Ace Problems? Got me a new/used ACE today

[mightywarlock]

So today i went out and bought myself a used ACE 1x12 someone was selling on Craigslist for $1150, locally.

came with all it should, footswitch, bag, cover, manual, and extra tubes, he is transferring the warranty and all that.

when i got there it was all outside waiting for me.
outside. that was my first problem...i wanted to play through it, but it was early in the morning.....
k...so he told me he had replaced the tubes and was giving me extras because this amp blows tubes every once in a while....

ok... so do i say screw it? it has a warranty right?

so i take it home, all happy i got me a new amp!
plug it in, it's on the clean channel...sounds ok...
i switch to tite clean, crunch, ch.2, nothing. no sounds.

i look in the back and notice something right away...the rectifier tube isn't lit...just like the Dual Rec i just bought which i had just bought a new tube for last weekend. well, at least i still had that brand new tube.
so i pull out the chassis to get to the tubes (tube swap on an ACE is a pain in the neck!@) and pull out the rectifier tube, which has no center column!@ it is broken off. I look inside as best i can and i dont see it anywhere, so i imagine it was already broken off long before i came along. i also noticed that 1 or 2 of the 12ax7's werent glowing, so i replaced those with the extras the guy had given me.
question- what's the difference between the Mesa Chinese and Russian 12ax7's? there were both in the bag the guy gave me...i think the russian was no good however.
another question...one tube was a electro/harmonix...do they glow differently than other 12ax7's?
another question...one tube he had given me as an extra, which was supposedly an original tube from the amp, has a band around the tube. what is that for? prevent tube noise or microphonics from the transistor? (i think he told me that one was behind the transisitor)...
well, i also saw the EL34's were JJ's, so i might just replace all the 12ax7's again with a set of JJ's i was saving for my Triaxis, but we'll see...i'll leave it alone as is for the moment.
I finally get everything back together (which i think should be a 2 man job, since the tubes on the underside and the screws on the top, and getting everything together again is quite akward), and it fires up fine, and sounds ok.
I haven't had the moment to be able to crank it up yet, but was wondering if tube problems are something i need to be concerned about with this new Mesa amp, or if there might be other issues? I have blown 1 mesa tube in my 2:90 amp in the 10+ years of owning it, and that was my fault for completely cranking the preamp i had feeding it at the time. This amp had to have 3 tubes replaced today. it definitely makes me wonder what the previous owner either did to it, or if what i keep reading all the time on here about bad tubes in mesa amps is really all that's going on.
I suppose time will tell...

any thoughts?

 

[Hobo]

Contact the person you got it from and demand some money for the repair you had to do.

 

[Anonymous]

"the ace blows tubes once in a while" is bullsh...t. had two aces coming with defect preamptubes - but caused by rough shipping. after retubing no prob at all for a year now (playing daily at least for 1-3 hours)

you can just guess what this guy did to the amp. i suggest to retube it from the bottom and check it again.

good luck and enjoy the ACE cranked ;-)

 

[jamme61]

when he broke of the bottom key of the rec tube, he may have put it back in the wrong way. Without the key left on the bottom of the tube, it's easy to put it in wrong. I would think put all new tubes in there and ask the guy for the cost of tubes, you can't trust any of the tubes he gave you. Also sometimes it's hard to see if the 12ax7's are lit. not sur the difference in the two types of 12ax7's

 

[123thefirst]

If I recall correctly, Mesa switched from the Russian 2's to the Chinese tubes for a number of years, probably because they were easier to get in the quantities or quality they needed or they might have had some contractual benefits like being able to specify an STR.

They recently switched back to the Russian 2's and I've heard that overall Mesa is happier with their tone and reliability.

 

[anoser]

I've had my Ace 1x12 for about 9 months now..with 0 tube issues. I move it somewhere (from home...to practice...or a gig) weekly, it's seen high(ish) volumes.

No issues...I rarely have the gain past 2 though...and the master is normally between 11 and 1...

nope...no tube issues (and thank god...cuz...I wouldn't have a clue and it might end up looking a lot like the condition you got yours in).

Sounds like you got a GREAT deal because that other dude didn't have a clue and just wanted to offload it.

GRATZ!

 

[mightywarlock]

i am thinking of bringing it in to the Hollywood store later this week when i have band practice just to A/B my Ace with the store's Ace...

just to see if there is any difference in tone.

if so, i suppose i will just buy new preamp tubes.

it currently has JJ EL34's and what seems a mishmosh of 12ax7s.

if i have enough i might just put all JJ's 12ax7's in there...but i have heard it can be a little dull with them in it.

true?

I did a search but couldnt find any recommendations for replacement tubes for an Ace.

 

[mightywarlock]

so tonight i pulled out all the tubes again from the ACE...and put in a set of Russian Mesa 12ax7's, i left in the SPA7, and swapped the JJel34's for JJel34-L's and the difference was night and day!@
I was thinking i might have made a mistake buying the ACE, but after changing out all the tubes it now sounds GREAT!@

maybe later i will test it with the JJ83s preamp tunes i have just to see the difference, but its such a pain in the a@@ to change those tubes in the combo i will do it when i have more time.