Guyz I fell off the wagon - Mesa content.

[EOengineer]

I swear I didn’t want to do it.

I really didn’t.

But then I saw it.

Just sitting there.

In GC’s used inventory.

Looking so lonely and on sale.

@Orvillain @TubeStack i blame you guys for this.

 

[0XI0]

how much?

 

[EOengineer]

how much?

I don’t want to talk about it.

A lot more than I paid for the last one I owned. Well under $1k though, which seems to be the going rate these days.

 

[nightlight]

That's a cool preamp to have, congratulations!

 

[0XI0]

I don’t want to talk about it.

A lot more than I paid for the last one I owned. Well under $1k though, which seems to be the going rate these days.

lol under 1k is a great deal tho. I have three.

 

[EOengineer]

lol under 1k is a great deal tho. I have three.

Yeah my first was $400 years and years ago - it feels a bit like defeat to pay what I did. They seem to have consistently climbed though, so I’ve just accepted that people have caught on to how incredible these sound and feel to play.

Three would be a blast. What are you using to push them? 50/50?

 

[norminal]

Aren’t these similar to the IIC’s?

 

[EOengineer]

Aren’t these similar to the IIC’s?

Yeah it’s basically the IIC preamp in a 2u rack. Not exactly but my understanding is it’s very close and can be modded to IIC+/IIC++ for those interested in that. I love it as is so will leave it alone most likely.

As much as I hate rack gear this one’s worth owning. Will eventually scoop up a 50/50 power amp for it, or rack my Mark III and route this into the fx return.

 

[la szum]

Sweet! Congrats!

 

[EOengineer]

While I’m waiting for this thing to get here the brain is running wild with all kinds of realizations of how I can put this preamp to work for me:

1. Rack the Mark III and feed this into the FX return for a switchable IIC/III hybrid kind of like the Quad
2. Preamp into Tonex capture of the Mark III power amp for recording and silent practice
3. Tonex captures of the preamp into the FX return of my Mark III for a studio preamp with as many independent channels as I want
4. A hardware bus for crunching up bass and drum tracks in parallel

Tons of options.

 

[Life Eats Life]

I bet that f’er is loud!!!’n

 

[EOengineer]

Well - the plot thickens. GC reached out via email to inform me that it was returned due to “the channels fading in and out” and that I can either work out a deal with them and roll the dice or cancel the order.

I’m waiting to hear what deal they may offer, as it may make it worth bringing to my tech. It could easily be a tube issue. I don’t think there is a ton that can fail catastrophically in one of these preamps, but I do worry about parts availability .

 

[spawnofthesith]

Congrats! but also bummer about the update....

I'd still see what the deal they offer is though. Did they have this listed as "vintage" ? Normal return policy even on used is 45 days, but I think it drops to only 3 if they had it labeled vintage

 

[JiveTurkey]

Well - the plot thickens. GC reached out via email to inform me that it was returned due to “the channels fading in and out” and that I can either work out a deal with them and roll the dice or cancel the order.

I’m waiting to hear what deal they may offer, as it may make it worth bringing to my tech. It could easily be a tube issue. I don’t think there is a ton that can fail catastrophically in one of these preamps, but I do worry about parts availability .

I feel like GC employees snag up killer pieces like this and cover their tracks to keep it themselves. I don't trust them really at all at this point. Hope it works out because the Studio preamp is

 

[EOengineer]

I feel like GC employees snag up killer pieces like this and cover their tracks to keep it themselves. I don't trust them really at all at this point. Hope it works out because the Studio preamp is

This thought had definitely crossed my mind. Hard to know for sure. If it falls through I’ll probably just hold out for a V or VII.

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

Tell them to take 40% right off the top....maybe 50% store credit.

This is what I would do.

 

[EOengineer]

Tell them to take 40% right off the top....maybe 50% store credit.

This is what I would do.

Yup this is in line with what I’m thinking.

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

 

[la szum]

Well - the plot thickens. GC reached out via email to inform me that it was returned due to “the channels fading in and out” and that I can either work out a deal with them and roll the dice or cancel the order.

I’m waiting to hear what deal they may offer, as it may make it worth bringing to my tech. It could easily be a tube issue. I don’t think there is a ton that can fail catastrophically in one of these preamps, but I do worry about parts availability .

Oh man, that's a win! GC strikes again on the plus side, is my take.

They'll probably dump it to you at their cost, or their cost plus 10%.

 

[0XI0]

Aren’t these similar to the IIC’s?

whole different dimension in the top end breakup