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Hoffman Amps Forum image Author Topic: Mesa Maverick Oscillation when Volume turned up and Reverb noise  (Read 1640 times)

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Offline judgeamps

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Mesa Maverick Oscillation when Volume turned up and Reverb noise
« on: September 16, 2020, 06:50:00 pm »
Hey all,

I have a Mesa Maverick head that starts oscillating when the volume (first stage, not the master or output) moves up past 9 o'clock and also produces a lot of noise when the reverb is turned up. This occurs with both channels and with or without the guitar plugged in. The pre-amp tubes have all been replaced, reverb tank rca connections/sockets/input jack/everything else have been cleaned with d5. Input jack was triple checked.

Ay ideas of where to look next? Schematic attached

Thanks,

Offline pdf64

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Re: Mesa Maverick Oscillation when Volume turned up and Reverb noise
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2020, 04:18:51 am »
I suspect inadequate decoupling at the D and possibly C HT nodes, ie a failing cap or connection to the same.
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Offline judgeamps

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Re: Mesa Maverick Oscillation when Volume turned up and Reverb noise
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2020, 02:06:09 pm »
Thanks, pdf64. I replaced the C and D filter caps without any luck. The rest of that section tests fine it seems. I do see that only the rhythm channel oscillates. Not sure if it was fixed or it was always like that and I missed it. If I disconnect the reverb tank, the problem goes away, but no reverb obviously.

Offline pdf64

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Re: Mesa Maverick Oscillation when Volume turned up and Reverb noise
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2020, 02:50:39 pm »
Hmm, the preamp HT supply has 2 further stages, ie a dedicated reservoir, 470ohm, then a second stage.
The reverb driver is fed from the B node.
Maybe one or more of the above 30uF caps are dodgy?
If a connection is bad, good caps still won’t work right; so verify that the returns to 0V common etc are good.
Regarding the lead / rhythm mode differences, note that the HT supply gets more filtering in lead mode.
https://www.justgiving.com/page/5-in-5-for-charlie This is my step son and his family. He is running 5 marathons in 5 days to support the research into STXBP1, the genetic condition my grandson Charlie has. Please consider supporting him! BBC News feature  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm26llp

Offline judgeamps

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Re: Mesa Maverick Oscillation when Volume turned up and Reverb noise
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2020, 04:33:46 pm »
Thanks again. I believe I solved the problem. I cleaned the heck out of the jacks in and out of the reverb tank with a brush and more contact cleaner and I believe that did the trick.

 


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