Members kpgalligan Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wizard of Ozz Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 Sounds like one or more bad power tubes. Which model Mesa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Filter500 Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members primeholy Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 Couple of nights a week for a year is a bit. What kind of amp and how hard (volume) you pushing it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members duncan Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 Sounds like a tube issue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members primeholy Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 Sounds like a lube issue This is a possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members superflyinmonke Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eudaimonia02912 Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 This is almost certainly a tube issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mortatort Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 In spite of all of the aforementioned possibilities, I think it sounds like a problem with one or more tubes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chadd Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 Had a similar problem with my single recto, swapped out a few preamp tubes and things got back to normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sadowsky13 Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kpgalligan Posted September 23, 2010 Author Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 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... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members yourguitarhero Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 I believe it may be related to the valves. I'd try swapping them around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gary666 Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 "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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FXR Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kpgalligan Posted September 23, 2010 Author Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gary666 Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JerEvil Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 Well, I think the take away from this whole situation is ... It's probably NOT something non-tube related Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EdMan57 Posted September 23, 2010 Members Share Posted September 23, 2010 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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