a great deal of respect. Those two guys are amazing!

 

[11justin22]

Hmmm, I just dealt with rich on the phone for some mini recto issues. He seemed fine to me. Didn't "fix" the problem I had with my amp. It was popping and spurting so I sent it to them. Said they couldn't find anything wrong with it he sent it back. BUT when I got it back it sounded normal.......... Talked to the tech can't remember his name. He seemed nice too.

 

[Chris6870]

Well he handled it better than I would have. I would have told Rich to go piss up a rope if he copped an attitude like that and would have gotten a superior on the phone.

 

[Gooseman]

Hmmm, I just dealt with rich on the phone for some mini recto issues. He seemed fine to me. Didn't "fix" the problem I had with my amp. It was popping and spurting so I sent it to them. Said they couldn't find anything wrong with it he sent it back. BUT when I got it back it sounded normal.......... Talked to the tech can't remember his name. He seemed nice too.

A tube?

That was quick. Do you live near Petaluma?

 

[11justin22]

Hmmm, I just dealt with rich on the phone for some mini recto issues. He seemed fine to me. Didn't "fix" the problem I had with my amp. It was popping and spurting so I sent it to them. Said they couldn't find anything wrong with it he sent it back. BUT when I got it back it sounded normal.......... Talked to the tech can't remember his name. He seemed nice too.

A tube?

That was quick. Do you live near Petaluma?

Nope swapped them all out before I even sent it, but that's what the sound was like..... Weird I don't know if they just fixed and didn't want to tell me( I doubt that) or maybe the long truck ride knocked something back in place . And I live in NW Arkansas. The tech sheet was a little insulting when I got it back but I just blew it off. Said excess settings( nope), to much expectation(no it was making a noise), user error, I've been around plenty of amps including boogies