Mesa Mark IV Combo or Orange AD30 Head

[greatmutah]

Just reach out to him if he doesn’t respond in a bit.

[spawnofthesith]

He said yes

Going tomorrow!

[greatmutah]

W00T!!

[spawnofthesith]

So I get there the amp is beautiful and pristine. Some nice Russian gentlemen. Fire it up, powers on but no sound, tubes not lighting up. Tinker around for a minute not getting anywhere

Then I see it’s a European mode. 240v :facepalm

I passed. I realize I could invest in a step down transformer but a. I don’t want to fuck around with all that, and B. Don’t technically know if everything works and also don’t know what ramifications if any might be associated with powering that amp on in a us outlet might be

[greatmutah]

Dude I’m legit bummed for you that this was the case. Fuck. That’s a great price for that amp but 240V is no bueno. And I don’t know if European transformers have the taps for domestic voltages or not. Either way it sounds like a trip to the tech and just not worth the hassle. Sorry to hear bro.

[Guitarbilly]

I used a 240v Laney AOR 100 with a step down transformer for a long time in the late 80s/ early 90s. That was actually my first "pro" amp. It worked fine and sounded good. As long as you get the right wattage for the step down transformer (which is 5x the amp rating) it's completely safe.
Finding good amps in the 80s in a teenager budget was a bit more challenging so I just dealt with it.

But honestly I don't know if I'd do it today. Seems like an unnecessary hassle ewith so many good amps out there.
And buying without testing it is a no go. So good call there.

[spawnofthesith]

I used a 240v Laney AOR 100 with a step down transformer for a long time in the late 80s/ early 90s. That was actually my first "pro" amp. It worked fine and sounded good. As long as you get the right wattage for the step down transformer (which is 5x the amp rating) it's completely safe.
Finding good amps in the 80s in a teenager budget was a bit more challenging so I just dealt with it.

But honestly I don't know if I'd do it today. Seems like an unnecessary hassle ewith so many good amps out there.
And buying without testing it is a no go. So good call there.

When it comes to those is that really the only thing you need to look at? 5x wattage? Seems like there’s lots of stuff on Amazon for like $30-50 but I feel like that might not be something tk cheap out on…


That said, I did ask the dude if I got a step down transformer and came back and everything worked if he would take $1k

I am fairly concerned about something happening because we plugged it in, but I’m no electrician. I suppose plugging a US amp into a European outlet would probably be worse

[Guitarbilly]

Yeah there's no issue with plugging the Euro amp in an US outlet. The opposite would fry the amp but in this case you're good. Actually if you waited long enough you'd get some sound, just really low volume lol

As for the transformer I'd recommend a 500w unit at the least. Like anything else, don't buy the cheapest one you can find, but it doesn't have to be anything fancy either. Anything in the $50+ price range should be fine. This is 70+ year old technology and not exactly complex.
Go higher in the rating if you want to be extra careful. But I would NOT go under 500w for this amp.

[spawnofthesith]

Yeah there's no issue with plugging the Euro amp in an US outlet. The opposite would fry the amp but in this case you're good. Actually if you waited long enough you'd get some sound, just really low volume lol

As for the transformer I'd recommend a 500w unit at the least. Like anything else, don't buy the cheapest one you can find, but it doesn't have to be anything fancy either. Anything in the $50+ price range should be fine. This is 70+ year old technology and not exactly complex.
Go higher in the rating if you want to be extra careful. But I would NOT go under 500w for this amp.

Word, well he said he would think about my $1k offer so we’ll see what happens still not totally in love with having to do that but a mildly inconvenient $1k mark IV doesn’t sound too bad..

Is it normal that given the power situation all the lights and whatnot came on, but the tubes weren’t lighting up at all? That’s my only other concern, I’d hate to go through the hastle of ordering something and driving out to fuckin Aurora again only to return again empty handed

[Guitarbilly]

It's normal. If you waited 30 minutes or so the tubes would have lit up a little and you'd get a faint sound

That's how EVH discovered the Variac. He bought a 240v Marshall without realizing then plugged it in and thought it was broken. He forgot to turn it off and tried to play it again after an hour and this time he got sound but at a very faint volume.

That's when he realized the amp was starved for voltage and thought "what if I get a 120v amp starve it just a little, I may be able to get my tone at a slightly lower volume" . So he got a Variac and kept decreasing the voltage until the volume was right for him. And the rest is history