After years of every amp possible, I finally got my solo 100 dual rectifier. Holy god the best amp ever! Thank you Mesa Boogie for making rock n roll sound great!
This video is amazing. Thank you Mesa/Boogie. After 15 years of going through different amps I finally have the amp of my dreams. Picked it up at approximately 6:15pm 9-22-16. I'm never going back to any other amps again. Thank you all at Mesa you're the best.
+MESA/Boogie Well I did discovered a issue. The Tremolo effect isn't working. I turn it on and I can hear a clicking as speed is increased. But nothing happens as depth is engaged. Once off clicking noise goes away. Curious, what could cause this?
+MESA/Boogie would also like to add. no matter what small issues come from a poor previous owner. It is still a Mesa and built to destroy all others ha ha. I greatly appreciate any help.
Hi Dan Bo - Hard to say what exactly is going on here, unfortunately. The Tremelo circuit is not tube related so it is very likely something electronic and something that a technician will need to take a look at to troubleshoot, sorry to say. Make sure you have a simple tip to ground on/off switch (and not something that is possibly incompatible) before taking it to an Authorized Mesa tech for a look. Here's the link to search for Authorized Repair in your area: www.mesaboogie.com/support/locations.html The Tremelo circuit in a Tremo-Verb is not user-serviceable. Sorry to hear of the issue and please let us know what you find
Very informative, Thank you. To all of you that think (like I did for a long time) that Mesa Boogie products are built like tanks, it's completely false, Mesa Boogie products are failing and not in small numbers, the parts that they are using are not always of high quality like their claim.
Hi +yoheff988 - Is there a specific problem that you are having with an amp that we can help with? Contrary to what you are suggesting, WE are NOT seeing failures. Because tubes are finite devices and will eventually fail (all tube amplifier owners either know or should be aware of this), this is why we offer this instructional video for people to be able to perform their own maintenance and find and replace faulty/failing tubes. Regarding parts and quality, your statement is your opinion (which you are welcome to), but again, NOT reflective of what Mesa is doing or what we stand for. If you'd like to discuss further or if you are having a specific problem with an amp, please feel to contact us at 707 789 3325 and we'd love to help you out, address any issues or concerns you may have, and help you understand more about the company and what we do. Thanks for your time!
+yoheff988 I am an amp tech, as well as a builder of custom hand wired amps, and I can attest to the fact that Mesa Boogie does NOT use inferior parts in any of their products. While I may prefer to use a specific part in one of my amps, it does not mean that the parts other manufacturers use are not up to the task, especially Mesa. I have even worked on a few highly revered amps that were built by another manufacturers which had some Mesa-branded parts inside. The majority of the Mesas I have worked on in my entire career needed nothing more than new tubes and a good cleaning. In the few that required more serious repair, the cause was generally due to events that had nothing to do with the quality of the amp or its parts and could have happened with any amp. I have enough faith in Mesa's quality control that I will always recommend using Mesa replacement parts in their amps, which the fine folks with Mesa's customer service department have always been great to work with when acquiring these parts. I've worked on all major US & UK brand amplifiers as well as many import models and I can tell you that Mesa is easily THE best quality manufacturer out there with the best quality control and customer service!
Thank you so much, Don Sloan! We really appreciate you sharing your thoughts as a fellow builder and amp tech! There are a multitude of decisions and incredible processes that go into part selection. While we strive for the ultimate tone and reliability as the foundation of what we do, there is also economy to consider. While we don't make the least expensive amps in the world, we also don't necessarily make the most expensive amps in the world either - especially if you take into account the versatility of most Mesas. It's one thing to design a great amp. It's a whole other thing entirely to be able to produce them consistently and within a competitively affordable price range and offer one of the best warranties and service in the business. But these are all things you know... :) Thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts!
You got it completely wrong, my comment was a general one and not in reference to this video, tubes are failing all the time and it has nothing to do with Mesa Boogie or any other company for that matter. I’m using boogie for many years now and love your products very much, your customer service is great, I have used it many times, very helpful staff and thank you for that. My comment was a general one, in my own experience pots/ connectors/ switches are failing more than they should, IE over the years I have changed pots on my guitars to good quality ones, the good quality ones literally never fail, and I don’t have to tell you that they are being used much more than the ones on the amp. I SIMPLY WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW THAT EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE PAYING A LOT OF MONEY FOR MESA BOOGIE AMPS, THEY MIGHT ENCOUNTER ALL KIND OF FIXES THEY SHOULD HAVE NEVER ENCOUNTER.
Hi +yoheff988 - Thanks for clarifying and thanks for the kind words regarding Mesa and using our product. While we can appreciate your interest in your personal guitar maintenance, to use that as an example of Mesa using inferior parts is something we would suggest doesn't apply directly to our manufacturing and parts quality process. Again, if you have a specific issue or concern with an amp, we are more than happy to address it or help you or any other customer sort out a problem. To make a blanket statement that Mesa uses inferior parts because you like to use more expensive pots in a guitar or that customers should expect to have problems with a Mesa amplifier is just plain false and not reflected in what we see with our products or our customer service. Again, this is your opinion and you're welcome to share. However, for anyone looking to purchase a Mesa amplifier, your statement of your guitar pot experience versus Mesa reliability is unsubstantiated, untrue and unhelpful. Thanks again or sharing your thoughts and all the best to you and your music! Rock on! :D
MESA/Boogie Hi there.. Firstly i own a mesaboogie mark llA combo and its awesome ..having said that..while i was playing my amp on 60watts i felt it a little bit distorted and dragging..so i turned up the volume, n while playing it..everything stopped suddenly and my amp won't come on but the Orange on/off light does come on. Noticeably the 4th valve has two smudged circle patches on the glass tube (both sides) does this mean the problem n why it wont power up the amp? I'll be so happy to hear from someone.. Also how will i get matched 6L6 tubes inserted.. If tyey are 4 matched ones can i insert them in the socket by just picking one as (number 01) and continue the ballance 3 tubes.. Thanks very much
Hi SHANE BERENGER - If the amp still turns on but you have no sound, the problem is likely a PREAMP tube, not a power tube. Check the 12AX7 tubes inside the amp and they probably need replacing. For 6L6 tubes, in a Mark IIA, they are matched by the outer 2 power tube sockets and the inner two power tube sockets. If you have all 4 tubes matched, you can just install in any socket and you are fine. If you have two pairs that are differents match groups, install two in the inner sockets and the other two in the outer sockets. Hope this helps!
Thank You Mesa! I am so glad you guys posted this I have had a problem with my amp for a couple months and was about to spend a lot of money to have it looked at but thanks to this video $20 solved my problem and my amp sounds amazing again!!! YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!
I would agree with the section for testing the rectifier tubes if the power tubes are removed. However, once you start installing the power tubes for testing, should a load be placed on the output? Thought it was not good to power up a tube amp without a speaker load.
The Tech is .. Man, he's like the closest looking thing to a doppleganger of me I's seen. and I own a mesa 50w. Spooky. Hey that's loud and clear music in Cotati- the old Zone Music in the day. Maing, that store I bought my orange Plexiglas BC rich! That big guy behind the counter is a hella cool dude! Never steered me wrong! Props y'all.
Hey Mesa/Boogie. At around 12:27 in this video, it claims that to test a preamp tube for microphonics/other issues, you have to tap it with a pencil while the amp is on. Does this mean the standby being on as well? The fact that the volume is on seems to imply that the standby is on, but I am only asking because I don't want to kill myself through electric shock. I have a Mesa Boogie Studio Pro. Thanks so much!
Hi Kevin - short answer, YES!. :) Longer answer, tapping on the preamp tubes as a test for microphonics is also a rather subjective test requiring some experience to know what you're listening for as just hearing noise through the tube doesn't completely tell you that a tube is good or bad. It's highly dependent on your setting of volume, Gain and brightness (treble & presence) frequencies. If you are not having issues with squealing feedback when using high gain, the microphonic might not be of use to you. Regarding danger of electric shock, once inside your unit, make sure to touch nothing other than the tubes themselves with the end of a plastic pen. A pen is better than a pencil because there's no metal on it. Hope this helps and let us know if you have any more questions or if you've gotten your stuff fixed up. :)
The problem is I have tube rattle on certain notes, its more discernible on the clean channel but it exists on both channels. Do you think I could tell which tube was busted through tapping on them? Thanks again!
HI Kevin - Do you mean Studio Pre? Rackmount Preamp? Tapping on the tubes won't always tell you exactly which tube might be microphonic because once a tube is microphonic in the preamp chain, tapping any of the tubes may sympathetically pick up the tapping even though that tube is not bad. Make sense? Ultimately, you have to get in and experiment but this kind of troubleshooting is kind of a 'feel' thing. If this amp is actually a combo, this may change things because sometimes certain combinations of guitars, pickups and particular notes will cause resonant frequencies in combos and some tube rattle may be normal. If you'd like to discuss tube troubleshooting in more detail, it might be best to discuss via phone. Feel free to email me at tien@mesaboogie.com to set up a time to discuss more in depth troubleshooting on the phone. Hope this helps!
Hi Great instructive videos, congratulations. Now, I am having a problem witm my Mesa Boogie Roadster Head: The amp sounds amazing till it reach 1 hour of playing, then the overdriven chanels starts to lose definition and when I change from clean chanel to overdriven chanel it takes like one second to get the sound, like a fade in sound. Do you have some idea what is happening with the preamp tubes or the power tubes? Thank you very much.
Mesa I have a mark 5 90w head that has been giving me problems. All tubes fire up but zero noise comes out. I've had it worked on by a certified tech once before already. Still under warranty as well.
Hi Patmacker - Sorry to hear youre having problems. Have you spoken to anyone in Customer Service at Mesa yet? This might be handled the fastest discussing on the phone. Are you in the US? Let us know and we'll get you sorted out.
@Levi790 i doubt it's true as i use mine too and i self bias etc my other amps. I wipe the excess away though. does it seem to effect the lifespan of light bulbs? I'd justwipe them clean and i'd worry more about debris in the sockets than tubes. i have had some with COOKED dust on them and last for years. (the mesa i got as an example, had old mesa tubes they don't even sell or make anymore).
Hi MESA/Boogie fellas, I just got my hands on a Triple Rec (old version) which is still loaded with older STR-430 tubes. Trouble is, during delivery, the 3 rectifier tubes were shattered, as well as 1 6L6 power tube. Would it be OK to replace that power tube by a matched pair of newer 6L6 STR-440 and use it with the older STR-430, or should I replace the whole batch to STR-440s? I'll also have the rectifier tubes replaced of course. Also, maybe a stupid question, but when performing a stress test on the pream tubes to see if there are any noise or microphonics issues, should the power tubes be in the amplifier (in order to hear something) or can they be removed (after taking them all out for better access to the preamp tubes)? I wish to perform this on my Mark IV (short head, so little access to the preamp tubes with the power tubes still in) as I think the tubes are getting old. Thanks!
Hi Rephael - It's OK to replace just a pair of tubes in the amp, as long as you replace the tubes in the appropriate pair positions/sockets. In a Triple Rectifier - if you label the POWER TUBE sockets 1-6, left to right - the tubes are matched in pairs as 1 & 6, 2 & 5 and 3 & 4. If 3 is broken, replace 3 & 4. If 1 is broken, replace 1 & 6. If all of your tubes are the same color code/rating, you don;t have to pay attention to this. If they are different, this is important. Also, because the amp was poorly packed shipped and so many tubes broke, you may consider changing all the tubes given that the amp obviously had a rough ride and the other tubes, while not broken, may not be in good working order. Given so much breakage, we would recommend a fresh start with power and rectifier tubes. One other thing, with the broken rectifier tubes removed, you can switch the Rectifier Select switch to Dioides and operate the amp with no rectifier tubes installed. Make sure that the switch doesn't accidentally get flipped to Rectifier Tubes with no tubews installed - this is not good. BUT - the amp can be safely operated in Dioides with no Rectifier tubes installed. In order to test the preamp tubes while they are in the amp, you will definitely need to have power tubes, otherwise, there will be no amplification from the amp to hear the preamp tubes. If you want to change the preamp tubes more easily while leaving the power tubes in the amp, remove the chassis from its cabinet and you can change the preamp tubes much more easily. Hope this helps and hope the amp gets back to worjking 100% for you soon. Let us know how it goes.
Hi, thanks for your extensive and crystal clear answer. Can't go wrong! I took off the chassis on both amps, much easier indeed ;) I'll get some new tubes and check in back here. I'm still getting used to understanding tube amps, so I'll do a bit more further reading on my own. I'll certainly get a SPAX7 for each V1 preamp spot and some 5881 STR-425 for the Mark IV power section (as I already know how it sounds like with STR-430's), while sticking with STR-440 with the Tripe Recto. Also, I think the the 3 blown rectifier tubes on the Triple Recto were still SU4G's coke bottles, which might explain the damage. Just some questions on the fly here: - Is it possible on the Triple Rec to take off some power tubes (and hence a rectifier tube per pair of power tubes) to reduce the output as it is possible to do on the Dual Rec with the central pair of power tubes? - I took off the power tubes of the Mark IV and put them back one by one, following the cold start procedure each time while giving them a go on the stress Standy test (as shown in the video). While doing so, the inside of the tubes turned blue (every single time) and when the four were in, I even noticed some kind of flash in one of them. I guess this is bad... I noticed that the fuse in the amp was a "T8A", while the rating on the rear chassis says "T2A". It was sold to me like that (by a pro musician working in a music store though). I'm no specialist in fuses, but maybe that could damage the amp if the fuse can't blow when it should. - I'm living in Europe, and while my Mark IV is "European" (power section: 230V ; 50Hz), the Triple Rec is from the US (120V ; 60Hz). I'm planning to get a 1000W transformer to run it here for "long" periods (a gig) without overheating the transfo (since the amp is 120V x 4A = 480W), but I'm wondering: could the difference in frequence damage the amp? I've been said that if there's no motor in the device (like a kitchen robot), there should be absolutely no difference in behaviour or lifetime. What does your electrician think about that? Any power surge on startup like some other devices which might mean an even bigger transformer? Can't wait to have this Triple Rec pony run free (I like you old owner's manuals as you can see ;). I'll make sure to let you know how they all sound! Thank you very much for your answers!
Rephaël Sobrino Alvarez - Glad we can help. Your questions: Yes - you can remove a pair of tubes on a Triple Rectifier and the same pairing mentioned in our first response is important. Only rmove one pair, and make sure they are from corresponding, matched positions (1 & 6, 2 &5, etc). ALSO - the speaker jack impedances on the back of the amp change when you do this - they double. So if you have an 8 ohm cabinet, plug it into one of the 4 ohm jacks when one pair of tubes is removed. Tube Glow - Blue glow is normal. A white flash indicates a tube that has or is shorting and should be replaced. Fuses - A higher value fuse can do significant damage to an amplifier or any significant device. ALWAYS, ONLY use the value of use printed on your device. Failure to do so can lead to the most expesive damage to the amp that can be done. Do not play the amp with the incorrect value of fuse. Step Up/Down transofrmers - we do not offer qadvice on using StepDown transformers - please contact local sources for info on running your amplifier with step down transformers or please contact your local Mesa Distributor for information on getting your amp converting to your countried proper voltage. Hope this helps and best of luck getting your amps all up to full working potential! Cheers. :)
MESA/Boogie Well after reading extensively the owner's manuals of both amps and getting intimate with their functionings and after replacing the fuse to a T2A one in the MarkIV, I did the power amp test again on the MarkIV, just to find out that everything's fine! Except for some crackling in one of the power tubes, it's all good. And your instant gratification settings give a sweet tone, I'm rediscovering my amp back from scratch! I haven't tried the Triple Recto with a transformer yet, but after reading a lot on it I'm pretty sure it will run just fine with a proper step-down transformer. I'll let you know how it sounds anyway. Thanks a lot for the excellent customer service you provide, as well as for your extensive, clear and funny owner's manuals you provide. I espacially dug the Irishmen parallel Randy draw to explain the inner working of diode/triode/pentode tubes ;) Cheers!
Rephaël Sobrino Alvarez Excellent stuff, Raphael - so glad everything is close to working perfectly, now. Let us know if anything else comes up and thanks for the kind words. Rock on! :D
Hi MESA/Boogie, I bought a mark v 25 brand new, I am experiencing volume drop intermittently both channels. I purchased new el84 tube (MESA labelled gry ac10) and 12ax7 (MESA brand), and it is the same thing the volume goes up and down, the amp is already one year old. Cheers from Australia!
Hi Mr. Pullthetrigger - Sorry to hear you're having problems with your Mark Five: 25. If you have changed ALL the tubes in the amp and the problem still persists, the issue is probably an internal component and needs to looked at by a technician. A problem like you're describing is much more likely to be a preamp tube and not a power tube, so if you haven;t changed out all the preamp tubes - at least one at a time, as recommended in the video, I must suggest you try that first. Let us know where you're at with that and/or let us know if you need any help getting in touch with your local authorized Mesa repair. Looking forward to getting you back up and running.
I've got a 1980's mk iii and it is fantastic, however a complete re-valve on it costs more than my grab n' go katana 100w. It made me chuckle looking at that video and thinking as the guy was demonstrating, yeh there's about £300 worth of valves (tubes).
So I just bought my 4th Boogie which is a Rev B 8k serial range Mark IV. I’ve lost all volume on R1 while R2&3 work great. I can get some sound on R1 if I crank the gain and master all the way but it’s weak and sickly sounding. Preamp tubes did not make any noise when I did the tap test. Thoughts? Thanks
I just turned on my 01 single rectifier head without having a speaker load. I flipped the standby switch to on and began strumming. No sound. The amp was on channel two. Modern voicing with gain at about 4 o'clock. I turned the channel volume and output volume up a bit and nothing. It then dawned on me I forgot to connect to the cabinet. The amp was on about 20 seconds before I noticed it. I turned the power off then flipped into standby. Probably should have done the standby first then main power. Anyway, with the amp off I connected the cab and turned the amp on and flipped off the standby. The amp seems to be alright. Didn't smell anything odd. Did I dodge a bullet? What should I look out for? I hope I didn't damage anything. I've only had the amp a week.
I have 3 rectifier tubes-- the bottoms (numbers/pins) are the same on two, and different on one. How do I know which order? I'm assuming the pair goes on the outside, with the different one in the middle?
Good question and it depends, Fabio. To be safe, it's probably best to say that you should always have a speaker connected. There are too many variables to consider to be able to say in a TH-cam comment but the bottom line is, if you have any signal going in to the input of a tube amp, you always need a speaker load connected. Hope this helps.
Thanks for your reply, I've tested my Mark V (just a routine check) without the speaker cable plugged in, and no imput signal (just like your video)... everything worked fine!
I have a 1988 mark iii blue stripe, sounds awesome but has a really bad hum when one of the volume is pulled out... what could this be? do I need to recap it?
Hi Mason - please contact Mesa Customer Service to discuss troubleshooting and repair options for your Mark III. We still repair any and all amps we've ever built and the tech who likely built your amp is still at Mesa and refurbishing Mark series amps and others to their original golden tones every day. You can find contact info here: www.mesaboogie.com/support/contact-us.html
Hi there, I have a mesa v 25 I just purchased in Sept 2022 and am already experiencing loud squealing feedback with multiple guitars as well as an annoying loud humming sound on ch.2. I've moved the amp all over the house thinking maybe it was just bad grounding on that circuit of the house but no change. I figured possibly a little hum is normal, but this doesn't seem normal to me. And the squealing makes it almost unplayable on any of my guitars. Any ideas on what that could be?
I know I'm 10 years late for this comment and chances are you don't have the amp anymore but I'm experiencing the same issue. Did you ever figure out what it was?
So i have an old record player/radio and while it was playing a record earlier it randomly stopped. After messing with it I noticed none if the fuses were lighting up. Any idea what would cause every one to go out at once? Also where can I get fuses for older record players? Any help would be great, we are ttying to get it fixed by Christmas
Hi Joe - Fuses fail because something higher voltage is wrong with the device (not just that the fase has gone bad). You can replace the fuse but generally, a fuse failing is trying to tell you that there's something more important than just the fuse to address. You can go to a place like this: www.fusesunlimited.com and they will definitely have what you need. But, you will likely need to enlist the help of a repair person with something like this. Good luck and all the best!
hi, what can i do with the effects loop problem on 3 channel dual rectifier, its killing me!!!, i love mesa amps, in fact, i had a 2 channels triple rectifier, i changed it for a 3 channels dual and the effects loop is killing my tune. please help!!!!!!
hi guys. i have some truble with my single rectified. ive watched this video and helped me check the tubes and found some failure but dont know what the reason is. is there any way i can chat with you so i can get any advices? thank you
Hi Willy - Glad the video was helpful and glad you were able to somewhat identify your issue. The best way to discuss something like this, especially if you are in the US, is to call our customer service between 9am-5pm Pacific time at 707 778 6565. You can also email us via the contact form here: www.mesaboogie.com/support/contact-us.html We could potentiall comment back and forth here on TH-cam, but sometimes what seems like simple questions may have more involved answers, which is why it's best to call if you can, and maybe email us via the contact form if you can't call. Let us know what you decide and we look forward to helping you get your amp back up to 100%!
Hi Mesa/Boogie, don't know if you are still checking the comments here. I just bought an Express amp and have an issue of volume drop in and out every 20-30 seconds when amp is warm. Dealer thinks could be from no fan built in but seems strange it happens every time amp has been on for 20 minutes or so. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Hi +jonwands - sorry to hear you're having problems with your Express and we can help! If the amp is not designed with a fan, it does not require a fan. It would be helpful to discuss this with you in person rather than via comments here. Please send an email to tien@mesaboogie.com to discuss the next steps to getting your Express fixed up and back to perfect operation and we look forward to helping!
Sorry to hear of a problem, Kevin. Could be the switch or could be the connections to/from the switch. Definitely not tube related or user serviceable although I would say that the switch in general is very subtle. That said, if you've noticed the difference before but now there is none, then it may be something that you take to a technician to have looked out. We RARELY see this kind of feature fail. Feel free to contact us at the factory for service or you can seek your nearest authorized Mesa Repair Station by searching at this link: www.mesaboogie.com/support/locations.html Please let us know what you find.
Guys, I have glorified Mesa Heartbreaker with matched 6L6 and proper bis selected. It had been working perfectly. I did a mistake of setting Power "ON" with Standby already in "ON" position. Amp turned on, sound started to grow, tubes were bright - and after that stoped. Fuse has blown. Replaced it, took out ractifier (with silicone mode) and tried to set Power "ON". Amp turned on for 1 second and stopped. Fuse blown. Replaced fuse - amp does not turn on and red jewel is not lighted. Fuse blown. Took out all power tubes, replaced fuse - amp does not turn on and red jewel is not lighted. Fuse blown. What might be the most probable case?
I have a Mesa/Boogie Mark V combo, and I experience crackling. It persist even when there is no cable plugged into the input jack, but will stop if the amp is put on standby or the mute is toggled. Eventually it discontinues the crackling on the lower volume and gain registers of the 10 watt channels, but if the gain and master are turned up half way each, it becomes very audible. Is there any indication what may the cause of this? I'd rather not have to send the amp in for 6+ weeks if I can avoid it.
Hi +MEDium Studios - sorry to hear your having troubles with crackling in your Mark V. However, the issue is very likely to be a tube issue and something you can replace yourself, which is very much what this video explains. With the Standby off, you should hear NO sound anyway - that's what the Standby switch does. The problem could be either preamp tubes or power tubes and the first way to troubleshoot this is - with the amp making the noise, if you turn the gain down, does the noise go away. Or, if you turn the channel Master down, does the noise go away. Or, if you turn the Output Level control down, does the noise go away. Depending on your answer, we can determine if the issue is likely preamp or power tube related. Where are you located? Look forward to hearing back from you!
MESA/Boogie Thank you for the expediant reply! Within the first 5 minutes of being on, I can hear the crackling noise when both are turned down pretty low, or up. After 5 minutes has passed, I can only hear it if the gain and volume are both at, at least noon.
Hi MEDium Studios- OK. This is somewhat helpful. However, what we need to know is what happens when you turn certain controls down, not what happens when something is halfway up. Are you in the USA? If so, it would be much easier to help you troubleshoot over the phone. If not, please re-read my first reply and see if you can respond specifically to what was suggested. With everything at 12:00, if the noise goes away when you turn a specific control - Gain, OR, Channel Master, OR Output Level. When you cvan answer these questions specifically, we'll be able to help more. You can also email tien@mesaboogie.com and we'll be glad to help. Thanks!
I have a EVH lbx II guitar amp and the fuse blew up so i replaced it but everything seems to be fine now, I heard that is cause by a bad tube mostly of the times. Could had happened just cause the fuse was old or anything else?
I have a problem with my lonestar amp. Five minutes or less playing and the sound turn off. This issue happened only when I plug my guitar direct to amplifier. But if I use the fx loop (4 cables method) works without a problem. What do you suggest? Thank you!
Hey guys at Mesa/Boogie. Just curious why its not recommened to change all the pre-amp tubes at once. I mean, isn't a 12ax7 just what it is? Shouldnt they all sound the same?
Hi Trevor - 12AX7s are recomended to be changed one at a time for a couple of reasons: If you are trying to solve a problem, changing them one at a time will help you discover the specific tube that is causing the problem and get rid of that tube only. Because tubes cannot be tested for how long they will last (this is why we offer a warranty one them), if, for example, most of your tubes are relatively new and you run into a problem, you don't want to replace all of them just because one goes bad. Also, preamp tubes tend to last a long time and lots of people love the sound of their amps with 'broken in' preamp tubes versus brand new ones. IN this case, again, change the one that's bad and leave the others. Finally, if you do have a preamp tube failure and you find the bad tube but you also want to change the others because 'it's time' to change the full preamp set, you still want to find the bad tube so you can save the other old tubes as spares because those are actually the best spares you can get! So - those are just a frew reasons but it is certainly OK to change them all at once if you want... this approach is a little more scientific and specific and a little less wasteful, as well as poroviding you with known good spares when you do change your tubes. Hope this helps and thanks for the great question! :)
I just got 3 brand new sets of 6l6gc for my triple rectifier, I installed htem correctly and whenever I turn standby on and off, there's a light flash that happens... it doens't make sense to me.. these are new tubes so I'm guessing it is normal. But in your video you said that could mean I wasn't installing them properly? (Yes, bias switch to 6l6 and warmed up for 30 seconds.)
I have a crackle noise on my lonestar classic. Af first only at channel 2 with drive engaged, so i changed V1. Crackle still there and even on channel 1 but softer. Changed V2 also, still crackle. So i tapped the other preamp tubes but no extra noise occure. Than tapped the 6L6 tubes and there was noise on the first outside left tube. So i changed both outside tubes because of the different color code. Still crackle. When warming op the tubes and switch the standby on there is a blue flash on the left tube, even when changed. I guess there's a problem. I've used new mesa boogie tubes. Can you help me out? Cheers, John
With first outside left tube i meant the first 6L6 tube on the left; of the the fout 6L6 tubes :) and i know i changed the order of trouble shooting, shame on me. Looking forward on your reaction.
Hi. I am getting a random pop/thud on both channels of my Mesa while playing. Do I need to change preamp/power tubes? The sound is otherwise normal. I am using a stepdown transformer.
Hi +PeppyBerryman - Sorry to hear you're having problems with your amp. In order to help you, we will need quite a bit more information about your amp. May I suggest you send an email to Mesa Customer Service for further help: mesaboogie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new Thanks & looking forward to helping.
I heard that an amp head always needs to be connected to a speaker (for load) before I turn on my Mesa. Is that true, because there is no cab or speaker connected in the video when the guy in the vid is troubleshooting the power tubes?
i have two vintage altec amps exactly the same but one blows the fuse with the same tubes as the other so ive eliminated it being tubes...where should i look next?
Hi Truth - We can't offer troubleshooting advice regarding Altec amps, BUT - if you take tubes out of a working amp and put them into another amp and that amp continues to blow it's fuse with known good, working tubes, then yes - there is an internal circuit issue with the other amp that will likely need to be looked at by a techncian. Sorry we can;t be of more help. At the point where tubes are determined NOT to be the issue, you are now in an area where elecxtronics and circuitry are involved and that is where a qualified technician should be consulted as user serviceable options have been exhausted. Best of luck!
The fuse holder on my Dual Rectifier is suddenly not catching, and popping back out. Is this something I can easily fix myself? I bought the amp, used, about 6 years ago. Also, what is the correct fuse to use in this amp? Thank you.
Hi +Rok Hollywood - It sounds like the fue holder in the amp has maybe broken or the cap is broken - either way, it sounds like it needs to be replaced. For a USA Dual Rec, the proper fuise value is a 4amp Slo-Blo fuse. Hope this helps!
ALL of my preamp tubes are microphonic when i tap them ,(triple rectifier)and also my bigfoot contoller wont turn SOLO off (it stays lit at all times) is this a problem and are these 2 related?
Hi! I need help.. My mesa bogie studio .22 plus is grounded.. It turns on with no problem but when i switch on the "stanby" button it create a loud ham and electricuting me when i touch the chassis inside the cab. What might be the problem.. Pls help me fix it guys.. Thank you very much..
Hi +Dustin Teasdale - sorry to hear you're having problems. The amp working in diode but not working in the vacuum tube setting suggest you likely have a bad Rectifier tube. First, inspect both Rectifier tubes and look to see that they are both lit. If you see one that is and one that isn't, that's likely the problem. However, the both might be lit but can still be an issue so the visual inspection is only step one. If there's nothing obviously visually wrong with the one, we would suggest you consider replacing either one, one-at-a-time... OR - you can replace both and see if that solves the issue. Finally, if that doesn't solve the issue, the amp will have to be looked at by an authorized technician. Let us know how it goes and let us know if you have any further questions! Hope this helps! :)
I have a mesa boogie nomad 45. But has a series of strange symptoms. Channel 2 produces next to no sound. Reverb doesn't work on any channel. The solo function doesn't work. The amp doesn't appear to be very loud, and it's got quite alot of hum on it in all channels. Does anybody have any ideas? I'd appreciate any help. Thanks
Hi Eric - Sorry to hear you're having a problem with your amp. This is very difficult for us to say what might be wrong based on your brief description here. We would need a lot more information to be able to help. You can contact Mesa customer service via email or phone and this might be a better start to getting you helped out rather than a bunch of Q & A on TH-cam comment thread? Feel free to call from the following link: www.mesaboogie.com/support/contact-us.html Or Email: mesaboogie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
Hi Eric - Sorry to hear this. Please send an email to tien@mesaboogie.com and let's see if we can get you helped out from there. Look forward to hearing from you!
I have a question, if anyone can answer it would be much appreciated. If I have located that my rectifier tube is faulty, should I replace it before checking further tubes?
Hey Jonathan, on many of our amps there is a way to run the amp without the Rectifier tube or tubes. On a Dual Rectifier 100 Watt Head, for example, you can set the amp to operate on the Silicon Diode and simply remove the Rectifier tubes. So, you could check the rest of the amp minus the Rectifier tube(s) in many cases.
Hi +Jon/Ron Smith - Sorry to hear you're having problems with the amp. Feel free to contact Mesa Customer Service and we can discuss how to further troubleshoot and figure out what's going on with the amp. Look forward to hearing from you and look forward to getting the amp fixed up! www.mesaboogie.com/support/contact-us.html
Excellent, Jon/Ron Smith. If you have the amp on Class A, this means that the tubes that were on the outside (that are now inside) probably have something wrong with them. If you have the amp set to Simul-Class, it's still possible that the issue is with the tubes now on the inside, but in general, it might not be safe to consider the amp totally 'fixed' even though the noise went away. Also, if you haven;t changed tubes in the amp for quite a while, this issue might have been 'telling you' that it's time to consider changing power tubes. Keep us posted and let us know if we can help!
I'm loving this amp so far, It's crunchy. Can you invite James Hetfield and John Petrucci over my house, so you guys can help me tweak my Mark IV? ;) I have a studio here, so we can record something!
Speaking as an experienced electronics technician, I can tell you that Mesa amps are very reliable, and when they do need to be repaired they are not difficult for a technician who has good electronics knowledge and troubleshooting skills. Those techs who complain about how hard Mesas are to work on are not very good technicians who are stuck in the past and never got past the "point to point wired or nothing" attituded about amp construction.
This comment is BS. Mesa's are hated for two reasons. First of all their have schematics that tend to be incorrect or outright stuff missing from them. The biggest reason is their layouts are atrocious, cramped, and a pain in the ass to servics. I'm not even talking major work like having to pull a board which tends to require desoldering 80% of the amp. Even a simple resistor replacement can mean having to pull multiple caps just to reach it. Mesa loves throwing stuff under caps for some reason. Older, less feature rich Mesa's aren't hard to work on, but anything like a mark head is an absolute pain to service.
@@codykensington1424 Spoken like a true second-rate "technician" who thinks amp evolution should have stopped with the Marshall 1959. Anybody who has spent any time servicing MODERN electronics and knows how to do it well has NO problems servicing Mesa amps. You would never make it in any consumer or industrial electronics repair operation. Your electronic component level repair skills are apparently stuck in the dark ages.
Hi Mesa, i got a short question. I found out that my brand new mesa boogie lonestar head amp makes sometimes while im playing crackling sound or just a snap, doesnt happen everytime. So i opened the chassis and checked the pre amp tubes, and i found out that V1 is crackjng when i just move it back and forth, so i changed with another tube from V3, just to check what. Happens then, but it still cracks when i move it, is it normal that a small amount of crackling happens when you move the tube back and forth? And btw, is it normal that the transformer has a very low hum when your amp is on? Thankyou in advance :)
Hey, I just bought a mark V25 brand new and it just arrived about a week ago. I was playing this morning on the crunch mode with a little bit of the boost engaged on the mid control when signal cut out completely all of the sudden, the amp remained on and I checked later with everything unplugged and the fuse was still intact. Just want to know what might be up and how to deal with it. Thanks!
Hi Lowcloud - congrats on the amp but sorry to hear of problems. If the pilot lights and channel LED's all stayed lit on the amp when the sound cut out, it isn't likely to have anything to do with the fuse. The first question is, did you have anything else connected to the amp? (Pedals, pedalboard, rack effects, etc. If you did, it's important to remove all of those things and add them back one at a time to make sure the problem isn't somewhere else in your signal chain other than the amp. You can plug directly into the amp with just a cable and continue to play/test the amp and see if it cuts out again - if it doesn't, it may be a cable or something else in your signal chain. If you were just playing with guitar, cable & amp, make sure to check your guitar and speaker cables and speaker input jacks to make sure you trust them. From there, you might need to begin troubleshooting the preamp tubes one at a time as mentioned in this video. Let us know what you find out and we should be able to help you get everything back and going. Keep us posted!
+MESA/Boogie hey thanks for the reply, I unplugged everything in the loop and such so it was just the amp, I tried all my leads and tested them before hand to make sure they work and I couldn't find anything wrong there, I also tested the leads with out a guitar to eliminate that and there was still no response. I tried running just the head through the head phone jack with Status open back studio headphones, but there was still nothing. I don't want to break the warranty on it, can I test the tubes and keep the warranty intact?
Excellent job on the troubleshooting so far,LOWCLOUD NZ. As far as warranty, if the amp is new, the tubes are covered under warranty as well as the amp. Changing tubes is definitely user-serviceable so, with a known good 12AX7, if you replace the preamp tubes one at a time, at any time that the signal comes back with a tube that replace, you know you've found the bad tube. Let us know how you get one with the 12AX7 changes/tropubleshooting and if that doesn't takle care of it, we'll look at the next steps.
+MESA/Boogie just bought some new 12AX7s (Mesa made of course) and I found the V4 preamp was causing the problem and with a little bit of work we got it out and replaced and got the amp back up to its original glorious state. Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated!
Probably won't get a response but worth a shot! My Dual Rec. Is blowing fuses only in Silicone Diode setting only. Vacuum tube setting plays fine. Anyone have any ideas?
On a Mesa Boogie 2:90 Power amp, there are eight L6L power tubes, We have a bottom row of 4 tubes, and an upper row of 4 tubes, that makes 4 pairs. when replacing the tubes, how would one know which are the matched pairs? also if someone can recommend good tubes for the this power amp.
I had the same question several years ago and the Mesa tech I contacted sent me a diagram on which tubes are matched in the Simul 2:90. You don't need to color-code match all 8 tubes, just color-code match per pair (example: Yellow and Yellow, Red and Red, etc.). The top row and bottom row of tubes are offset slightly, but don't let that bother you. The top leftmost tube's match is the bottom leftmost tube. The top rightmost tube matches the bottom rightmost tube. All the tubes follow that pattern, top row tube position matches its bottom row tube position counterpart. I hope the font used here works, but to draw it out would look like this: Y=Yellow, R=Red, G=Green, B=Blue Y R B G Y R B G
Those are all very useful, but please mention that voltages inside can KILL (even though you don't describe steps of opening up the amp). And that people shouldn't experiment with speaker cables when the amp is on because a lack of a load can damage it.
Anyone here know what would cause a dual rectifier to make a 1 second switching clicking noise from the amp itself only when a footswitch is connected and only the first time it's powered on?
Gary Nobel, Customer Service/Product Specialist at Mesa/Boogie Ltd says: "There is no truth to the finger oil thing on tubes - we've handled tens of thousands of tubes with no ill effects."
@kimoband Please direct product inquiries and Tech support questions to the factory in Petaluma : US Domestic Support: (707) 778-6565 We are open 9:00am-5:00 pm Pacific Time, Monday through Thursday.
PLEASE HELP, LET ME START WITH I LOVE MY MESA AMPS!!! my first mesa was a triple rec bought new in '99, occasionally it would make a very loud popping noise when switching channels... after a few times experiencing this live ( an much grief from sound engineers at venues ) I brought it to where I bought it to be maintenance... I was quoted over 1/2 original price to fix it... I ignorantly fell into a trade with a different music store for another triple rec., after a few months... same prob. around this time my band fell apart lol an I had another child so my gear downsized an I let go of that triple rec. FAST FORWARD, I now own a triple rec., and a mini rec.,... THEY BOTH HAVE SAME PROBLEM!!!!! what the F@¡¥ is causing this issue, an if it is something a tech. needs to address, how expensive should it really be to have it taken care of? I mean, for me to have this problem with all of my mesa tube heads, I feel it must be a pretty comin issue... THANK YOU any one willing to help!!!
good morning im having some problems with my tube amp and i was wondering maybe you could give me a hand please....the amps is a Stiletto Ace combo 2x12...when i engage the loop fx in some moment the volume drops...the sound is like having the Send Level on cero ...is like something is making a bad conection because you turn off and turn on again the amp and is ok...i tryed to change the preamp tubes...i changed the V1 (all modes except fluid drive and fat clean) and V4(send return) even i changed the other preamp tubes but doesnt work...tryed putting a cable from the send to the return jack to by pass the loop fx but no results...it seems to be a common problem on tube amps...but i cant figure out whats going on...do you have some advice for me? wi will apreciated...help me please u.u
@punkextremist Please direct product inquiries and Tech support questions to the factory in Petaluma : US Domestic Support: (707) 778-6565 We are open 9:00am-5:00 pm Pacific Time,
That has happened to me. But it was the cord not pushed in all the way. And it took me a while to find out. Even started to take apart my pedalboard. Could have kicked my own ass.
So, to summarize some things for my own understanding: A) only replace a preamp tube when it has actually failed and is making noises it shouldn't be making (cuz Mesa Boogie says) B) replace power tubes (all at once) when one has actually failed, or if your amp no longer sounds as awesome as you know it should (so says the internet: forums n such) C) replace rectifier tubes.... when? anyone?
Hi +nuynobi - A) Yes... if it ain't broke, don't fix it. :) That said, some poeple like to change their tubes on a schedule... and that's fine too, but preamp tubes can last quite a long time so if there's no improvement in tone for changing them or you're not troubleshooting a problem, you might as well keep on going and save any backup preamp tubes for down the line or when you need one when one goes bad. B) You can change 1 power tube at a time if you can troubleshoot the bad one. If you have a power tube fail prematurely (less than 6 months or a year), if you can clearly ideintify that it's the bad one - sure - only change that one. And, agreed - if you're amp sounds less bright, mushy or you find yourself having to turn controls up or down from settings that your used to and you know you have a lot of hours on a set of tubes, replace the power tubes as a set and see if you get a noticeable improvement in the tone. C) Rectifier tubes last the longest our of power, preamp and rectifier tubes and the don't really affect the tone dramtically as much as they effect the feel/response of the amp. Firstly, if you don't use the rectifier tubes because you use the amp on Silicon diodes, you won't need to change the Rectifier tubes unless they are failing and causing the fuse to blow. Secondly, people who love the feel that rectifier tubes offer tend to like them more and more as they wear because they sag more as they get older, and that's the feel that most people prefer from amps with rectifier tubes. Again - kinda like if it ain't broke, don't fix it. BUT - always keep spares on hand, so you CAN fix the amp if/when a tube goes bad. Hope this helps! :)
After years of every amp possible, I finally got my solo 100 dual rectifier. Holy god the best amp ever! Thank you Mesa Boogie for making rock n roll sound great!
MRRGA...(Making Rock and Roll Great Again)
This video is amazing. Thank you Mesa/Boogie. After 15 years of going through different amps I finally have the amp of my dreams. Picked it up at approximately 6:15pm 9-22-16. I'm never going back to any other amps again. Thank you all at Mesa you're the best.
Many thanks, Dan! Appreciate the kind words and hope the amp is serving well! :)
+MESA/Boogie Well I did discovered a issue. The Tremolo effect isn't working. I turn it on and I can hear a clicking as speed is increased. But nothing happens as depth is engaged. Once off clicking noise goes away. Curious, what could cause this?
+MESA/Boogie would also like to add. no matter what small issues come from a poor previous owner. It is still a Mesa and built to destroy all others ha ha. I greatly appreciate any help.
Hi Dan Bo - Hard to say what exactly is going on here, unfortunately. The Tremelo circuit is not tube related so it is very likely something electronic and something that a technician will need to take a look at to troubleshoot, sorry to say. Make sure you have a simple tip to ground on/off switch (and not something that is possibly incompatible) before taking it to an Authorized Mesa tech for a look. Here's the link to search for Authorized Repair in your area: www.mesaboogie.com/support/locations.html
The Tremelo circuit in a Tremo-Verb is not user-serviceable. Sorry to hear of the issue and please let us know what you find
Very informative, Thank you.
To all of you that think (like I did for a long time) that Mesa Boogie products are built like tanks, it's completely false,
Mesa Boogie products are failing and not in small numbers, the parts that they are using are not always of high quality like their claim.
Hi +yoheff988 - Is there a specific problem that you are having with an amp that we can help with? Contrary to what you are suggesting, WE are NOT seeing failures. Because tubes are finite devices and will eventually fail (all tube amplifier owners either know or should be aware of this), this is why we offer this instructional video for people to be able to perform their own maintenance and find and replace faulty/failing tubes. Regarding parts and quality, your statement is your opinion (which you are welcome to), but again, NOT reflective of what Mesa is doing or what we stand for. If you'd like to discuss further or if you are having a specific problem with an amp, please feel to contact us at 707 789 3325 and we'd love to help you out, address any issues or concerns you may have, and help you understand more about the company and what we do. Thanks for your time!
+yoheff988 I am an amp tech, as well as a builder of custom hand wired amps, and I can attest to the fact that Mesa Boogie does NOT use inferior parts in any of their products. While I may prefer to use a specific part in one of my amps, it does not mean that the parts other manufacturers use are not up to the task, especially Mesa. I have even worked on a few highly revered amps that were built by another manufacturers which had some Mesa-branded parts inside. The majority of the Mesas I have worked on in my entire career needed nothing more than new tubes and a good cleaning. In the few that required more serious repair, the cause was generally due to events that had nothing to do with the quality of the amp or its parts and could have happened with any amp. I have enough faith in Mesa's quality control that I will always recommend using Mesa replacement parts in their amps, which the fine folks with Mesa's customer service department have always been great to work with when acquiring these parts. I've worked on all major US & UK brand amplifiers as well as many import models and I can tell you that Mesa is easily THE best quality manufacturer out there with the best quality control and customer service!
Thank you so much, Don Sloan! We really appreciate you sharing your thoughts as a fellow builder and amp tech! There are a multitude of decisions and incredible processes that go into part selection. While we strive for the ultimate tone and reliability as the foundation of what we do, there is also economy to consider. While we don't make the least expensive amps in the world, we also don't necessarily make the most expensive amps in the world either - especially if you take into account the versatility of most Mesas. It's one thing to design a great amp. It's a whole other thing entirely to be able to produce them consistently and within a competitively affordable price range and offer one of the best warranties and service in the business. But these are all things you know... :) Thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts!
You got it completely wrong, my comment was a general one and not in reference to this video, tubes are failing all the time and it has nothing to do with Mesa Boogie or any other company for that matter.
I’m using boogie for many years now and love your products very much, your customer service is great,
I have used it many times, very helpful staff and thank you for that.
My comment was a general one, in my own experience pots/ connectors/ switches are failing more than they should, IE over the years I have changed pots on my guitars to good quality ones, the good quality ones literally never fail, and I don’t have to tell you that they are being used much more than the ones on the amp.
I SIMPLY WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW THAT EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE PAYING A LOT OF MONEY FOR MESA BOOGIE AMPS, THEY MIGHT ENCOUNTER ALL KIND OF FIXES THEY SHOULD HAVE NEVER ENCOUNTER.
Hi +yoheff988 - Thanks for clarifying and thanks for the kind words regarding Mesa and using our product. While we can appreciate your interest in your personal guitar maintenance, to use that as an example of Mesa using inferior parts is something we would suggest doesn't apply directly to our manufacturing and parts quality process. Again, if you have a specific issue or concern with an amp, we are more than happy to address it or help you or any other customer sort out a problem. To make a blanket statement that Mesa uses inferior parts because you like to use more expensive pots in a guitar or that customers should expect to have problems with a Mesa amplifier is just plain false and not reflected in what we see with our products or our customer service. Again, this is your opinion and you're welcome to share. However, for anyone looking to purchase a Mesa amplifier, your statement of your guitar pot experience versus Mesa reliability is unsubstantiated, untrue and unhelpful. Thanks again or sharing your thoughts and all the best to you and your music! Rock on! :D
MESA/Boogie
Hi there.. Firstly i own a mesaboogie mark llA combo and its awesome ..having said that..while i was playing my amp on 60watts i felt it a little bit distorted and dragging..so i turned up the volume, n while playing it..everything stopped suddenly and my amp won't come on but the Orange on/off light does come on. Noticeably the 4th valve has two smudged circle patches on the glass tube (both sides) does this mean the problem n why it wont power up the amp? I'll be so happy to hear from someone.. Also how will i get matched 6L6 tubes inserted.. If tyey are 4 matched ones can i insert them in the socket by just picking one as (number 01) and continue the ballance 3 tubes.. Thanks very much
Hi SHANE BERENGER - If the amp still turns on but you have no sound, the problem is likely a PREAMP tube, not a power tube. Check the 12AX7 tubes inside the amp and they probably need replacing. For 6L6 tubes, in a Mark IIA, they are matched by the outer 2 power tube sockets and the inner two power tube sockets. If you have all 4 tubes matched, you can just install in any socket and you are fine. If you have two pairs that are differents match groups, install two in the inner sockets and the other two in the outer sockets. Hope this helps!
Thank You Mesa! I am so glad you guys posted this I have had a problem with my amp for a couple months and was about to spend a lot of money to have it looked at but thanks to this video $20 solved my problem and my amp sounds amazing again!!! YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!
With the problem I had with my RK, I called tech support, and they directed me in the right direction. You guys rule!
This was very helpful, especially the types of noises to look out for when checking preamp tubes! Thanks!
Nice, Rick! Glad it helped. :)
I would agree with the section for testing the rectifier tubes if the power tubes are removed. However, once you start installing the power tubes for testing, should a load be placed on the output? Thought it was not good to power up a tube amp without a speaker load.
The Tech is .. Man, he's like the closest looking thing to a doppleganger of me I's seen. and I own a mesa 50w. Spooky.
Hey that's loud and clear music in Cotati- the old Zone Music in the day. Maing, that store I bought my orange Plexiglas BC rich! That big guy behind the counter is a hella cool dude! Never steered me wrong! Props y'all.
Hey Mesa/Boogie. At around 12:27 in this video, it claims that to test a preamp tube for microphonics/other issues, you have to tap it with a pencil while the amp is on. Does this mean the standby being on as well? The fact that the volume is on seems to imply that the standby is on, but I am only asking because I don't want to kill myself through electric shock. I have a Mesa Boogie Studio Pro. Thanks so much!
Hi Kevin - short answer, YES!. :) Longer answer, tapping on the preamp tubes as a test for microphonics is also a rather subjective test requiring some experience to know what you're listening for as just hearing noise through the tube doesn't completely tell you that a tube is good or bad. It's highly dependent on your setting of volume, Gain and brightness (treble & presence) frequencies. If you are not having issues with squealing feedback when using high gain, the microphonic might not be of use to you. Regarding danger of electric shock, once inside your unit, make sure to touch nothing other than the tubes themselves with the end of a plastic pen. A pen is better than a pencil because there's no metal on it. Hope this helps and let us know if you have any more questions or if you've gotten your stuff fixed up. :)
The problem is I have tube rattle on certain notes, its more discernible on the clean channel but it exists on both channels. Do you think I could tell which tube was busted through tapping on them? Thanks again!
HI Kevin - Do you mean Studio Pre? Rackmount Preamp? Tapping on the tubes won't always tell you exactly which tube might be microphonic because once a tube is microphonic in the preamp chain, tapping any of the tubes may sympathetically pick up the tapping even though that tube is not bad. Make sense? Ultimately, you have to get in and experiment but this kind of troubleshooting is kind of a 'feel' thing. If this amp is actually a combo, this may change things because sometimes certain combinations of guitars, pickups and particular notes will cause resonant frequencies in combos and some tube rattle may be normal. If you'd like to discuss tube troubleshooting in more detail, it might be best to discuss via phone. Feel free to email me at tien@mesaboogie.com to set up a time to discuss more in depth troubleshooting on the phone. Hope this helps!
I can use mesa mark v or dual rectfier without rectfier tubes?
Thanks
Thanks guys, this is such a great video!
Hi
Great instructive videos, congratulations.
Now, I am having a problem witm my Mesa Boogie Roadster Head:
The amp sounds amazing till it reach 1 hour of playing, then the overdriven chanels starts to lose definition and when I change from clean chanel to overdriven chanel it takes like one second to get the sound, like a fade in sound.
Do you have some idea what is happening with the preamp tubes or the power tubes?
Thank you very much.
Mesa I have a mark 5 90w head that has been giving me problems. All tubes fire up but zero noise comes out. I've had it worked on by a certified tech once before already. Still under warranty as well.
Hi Patmacker - Sorry to hear youre having problems. Have you spoken to anyone in Customer Service at Mesa yet? This might be handled the fastest discussing on the phone. Are you in the US? Let us know and we'll get you sorted out.
I haven't spoken to anyone yet and yes I'm over in Houston tx.
Great video thanks! Love your amps! I have a Roadster 2x12 50/100watt combo! I love it so much!
Need that video in HD quality for 2020.
@Levi790 i doubt it's true as i use mine too and i self bias etc my other amps. I wipe the excess away though. does it seem to effect the lifespan of light bulbs? I'd justwipe them clean and i'd worry more about debris in the sockets than tubes. i have had some with COOKED dust on them and last for years. (the mesa i got as an example, had old mesa tubes they don't even sell or make anymore).
Hi MESA/Boogie fellas, I just got my hands on a Triple Rec (old version) which is still loaded with older STR-430 tubes. Trouble is, during delivery, the 3 rectifier tubes were shattered, as well as 1 6L6 power tube. Would it be OK to replace that power tube by a matched pair of newer 6L6 STR-440 and use it with the older STR-430, or should I replace the whole batch to STR-440s? I'll also have the rectifier tubes replaced of course.
Also, maybe a stupid question, but when performing a stress test on the pream tubes to see if there are any noise or microphonics issues, should the power tubes be in the amplifier (in order to hear something) or can they be removed (after taking them all out for better access to the preamp tubes)? I wish to perform this on my Mark IV (short head, so little access to the preamp tubes with the power tubes still in) as I think the tubes are getting old. Thanks!
Hi Rephael - It's OK to replace just a pair of tubes in the amp, as long as you replace the tubes in the appropriate pair positions/sockets. In a Triple Rectifier - if you label the POWER TUBE sockets 1-6, left to right - the tubes are matched in pairs as 1 & 6, 2 & 5 and 3 & 4. If 3 is broken, replace 3 & 4. If 1 is broken, replace 1 & 6. If all of your tubes are the same color code/rating, you don;t have to pay attention to this. If they are different, this is important. Also, because the amp was poorly packed shipped and so many tubes broke, you may consider changing all the tubes given that the amp obviously had a rough ride and the other tubes, while not broken, may not be in good working order. Given so much breakage, we would recommend a fresh start with power and rectifier tubes. One other thing, with the broken rectifier tubes removed, you can switch the Rectifier Select switch to Dioides and operate the amp with no rectifier tubes installed. Make sure that the switch doesn't accidentally get flipped to Rectifier Tubes with no tubews installed - this is not good. BUT - the amp can be safely operated in Dioides with no Rectifier tubes installed.
In order to test the preamp tubes while they are in the amp, you will definitely need to have power tubes, otherwise, there will be no amplification from the amp to hear the preamp tubes. If you want to change the preamp tubes more easily while leaving the power tubes in the amp, remove the chassis from its cabinet and you can change the preamp tubes much more easily. Hope this helps and hope the amp gets back to worjking 100% for you soon. Let us know how it goes.
Hi, thanks for your extensive and crystal clear answer. Can't go wrong! I took off the chassis on both amps, much easier indeed ;) I'll get some new tubes and check in back here. I'm still getting used to understanding tube amps, so I'll do a bit more further reading on my own. I'll certainly get a SPAX7 for each V1 preamp spot and some 5881 STR-425 for the Mark IV power section (as I already know how it sounds like with STR-430's), while sticking with STR-440 with the Tripe Recto. Also, I think the the 3 blown rectifier tubes on the Triple Recto were still SU4G's coke bottles, which might explain the damage.
Just some questions on the fly here:
- Is it possible on the Triple Rec to take off some power tubes (and hence a rectifier tube per pair of power tubes) to reduce the output as it is possible to do on the Dual Rec with the central pair of power tubes?
- I took off the power tubes of the Mark IV and put them back one by one, following the cold start procedure each time while giving them a go on the stress Standy test (as shown in the video). While doing so, the inside of the tubes turned blue (every single time) and when the four were in, I even noticed some kind of flash in one of them. I guess this is bad...
I noticed that the fuse in the amp was a "T8A", while the rating on the rear chassis says "T2A". It was sold to me like that (by a pro musician working in a music store though). I'm no specialist in fuses, but maybe that could damage the amp if the fuse can't blow when it should.
- I'm living in Europe, and while my Mark IV is "European" (power section: 230V ; 50Hz), the Triple Rec is from the US (120V ; 60Hz). I'm planning to get a 1000W transformer to run it here for "long" periods (a gig) without overheating the transfo (since the amp is 120V x 4A = 480W), but I'm wondering: could the difference in frequence damage the amp? I've been said that if there's no motor in the device (like a kitchen robot), there should be absolutely no difference in behaviour or lifetime. What does your electrician think about that? Any power surge on startup like some other devices which might mean an even bigger transformer?
Can't wait to have this Triple Rec pony run free (I like you old owner's manuals as you can see ;). I'll make sure to let you know how they all sound!
Thank you very much for your answers!
Rephaël Sobrino Alvarez - Glad we can help. Your questions: Yes - you can remove a pair of tubes on a Triple Rectifier and the same pairing mentioned in our first response is important. Only rmove one pair, and make sure they are from corresponding, matched positions (1 & 6, 2 &5, etc). ALSO - the speaker jack impedances on the back of the amp change when you do this - they double. So if you have an 8 ohm cabinet, plug it into one of the 4 ohm jacks when one pair of tubes is removed.
Tube Glow - Blue glow is normal. A white flash indicates a tube that has or is shorting and should be replaced.
Fuses - A higher value fuse can do significant damage to an amplifier or any significant device. ALWAYS, ONLY use the value of use printed on your device. Failure to do so can lead to the most expesive damage to the amp that can be done. Do not play the amp with the incorrect value of fuse.
Step Up/Down transofrmers - we do not offer qadvice on using StepDown transformers - please contact local sources for info on running your amplifier with step down transformers or please contact your local Mesa Distributor for information on getting your amp converting to your countried proper voltage. Hope this helps and best of luck getting your amps all up to full working potential! Cheers. :)
MESA/Boogie Well after reading extensively the owner's manuals of both amps and getting intimate with their functionings and after replacing the fuse to a T2A one in the MarkIV, I did the power amp test again on the MarkIV, just to find out that everything's fine! Except for some crackling in one of the power tubes, it's all good. And your instant gratification settings give a sweet tone, I'm rediscovering my amp back from scratch!
I haven't tried the Triple Recto with a transformer yet, but after reading a lot on it I'm pretty sure it will run just fine with a proper step-down transformer. I'll let you know how it sounds anyway.
Thanks a lot for the excellent customer service you provide, as well as for your extensive, clear and funny owner's manuals you provide. I espacially dug the Irishmen parallel Randy draw to explain the inner working of diode/triode/pentode tubes ;) Cheers!
Rephaël Sobrino Alvarez
Excellent stuff, Raphael - so glad everything is close to working perfectly, now. Let us know if anything else comes up and thanks for the kind words. Rock on! :D
Hi MESA/Boogie, I bought a mark v 25 brand new, I am experiencing volume drop intermittently both channels. I purchased new el84 tube (MESA labelled gry ac10) and 12ax7 (MESA brand), and it is the same thing the volume goes up and down, the amp is already one year old. Cheers from Australia!
Hi Mr. Pullthetrigger - Sorry to hear you're having problems with your Mark Five: 25. If you have changed ALL the tubes in the amp and the problem still persists, the issue is probably an internal component and needs to looked at by a technician. A problem like you're describing is much more likely to be a preamp tube and not a power tube, so if you haven;t changed out all the preamp tubes - at least one at a time, as recommended in the video, I must suggest you try that first. Let us know where you're at with that and/or let us know if you need any help getting in touch with your local authorized Mesa repair. Looking forward to getting you back up and running.
I've got a 1980's mk iii and it is fantastic, however a complete re-valve on it costs more than my grab n' go katana 100w. It made me chuckle looking at that video and thinking as the guy was demonstrating, yeh there's about £300 worth of valves (tubes).
So I just bought my 4th Boogie which is a Rev B 8k serial range Mark IV. I’ve lost all volume on R1 while R2&3 work great. I can get some sound on R1 if I crank the gain and master all the way but it’s weak and sickly sounding. Preamp tubes did not make any noise when I did the tap test. Thoughts? Thanks
I just turned on my 01 single rectifier head without having a speaker load. I flipped the standby switch to on and began strumming. No sound. The amp was on channel two. Modern voicing with gain at about 4 o'clock. I turned the channel volume and output volume up a bit and nothing. It then dawned on me I forgot to connect to the cabinet. The amp was on about 20 seconds before I noticed it. I turned the power off then flipped into standby. Probably should have done the standby first then main power. Anyway, with the amp off I connected the cab and turned the amp on and flipped off the standby. The amp seems to be alright. Didn't smell anything odd. Did I dodge a bullet? What should I look out for? I hope I didn't damage anything. I've only had the amp a week.
I have 3 rectifier tubes-- the bottoms (numbers/pins) are the same on two, and different on one. How do I know which order? I'm assuming the pair goes on the outside, with the different one in the middle?
Does the speaker cable have to be plugged in when I test the tubes? In the whole video is unplugged.
Good question and it depends, Fabio. To be safe, it's probably best to say that you should always have a speaker connected. There are too many variables to consider to be able to say in a TH-cam comment but the bottom line is, if you have any signal going in to the input of a tube amp, you always need a speaker load connected. Hope this helps.
Thanks for your reply, I've tested my Mark V (just a routine check) without the speaker cable plugged in, and no imput signal (just like your video)... everything worked fine!
I have a 1988 mark iii blue stripe, sounds awesome but has a really bad hum when one of the volume is pulled out... what could this be? do I need to recap it?
Hi Mason - please contact Mesa Customer Service to discuss troubleshooting and repair options for your Mark III. We still repair any and all amps we've ever built and the tech who likely built your amp is still at Mesa and refurbishing Mark series amps and others to their original golden tones every day. You can find contact info here: www.mesaboogie.com/support/contact-us.html
So, are the effects loop tubes part of the preamp section?
usefull tips. no matter how good the manual is, sometimes it's best to SEE how to troubleshoot.
Fuse ok, all tubes work but front panel lights are all gone and no sounds at all. What's the potential problem ? mine is mark V25 head
Hi there,
I have a mesa v 25 I just purchased in Sept 2022 and am already experiencing loud squealing feedback with multiple guitars as well as an annoying loud humming sound on ch.2. I've moved the amp all over the house thinking maybe it was just bad grounding on that circuit of the house but no change. I figured possibly a little hum is normal, but this doesn't seem normal to me. And the squealing makes it almost unplayable on any of my guitars. Any ideas on what that could be?
Hi I have a question for you, are all the pre amp tubes 12ax7s ?
Great video! I'm currently facing a humming in channel 2! It is pretty loud. Could tjhis be a bad preamp tube?
I know I'm 10 years late for this comment and chances are you don't have the amp anymore but I'm experiencing the same issue. Did you ever figure out what it was?
So i have an old record player/radio and while it was playing a record earlier it randomly stopped. After messing with it I noticed none if the fuses were lighting up. Any idea what would cause every one to go out at once? Also where can I get fuses for older record players? Any help would be great, we are ttying to get it fixed by Christmas
Hi Joe - Fuses fail because something higher voltage is wrong with the device (not just that the fase has gone bad). You can replace the fuse but generally, a fuse failing is trying to tell you that there's something more important than just the fuse to address. You can go to a place like this: www.fusesunlimited.com and they will definitely have what you need. But, you will likely need to enlist the help of a repair person with something like this. Good luck and all the best!
So it's ok to turn on a boogie with no speaker attached?
hi, what can i do with the effects loop problem on 3 channel dual rectifier, its killing me!!!, i love mesa amps, in fact, i had a 2 channels triple rectifier, i changed it for a 3 channels dual and the effects loop is killing my tune.
please help!!!!!!
hi guys. i have some truble with my single rectified. ive watched this video and helped me check the tubes and found some failure but dont know what the reason is. is there any way i can chat with you so i can get any advices?
thank you
Hi Willy - Glad the video was helpful and glad you were able to somewhat identify your issue. The best way to discuss something like this, especially if you are in the US, is to call our customer service between 9am-5pm Pacific time at 707 778 6565. You can also email us via the contact form here: www.mesaboogie.com/support/contact-us.html We could potentiall comment back and forth here on TH-cam, but sometimes what seems like simple questions may have more involved answers, which is why it's best to call if you can, and maybe email us via the contact form if you can't call. Let us know what you decide and we look forward to helping you get your amp back up to 100%!
Hi Mesa/Boogie, don't know if you are still checking the comments here. I just bought an Express amp and have an issue of volume drop in and out every 20-30 seconds when amp is warm. Dealer thinks could be from no fan built in but seems strange it happens every time amp has been on for 20 minutes or so. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Hi +jonwands - sorry to hear you're having problems with your Express and we can help! If the amp is not designed with a fan, it does not require a fan. It would be helpful to discuss this with you in person rather than via comments here. Please send an email to tien@mesaboogie.com to discuss the next steps to getting your Express fixed up and back to perfect operation and we look forward to helping!
My Lonestar V2 thick,thicker switch is not working.Makes no change in tone whatsoever.Could it just be the switch?
Sorry to hear of a problem, Kevin. Could be the switch or could be the connections to/from the switch. Definitely not tube related or user serviceable although I would say that the switch in general is very subtle. That said, if you've noticed the difference before but now there is none, then it may be something that you take to a technician to have looked out. We RARELY see this kind of feature fail. Feel free to contact us at the factory for service or you can seek your nearest authorized Mesa Repair Station by searching at this link: www.mesaboogie.com/support/locations.html Please let us know what you find.
Guys, I have glorified Mesa Heartbreaker with matched 6L6 and proper bis selected. It had been working perfectly.
I did a mistake of setting Power "ON" with Standby already in "ON" position.
Amp turned on, sound started to grow, tubes were bright - and after that stoped.
Fuse has blown. Replaced it, took out ractifier (with silicone mode) and tried to set Power "ON". Amp turned on for 1 second and stopped. Fuse blown.
Replaced fuse - amp does not turn on and red jewel is not lighted. Fuse blown.
Took out all power tubes, replaced fuse - amp does not turn on and red jewel is not lighted. Fuse blown.
What might be the most probable case?
I have a Mesa/Boogie Mark V combo, and I experience crackling. It persist even when there is no cable plugged into the input jack, but will stop if the amp is put on standby or the mute is toggled. Eventually it discontinues the crackling on the lower volume and gain registers of the 10 watt channels, but if the gain and master are turned up half way each, it becomes very audible. Is there any indication what may the cause of this? I'd rather not have to send the amp in for 6+ weeks if I can avoid it.
Hi +MEDium Studios - sorry to hear your having troubles with crackling in your Mark V. However, the issue is very likely to be a tube issue and something you can replace yourself, which is very much what this video explains. With the Standby off, you should hear NO sound anyway - that's what the Standby switch does. The problem could be either preamp tubes or power tubes and the first way to troubleshoot this is - with the amp making the noise, if you turn the gain down, does the noise go away. Or, if you turn the channel Master down, does the noise go away. Or, if you turn the Output Level control down, does the noise go away. Depending on your answer, we can determine if the issue is likely preamp or power tube related. Where are you located? Look forward to hearing back from you!
MESA/Boogie Thank you for the expediant reply! Within the first 5 minutes of being on, I can hear the crackling noise when both are turned down pretty low, or up. After 5 minutes has passed, I can only hear it if the gain and volume are both at, at least noon.
Hi MEDium Studios- OK. This is somewhat helpful. However, what we need to know is what happens when you turn certain controls down, not what happens when something is halfway up. Are you in the USA? If so, it would be much easier to help you troubleshoot over the phone. If not, please re-read my first reply and see if you can respond specifically to what was suggested. With everything at 12:00, if the noise goes away when you turn a specific control - Gain, OR, Channel Master, OR Output Level. When you cvan answer these questions specifically, we'll be able to help more. You can also email tien@mesaboogie.com and we'll be glad to help. Thanks!
in the mark iv, if change tube, I have to biasing amp??? if I always use the same code mesa boogie tubes?
I have a basis m2000. The amp power light is not coming on but other lights are coming on as well as the footswitch lights come on. Also no sound.
the speaker cable shown at 1:31 is an instrument cable.
my mesa roadster will sometimes go into making a crackling sound. any ideas?
I have a EVH lbx II guitar amp and the fuse blew up so i replaced it but everything seems to be fine now, I heard that is cause by a bad tube mostly of the times. Could had happened just cause the fuse was old or anything else?
What a great tutorial...
Thanks, OTC! Glad you dig! :D
I have a problem with my lonestar amp. Five minutes or less playing and the sound turn off. This issue happened only when I plug my guitar direct to amplifier. But if I use the fx loop (4 cables method) works without a problem. What do you suggest? Thank you!
Hey Mesa, My mini rectifier 25 wont work when its on 25 watts. Is it a tube problem or some other problem?
having no speaker connected during these tests is ok? i thought it was very bad to run a tube amp without a speaker connected ever!
i have a Mesa F50 and the reverb stopped working, the closest "Mesa"service center is hours away. is there any help or adice you can give me ? thanks
Hey guys at Mesa/Boogie. Just curious why its not recommened to change all the pre-amp tubes at once. I mean, isn't a 12ax7 just what it is? Shouldnt they all sound the same?
Hi Trevor - 12AX7s are recomended to be changed one at a time for a couple of reasons: If you are trying to solve a problem, changing them one at a time will help you discover the specific tube that is causing the problem and get rid of that tube only. Because tubes cannot be tested for how long they will last (this is why we offer a warranty one them), if, for example, most of your tubes are relatively new and you run into a problem, you don't want to replace all of them just because one goes bad. Also, preamp tubes tend to last a long time and lots of people love the sound of their amps with 'broken in' preamp tubes versus brand new ones. IN this case, again, change the one that's bad and leave the others. Finally, if you do have a preamp tube failure and you find the bad tube but you also want to change the others because 'it's time' to change the full preamp set, you still want to find the bad tube so you can save the other old tubes as spares because those are actually the best spares you can get! So - those are just a frew reasons but it is certainly OK to change them all at once if you want... this approach is a little more scientific and specific and a little less wasteful, as well as poroviding you with known good spares when you do change your tubes. Hope this helps and thanks for the great question! :)
I just got 3 brand new sets of 6l6gc for my triple rectifier, I installed htem correctly and whenever I turn standby on and off, there's a light flash that happens... it doens't make sense to me.. these are new tubes so I'm guessing it is normal.
But in your video you said that could mean I wasn't installing them properly?
(Yes, bias switch to 6l6 and warmed up for 30 seconds.)
I’m having the exact same doubt/issue on my DR. All the 4 old and 4 new power tubes I bought are showing a light flash on the standby on and off test…
I have a crackle noise on my lonestar classic. Af first only at channel 2 with drive engaged, so i changed V1. Crackle still there and even on channel 1 but softer. Changed V2 also, still crackle. So i tapped the other preamp tubes but no extra noise occure. Than tapped the 6L6 tubes and there was noise on the first outside left tube. So i changed both outside tubes because of the different color code. Still crackle. When warming op the tubes and switch the standby on there is a blue flash on the left tube, even when changed. I guess there's a problem. I've used new mesa boogie tubes. Can you help me out? Cheers, John
With first outside left tube i meant the first 6L6 tube on the left; of the the fout 6L6 tubes :) and i know i changed the order of trouble shooting, shame on me. Looking forward on your reaction.
Thank you.
Hi. I am getting a random pop/thud on both channels of my Mesa while playing. Do I need to change preamp/power tubes? The sound is otherwise normal. I am using a stepdown transformer.
Hi +PeppyBerryman - Sorry to hear you're having problems with your amp. In order to help you, we will need quite a bit more information about your amp. May I suggest you send an email to Mesa Customer Service for further help: mesaboogie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
Thanks & looking forward to helping.
I heard that an amp head always needs to be connected to a speaker (for load) before I turn on my Mesa. Is that true, because there is no cab or speaker connected in the video when the guy in the vid is troubleshooting the power tubes?
i have two vintage altec amps exactly the same but one blows the fuse with the same tubes as the other so ive eliminated it being tubes...where should i look next?
Hi Truth - We can't offer troubleshooting advice regarding Altec amps, BUT - if you take tubes out of a working amp and put them into another amp and that amp continues to blow it's fuse with known good, working tubes, then yes - there is an internal circuit issue with the other amp that will likely need to be looked at by a techncian. Sorry we can;t be of more help. At the point where tubes are determined NOT to be the issue, you are now in an area where elecxtronics and circuitry are involved and that is where a qualified technician should be consulted as user serviceable options have been exhausted. Best of luck!
The fuse holder on my Dual Rectifier is suddenly not catching, and popping back out. Is this something I can easily fix myself? I bought the amp, used, about 6 years ago. Also, what is the correct fuse to use in this amp? Thank you.
Hi +Rok Hollywood - It sounds like the fue holder in the amp has maybe broken or the cap is broken - either way, it sounds like it needs to be replaced. For a USA Dual Rec, the proper fuise value is a 4amp Slo-Blo fuse. Hope this helps!
ALL of my preamp tubes are microphonic when i tap them ,(triple rectifier)and also my bigfoot contoller wont turn SOLO off (it stays lit at all times) is this a problem and are these 2 related?
Hi, we recommend taking that to an experienced technician.
Does this apply to other amplifiers?
Hi! I need help.. My mesa bogie studio .22 plus is grounded.. It turns on with no problem but when i switch on the "stanby" button it create a loud ham and electricuting me when i touch the chassis inside the cab. What might be the problem.. Pls help me fix it guys.. Thank you very much..
dual rectifier doesnt work in vacuum tube mode, but works fine in Silicon diode mode? please help
Hi +Dustin Teasdale - sorry to hear you're having problems. The amp working in diode but not working in the vacuum tube setting suggest you likely have a bad Rectifier tube. First, inspect both Rectifier tubes and look to see that they are both lit. If you see one that is and one that isn't, that's likely the problem. However, the both might be lit but can still be an issue so the visual inspection is only step one. If there's nothing obviously visually wrong with the one, we would suggest you consider replacing either one, one-at-a-time... OR - you can replace both and see if that solves the issue. Finally, if that doesn't solve the issue, the amp will have to be looked at by an authorized technician. Let us know how it goes and let us know if you have any further questions! Hope this helps! :)
At 12:15 you can see a "loose" screw on the top left corner, why is this screw "loose" and what does it do?
I have a mesa boogie nomad 45. But has a series of strange symptoms.
Channel 2 produces next to no sound.
Reverb doesn't work on any channel.
The solo function doesn't work.
The amp doesn't appear to be very loud, and it's got quite alot of hum on it in all channels. Does anybody have any ideas? I'd appreciate any help.
Thanks
What does it mean when a Dual Rectifier starts making a rumbling sound through the speakers even with the amp volume down?
(2 channel version)
Hi Eric - Sorry to hear you're having a problem with your amp. This is very difficult for us to say what might be wrong based on your brief description here. We would need a lot more information to be able to help. You can contact Mesa customer service via email or phone and this might be a better start to getting you helped out rather than a bunch of Q & A on TH-cam comment thread? Feel free to call from the following link: www.mesaboogie.com/support/contact-us.html Or Email: mesaboogie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
MESA/Boogie
Thanks for the response
Appreciate it, I will contact with the links you provided
Contacted them and not very helpful, basically told me I gotta take it to a repair person without any trouble shooting or interest in helping
Hi Eric - Sorry to hear this. Please send an email to tien@mesaboogie.com and let's see if we can get you helped out from there. Look forward to hearing from you!
I have a question, if anyone can answer it would be much appreciated. If I have located that my rectifier tube is faulty, should I replace it before checking further tubes?
Hey Jonathan, on many of our amps there is a way to run the amp without the Rectifier tube or tubes. On a Dual Rectifier 100 Watt Head, for example, you can set the amp to operate on the Silicon Diode and simply remove the Rectifier tubes. So, you could check the rest of the amp minus the Rectifier tube(s) in many cases.
MESA/Boogie ok thanks
I'm getting a bad "crackle" sound from my Mark iv, whenever I play a note, no matter what volume. I can't figure it out and it's pissing me off.
Hi +Jon/Ron Smith - Sorry to hear you're having problems with the amp. Feel free to contact Mesa Customer Service and we can discuss how to further troubleshoot and figure out what's going on with the amp. Look forward to hearing from you and look forward to getting the amp fixed up! www.mesaboogie.com/support/contact-us.html
+MESA/Boogie I figured it out, I swapped places with the power tubes. Put the outsides on the inside and visa versa and now it works fine.
Excellent, Jon/Ron Smith. If you have the amp on Class A, this means that the tubes that were on the outside (that are now inside) probably have something wrong with them. If you have the amp set to Simul-Class, it's still possible that the issue is with the tubes now on the inside, but in general, it might not be safe to consider the amp totally 'fixed' even though the noise went away. Also, if you haven;t changed tubes in the amp for quite a while, this issue might have been 'telling you' that it's time to consider changing power tubes. Keep us posted and let us know if we can help!
I'm loving this amp so far, It's crunchy. Can you invite James Hetfield and John Petrucci over my house, so you guys can help me tweak my Mark IV? ;) I have a studio here, so we can record something!
Speaking as an experienced electronics technician, I can tell you that Mesa amps are very reliable, and when they do need to be repaired they are not difficult for a technician who has good electronics knowledge and troubleshooting skills. Those techs who complain about how hard Mesas are to work on are not very good technicians who are stuck in the past and never got past the "point to point wired or nothing" attituded about amp construction.
This comment is BS. Mesa's are hated for two reasons. First of all their have schematics that tend to be incorrect or outright stuff missing from them.
The biggest reason is their layouts are atrocious, cramped, and a pain in the ass to servics. I'm not even talking major work like having to pull a board which tends to require desoldering 80% of the amp. Even a simple resistor replacement can mean having to pull multiple caps just to reach it. Mesa loves throwing stuff under caps for some reason.
Older, less feature rich Mesa's aren't hard to work on, but anything like a mark head is an absolute pain to service.
@@codykensington1424 Spoken like a true second-rate "technician" who thinks amp evolution should have stopped with the Marshall 1959. Anybody who has spent any time servicing MODERN electronics and knows how to do it well has NO problems servicing Mesa amps. You would never make it in any consumer or industrial electronics repair operation. Your electronic component level repair skills are apparently stuck in the dark ages.
Hi Mesa, i got a short question. I found out that my brand new mesa boogie lonestar head amp makes sometimes while im playing crackling sound or just a snap, doesnt happen everytime.
So i opened the chassis and checked the pre amp tubes, and i found out that V1 is crackjng when i just move it back and forth, so i changed with another tube from V3, just to check what. Happens then, but it still cracks when i move it, is it normal that a small amount of crackling happens when you move the tube back and forth?
And btw, is it normal that the transformer has a very low hum when your amp is on?
Thankyou in advance :)
Hey, I just bought a mark V25 brand new and it just arrived about a week ago. I was playing this morning on the crunch mode with a little bit of the boost engaged on the mid control when signal cut out completely all of the sudden, the amp remained on and I checked later with everything unplugged and the fuse was still intact. Just want to know what might be up and how to deal with it. Thanks!
Hi Lowcloud - congrats on the amp but sorry to hear of problems. If the pilot lights and channel LED's all stayed lit on the amp when the sound cut out, it isn't likely to have anything to do with the fuse. The first question is, did you have anything else connected to the amp? (Pedals, pedalboard, rack effects, etc. If you did, it's important to remove all of those things and add them back one at a time to make sure the problem isn't somewhere else in your signal chain other than the amp. You can plug directly into the amp with just a cable and continue to play/test the amp and see if it cuts out again - if it doesn't, it may be a cable or something else in your signal chain. If you were just playing with guitar, cable & amp, make sure to check your guitar and speaker cables and speaker input jacks to make sure you trust them. From there, you might need to begin troubleshooting the preamp tubes one at a time as mentioned in this video. Let us know what you find out and we should be able to help you get everything back and going. Keep us posted!
+MESA/Boogie hey thanks for the reply, I unplugged everything in the loop and such so it was just the amp, I tried all my leads and tested them before hand to make sure they work and I couldn't find anything wrong there, I also tested the leads with out a guitar to eliminate that and there was still no response. I tried running just the head through the head phone jack with Status open back studio headphones, but there was still nothing. I don't want to break the warranty on it, can I test the tubes and keep the warranty intact?
Excellent job on the troubleshooting so far,LOWCLOUD NZ. As far as warranty, if the amp is new, the tubes are covered under warranty as well as the amp. Changing tubes is definitely user-serviceable so, with a known good 12AX7, if you replace the preamp tubes one at a time, at any time that the signal comes back with a tube that replace, you know you've found the bad tube. Let us know how you get one with the 12AX7 changes/tropubleshooting and if that doesn't takle care of it, we'll look at the next steps.
+MESA/Boogie just bought some new 12AX7s (Mesa made of course) and I found the V4 preamp was causing the problem and with a little bit of work we got it out and replaced and got the amp back up to its original glorious state. Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated!
Fantastic news, LOWCLOUD NZ- Great job on the troubleshooting and so glad the amp is back to its true glory! Nice. :)
I was told never touch a tube with your bare hands... it’s that wrong?
This guy sounds exactly like the lead singer of King Missile.
Probably won't get a response but worth a shot! My Dual Rec. Is blowing fuses only in Silicone Diode setting only. Vacuum tube setting plays fine.
Anyone have any ideas?
On a Mesa Boogie 2:90 Power amp, there are eight L6L power tubes,
We have a bottom row of 4 tubes, and an upper row of 4 tubes, that makes 4 pairs.
when replacing the tubes, how would one know which are the matched pairs?
also if someone can recommend good tubes for the this power amp.
I had the same question several years ago and the Mesa tech I contacted sent me a diagram on which tubes are matched in the Simul 2:90. You don't need to color-code match all 8 tubes, just color-code match per pair (example: Yellow and Yellow, Red and Red, etc.). The top row and bottom row of tubes are offset slightly, but don't let that bother you. The top leftmost tube's match is the bottom leftmost tube. The top rightmost tube matches the bottom rightmost tube.
All the tubes follow that pattern, top row tube position matches its bottom row tube position counterpart. I hope the font used here works, but to draw it out would look like this:
Y=Yellow, R=Red, G=Green, B=Blue
Y R B G
Y R B G
Those are all very useful, but please mention that voltages inside can KILL (even though you don't describe steps of opening up the amp).
And that people shouldn't experiment with speaker cables when the amp is on because a lack of a load can damage it.
Anyone here know what would cause a dual rectifier to make a 1 second switching clicking noise from the amp itself only when a footswitch is connected and only the first time it's powered on?
Gary Nobel, Customer Service/Product Specialist at Mesa/Boogie Ltd says:
"There is no truth to the finger oil thing on tubes - we've handled tens of thousands of tubes with no ill effects."
Forgot to mention...It's a Lonestar Classic Head!
What about Tube Bias?
Zhorell Ski Mesa dual recs have a bias switch in the back.
Thank you ,great video !
Shouldn't the amp be plugged into a cab? It doesn't seem plugged in when he's turning it on and off.
Great video , Thanks
@kimoband Please direct product inquiries and Tech support questions to the factory in Petaluma :
US Domestic Support: (707) 778-6565
We are open 9:00am-5:00 pm Pacific Time,
Monday through Thursday.
why can't expertvillage be this good :(
PLEASE HELP, LET ME START WITH I LOVE MY MESA AMPS!!! my first mesa was a triple rec bought new in '99, occasionally it would make a very loud popping noise when switching channels... after a few times experiencing this live ( an much grief from sound engineers at venues ) I brought it to where I bought it to be maintenance... I was quoted over 1/2 original price to fix it... I ignorantly fell into a trade with a different music store for another triple rec., after a few months... same prob. around this time my band fell apart lol an I had another child so my gear downsized an I let go of that triple rec. FAST FORWARD, I now own a triple rec., and a mini rec.,... THEY BOTH HAVE SAME PROBLEM!!!!! what the F@¡¥ is causing this issue, an if it is something a tech. needs to address, how expensive should it really be to have it taken care of? I mean, for me to have this problem with all of my mesa tube heads, I feel it must be a pretty comin issue... THANK YOU any one willing to help!!!
I'm having the same problem with my road king
Perfectly normal to make the popping noise when switching channels initially
hey guys,my lonestar is humming,and 2 of the power tubes started glowing blue,i got 4 gigs this weekend .help ha ha
@Levi790 NEVER touch a tube with your hand, it can cause the tube to wear faster!
Does Mesa have a technical help email address i can use?
good morning
im having some problems with my tube amp and i was wondering maybe you could give me a hand please....the amps is a Stiletto Ace combo 2x12...when i engage the loop fx in some moment the volume drops...the sound is like having the Send Level on cero ...is like something is making a bad conection because you turn off and turn on again the amp and is ok...i tryed to change the preamp tubes...i changed the V1 (all modes except fluid drive and fat clean) and V4(send return) even i changed the other preamp tubes but doesnt work...tryed putting a cable from the send to the return jack to by pass the loop fx but no results...it seems to be a common problem on tube amps...but i cant figure out whats going on...do you have some advice for me? wi will apreciated...help me please u.u
I think it is safe provided there is no input signal in the circuit from a plugged in guitar.
@Levi790 Yes the oils in your hands create heat spots and causes the tubes to burn up faster than what they should. Hope it helps!!!
@punkextremist Please direct product inquiries and Tech support questions to the factory in Petaluma :
US Domestic Support: (707) 778-6565
We are open 9:00am-5:00 pm Pacific Time,
I thought heads were never to have standby turned on, if a speaker cabinet isn't connected.
man I wish I could afford a dual recto... grail amp for me.
Not at all :)
Finger sweat can damage halogen lamps, but not vacuum tubes.
wait, why is my amp not working? oh, my guitar wasn't plugged in.
That has happened to me. But it was the cord not pushed in all the way. And it took me a while to find out. Even started to take apart my pedalboard. Could have kicked my own ass.
VERY helpful! thanks.
very usefull tips
All I can say is that id love to afford one, but can't :)
get some dual rectifiers to Europe again please :(
So, to summarize some things for my own understanding:
A) only replace a preamp tube when it has actually failed and is making noises it shouldn't be making (cuz Mesa Boogie says)
B) replace power tubes (all at once) when one has actually failed, or if your amp no longer sounds as awesome as you know it should (so says the internet: forums n such)
C) replace rectifier tubes.... when? anyone?
Hi +nuynobi - A) Yes... if it ain't broke, don't fix it. :) That said, some poeple like to change their tubes on a schedule... and that's fine too, but preamp tubes can last quite a long time so if there's no improvement in tone for changing them or you're not troubleshooting a problem, you might as well keep on going and save any backup preamp tubes for down the line or when you need one when one goes bad. B) You can change 1 power tube at a time if you can troubleshoot the bad one. If you have a power tube fail prematurely (less than 6 months or a year), if you can clearly ideintify that it's the bad one - sure - only change that one. And, agreed - if you're amp sounds less bright, mushy or you find yourself having to turn controls up or down from settings that your used to and you know you have a lot of hours on a set of tubes, replace the power tubes as a set and see if you get a noticeable improvement in the tone. C) Rectifier tubes last the longest our of power, preamp and rectifier tubes and the don't really affect the tone dramtically as much as they effect the feel/response of the amp. Firstly, if you don't use the rectifier tubes because you use the amp on Silicon diodes, you won't need to change the Rectifier tubes unless they are failing and causing the fuse to blow. Secondly, people who love the feel that rectifier tubes offer tend to like them more and more as they wear because they sag more as they get older, and that's the feel that most people prefer from amps with rectifier tubes. Again - kinda like if it ain't broke, don't fix it. BUT - always keep spares on hand, so you CAN fix the amp if/when a tube goes bad. Hope this helps! :)