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Mesa Studio Caliber DC-2, Early Breakup, Weird Clipping

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  • Mesa Studio Caliber DC-2, Early Breakup, Weird Clipping

    Hey Everyone,

    Got a Mesa Boogie Studio Caliber DC-2 on the bench. Customer notes that the clean channel overdrives or gets dirty too early. He also noted that he's had several techs look at this one and no one's been able to figure it out. Similar results with new tubes as well. All of the components seem to be ok and I've checked the four transistors in the contour circuit and they are fine as well. I've attached the schematic down below.

    This is a 1Vpp input with the Gain at 2 and the Channel one volume at 6 (measured at the MV pot). Rigol Shot is of the output wave from the dummy load. I'm not sure what the little squiggle clipping is caused by, but it originates in the phase inverter. Any ideas what would cause that squiggle as the wave goes negative?

    Click image for larger version  Name:	IMG_3036.jpg Views:	0 Size:	3.37 MB ID:	964265 Click image for larger version  Name:	IMG_3037.jpg Views:	0 Size:	3.13 MB ID:	964267

    These shots are a 1 Vpp signal with the input gain at 6 and the MV knob at 3. Tek is again taken at the channel 1 MV pot and the Rigol from the dummy load. So a decent amount of clipping here and again it has that weird squiggle as the wave goes negative.

    Click image for larger version  Name:	IMG_3038.jpg Views:	0 Size:	3.34 MB ID:	964269 Click image for larger version  Name:	IMG_3039.jpg Views:	0 Size:	3.59 MB ID:	964271

    Both of these settings are with the output level knob (last step before PI) at 6, so pretty crankin!

    Any help on this one would be greatly appreciated! I can also get more voltages and readings if needed. I'm getting 388Vdc on the plates of both EL84 and -11.5Vdc on the inputs of each.



    Attached Files

  • #2
    Start with checking the power amp.
    First verify the DC voltages.
    If ok, feed signal to the hot end of the output level pot and increase level until you see slight clipping at the dummy load.
    Calculate output power from the RMS voltage across the dummy load.
    - Own Opinions Only -

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    • #3
      Here's some voltages based on the test points in the schem:

      A: 392Vdc
      B: 301Vdc
      C: 196Vdc
      D: 2.13Vdc (not sure how a positive voltage is derived here. There's -52Vdc on the other side of the 15k resistor)
      E: -15Vdc
      F: 5.6Vdc (in Rhythm mode with no footswitch plugged in)
      G: -15.4Vdc
      H: -30Vdc

      all of these are at 120Vac from the wall.

      Running a signal clipped directly into the Output Level pot (so basically straight into pin 2 of the phase inverter), I'm just starting to get clipping at 2.2Vpp input signal which is 10.5Vrms at the dummy load. Starts getting more clippled with some crossover distortion at around 2.7-3Vpp and ≈11Vrms

      I did notice that the weird signal clipping on the negative part of the wave form is not present when I inject a signal into the circuit from this point
      Attached Files
      Last edited by GoldtoneWorkshop; 07-13-2022, 08:50 PM.

      Comment


      • #4
        Got this one up and running! I ended up finding a bad 1uF cap on the cathode of V3, which is right before the final output level knob. The cap was only reading about 190pF out of circuit. Amp sounds great now!

        Thanks!
        Attached Files

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