mesa F50 help

[mudbuddy11]

I'm sure I have to take this thing to the shop, but any of you experienced with mesa amps to know if this may just be a bad pot? I can play my high gain channel just fine, but then when I switch back to my clean channel, the master control does nothing. It wont turn down the volume, it wont turn up the volume. It used to take a while to 'kick in', and it would go from being somewhere in the middle to where the master was set, but now it wont go anywhere. It sounds to me like maybe the master pot is just bad, which would be great, and easy to fix... but I wanted a more experienced opinion.

I just got the darn speaker replaced after having blown it... now this. I love this amp... I just wanna play... shucks.

thanks

[Don A]

Try cleaning the pot. If that doesn't help, replace the pot. Pots are easy to replace on Mesa/Boogies.

[mudbuddy11]

anyone got a schematic with the pot value?

[mudbuddy11]

does this sound like a bad pot? it really has to be doesnt it?

[Jman60]

What I would do is contact Mesa. Everytime I've emailed them they have always replied within 24 hours (not counting weekends) and have been very helpful. Shoot them an email and descibe your problem and I'm positive they will help you.

You might even get lucky and send you a new pot. They will at least send you a schematic and or tell you the pot you need. It's a push/pull type pot that gives you a treble boost when pulled out so it's possible you have a bad pot. My F50 has never given me any problems other than replacing tubes and never had issues with the pots, but, I do clean them a few times a year and keep the amp covered when not in use.

But, I agree you should clean the pot first and see if that fixes the problem. If your not comfortable working on your amp bring it to a qualified amp tech.

[Fxrs]

isn't the pot held tight to the shaft w/a set screw of some sort? check for a set screw and tighten it if there is one.

[mudbuddy11]

how do you guys clean your pots? do you take them apart and use contact cleaner?

fxrs... yes its held with a set screw, but that isnt the problem.

thanks for your help guys. I'm calling mesa on monday.

[mudbuddy11]

also ... is the mesa f-series thread still here somewhere? I've done a search and cant find it.

[HoboMan]

also ... is the mesa f-series thread still here somewhere? I've done a search and cant find it.

That was over at Harmony Central.
Thousands of posts under one thread.

[mudbuddy11]

thanks hobo.... I forgot.

[Jman60]

how do you guys clean your pots?

I just use contact cleaner. Calling Mesa is the way to go if you can't get the pot working. I wouldn't take it apart, it's not worth the time, something could go wrong and add to your problem. If it comes down to just replacing the pot that's the way to go. Why mess with the old one when it might cause some issues down the road.

Emailing Mesa during the weekend isn't a bad thing, do it today. At least they'll have your email first thing Monday morning and will get back to you quicker. When you email them give them the serial # of your amp and describe as well as you can what was going on before the issue as well as what's going on with it now. Tell them you tried to clean the pot (if cleaning didn't fix the issue) and whatever else you tried to fix the issue. Leave your phone # as well and they might even call you.

[Jman60]

The Harmony Central Forum is fine, I would join and post this here,..

http://forum.grailtone.com/index.php?sid=61bd582f08616013a48aa2f9dcf76e2f

The Boogie Board, the F50 board is in the Modern Amps section. This is a real good site for everything related to Mesa gear.