Dead Marshall Mode Four - recommendations for cheap and cheerful replacements.

Psygoat

Hi.
I'm new here but have been in the game for a while (mostly as a synth tech)

I've been brought a Marshall Mode 4 for repair, from a recording / rehearsal space.
It's got multiple issues above and beyond the usual power amp IC burn out.

Has anyone got any cheap and cheerful recommendations for a replacement ?

I know some of the Marshall DSL's have lasted a while and the 8080 Valvestate, that has taken a battering at the venue I worked at has done pretty well.

Your thoughts, ladies and gentleman, please.

What to go for and what to avoid?

sw67

i like the orange cr120 that's at the rehearsal studio i use - its been there a couple of years . Another i use has Marshall jcm2000 but they are always being repaired. i don't know what some of the younger bands do but they don't deserve good amps given the state of them when we are following.

Psygoat

Will check out the Orange.
Interesting about the JCM2000, because they seemed ok to me, but I've never seen them used long tem, I've just done repairs on them.
You comment re younger bands - that's why we are looking for something cheap and robust, people just bash the c***p out of them, as sure as day follows night (or the other way round), in any rehearsal place, which is why you don't want anything that's too good.

ICBM

I would avoid valve amps for that job, especially DSLs. They just don't hold up well under rehearsal room abuse.

New -

Orange CR60/120
Blackstar ID60/100
Marshall MG100HCFX 'Carbon Fibre' - *not* the MG100DFX!
Line 6 Spider V head

I've never seen a single one of any of these for repair yet.

Second hand -

Older Marshall Valvestates (80** series, VS series) - not AVTs, they're shit as well.
Peavey Transtube or older Solo series
Laney Linebacker, World Series, Tube Fusion
Earlier Line 6 Spider

These all very rarely fail and if they do all are fairly easily repairable apart from the Line 6.

And it goes hopefully without saying - don't accept the Mode Four for repair at all, they cannot be guaranteed and you will probably just end up being blamed when it dies again. Marshall's worst-ever amp, I think.

Psygoat

Thanks for the advice ICBM.
No more mode 4 s. 
I'll see what budget they've got.
The mode 4 power boards are very cheap from Marshall, but they just don't last.
There should be massive yellow writing on the back saying "do not plug into a 4 ohm load!!' 
Which has no doubt added to the mode 4 scrapheap
I like the sound of the tda7293, but when u chain a few together there always seems to be problems and they are meant to have all this protection, but somehow it never seems to happen. They are cheap though !

Psygoat

Oh yeah. what's the problem with the old Marshall MG100dfx.
I've seen them get a fair amount of use / abuse.
Def agree with you on the old 8080's.
Because most of these people are punk rockers, they see Marshall and think great and if they see something else they're a bit UH?

ICBM

Psygoat said:

Oh yeah. what's the problem with the old Marshall MG100dfx.
I've seen them get a fair amount of use / abuse.

Same problem as the Mode Four and the AVTs.

That power module design is basically a guarantee that it will fail sooner or later, especially if the fan packs in.

DJH83004

I have to agree with IC anything with a TDA????  will die eventually despite the datasheets saying they have all the protection under the sun. If they run slightly hot or with too low an impedance load or the weathers bad! Literally just changed one on a 100dfx - going back to the customer today, in fairness the original problem was a slow running fan due to a dry bearing, but it doesn't take much to make them fail.  

JayGee

Going back to the original question, I know its kind of predictable, and that in spite of Boss/Roland’s track record early days for reliability, but I can’t believe nobody’s said “Katana!” yet...

ICBM

JayGee said:

Going back to the original question, I know its kind of predictable, and that in spite of Boss/Roland’s track record early days for reliability, but I can’t believe nobody’s said “Katana!” yet...

I would be wary, for a rehearsal room.

Firstly it has the controls on top - a bad idea, where cans of beer are likely to be around - and secondly I have seen a few failures with modern Rolands, especially the Cube 60. Whether that applies to the Katana as well, we will have to wait and see.

Psygoat

Stopping musicians putting beer cans on top of the amps?
It's political correctness gone mad !
I was about to veer massively off topic about TDA's and monolithic IC's in general, but will leave that for another day.

I was recommended this forum by a mate, and for a first post this has been really good.

Gentlemen, thank you for your input and if anyone, has any more ideas please feel free to add them.