PSA: Mesa TA-30 for $600 at Music Go Round

[LucSulla]

I thought I would pass this along here. 

https://musicgoround.com/locations/kenosha-wi/product/S000175433/Mesa-Boogie-TRANSATLANTIC-TA-30-Head

I ALMOST bought this TA-30 yesterday. I lowballed someone on Reverb for an Bogner Atma for shits and grins, and they accepted it. Always happens when I say, "this is really out of budget, but you really want to feel like you tried to buy it and just lost out. Just offer something kinda silly. He won't take it, and you move on." Well, he took it, which DEFINITELY ruled buying a second amp out on top of it.

Anyway, Music Go Round in Kenosha has this Mesa Boogie TA-30 for $600 and no shipping. It's listed as-is and has a problem with the reverb causing a hum. I suspected this was the infamous reverb hum issue that these amps had. This was the response:

"So I have ran through this amp a few times. We even sent this amp out to our amp technician and couldn't fix the problem. Sometimes if you unhook the blue backlight LED that can help.

In my opinion, I don't think it's horribly noticeable unless you are trying to hear it. As soon as you flip the FX & Reverb/Bypass switch, the sound goes away."

That pretty much confirms it. Mesa, in their infinite design wisdom, but the reverb tank too close to the transformer, so it hums when the reverb is in the circuit. They also tied the reverb on/off on the main foot switch with the loop switch, and the FX/Reverb bypass takes them both out of the circuit. 

Leave it to Mesa to out clever themselves. 

However, after reading a bit more, I discovered that there is a second 1/4" TS jack in the back just for switching the reverb off. I read a couple of threads on TGP that said, yep, just turn the Reverb off with a foot switch gives you the loop back and mostly takes care of the hum. 

So, I was going to roll the dice. The TA-15 was one of the few Mesas I ever wish I still had, and I always wanted to try out a TA-30. Well, this is a TA-30 at a TA-15 price, though there is some risk involved. Thought I'd pass this along because if the problem is what I think it is (and I'm about 90% sure that's what it is), then this is a steal. 

Edited August 18, 2025 by LucSulla

[DarkHammer]

What makes this a great amp?

[LucSulla]

17 minutes ago, DarkHammer said:

What makes this a great amp?

Smaller form factor and kind of different for Mesas. For starters, they are easy to dial in and don't have a lot of knobs. 

Channel 1 is basically a Vox-inspired circuit with a regular and top boost setting. 

Channel 2 is what they call a Tweed, but is really more a Blackface Clean, in setting 1. Setting 2 is a vintage Marshall thing. Setting 3 is a flavor of a Mesa lead tone. 

They also have independent power scaling on both channels, so you can chooses either 45, 30, or 15 wants on each one. 

It's just a lot of versatility for such a small box, and it does most of them quite well. I created a minor fan club here I think when I sold my TA-15 to another member, and that isn't uncommon. 

I wouldn't buy one for a death metal band, but I was looking for something portable for some country gigs I have coming up. The Bogner Shiva I have would be perfect tone wise, but I'm driving to Montana and can't hide everything in the trunk with that amp, which would mean loading in and out at the hotels every night. Taking this guy and a 1x12 would have been perfect, and just about everything would have fit in the trunk. I'd have a good clean channel and some workable dirt tones for doing everything else via pedals. 

 

[Jakeboy]

Yeah, I bought Lucsulla’s and wish I had kept it myself. I should find another. The Vox tone is to die for….chimey as all get out. And the Marshall channel brings the rock. I upgraded with vintage preamp tubes and made an awesome amp even better.

I +think+ @gtrdaddy (Jamie) bought it from me. Why Mesa didn’t take over the world with these, I am not sure. In retrospect,it was the perfect amp at 15 gigging watts.

[DarkHammer]

here's discussion at TGP if anyone wants to learn more about this series:

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/mesa-boogie-transatlantic-ta-15-and-ta-30-amps-under-rated-gems.2352747/

 

[Menehune]

i've had a TA-30 1x12 combo for about eight years. It's a good amp, especially for gigging cover work as it's channel-switchable between VOX tones on Ch1 and Fender/Marshall/Boogie on Ch2, and Ch1 can be run either as a top boost or as a master voume. It's surprisingly lightweight, especially when compared to something like the Lonestar Special 1x12. It does have added hum on both channels when the respective reverb/effects circuits are enaged.

The combo hum was tracked down to an unfortunately-routed circuit board trace. Quoting from a Gear Page post that quotes Mesa Support:

There is one mod available for TA-30 Combos. This mod reduces hum and noise generated by a trace on the rear panel board picking up hum from the Reverb Circuit when the FX/Reverb is on. It abandons the trace on the circuit board in favor of a hardwired shielded wire and associated components. An authorized Service Center would have access to this mod, so if you do have a local shop, they should be able to perform this for you.

I started a conversation with Mesa Support soon after getting the amp. They affirmed that my amp had already been in the shop for all service bulletins, but agreed to take another look. Mesa got the amp, confirmed it had the combo hum fix, and reported they had even fired it up and jammed through it and found no unusual hum. Lucky me, it still hummed after receiving it, less noticeable at live volumes, so I've just lived with it. Now that I have more time to dig through amp guts, I'll revisit the issue.

For what it's worth, this synopsis from Brave Search AI is on target:

TA-30 Reverb Hum

The Mesa/Boogie TA-30 is known to exhibit increased hum when the reverb control is turned up, which is considered somewhat normal by the manufacturer due to the proximity of the reverb tank to the power transformers, especially in the head version.23 This hum is typically more noticeable at lower volumes, such as in studio or bedroom settings, and less of an issue during live performances at higher volumes.23 The noise can be exacerbated by the reverb circuit itself, and some users have reported that the hum increases with the reverb level.23

Several potential causes and solutions have been discussed by users and technicians. A common suggestion is to check or replace the preamp tubes in positions V5 and V6, although this fix has not always been effective.25 A more definitive solution involves a factory-approved modification that replaces a problematic trace on the rear panel board with a hardwired shielded wire to reduce hum generated by the reverb circuit.4 This mod is available through authorized Mesa service centers and has been reported to provide a noticeable improvement.6 Another user found that simply repositioning an internal cable by a few millimeters eliminated the noise entirely.5

For users experiencing a hiss rather than a hum, the issue might be related to a noisy preamp tube or a different underlying problem, as the reverb circuit in the TA-30 is primarily associated with hum.5 Some users have also noted that the hum can be reduced or eliminated by using a footswitch to toggle the reverb on and off, or by pulling out the Cut/Master knob to use it as a master volume.3 The issue is generally more pronounced in the head version compared to the combo, and it does not typically increase with the overall volume or gain settings.3

One of the fixes reported for the TA-30 head was to rotate the power transformer 90 degrees to reorient its magnetic field. I don't recall if this was an official Mesa service bulletin.

Finally, Andy Timmons demo'ing the TA-30: