.50 cal+ help

[CDMAmutt]

hey, I own a mesa boogie .50 caliber head that I play through an old school mesa cabinet. now I've been having a hard time finding a good tone out of this head. I'm new to tube heads & have a lot to learn, but I've had the head for almost 6 months & still can't get what I want out of it. generally, the problem is the clean channel having more "oomph" than my lead. I play in a punk/metal back, but don't want the rectifier sound. I want something cleaner, but heavy enough to suffice. we're entering the studio pretty soon & want to be using my own stuff. does anyone have any experience with this head & can offer some settings to at least get it sounding good & adjust from there? should I be pushing the head harder? because 2.5 is usually loud enough for shows & any more than that tends to get me bitched at. if it helps, my primary guitar is an epiphone SG with an invader at the bridge & the stock 57 at the neck. I'm worried I might be having a biasing problem.

also, I have problems with lead boosts. I own a digitech bad monkey overdrive that gives me needed gain, but doesn't boost the signal. I've tried a bunch of a friends boutique pedals also & have the same problem. maybe I need a new head?

PS. the power tubes & preamp tubes are 6 months old.

 

[Fxrs]

Level maxed, od low on the pedals, correct? If you're going into a gained out channel, you won't get more volume, only more compression and od, so back off on the gain if this is the case. The clean channel on my DC-5 is MUCH louder than the lead, it's been that way since I bought it new. Usually I have clean (actually dirty rythm) set @ JUST under 2, lead is on 4-5.

 

[mule#1]

I have great sucess with my 50+ and have beaten the problems you have mentioned. First lets get rid of the pedals and get your tone going from there. Istrongly suggest you go to boogies site and download the owners manual if you don't have it. I run mine like this.

gain-6
master-4
Lead Master-4
Treb-7
Bass-3
Mid-3
Pres.-7
Rev-to taste

There is a lot of gain at 6 I have found anything over 7 to be uneffective. You will also notice the volume difference is better between the channels.
Let me know how this works for you. Remember everything is subjective to the guitar and pickups you use but should be a good starting point!

 

[user 7737]

i had a lot of problem too... but it was all because i didn't know how to use it... the problem between clean/lead is weird... do you use the lead master ?

the use of the eq knobs (treb, mid, bass) is very different than on a solid state... it's very sensitive too

you can see if you're a bias problem at a simple look at your tubes if they're overheating or not...

you can use the eq for lead boost... but my proco rat sounds awesome with that amp... good boost

 

[CDMAmutt]

yes, I use the lead master. I was able to get some decent tone today, but I'm still not sure if its working it's potential or not. I'll have to pick up a pedal for the EQ. I forget that it has a input for one, so that might work. how can I tell if the tubes are overheating? what should I be looking for? like burn marks on the glass? could that also be a problem with the preamp tubes?

yeah, I have the users manual, but i didn't find it useful. I'll have to try those settings & see if that works. my clean is louder than my lead, how is lowering the lead master going to make them more equal or is it just one of those things that works that can't really be explained? I've got my lead volume set at 10. I've been setting my gain at about 6.5 so that the clean channel isn't too dirty & works pretty well. my pickups are pretty hot on my SG & my strat has some less hot pickups ( mexi strat with a duncan minibucker), so I'll see what difference I get from that. I'll let you know how it turns out.

yes, the level on my OD pedal is maxxed with little added gain. the problem with this head is it doesn't have the independent volumes for the channels. that would make things easier. it just has a master volume & then a lead volume which just controls the lead channel, but only in correspondence with the master.

 

[user 7737]

there's something wrong for sure... your clean can't be louder with the lead master at 10 !!...

well i hope that a real tech guy will answer here... i don't have that kind of skills... but the power tube must have a yellow/orange colour... if there's something red (especially the plate) your tubes are overheating

there's a problem, but it could be so many things !! :?

hope for you it's only a tube problem

you have to know it's impossible to have a bad sound with the factory settings you can find in the manual... and i find that manual pretty usefull

 

[mule#1]

I would definitely have that amp checked out. It may just need new tubes. Do you have any thing in the loop? If the loop is hooked up backwards it would significantly drop the volume. I'd remove all effects and try the settings I posted. If you have a problem get it fixed. That is a great amp you have don't get rid of it!

 

[rvschulz]

from my experience - you may have a bad pre-amp gain tube. clean should not be louder than the gain boost ... it cascades. you might have a effects loop problem - but probably not ... you could try putting a cable between the effects in/out.

the settings in the manual were golden for me. this was the easiest Mesa to dial in ... and if i could go with a single setting base tone - i would still have it. i'm not CERTAIN my Mark III is better.

 

[CDMAmutt]

I have great sucess with my 50+ and have beaten the problems you have mentioned. First lets get rid of the pedals and get your tone going from there. Istrongly suggest you go to boogies site and download the owners manual if you don't have it. I run mine like this.

gain-6
master-4
Lead Master-4
Treb-7
Bass-3
Mid-3
Pres.-7
Rev-to taste

There is a lot of gain at 6 I have found anything over 7 to be uneffective. You will also notice the volume difference is better between the channels.
Let me know how this works for you. Remember everything is subjective to the guitar and pickups you use but should be a good starting point!

okay, I tried those settings & they've appeared to work. I took my bass to 4.5 & my gain down to 5 & got better results with less feedback. the ultimate decider of how well it is will be practice. after that I'll probably try taking it to a shop, but so far so good. turning down the lead master actually makes the clean quieter & the lead louder? who knew lol. for the first time since I bought this amp, I'm impressed. keep you posted.

 

[mule#1]

Glad to hear it! You still may need to replace the tubes. There is a lot of info on this forum, and people willing to help so take the advise available and it will save you a lot of headaches!

 

[CDMAmutt]

alright, so brought it to practice, put it to those settings & found a footswitch to operate my eq to use as a lead boost, which was very effective. it's a good start, but still not quite where I want it. I think, just to be sure, I'm going to take my head in soon to see if there may be something wrong with the tubes. it may end up not being what I want altogether, but we'll see. it was very mid rangey & still lacked the balls needed for a hardcore punk/metal band, but it was closer. I'm excited that the lead boost worked, but still not jumping up & down about the tone. recording in a month, so clock is sorta ticking.

 

[user 7737]

it was very mid rangey & still lacked the balls needed for a hardcore punk/metal band, but it was closer.

Weird... with the graf EQ you can put any balls you want !
once, for fun, i set my amp to sound like metallica MOP... and it was pretty close...

maybe check the preamp tubes, even if they works fine maybe they are not able to give you the tone you want...

check the tube section in this forum, lots of info...

 

[mule#1]

alright, so brought it to practice, put it to those settings & found a footswitch to operate my eq to use as a lead boost, which was very effective. it's a good start, but still not quite where I want it. I think, just to be sure, I'm going to take my head in soon to see if there may be something wrong with the tubes. it may end up not being what I want altogether, but we'll see. it was very mid rangey & still lacked the balls needed for a hardcore punk/metal band, but it was closer. I'm excited that the lead boost worked, but still not jumping up & down about the tone. recording in a month, so clock is sorta ticking.

Are you setting your GEQ like a smile face. The middle slidder is very sesitive as they all are but try scooping the mids by dropping that slidder. And buy 5 MESA 12AX7's and replace them yourself. I seriously dout you have anything wrong with the amp. Try the middle slider between the bottom line and as low as it will go to start. The 2 on either side of that in the middle and the outer 2 on or just above the top line!

 

[CDMAmutt]

ugh! problems, problems! so now my head started this cute problem where when I turn on the GEQ notes are either really way too loud & distorted or cutting out really bad. also I've noticed that the tubes have been getting hot enough make the metal parts on the handle extremely hot. so at least now I know somethings wrong.

 

[Gruffnutz]

ugh! problems, problems! so now my head started this cute problem where when I turn on the GEQ notes are either really way too loud & distorted or cutting out really bad. also I've noticed that the tubes have been getting hot enough make the metal parts on the handle extremely hot. so at least now I know somethings wrong.

Tech! Now! Please! :!:

 

[user 7737]

**** ! that sucks

 

[mule#1]

Yup! Better get that in right away and don't try it any more. It may be running on tubes that are the wrong bias or something simple. None the less get it checked out.