If you can let me have names of reliable brands of stepdown transformers from German Ebay, that would be immensely helpful too
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Mesa Madness - does it have to be this way?
- Thread starter tubster
- Start date
I had issues a while back with a Mesa M6. Got the same kind of crappy service response. Sold the Mesa and switched to another amp.
So, in my estimation, I would agree. They don't care. As simple as that.
I spent a bit more on one from Dr. Bass a few years ago, but a German friend showed me one he had been using for his SVT. I'll ask him what brands are good, he knows a lot about it.
Understand the frustration, while in the USAF late 80's early 90's, I played around Germany using a step down transformer with a bass 400 and never had 1 issue and a couple of them were biker party's on a generator. I also saw Stanley Clarke in Trier Germany and the whole band was plugged into this one big rusty step down transformer, I wouldn't sweat it.
TO the OP;
Take the amp in question to a reputable Tech (preferably a Boogie service center) and ask him for a price to do the conversion. You might want to get a multi tap transformer and a switch so as you can go back and forth.
I think Mesa is telling you to use someone from country of origin so as to make sure you get the right thing. When you are a company there is also liability to consider.
Mesa is a great company and is known for very good customer service. This may be a little out of their wheel house or they have a set policy because of something that went awry or you spoke to the wrong person. Mesa has made amps with international power supplies, I have seen them.
There are many reliable stepdown transformers available for cheap. You just need to make sure (if you get one) it is rated for the output you need. Too big is usually better in this sense than just right.
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Take the amp in question to a reputable Tech (preferably a Boogie service center) and ask him for a price to do the conversion. You might want to get a multi tap transformer and a switch so as you can go back and forth.
I think Mesa is telling you to use someone from country of origin so as to make sure you get the right thing. When you are a company there is also liability to consider.
Mesa is a great company and is known for very good customer service. This may be a little out of their wheel house or they have a set policy because of something that went awry or you spoke to the wrong person. Mesa has made amps with international power supplies, I have seen them.
There are many reliable stepdown transformers available for cheap. You just need to make sure (if you get one) it is rated for the output you need. Too big is usually better in this sense than just right.
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+1
To be fair, while Mesa is a great company with a strong reputation for wonderful CS (at least in the US), it is also quite a small company compared to a Loud/Ampeg or Fender. I know that puts many of our "international" TB brothers in a tough spot financially as well as for for service and sales. It's too bad really, because their products are mostly excellent - even legendary in some cases.
FWIW, to the OP, I went through a similar situation a few years back when I went to Prague to live/work for an extended period. I ended up bringing a RH450 over because of the voltage issue and just dealt with that for almost 2 years. Not a bad amp, but I sure was happy when I returned to the States and got my Walkabout out of storage.
good luck.
SirMjac28
Patiently Waiting For The Next British Invasion
I have to disagree with that though no manufacturer is perfect I'll put Mesa's quality up against anyone in the industry.
I think it's obvious that most complaints about Mesa's customer service come from people from outside US. So positive experiences coming from US residents are not really counteracting anything.
The message from this thread is clear - if you live outside US - stay away from Mesa.
Well, that's the hype I'm talking about. Look at the history of their products:
- 400+
- M-Pulse
- Titan
Once flagships of their fleet - they are all discontinued. To me this means they had design issues as no company discontinues good designs because this means wasting money on R&D.
If you compare to say Ampeg - the all tube SVT design has survived collapse of the original brand, changing owners, economic turbulences and overseas outsourcing. Yet - people still want Ampeg SVT. To me this is symptomatic that they just really got it right.
Mesa's shine was in the guitar amp department, they had some legendary designs there. Not so much for bass...
Having said that - Walkabout is still there, so perhaps this one is a decent amp.
We worked overseas for years doing specialized construction with a variety of non linear load power tools.
Step down transformer for the win and can be used in many countries with a simple plug adapter.
The WA is a very nice amp assuming 300 watts is enough.
If you use multi-driver cabinets it might offer enough headroom; with a 1x15 or 2x12 it wasn't enough for me.
Step down transformer for the win and can be used in many countries with a simple plug adapter.
The WA is a very nice amp assuming 300 watts is enough.
If you use multi-driver cabinets it might offer enough headroom; with a 1x15 or 2x12 it wasn't enough for me.
this is kind of an ill informed thing to say. If you don't like or appreciate Mesa gear, so be it, but please do not expect comments like this to go unchallenged.
400
400+
Buster
D180
Walkabout
Big Block 750
Strategy 400
These are legendary bass amps, and no nay saying on your part will make that magically become untrue.
Mesa products are extremely reliable, those who have real experience with them would put them up against any other manufacturer for quality and reliability. Mesa CS is also undeniably outstanding - 2 of their folks are on TB regularly and offer all kinds of info and support. Now that the excellent Genz folks are gone, who else can say that ? (I acknowledge that Ampeg has had Hodgy on TB too).
I would not exactly crow too loudly about overall Ampeg quality and CS. There are huge numbers of posts here on TB detailing the challenges of failed Ampeg gear and the challenges associated with dealing with Ampeg CS. No maker is perfect, gear breaks, some gear is badly designed from the start. It's a reality of mass manufacturing and global sourcing of sub components.
You have a point about international challenges of a smaller MI company like Mesa, and for those not in the States, I feel your pain. But that's just how they have decided to operate.
For you there are many other excellent choices. You obviously have a thing for Ampeg - good for you. Play what you like, but don't expect to diss the gear that many bass players love and rely on all the time without a reply.
and most importantly
enjoy!
SirMjac28
Patiently Waiting For The Next British Invasion
The quality of different era SVT's have been debated quite a bit on this forum alone and there are plenty of great designs from Ampeg that have been discontinued one example is the original supposedly holy grail Ampeg B-15N which has finally been reissued after decades and you can find countless "great" designs from just about every manufacture that have bit the dust because there is no guarantee the public is going to buy your product or continue to buy it no matter how great you think it is and all of that R&D just gets applied to other product lines so nothing is lost. I stand by my assessment of Mesa's quality they are a small company that manages to have a decent share of the market even though their prices are quite a bit more than most others. I'm definitely not saying they are everyone's cup of tea and that they haven't had issues with their product lines but by no means do they make a poor product and to the OP sorry for the derail I hope you get your issue resolved and have a great tour.
The only "design issue" the M-Pulse has is that it is pretty big and bulky in a class D micro bass amp world. Great amp if you don't mind the weight. In fact - I'm yet to play through another amp that has amuch bootay.
ALSO... Pro Audio is Mesa's service and distribution in Australia and they've been extremely helpful to me every time I've emailed with questions. If your issue took a long time to solve its probably because Mesa are not a big company and techs who know their amps are few and far between.
Rest assured, I don't expect them to be unchallenged
Only Walkabout and Big Block 750 are still being made (not sure about BB750 actually). The rest is done and dusted. No reissues required either.
I have real experience with them and I didn't find them any more reliable or better quality than any other gear. It's just a hype. Mesa's got Apple-like following. More social engineering than real engineering.
That I do agree with. I never said other makers were perfect, just merely stating that Mesa was nothing special comparing to others. Apart from hype and exorbitant prices they don't stand out from the crowd.
All I said was - stay away from Mesa if you live outside of US. Sorry if this breaks somebody's Mesa-incrusted heart, but that's a sound advice for people from around the world. Someone will read this thread and save big money. Will also avoid a really disheartening disappointment.
I agree though FMIC AND Loud are bad comparisons to Mesa I think. Loud is a small company that has all it's products contract manufactured in Asia except for the small amount of items that are being custom assembled here out of Asian parts and is owned by a group of investment bankers. FMIC is a fairly big company that is really top heavy with debt right now to the tune of 200 million and wobbling. Mesa is a small family owned manufacturer of US made goods. Ampeg is mostly a name that all the kiddies love but nothing at all representative of what it used to be. Loud is surely in deep debt right too I would guess. I bet Mesa owes no one money.
Agreed 1,000 percent.
Let's face it Mesa Boogie is an innovator, they come out with some "out there" products and are not afraid of taking chances. They also will discontinue and forge ahead. I give them credit for having very crafty skills for innovation. The Mesa Boogie D180/Bass 400 was a ground breaker. Ampeg even copied almost carbon to a T. Though why have 6 power tubes when you can have 12 with more power, headroom, and low end hence the 400 plus. At the same time Mesa came out with the MBassis 2000 a sleeper but this platform later morphed into the M9 which many like. While many companies all followed the Djor of the day Mesa stayed the course with some hefty butt kickers and then introduced the cool new lighter and very tasty tube amps in the Prodigy and Strategy. All I can say is wow. Fads have come and gone, companies have been bought and sold, production has been moved around the globe as a commodity and Mesa Boogie has been like a rock steady and solid.
Actually I don't mind the size and weight. These were obvious from when I first saw the amp, so I can't imagine how I could be unhappy about any of that now.
I don't like many other things about it. Don't like its controls, don't like its flimsy plastic shaft potentiometers, don't like how fussy it is when it comes to unclean power etc. Anyway, this thread is not an M-Pulse review, so I'll stop there.
Yeah, Pro Audio are allright. Although they didn't answer my emails when my amp broke, so there you go. Anyway, they're just a middle man, probably can't help much anyway. It's all up to Mesa how they handle the claims.
Yeah Mesa prolly told em not to answer ur emails. Most likely cause they knew it was you.
Let's face it ;-) This is an emotional statement, little merit, lots of love. Almost straight form a brochure. All I can say is "Wow!".
Agreed this negativity you are spewing is quite emotional but at least you made it to the list.
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