What the hell.....this is ridiculous.

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Ramfootball36

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So after months of paying on my beautiful new Mark V I finally took it home. Played for roughly 45 minutes, and it pops and cuts out. Like just dies. I can hear the guitar coming through but barely. Switch to other channels, same thing. I keep messin around with it and about 3 minutes later it starts blasting full volume. After about 30 seconds it does it again. Not very happy....I fell in love in 45 minutes and literally wanna play all night and this **** thing dies. Very disappointed....this is getting returned pronto. Any ideas? Anyone?
 
Just switched from triode to pentode and it came back on again. Switched back to triode and it stayed full volume. After years of junk amps and no problems this is a very disappointing start to this relationship.
 
So I been playing on it about 4 hours and it did it again but came back out of it. But I just have to say.....I am head over heels in love with this guitar amp. I played for enough years to where I can truly appreciate the subtleties this amp offers. I am in tone heaven....if only I can figure out this issue.
 
90% of the issues with tube amps are tube related. Mesa Boogie warranties their tubes for 6 months.

What Channel/Mode/Power are you using. SS or Tube Rectifier? Anything in the loop?

Dom
 
you have a tube that is dying. no biggie and will still be under warranty.
 
Called guitar center and they said they would send it in for a repair. However I'm not waiting 2-3 weeks. Got a call into mesa too.
I was on channel 3 when it happened, extreme on 90 watt. Switched to channel 2 and there was still nothing but a faint sound of the guitar. Switched modes and power setting. Checked cables, deactivated the for switch...nothing. Then it popped back on.
Happened again....I switched the back switch from triode to pentode and it woke up. Flipped back to triode and it worked fine. Did it one more time about an hour later but cut out for a quick second and was back. Then played a couple hours with no problems.
 
If this is Mike - I haven't been able to return your call, just get a "call can't be completed at this time" recording.

With a Guitar Center amp, its hard to say what the issue might be. They haven't been a dealer for a year, and with the treatment amp get on the floor there, their gear has proven to be plagued with issues. Hopefully its a simple tube issue - have you done any troubleshooting?

Does it happen in all channels? All modes? All wattage settings? No fx in front of the amp or in the loop? Checked instrument, cabling, speaker cab, etc? Loop bypassed? Loop engaged with a patch cable from send to return?

Take a new/known good 12AX7 and swap it into each preamp position, one position at a time. Test the amp in-between each swap to pin-point the tube that is potentially causing the signal dropout.

Next, with the amp in the 45 watt mode - swap the inner and outer pair of power tubes. If you notice a difference it could indicate a power tube that is at fault. Only one pair of tubes is used in the 45 watt mode, so this test will isolate each pair.

I'll keep trying your number - or call us again here. Thanks!
 
Thanks so much for getting back right away! I have no idea why my phone isn't working. It's the one I called from an the one I'm using for posting here. It's hard to test cause its an intermittent problem. Had about 4-5 hours of continuous play without it happening again. It happens 3 times in a row. I switched power settings, channels, messed with output, channel master.... I have nothing in the loop a far as effects. I did have a wah plugged in but removed it to be sure that wasn't the issue. I engaged and disengaged the effects loop. I haven't got into tube swapping yet. I'm learning amps slowly. I do work on motorcycles for a living so I understand wiring and am relatively mechanically inclined, but this is a bit out of my realm of knowledge. I've had about 3-5inutes both times it's happened to mess with the settings. But I'm just gonna have to play till it happens again. And trust me, I totally understand what yur saying about guitar center. I'll keep working with it, but if it comes down to it I'll return this and purchase from someone who is still a dealer. Thank you for the prompt response. I know mechanical issues happen, it's the nature of mechanics.....but it's how the problem gets dealt eight hat matters. So again, thank you.....and hopefully we can catch up on the phone.
 
Ramfootball36 said:
Thanks so much for getting back right away! I have no idea why my phone isn't working. It's the one I called from an the one I'm using for posting here. It's hard to test cause its an intermittent problem. Had about 4-5 hours of continuous play without it happening again. It happens 3 times in a row. I switched power settings, channels, messed with output, channel master.... I have nothing in the loop a far as effects. I did have a wah plugged in but removed it to be sure that wasn't the issue. I engaged and disengaged the effects loop. I haven't got into tube swapping yet. I'm learning amps slowly. I do work on motorcycles for a living so I understand wiring and am relatively mechanically inclined, but this is a bit out of my realm of knowledge. I've had about 3-5inutes both times it's happened to mess with the settings. But I'm just gonna have to play till it happens again. And trust me, I totally understand what yur saying about guitar center. I'll keep working with it, but if it comes down to it I'll return this and purchase from someone who is still a dealer. Thank you for the prompt response. I know mechanical issues happen, it's the nature of mechanics.....but it's how the problem gets dealt eight hat matters. So again, thank you.....and hopefully we can catch up on the phone.

Thanks for the info, and sorry to hear about the issues you're having

You can see a great video on tube troubleshooting, here: http://mesaboogie.com/news/2010/11/mesa-amplifier-tube-troubleshooting/#more-1885

We'll catch up soon!
 
Hey bro, I don't know if you've had this looked at yet but I had very similar extreme frustration. Look at your AC chord. replace it. Then try the amp.
That short little jerk where it is nailed to the case 1.5" from the socket is not natural. I did everything with mine, replaced the rectifier and power tubes. That's all it was. She's been
a solid tank of tone ever since.

:twisted:
 
Well I played on it for the rest of the month. The first week I had issues like I was explaining.....and since then it's played beautifully. However, I figured if I was buyin one used, I at least wanna have a good bit of factory warranty left. Also I kinda had cab envy when I was playin on the combo. Sooo, long story short, taking the combo back to GC....my head showed up Wednesday, got my cab yesterday.....and wow...I sure do love Mesa.
 
Ramfootball36 said:
Well I played on it for the rest of the month. The first week I had issues like I was explaining.....and since then it's played beautifully. However, I figured if I was buyin one used, I at least wanna have a good bit of factory warranty left. Also I kinda had cab envy when I was playin on the combo. Sooo, long story short, taking the combo back to GC....my head showed up Wednesday, got my cab yesterday.....and wow...I sure do love Mesa.

Mesa tone wins the day again! Enjoy the ride .. :mrgreen:
 
thunda1216 said:
try plugging a jumper cable into the effects loop (send to return).
Would the "Send Level" be set to max for this, or at the midway point?

I'm trying to gather as much info on the MkV before I get mine later this year.

Thanks!
 
Your original description sounded like mine, 2 months after I got it home, yep bought it at GC. The third time it happened, I stopped myself from hitting the stand-by switch and took a look at the tubes, V8 went full cherry and was toasting V9. Never toasted any tubes after replacing them. For the amount of use my Mark IV had compared to the Mark V, I never had to replace power tubes for 13 years. I played regularly for 4 years after getting the amp so the remaining 7 years had little or no use. Red-plating has not been an issue with the Mark V since I installed new tubes. Amp as new when I bought it, I would blame the cold weather and transportation from PA to NC in the winter and bumpy rt 95. Also when changing Power tubes, especially if you had issues, may be wise to replace the Rectifier tube, especially if the age of the rectifier tube is unknown.
 
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