Thinking of sending my 2 channel Recto to mesa... Thoughts

[Vrad]

I have a 2 channel Mesa Dual Recto that I'm thinking of sending to Mesa for maintenance and modding to pre-500 specs.

Just a little back-story about this particular amp. I bought it a few years ago and it was messed with. The pots were not original and I'm not sure what else was changed in it. I had it returned to stock by a mesa authorized dealer, but the amp never really sounded great. About a month ago, I got a fantastic deal on 1994 Rev G Recto and I bought it. Low and behold, the 2 amps sound a different. The new recto sounds great and the old one I had sounds like crap in comparison.

Does anyone have any experience with Mesa doing mods and maintenance?

 

[psychodave]

I have a 2 channel Mesa Dual Recto that I'm thinking of sending to Mesa for maintenance and modding to pre-500 specs.

Just a little back-story about this particular amp. I bought it a few years ago and it was messed with. The pots were not original and I'm not sure what else was changed in it. I had it returned to stock by a mesa authorized dealer, but the amp never really sounded great. About a month ago, I got a fantastic deal on 1994 Rev G Recto and I bought it. Low and behold, the 2 amps sound a different. The new recto sounds great and the old one I had sounds like crap in comparison.

Does anyone have any experience with Mesa doing mods and maintenance?

Send it to Mesa. They will charge 1/2 of what any local guy charges and it will be done right...mods included.

 

[Snave]

Do it, but expect around $300 plus shipping to them.

 

[ChurchHill]

I would do it. I doubt anybody knows the amp and what makes the original circuit sound great better than Mesa. Not to knock any of the mods out there, but those are modifications. The original circuit, that's Mesa.

 

[Vrad]

Welp... Sounds like a plan... I'll send it to Mesa.

 

[slyym]

I would do it. I doubt anybody knows the amp and what makes the original circuit sound great better than Mesa. Not to knock any of the mods out there, but those are modifications. The original circuit, that's Mesa.

Soldano knows it lol!

 

[psychodave]

Do it, but expect around $300 plus shipping to them.

Really? The 5-6 times I’ve shipped amps to boogie it only cost $80 to them and like $60 back. (Including the strategy 400 and coliseum which weigh a ton). In fact it’s so cheap coming back I usually chose 2 day return shipping for like $90 (it usually take 7 days regular shipping). Vrad lives like 20 miles from me so shipping can’t be much different in cost.

 

[acalaf]

Do it. They will take care of it and keep you updated. Also the mod will be done right. That said, if you know how to solder, just change the gain pot to 1 Meg on the red channel (stock is 250K) and 500k on the orange channel. That might be enough of a change for you to love the amp. I did that to my rev G triple and it sounds glorious now.

 

[Chris6870]

I've found that if an amp sounds like crap, throwing money at it aint going to fix it.It might just be a lemon. Move on.

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

Do it. I've done it several times and have been super thrilled with the work and whole process.

If you retro-modify, the orange channel will get more gain added to it, so it won't be as clean. Not that people looking for super stellar clean sounds only own Rectifiers (lol)... but worth mentioning.

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

Do it. They will take care of it and keep you updated. Also the mod will be done right. That said, if you know how to solder, just change the gain pot to 1 Meg on the red channel (stock is 250K) and 500k on the orange channel. That might be enough of a change for you to love the amp. I did that to my rev G triple and it sounds glorious now.

What does the 1 Meg gain pot on the red give you over the stock value? A larger sweep or does it add any gain? The reason I ask is that neither the Rev C nor Rev D use 1 Meg pots stock. The difference is the presence pot value, as well as a few cap values changed, and a few other caps removed completely.

 

[Snave]

Do it, but expect around $300 plus shipping to them.

Really? The 5-6 times I’ve shipped amps to boogie it only cost $80 to them and like $60 back. (Including the strategy 400 and coliseum which weigh a ton). In fact it’s so cheap coming back I usually chose 2 day return shipping for like $90 (it usually take 7 days regular shipping). Vrad lives like 20 miles from me so shipping can’t be much different in cost.

I'm saying $300 for the service plus whatever it costs to get the amp there.

 

[psychodave]

Do it, but expect around $300 plus shipping to them.

Really? The 5-6 times I’ve shipped amps to boogie it only cost $80 to them and like $60 back. (Including the strategy 400 and coliseum which weigh a ton). In fact it’s so cheap coming back I usually chose 2 day return shipping for like $90 (it usually take 7 days regular shipping). Vrad lives like 20 miles from me so shipping can’t be much different in cost.

I'm saying $300 for the service plus whatever it costs to get the amp there.

Gotcha. You’re correct then.

Service is usually $150. Mods are around $200. Shipping is like $80 each way.