Dammit my tubes died.

E

ericlingus

New member
just bought the amp too :(. It was used. I did have my amp in my closet for recording. Does extra heat make them go faster? The amp was getting pretty hot, maybe the tubes just need to cool down? Or do I need to replace them?
 
mesa boogie F50. I bought it used. So the tubes are too. I just turned it on again after having it off for about a half hour and it sounds better now. I think the tubes just over heated. I had it in the closet with the door shit with blankets wedget between the amp. The tubes were getting very hot. It just seemed to do it all of a sudden or maybe it was a little gradual. I just went to record after I got a good sound, shut the door, then I noticed it sounded like cock, so I opened the door and just listened to the amp not the recorded signal, and it sounded very muffled and weak, etc.
 
the tubes are a little bit lit right now. Not as much as they were before. That mean they are dying, or will they come back to life once to cool down all the way?
 
Warning!!

Hey man sorry to hear of your problem. A word of warning. Tubes get hot, yes, very hot. To place blankets around an amp and stuff it in a small space filled with flamable material is a potent cocktail for a FIRE!!!! Hope you got insurance. That kind of overheat can bake your caps and resistors etc. If it restarted and runs; give it a listen. Don't worry too much about how bright the tubes glow, just use your ears. I bet you did bake a little life out of the tubes. Count yourself (and your neighbors) as lucky. I have had the misfortune of being struck with not one but two housefires!! It sucks... Even if th efire did not burn everything the water damage is incredible. Peace. Ps that is a great amp. Ithink it is the sucesor to the oold .50 caliber line. Awesome.
 
thanks man. Yeah I realized that was a dumb idea. The blankets have been removed. I've never dealt with tube amps. Didn't realize how hot they get! So I just have my amp in the closet with matress foam along the walls not touching the amp. Once I finish my take, I open the closet door and shut the amp off the cool down.
 
tried it again and it sounds better. It's back to it's normal self. I think it was just the amp telling me it needed to cool the fuck down! I'll leave it off the rest of the day.
 
NL5 said:
You do know what happened to Great White, right???!?!?!???
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If he didn't, he probably does now, I'm sure he's googled it by now. Unless his goal is to burn down his house and kill everyone in it.
 
Remember, your tubes will sound best right before they need to be replaced so it might have been the board telling you to give it a break (yes mesas have boards, tehy're not point to point). Congrats on getting the F-50, it's a killer little amp, I've got an f-100 myself. Tubes last forever in those things.
 
I just tried again and it seems to lack balls. It doesn't sound right to me. I'll just leave it alone and try tomorrow. I'm just kidding about the great white thing. lol.
 
anyone know what it could be? Hopefully not something really bad.. I don't think I could have broken something in there. I'm assuming mesa's are made well. I didn't even play it that long. It just got pretty hot. Then the sound went to shit. Like a muffled weak sound. I turned the amp off for a while and went back to it and it was much better. Tried now and it doesn't seem right to me. Think once it have been off for a long time that it'll be alright? Also, where doyou guys put your amps when you mic them to record? I just have one room with a closet, so I put my amp in the closet with foam all along the walls with extra padding where the amp is facing. I have two mics close miked. Would the amp sound better outside teh closet in my room? It's not acoustically treated at all mind you. That isn't an option but i'd just like to know if putting it in the closet will make it sound significantly worse even if im close miking.
 
Remember that thread where you were questioning the need for a separate cab for recording?

Well......my amp stays nice and cool next to my desk while my cab is roaring away in the closet, so there you go ;) .

If it's a little closet you might be screwing with the sound a little, but if you're just close mic'ing it probably won't be super noticable. It just depends on your particular situation. Record it once out in the room and listen to the difference.
 
well I think i'm going to buy myself a cab for my amp and do just that. Any good cabs that arn't too expensive? I only need a 2x12" one.
 
You might want to check out Avatar cabs. They are probably the cheapest cabs you can buy and still select some nice speakers.

http://www.avatarspeakers.com/

You can pick up a 2 x 12 with Vintage 30's for 300, I think you'd be looking at close to 600 for a Mesa 2x12 cab.
 
ericlingus said:
well I think i'm going to buy myself a cab for my amp and do just that. Any good cabs that arn't too expensive? I only need a 2x12" one.
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make sure the cab is equal to (or greater than) the Ohms of your amp or your amp could actually melt.
 
how would those cabs compare to the mesa though metalhead? I want good sounding ones. I just spent a grand on my amp and would like to have the same quality speakers that are in my amp.
 
ericlingus said:
how would those cabs compare to the mesa though metalhead? I want good sounding ones. I just spent a grand on my amp and would like to have the same quality speakers that are in my amp.
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V30's are quality speakers. If you want as close to the same as your current cab, you would want the same speakers that it has.....but there have been many great Mesa amps mic'd with Vintage 30 speakers in them.
 
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