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Mesa M9 mega thread

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#1,001
Hizzoner said:
I just got mine home and it seems to be working fine. Rich @Mesa was courteous and I am satisfied overall. Mine is a 2010 and they did some new upgrades to it as well as repair...
Click to expand...

Glad it's back and working. Rich is cool. Might I inquire what kind of repair was needed? :cool:
 
#1,002
My buzz got worse. Well, now there's a second buzz. There's the one that's always there, and now it's developed a second buzz that directly relates to the Master volume knob. It was at least usable at a gig, but now it's not at all.

Luckily, I just found out that I'm just a couple miles from an authorized Mesa repair shop, so I may just take that route since I can't be without an amp for 2-3 weeks with gigs every weekend.

Love my M9, it's the ultimate amp.... when it works... :rolleyes:
 
#1,003
Maybe you can get a loaner? I don't play out frequently, so I'll only miss 2 gigs before mine is back, assuming the usual turnaround time. In the meantime I'm using a Crown XLS Drivecore 1500 and an Eden WTDI pedal pre. The pair cost 500 new, shipped off ebay and the rig is as loud as the M9 at under 15 lbs total , including a shallow rack. The tone is good but not "to die for" in the M9 vein, and I miss the quality compression and eq.



Scott McArron said:
My buzz got worse. Well, now there's a second buzz. There's the one that's always there, and now it's developed a second buzz that directly relates to the Master volume knob. It was at least usable at a gig, but now it's not at all.

Luckily, I just found out that I'm just a couple miles from an authorized Mesa repair shop, so I may just take that route since I can't be without an amp for 2-3 weeks with gigs every weekend.

Love my M9, it's the ultimate amp.... when it works... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
 
#1,004
I jukst started having issues with my M-9 about a month ago. Purchased it new in March of this year, serial # is 000161. My band moved into a rehersal space that we are renting and added a second guitar so I am running it a little harder now. I use 2 PH 4x10's and usually the master is at about 9:30 and the gain about the same. After playing for about 45 min. I will start losing all output (no sound at all) for about 40-50 seconds at a time. In between the dropouts everything sounds fine. I took it to one Mesa tech in the area and he said he couldn't find anything wrong with it, talked to another Mesa tech that is always so busy it's hard to get into him, but anyway he said there was a tech alert out on the M-9 but coudn't remember what it was about. Anybody got any ideas:bawl:
 
#1,006
Heat induced shutdown. I have had this happen as have numerous others who own M9's built between 2008 and 2010. Yours was probably built in 2009. It needs to be factory serviced with a bunch of major "engineering revisions." Do not try to get the local authorized Mesa guys to do it. The factory wants to do it, and should.

Call Mesa. 707-778-6565 Ask for Rich in Service. Describe in detail what happened. He will give you an RA number (return authorization).

It is still under warranty, and needs the full thermo retro fit (fan, slotted cover, bigger heat sink, new power supply, and a bunch of other stuff. The only cost to you will be packing and shipping it out.

svp said:
I just started having issues with my M-9 about a month ago. Purchased it new in March of this year, serial # is 000161. My band moved into a rehersal space that we are renting and added a second guitar so I am running it a little harder now. I use 2 PH 4x10's and usually the master is at about 9:30 and the gain about the same. After playing for about 45 min. I will start losing all output (no sound at all) for about 40-50 seconds at a time. In between the dropouts everything sounds fine. I took it to one Mesa tech in the area and he said he couldn't find anything wrong with it, talked to another Mesa tech that is always so busy it's hard to get into him, but anyway he said there was a tech alert out on the M-9 but coudn't remember what it was about. Anybody got any ideas:bawl:
Click to expand...
 
#1,009
Don't think so, it's just an educated guess. I think mine was made in 2008, based on the fact that it was sold to the original owner in early 2009, and the serial number is 000034.
161 - 34 = 127 which seems like they would be building two a week. Seems plausible.
 
#1,010
Ran mine all day yesterday in a loud jam environment with no issues. But even though its an updated version, I was still surprised at how warm it got. Not hot to the touch but pretty warm for an amp running in fully vented rack at 4 ohms with the master at about nine oclock. She sounded like thunder! I wish I gigged enough to really push the amp but I would likely be deaf doing that!
 
#1,011
Been using mine with just 1 8 ohm PH212 cab lately which means have been running the amp harder and it's performing like a champ. Freakin' freakin' love this bad boy.
I still use both cabs in rehearsal- bottom one facing right so it hits the drummer and the top facing forward so it fills the rest of the room. Has really tightened up my and the drummer's playing since he's hearing the cab and not just the bounce from around the room.
 
#1,012
rockstarbassist said:
Been using mine with just 1 8 ohm PH212 cab lately which means have been running the amp harder and it's performing like a champ. Freakin' freakin' love this bad boy.
I still use both cabs in rehearsal- bottom one facing right so it hits the drummer and the top facing forward so it fills the rest of the room. Has really tightened up my and the drummer's playing since he's hearing the cab and not just the bounce from around the room.
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At 8 Ohms it should be working less than at a lower impedance, unless of course it's dimed at 8 vs played very low at 4, or some similarly extreme difference. Regardless, glad to hear accounts of these dragons breathing fire without burping:p Can't wait to have mine back!
 
#1,013
lomo said:
At 8 Ohms it should be working less than at a lower impedance, unless of course it's dimed at 8 vs played very low at 4, or some similarly extreme difference. Regardless, glad to hear accounts of these dragons breathing fire without burping:p Can't wait to have mine back!
Click to expand...

Well yeah I am having to crank it a bit more! ;) With both cabs I run it about 10:00 and through that PH412 stack is enormo-loud, so with one I usually have it about 11:30-12. I've had to turn down the Bass level a bit too on the amp since I already boost a bit on my NS-5 because it was really working that PH212 cab.
So yeah, maybe I'm more worried about frying my drivers than overworking the M9! :p
 
#1,014
I'm diggin' "enormo-loud":cool: Maybe Mesa should hit you with copywrite royalties and use that in their carbine/PH cab ads:p

Rich Duvall just called from Mesa, a full week ahead of schedule, and said my nuclear dragon is good to go:hyper:. He said (paraphrasing here) most of the problem was a bad tube, and now the head has been further updated to make it more robust. Only charge for me is the 1-way shipping.:bassist::bassist:



rockstarbassist said:
Well yeah I am having to crank it a bit more! ;) With both cabs I run it about 10:00 and through that PH412 stack is enormo-loud, so with one I usually have it about 11:30-12. I've had to turn down the Bass level a bit too on the amp since I already boost a bit on my NS-5 because it was really working that PH212 cab.
So yeah, maybe I'm more worried about frying my drivers than overworking the M9! :p
Click to expand...
 
#1,015
lomo said:
I'm diggin' "enormo-loud":cool: Maybe Mesa should hit you with copywrite royalties and use that in their carbine/PH cab ads:p

Rich Duvall just called from Mesa, a full week ahead of schedule, and said my nuclear dragon is good to go:hyper:. He said (paraphrasing here) most of the problem was a bad tube, and now the head has been further updated to make it more robust. Only charge for me is the 1-way shipping.:bassist::bassist:
Click to expand...

Glad to know your girl is on the way back and the problem solved. I know how much you dig it!!
 
#1,016
Sigh....It's fixed.

Trouble is, they didn't really do anything that could have fixed it.
Here is the Work/Action Performed List transcribed exactly off the Mesa Return/Repair Form:

1) No Problem Found!
2) Benched a - ok
3) Updated as needed: xstr brace, fuseholder, Checked bias.
4) Burned and Played

Will report again after having spent more time with it.
 
#1,018
Chef said:
The fuseholder could have been your problem.
I remember early units shutting down over that.
Click to expand...
My Fathom had a fuse-holder shutdown issue. Thing is, it only happened to me like once, but I sent it off, they fixed it, and it was always perfect for me after that, and is still performing to this day in the new owner's hands as far as I know. FWIW.
 
#1,019
Chef said:
The fuseholder could have been your problem.
I remember early units shutting down over that.
Click to expand...


In this case, sadly, no. There wasn't a shutdown issue, there was a 3 to 5 hz oscillation of the upper mids on the lower notes of the A and E strings. Went through classic swap out single component strategy to isolate the problem. Only a head swap made a difference, not interconnects/cables, tube, instrument, string brand, cab, room, location, or listener. :confused:

Mystery glitch that went on for months. :help:
 
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