New Dual Rectifier Roadster Troubleshooting- No Power

[Coleo]

Hi Everyone- I took the plunge and purchased a dual rectifier roadster off ebay that was apparently new and when it arrived there were a few things:

1 of the 6L6 tubes (#3) tubes was rattling
When I turned it on, there was some fizzing across all channels

Today I went and picked up a 12AX7 to see if there was an issue in the first pre-amp tube like on my previous DR and to my dismay there is virtually NO POWER! Like all the gain, master and output on all the channels had to be near full to get anything out of the amp! All the tubes were glowing but nothing from the guitar was coming through. I went direct from guitar to amp, swapped cables, swapped power outlets, etc. and nothing. I switched from spongy to bold, 50-100W and same same.

Any clues as to what this could be? I obviously want to play this thing but I guess have a warranty issue now which scares me.

thanks!!

 

[kyldh]

A messed up 6L6 can cause some problems. Did you swap that out?

I had a Power tube mess up an old 70's Gibson tube amp at one point and had to send it off for repair.

My situation was different though. It's tube socket was old and worn and for some reason, easily allowed me to stick a 6L6 in without lining up the key hole. Very bad situation. The amp sizzled, out came a small bit of smoke and the smell of burning electronics, and no more sound.

Just food for thought.

 

[TRENCHLORD]

Sounds like it could be one of the preamp tubes not lighting up.

I would first unplug the amp and then pull the power tubes so that you can remove all those silver preamp tube-shields.

Plug everything back in (including power tubes, and a proper speaker cab).
Fire it up and I'm betting you have one or more dead 12ax7's.
If that's the case then you have a very easy fix.

Check all the settings on back and front and see a recto-manual for loop control recommendations.

There's a good Mesa Authorized video on youtube titled something like "troubleshooting mesa tube amp". It's the one with T.L. (mesa guy).

Call mesa for help if you can't find anything wrong.

 

[jbird]

Well, you have one new pre-amp tube you could swap at different places to find a culprit in that section, but I would go with a power or rectifier problem! Put all channels on diode rectifiers! To eliminate a bad tube in these sections, without buying a new set, you could pull a rectifier tube, and either the outside or inside set of power tubes, cut your speaker impedance in half and find a culprit by swapping those positions!

 

[kyldh]

Call mesa for help if you can't find anything wrong.

+1
I've had to call them a couple times and their service department is awesome. You don't get the run-around like with some companies. I had to ship a Studio Pre to them for repairs once and their prices weren't bad at all either (if it comes to that)