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Ampeg cl or mesa m9 carbine?

mdawsey

mdawsey

Oct 1, 2014
20
2
48
New Orleans
#1
This is gonna be long so hold on. Lol. I bought a used Ampeg Cl,against my better judgement from GC. I called,asked how it functioned,was told everything was good outside of a few scrapes and scratches.They had been playing it,keep in mind. Got it in,left work when I saw it was delivered,only to see a blown tube. I sent an email because I was too mad for a phone call. After being told a new tube would only be a few dollars!? Yeah,a few!. I was informed they'd send me a new sextet only to recieve a quad. After more bs. Sent those back and after another week recieved the sextet. Great right! Keep in mind I'm trying to keep this short. I'm about 4 weeks on at this point. Get to rehearsal and find out I can't push it pass 5 on the master without it cutting out. Maybe it's just a resistor? Makes sense. Only after 3 techs tell me they can't find anything wrong! Now I've spent 50 a pop on techs as well as 150 on a roadcase. That's 300 if no one's keeping track. I'm given the option to return it for a refund. Question is. Do I try my luck with another Ampeg or go with the Mesa? Those are the only 2 amps I want. I know they're differences. love the sound of both but I now have a bad taste in my mouth over the whole thing. Either way I'll have the money,just looking for advice. All the rest is venting.sry.
 
#4
How did you see a blown tube?
Why did you take it to your own techs?
GC would have sent it to their tech at no cost to you and it would have come back it perfect working order.

I had an SVT II-Pro shipped to me. There was a pile of broken glass when I opened the box. All the tubes were destroyed. The store shipped it out to their tech and they replaced everything then went over the entire amp. When it came back to it basically had $500 or work put into it for the same price that I had originally paid.
 
#6
joel406 said:
Get the Mesa amped is sorely over rated.
Click to expand...

Very detailed analysis! Mesa is good, Ampeg is overrated... duly noted.

OP, it's unfortunate that your CL isn't working correctly. It's evident that 2 things are the culprit

First is the used purchase. No matter how good a deal is, it should be played first hand before purchase. GC doesn't screen for an instrument and amplifier genius when hiring. You should have returned the amplifier before going through the tube swap stuff.

Second...... a technician should be able to receive the complaint, replicate the issue, and correct the issue. If they couldn't, then take note, and don't return business. It is possible you didn't explain the issue properly, and they didn't have enough information to replicate the issue, or because they used different power cable, instrument cables, speaker cables, which leads me to.....

Is it possible the cutting out was caused by a speaker cable, instrument cable, bad wiring in the cab, bad battery for active electronics, or a pedalboard you neglected to mention?
 
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#7
Dave W said:
How did you see a blown tube?
Why did you take it to your own techs?
GC would have sent it to their tech at no cost to you and it would have come back it perfect working order.

I had an SVT II-Pro shipped to me. There was a pile of broken glass when I opened the box. All the tubes were destroyed. The store shipped it out to their tech and they replaced everything then went over the entire amp. When it came back to it basically had $500 or work put into it for the same price that I had originally paid.
Click to expand...
You can see a tube is blown wgen its white capped
 
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#8
blubass said:
Very detailed analysis! Mesa is good, Ampeg is overrated... duly noted.

OP, it's unfortunate that your CL isn't working correctly. It's evident that 2 things are the culprit

First is the used purchase. No matter how good a deal is, it should be played first hand before purchase. GC doesn't screen for an instrument and amplifier genius when hiring. You should have returned the amplifier before going through the tube swap stuff.

Second...... a technician should be able to receive the complaint, replicate the issue, and correct the issue. If they couldn't, then take note, and don't return business. It is possible you didn't explain the issue properly, and they didn't have enough information to replicate the issue, or because they used different power cable, instrument cables, speaker cables, which leads me to.....

Is it possible the cutting out was caused by a speaker cable, instrument cable, bad wiring in the cab, bad battery for active electronics, or a pedalboard you neglected to mention?
Click to expand...
.
It was give me the flashing lights indicating it was a tube issue. It wouldn't stay biased properly
 
#9
mdawsey said:
.
It was give me the flashing lights indicating it was a tube issue. It wouldn't stay biased properly
Click to expand...

What was the determination from the 3 different techs. Did they say it was biased properly and should be working, or that it was not biased after their diagnosis and they couldn't determine why it wasn't biased?
 
#11
mdawsey said:
This is gonna be long so hold on. Lol. I bought a used Ampeg Cl,against my better judgement from GC. I called,asked how it functioned,was told everything was good outside of a few scrapes and scratches.They had been playing it,keep in mind. Got it in,left work when I saw it was delivered,only to see a blown tube. I sent an email because I was too mad for a phone call. After being told a new tube would only be a few dollars!? Yeah,a few!. I was informed they'd send me a new sextet only to recieve a quad. After more bs. Sent those back and after another week recieved the sextet. Great right! Keep in mind I'm trying to keep this short. I'm about 4 weeks on at this point. Get to rehearsal and find out I can't push it pass 5 on the master without it cutting out. Maybe it's just a resistor? Makes sense. Only after 3 techs tell me they can't find anything wrong! Now I've spent 50 a pop on techs as well as 150 on a roadcase. That's 300 if no one's keeping track. I'm given the option to return it for a refund. Question is. Do I try my luck with another Ampeg or go with the Mesa? Those are the only 2 amps I want. I know they're differences. love the sound of both but I now have a bad taste in my mouth over the whole thing. Either way I'll have the money,just looking for advice. All the rest is venting.sry.
Click to expand...


Sorry to hear of your CL problems, been there, done that also.

A while back a friend lent me his old Mesa M-6 Carbine head to get me through some gigs while my Ampeg was giving me fits.
Long story short.....I talked him out of his Mesa and it's now mine.....I was so impressed with it I now have two M-6's.

So, my vote is for the Mesa M-9.....
 

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