2:90 finally crapped out. SS power amp or repair 2:90?

Triaxis75

Triaxis75

Inspired
Hello fellas,

Had a less than stellar morning today. My Mesa simul-class 2:90 decided to go on to the afterlife after turning it on this morning. I'm in sort of a pickle as most places around me send off amps for repair and wont do it on site. That being said, extended ETA for return --> missed practice is unavoidable. With how much and how old the 2:90 is, I'm considering buying an SS power amp. The extreme weight reduction, clean signal, and reliability of a new power amp is fairly enticing.

Just looking to see if someone will say that I'm making a mistake putting the 2:90 on the back burner for a few.

Considering the Matrix GT1600FX or GT1000 FX 2U.

Thanks,
 
Fellas, thanks for the responses. Just needed that extra push for spousal negotiations. Its naturally a little rough, sentiment-wise, to retire the ol' battle buddy.

Thanks.
 
Are you handy with a soldering iron? Willing to bet the molex connector from the transformer melted? Did on mine at one point. Mesa sent me a repair email. Long story short desolder the pins for the connector off of the motherboard and hard wire the wires direct. Cant believe i actually found the image.290transformergreenwire.jpg board and hard wire the wires direct. Cant believe i actually found the image.
 
That's exactly what happened to mine a while back. Fortunately my band's studio is not far from Mesa Boogie Hollywood so I took it in & they hardwired the connection. I think it sounds better now, more beefy & robust!
 
I agree mine sounded better right away. Was playing a gig smelled burning electronics, Look over at a wall of smoke rolling out of my amp. Plugged into a shitty amp for the rest of the night. Pulled the top cover and the damage was evident. Mesa said it was a common problem.
 
Yup...sounded a little odd at start up. Little tin-ish, then side A went dead, side B followed. Swapping about 20 cords in endless Configs, then smelled that stench of amp death in the air.

Shitty feeling/moment knowing that $1000 just went up.

*silver lining alert*

(Talking to wife) "Damn...it'll just be cheaper to buy this silly a@$ power amp. Dang, these things usually go for $2k ...I'll just grab this one for $800 so it's not as bad."

Hook, line, sinker... score one for the good guys!!
 
I recently sold my Triaxis and 290 to another forum member and I do miss the 290 sound and power but I don't miss paying for tube replacements or how heavy it weighed.

I now use a pair of Yamaha DXR12 FRFR powered speakers on stands and would never go back to a traditional power amp and cab. I have so much more flexibility using IR's and my rig is compact and lightweight and fits in the trunk of my 2016 Plum Crazy Dodge Challenger!
 
Pooshoes said:
Fryette just posted that the LXII is almost out, may be another option?
Click to expand...

This!! The 'Linear' mode might be just what I have been searching for, while trying every option under the sun... You can leave the power amp modeling engaged, but still get the reaction of power tubes into the speakers.

From the site:
It’s all about the feel. Once you hear a modeling amplifier with a real tube power amp pushing the speakers you’ll instantly understand why a digital signal path can’t duplicate the complex relationship between a power tube and the speakers. The LXII’s “Linear” mode provides a full-range, flat-response signal from your amp to your speaker, while the “Enhanced” mode brings the color and life to your tone that you would expect from a Fryette power amp.

Now you can hear what that model is supposed to really sound like!
 
If you're interested in tube power, check out Steve Fryette's 'Modeling Workshop' videos on YouTube. First one is axe fx through SS, 2/50/2, and LXII (both 'FRFR' and 'enhanced').

Worth watching all 4 videos as he drops some interesting technical info in all of them.
 
mnemonic said:
If you're interested in tube power, check out Steve Fryette's 'Modeling Workshop' videos on YouTube. First one is axe fx through SS, 2/50/2, and LXII (both 'FRFR' and 'enhanced').

Worth watching all 4 videos as he drops some interesting technical info in all of them.
Click to expand...

That was really cool of him to do and very cool of you to point out as well, but I would not only need to be in that room, but I would need to have the guitar in my hands to know if I'm getting what I'm looking for from tube power into a cab. As soon as he puts a microphone in front of that cabinet, he might as well be running the AxeFX direct to the board through XLRs. Frequencies are adjustable, and record-able tone we already have in spades! If you're looking to record or going front of house like you would with a microphone in front of your cab on stage, you're already there. Really looking forward to trying out the new LXII however, and the gear goes on, bud da dum da dum dum...
 
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