MESA Boogie Mark V 25 Head

[Cygnus X-1]

So my MESA Boogie Mark V 25 head purchased in February of this year died on me the other day while I was playing. It powers up but I get no sound. I reached out to them via email to be told it’s probably a preamp tube issue (of which tubes are only covered under warranty for 6 months) and I should try swapping out the 12Ax7 tube with a new one to see which one may be faulty. I’ve owned a few amps in my day and never had a tube go bad on me- maybe that’s good luck but to have one go at 8 months seems very uncommon. I’m going to call them later to complain and see if they could send me the tube rather than me buying it. It’s not the $22 but the principle. This wasn’t a cheap amp and it’s not like I’ve been playing it for hours a day constantly.
I just wanted thoughts on this whole situation.
Thanks!

 

[THAWK819]

Yeah; I’d be pissed too. I bought a Friedman JJ Jr as soon as they were released in June of 2019. I think it is similarly priced to your amp (about $1,500). I use it every day and have had no issues with the tubes.

That being said; I doubt Friedman would do anything for me either if it did happen. Six months seems to be industry standard on the tubes in the amp. I actually think my warranty was even less, possibly 90 days, on the tubes.

 

[Hogie34]

Welcome to current production tubes. It’s a crap shoot whether tubes are good from the factory. The fact that they even warranty them for 6 months is amazing. Speaking of Friedman, they test their tubes prior to shipping and he’s had a failure rate right from the factory that was near 50/50. Just pony up and buy a few to have on hand from a reputable dealer who tests them prior to sale.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

I appreciate the replies. Dumb question- shouldn’t I get the exact tubes from MESA because another manufacturer might affect the amp’s tone (or is that not how it works)?

 

[Hogie34]

You can use pretty much any manufacturers tube. The Mesa tubes are just relabeled Chinese & Russian tubes. If you want to keep everything stock/OEM looking and you’re happy with the tone, just buy the Mesa tubes. They do test them before packaging and selling. However, that just means they’re not dead from the factory. No real guarantee how long they’ll last.

 

[dmvksv]

I have a Marshall DSL40 that I absolutely love. I had it slightly over a year when it started cutting out, then just died and made a horrible buzzing sound. It came with a 5 year warranty. I called Sweetwater, the tech i talked to said because it was buzzing even with nothing plugged in it probably wasn't a tube issue and it should be covered under warranty, but if it turned out to be a tube, I would be charged for the replacement. The only problem was, I had to pay to ship it to them, which would cost around $70 because of the size and weight. The only authorized local service center wasn't doing any repairs during covid. It sat in my music room for 6 months as I debated what to do. Every time I played one of my other amps, I missed my Marshall. I stopped playing for awhile because I was pretty upset about my favorite amp cramping out. I finally decided to bring it in to a local shop to have it looked at, not under warranty. I figured I was already going to be out $70 if I had to ship it. They had it ready in 2 days, it cost me $77. Turns out it was a short in the v1 tube, which wouldn't have been covered under warranty. I was kind of pissed at myself for not going thru the tubes myself, but I was convinced it wasn't a tube. I was actually pretty happy with the service as they went thru the amp, checked the bias, etc. Moral of the story is, if I spent that much in an amp, I would gladly spend the $22 to find out if it was a tube. If it works, you have your amp back with a cheap fix. If not, you should be covered under warranty. Unfortunately, tubes do fail. If it is a tube, I wouldnt hold it against the manufactuerer, as nobody really makes their own tubes. I read somewhere that according to an amp tech, something like 93% of all tube amp issues are tube related. Good luck, I hope you get it sorted out and back to playing it soon

 

[Seven]

Bought a new Mesa from Sweetwater 7- 8 years ago? Started having issues within a week. SW sent me an entire set of tubes for free to try and fix the problems. They didn't fix it, so they sent me a return label and I never bought another.

 

[tzd]

I appreciate the replies. Dumb question- shouldn’t I get the exact tubes from MESA because another manufacturer might affect the amp’s tone (or is that not how it works)?

How it works with Mesa is that their amp bias is not adjustable, hence the tubes that they sell have been tested to specific value tolerances to sound the 'best' with the amp's fixed bias.

 

[EXPLRGAB]

MARK IV...BOUGHT NEW...IN THE 90s....short head....has seen a lot of playing.....gigs...ha ha with a 4x 12 1960 slant marshall cab...do not know how I got away with it...I find it now in retrospect, absurd....and a little bit embarrassing....Things were very different back then......The clean channel (Rhythm 1) was by far the most usable...I used simulclass and pentode....I was very much a jerry garcia tone guy back then and dug his strong clean 6L6 sound.....i cannot call it chime..... i liked the 6L6 TONE....STILL DO...... the lead channel provided the drive and sustain....THE CASCADING GAIN OF THE LEAD/SCREAM CHANNEL...preamp tube sustain....I always felt lacked something.....DID NOT USE ANY PEDALS...SAVE WAH WAH.....the BOOGIE footswitch was my pedal board.....Rhythm 2 was very bassy, thick, round and warm...I am sure i used it ...just not a standout..the three channels...provided enough of a pallet to be very practical......It was a formidable rig...@ $1,595.00...still have the bill of sale from Reliable Music Charlotte, NC...The pilgrimage was a three hour drive from Fayetteville.....to be sure , guitar players took notice and always wanted to chat about it...the very short pan reverb....i have to have reverb...was the weakest link..i remember one guitar player at a gig in Southern Pines..made the comment to the lead singer...Mike who was very good...that the reverb was stealing my tone...i remember that to this day.....The reverb is just not good enough ON THE MARK IV...On my Viibrolux W/ MOYER MOD...IT IS ONE OF THOSE..I set reverb to..2 1/2 to 3....not drenched but still a requirement for me..I digress...i have not used The Mark IV for quite some time..although i did retube it couple of years ago..The amp started to go on the fritz about the same time...I then retired and moved to FLA and have been attempting to play again (a band).....I took it to a local amp tech. in fla....I find that to have been a bad decision....Not everybody has the chops to work on this very complicated amp...In NC i took it authorized Boogie Guy...Mad Science...in Raleigh...another pilgrimage....He put a bandaid on whatever the issue was....The Fla guy was clearly overwhelmed with the Boogie...far too complex....Bottom line...I have other amps now but I sent it off to Petaluma..$160 IN SHIPPING SO FAR.to see if they can fix it for reasonable money...I HAVE MY DOUBTS AFTER THE OVERWHELMED FLA GUY TORE INTO IT.....If you do not have an Authorized Boogie Guy THAT YOU HAVE SUPREME CONFIDENCE IN....SEND IT TO BOOGIE...that is the point of my rambling....

 

[Big John]

The #1 rule for me for when ANYTHING seems wrong with a tube amp is to check the tubes before going deeper. Weird noises, hum, volume drops, gain drops, dead verb, dead loop...always swap in a spare tube to see what it does.

Mesa does test their tubes and brand them if they pass, but don't believe their self-indulgent sales pitch. There's better choices out there. Back when I had a MkV25, I swapped in 6N4 preamp tubes and 7189 power tubes. The thing sounded way better over the factory tubes.

 

[Phil W]

My only complaint about valves (as we say in these parts) failing on a Mark V (and I own one) is actually fitting the damn things. The access to them is a nightmare, especially the pre-amp valves!

 

[SWeAT hOg]

I appreciate the replies. Dumb question- shouldn’t I get the exact tubes from MESA because another manufacturer might affect the amp’s tone (or is that not how it works)?

Yes for the power tubes. Or at least specify you have a Mesa Boogie amp when buying tubes new tubes from a dealer. However, any 12AX7 preamp tube will work and won't (IMO) radically change the tone or breakup.

 

[cybermgk]

Yes for the power tubes. Or at least specify you have a Mesa Boogie amp when buying tubes new tubes from a dealer. However, any 12AX7 preamp tube will work and won't (IMO) radically change the tone or breakup.

Yep. bias applies to output tubes, not preamp

 

[rjwilson37]

Did replacing the pre-amp tube solve your problem?

 

[Cygnus X-1]

Thanks to all for the replies. It was a pretty-amp tube, replaced by an authorized MB repair place. $100 total and it’s back in action. I looked online and I agree it looked difficult to access those tubes; I’m glad I didn’t attempt it.