Mesa suddenly lost volume

[kpgalligan]

I was wailing away last night with the band, and suddenly my amp went to a pretty low volume. I could still hear it, but it was much lower than it should have been, and had a harsh sound to it (although I have pretty heavy overdrive. Not smooth drive. Almost staticky harsh).

 

I tried different cables, same. Wound up playing on a different amp.

 

The tubes are fairly new. Like a year, maybe not even. We do play a couple nights a week, but a year? Seems too soon.

 

I looked at the power tubes, and they seems to be looking OK. No obvious weird colors or extra glow going on. Can't really see the preamp tubes.

 

Thoughts? I still have older tubes. I replaced them out of being anal about my sound, not because they were going bad, so they should still work. Does it sound like something more critical? Anything I should be worried about?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Wizard of Ozz]

Sounds like one or more bad power tubes.

 

Which model Mesa?

[Filter500]

It's most likely a preamp tube. Then can fail unexpectedly. Is it a Recto? I would try V3 first. That one always gives me trouble. Certain positions can be hard on preamp tubes, and some brands are less recommended in those positions (like EHX) because of their design. Try some swapping and you'll most likely fix the problem.

[primeholy]

Couple of nights a week for a year is a bit. What kind of amp and how hard (volume) you pushing it?

[duncan]

Sounds like a tube issue

[primeholy]

 

Sounds like a lube issue

 

 

This is a possibility.

[superflyinmonke]

I had this happen in my Hydra last week. It was V4 in the end, but I don't know what the mesa circuit is like. I would say you should swap pre-amp tubes until you find the culprit, as previously suggested.

[eudaimonia02912]

This is almost certainly a tube issue.

[mortatort]

In spite of all of the aforementioned possibilities, I think it sounds like a problem with one or more tubes.

[chadd]

Had a similar problem with my single recto, swapped out a few preamp tubes and things got back to normal.

[Sadowsky13]

Did it fix itself? was it sporadic or just a drop, If it is sporadic, It can be a dirty effects loop. I have had it happen a couple of times on my stiletto, It just took a bit of contact cleaner on the cables and inserted them in and out a few times and all was OK? just fyi

[kpgalligan]

Amp model: Mesa Single Recto-verb 1x12 combo.

 

Volume: Hmm. It varies. Its never near the top, but we play in a medium sized rehearsal studio, and occasionally the booze conspires against us and we play louder than we should in that size room. Say half-mast. The gain is pretty much cranked all the time. Also, I suspect that other people in the room occasionally use my amp.

 

The amp didn't fix itself. I turned it off for a while, then gave it another go, and it still had the same issue.

 

Seems like everybody thinks its a tube issue, which makes me feel better, although I was already starting to justify shopping for a new amp...

[yourguitarhero]

I believe it may be related to the valves. I'd try swapping them around.

[Gary666]

"The gain is pretty much cranked all the time."

 

 

Turn the gain down dude. Seriously. 5 or 6 should be enough gain with that amp for just about everything. Boost the front end with an OD pedal for more tighness and saturation. Having the gain on 10 all the time will eat up the tubes a little faster.

[FXR]

Gigging a tube amp with one year old tubes, carrying no spare tubes?

 

Tubes go bad. Be prepared.

 

Sounds like a tube issue to me. And if it's not, you could have ascertained that in minutes with a spare tube or two.

[kpgalligan]

Sorry. By "cranked" I really meant in modern, with gain in the 7 territory. You can't run that amp all the way up with the gain.

 

Will play with tubes and see how it goes. Also try the OD pedal in front. I tend not to double up the overdrive in that way. In the past its not gone well with different amps (sound wise. Not equipment failure issues).

 

As for gigging, I don't carry spare tubes. We generally play showcase type events where you're on for 45 minutes to an hour, between other bands. It would take half of your set to diagnose and fix a tube issue, if you're lucky. Better off borrowing another band's amp. I haven't done that, but have lent out mine.

 

For a bigger gig I would bring my marshall head that I have laying around, and run that through the speaker.

[Gary666]

 

Sorry. By "cranked" I really meant in modern, with gain in the 7 territory. You can't run that amp all the way up with the gain. Will play with tubes and see how it goes. Also try the OD pedal in front. I tend not to double up the overdrive in that way. In the past its not gone well with different amps (sound wise. Not equipment failure issues). As for gigging, I don't carry spare tubes. We generally play showcase type events where you're on for 45 minutes to an hour, between other bands. It would take half of your set to diagnose and fix a tube issue, if you're lucky. Better off borrowing another band's amp. I haven't done that, but have lent out mine. For a bigger gig I would bring my marshall head that I have laying around, and run that through the speaker.

 

 

If you try the OD in front of the amp, crank the level but set the gain on off or really low. You don't really want to add more gain, just give it a boost before it goes into the input of the amp. Adjust the EQ to where you like it. I use a modded Boss SD-1, lot of people use the Maxon or Ibanez TS09 stuff.

[JerEvil]

Well, I think the take away from this whole situation is ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's probably NOT something non-tube related

[EdMan57]

Same thing happened to my MKIIC+ at a gig some years ago.Ended up being that the driver/phase inverter tube was dying.A fresh 12AX7 had it again sounding very loud and like new.

 

 

 

Ed