Will a Roadster Head produce any sound (driving a 2 x 12 cab) without preamp tube V1?
The slightly longer version with back story if you are interested.
In July 2012 purchased a Roadster head and 2 x 12 cabinet new and still in the factory sealed box from Long & McQuade. It has worked flawlessly from day 1. The amp is typically used once a week for 3 to 4 hours (jam night) and has seen only 2 outings at bars. I would estimate between 100 and 150 hours of total use to date. On Friday March 8th 2013. I turned it on to find that I had no sound, on any channel. Too keep this short... Without dismantling anything I narrowed the trouble down to one of the preamp tubes. One of my friends who actually works at Long & McQuade did me a favor and hand delivered a new Mesa tube to me and hung out while I check to see which tube needed to be replaced. When I removed the electronics/control chassis from the head casing we found that the was NO tube in preamp tube slot V1.
This leaves me with 2 possibilities.
1. If a Roadster will indeed put out sound with the V1 tube missing then I can accept that it may be a factory mistake. I would be mildly annoyed with the folks at Mesa, but it's not the end of the world.
2. If a Roadster will NOT put out sound with the V1 tube missing then that means that some one removed it and I have a large annoying personal problem that I need to deal with in regards to my band mates.
I did install the tube, and while I had it all apart for easy access check the other tubes, but I still could not get it to work properly. I have taken it in to Long & McQuade for service to see if they can figure it out.
I have also asked Mesa this question directly.
The slightly longer version with back story if you are interested.
In July 2012 purchased a Roadster head and 2 x 12 cabinet new and still in the factory sealed box from Long & McQuade. It has worked flawlessly from day 1. The amp is typically used once a week for 3 to 4 hours (jam night) and has seen only 2 outings at bars. I would estimate between 100 and 150 hours of total use to date. On Friday March 8th 2013. I turned it on to find that I had no sound, on any channel. Too keep this short... Without dismantling anything I narrowed the trouble down to one of the preamp tubes. One of my friends who actually works at Long & McQuade did me a favor and hand delivered a new Mesa tube to me and hung out while I check to see which tube needed to be replaced. When I removed the electronics/control chassis from the head casing we found that the was NO tube in preamp tube slot V1.
This leaves me with 2 possibilities.
1. If a Roadster will indeed put out sound with the V1 tube missing then I can accept that it may be a factory mistake. I would be mildly annoyed with the folks at Mesa, but it's not the end of the world.
2. If a Roadster will NOT put out sound with the V1 tube missing then that means that some one removed it and I have a large annoying personal problem that I need to deal with in regards to my band mates.
I did install the tube, and while I had it all apart for easy access check the other tubes, but I still could not get it to work properly. I have taken it in to Long & McQuade for service to see if they can figure it out.
I have also asked Mesa this question directly.
