Lemme guess, the switching relays have broken twice already. Mesa has had trouble with one thing or another since the '80s, but as a whole they've always been pretty reliable as far as mass production amps go. But, their quality has indeed declined.

There's no e-mail for the factory, but their contact info is:

Phone: 707-778-6565
Fax: 707-765-1503

9:00am-5:00pm Pacific Time (GMT -8 hours)
Monday through Thursday

Mesa/Boogie
1317 Ross St.
Petaluma, California
94954 USA

You mentioned your UK dealership. Have you tried the authorized UK service center?

Westside Distribution Unit C ,139 Lancefield Street Glasgow G3 8HZ
Contact Tel + 44 (0) 141 248 4812
Fax + 44 (0) 141 248 4813
Email info@westsidedistribution.com

The international service e-mail address to use if your country doesn't have an authorized service center:

E-mail - internationalservice@mesaboogie.com

Sadly, I also had a bad experience with Mesa. I ordered a brand new amp, and it motorboated (bad filter cap) right out of the box, the first time I turned it on. I called the factory and they told me to return it. I told them no, just send me a new cap and I'd replace it myself, that I was an amp tech, had been working on the things since I was a kid, and had swapped a zillion caps by now. They said it would void the warranty if I replaced it, that it had to be done by the factory. Mesa has their name printed on every component in the amp that's large enough to allow it (including the filter caps), so they'll know if anything has been changed. Good grief!

Well, I was afraid that down the road it would blow a transformer and I'd get stuck with a very expensive repair that they wouldn't cover if they saw a cap that didn't have "Mesa" on it. They told me they'd reimburse me for shipping it to the factory but never did. AAMOF, the best I remember it was returned COD for return shipping costs.

I could tell about some other things they've done since then as well, but suffice it to say I'll never buy another Mesa. Their customer service is the pits and their business ethic is about as good as the Mafia.

Good luck, Richard. I certainly hope your Mesa Boogie experience is better than mine has been.

Thermionic