Mesa Boogie Express
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- Опубликовано: 25 авг 2024
- In this vid, we'll take a look at a noisy Mesa-Boogie Express 5:50 combo and give some tips how to diagnose problems relating to tubes.
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Again why don't you test the tubes and eliminate all the guess work?
The amplifier is a better tube tester than your tube tester. I guarantee that. Your tube tester isn't going to tell you about 80% of the problems that tubes have, such as noise. They might tell you if there is a short or low emission, but even a low emission reading is NOT a death sentence to a tube. Some of the best sounding 12AX7 I've used have tested low emission.
But here's the thing Brad, if you test all the tubes you may find a tube that's borderline but not actually causing trouble yet but could act up shortly after you charge the client for the repair work you've already done then their thinking wait a minute I just had this in for service now I'm having issues again and then they're thinking I guess he wasn't very thorough when the issue could have been prevented and you could have added another new tube to the repair bill, sometimes it's pays to take your time and go over everything.
Brad is spot on, 100%. Also, a tube tester isn't going to tell you if a tube is "microphonic" either, which can also contribute to extra noise.
I hear what your saying
Unless your in the service business you won't get what I'm saying
Great amp!!! I was so glad that they came out with the 5:50 Plus, not that I wanted anything that they added like the graphic EQ, but because it made the price of this one come down. To me, this amp is like the Marshall 800, it is simple and great sounding. Great playing at the end of your video too.
A Guitologist video and Uncle Doug video back to back in my feed. Today is a good day.
Whoa !
Ewetoob actually let 2 notifications get through ?!?
Killer amp, its one of the best combos ive owned
How is it now, two years later?
Hey Brad,
So this may be a weird-ish compliment, but watching your videos has seriously helped me teach my EMT and Paramedic students how to perform better patient assessments. Between you and the old NPR show “Car Talk”, I’ve taken a more direct and systematic approach to pinpointing tricky issues with patients and I just wanted to say thanks for doing what you do.
Also, I have a 5:50 Express and watching you dig around in there was really neat. Thanks for all you do, brother!
Matt
I’ve had the 5/50 express plus for five years, and it’s been a great versatile amp. Nice clean. Great easy switching settings once you figure what you like. Will play very loud! Enjoy your videos.
Thanks for another mesa boogie fix. Sounded very nice after it had been sorted out. More mesas please.
Kids art is so cool. Completely honest and unadulterated. The best. Awesome!
Brad, I have 3 Boogies and have experienced that problem before. I took the ailing amp into Mike Bendinelli at Mesa and it was a cap issue. We weren't able to directly find the issue because it was intermittent also and chopsticking the board along with cleaning all the tube pins and sockets didn't fix it. So he shotgunned the majority of the caps, including the power supply. Fixed.
I have the head version, it has 5w/25w/50w power settings. It's a really great sounding amp.
Thats the plus version, how is it holding up?
Most helpful just dusted off my express 25 after 5 years and had similar issues, replaced the whole lot with JJ valves so thanks for making this.
Did it have this issue?
@@shckltnebay yes I did
@@DVDsNFC And with the JJs the Clean channel is quiet?
@@shckltnebay still have some noise but now were near as before also sprayed all the pots and that helped too.
@@DVDsNFC My Clean has more hiss then the Crunch mode. Tube swaps havent helped but just popping in old usa tubes in V1 and V2 but same results
Right off the bat that amp seems very handy live. Can't wait to see how it sounds
I have had tube related problems as well and replaced all of them and the problem started back again. So I reflowed the solder joints on the sockets one by one and it ended up being v1. looked closer and the solder had a crack so moral of the story the tubes were just fine just needed some love.
Probably the same problem with the one I got From GC
Mesa don’t mess with tubes quality choices, they have great tubes. Plus as you said no bias messing if you stick to mesa tubes
Actually if brad and/or doug the tech guy wrote books I would definitely buy them! You guys clearly know a hell of a lot!!!
The fixed Bias is Mesa Boogie's Control measure. Randall Smith wants you to buy his tubes and have your Amp Serviced only by Mesa techs . A Bias pot allows you to dial in the Ultimate Mesa Boogie Sound ! Thats why I installed Bias pots on all my Mesa Boogie amps !
Any how to sites you recommend?
Sweet, that amp sounds GREAT now! I enjoyed this video.
I had bought a peavey blues classic 50 online from a store in nw Arkansas they said it worked great snd when I got it .lots of noise as well as popping I tightened the sockets as well as cleaned them and the noise went down and the popping stoped but I wanted it to be noise free I pulled the preamp tubes again and noticed how bent the pins were I straightened the pins and the amp then worked like a charm
I played thru one of those once & it's the only Mesa I played that I liked.
Some nice pickin there at the end Brad
This is the first time I've ever heard the word "squanky", I like it and I'm going to add it to my vocabulary.
ZZ Top song on their first album “Squank”
Buckaroo Banzai. Good choice in Movie.
Same problem....after trying new tubes mesa and JJ or swaping from another amp...problem of noisy clean channel still present ...I concluded amp design problem because a lot of owners complain about this problem. My SOLUTION FOR PERMANENT FIX = Replace 12 AX7 with
JJ Electronics 12AT7 litttle less gain but super sound on all channels and this amp has gain to spare anyway ! After one year , still noise free !
Man that amp sounds awesome
Lol @ "man these are f*kin heavy". Thanks for your help Brad.👍
My mesa boogie express 5:50 does have the aluminum protection bar for the tubes from factory.
So, the power tube cage, aluminum rails, and backboards are not only there to guard the tubes they keep you from toasting your epidermis when reaching into the cab for that J you snuck into the show. 😎
Last year when researching my 30 year old Mesa Studio 22 and preparing to service it myself (with inspiration and helpful tips from Brad’s videos) I learned Mesa sources their tubes from anybody and everybody, they test them and brand the ones that pass their “standards” with their Mesa logo. They don’t manufacture their own tubes.
DUH
I havent got all the way through the video yet, but i have a mesa nomad with all these issues. Watching with interest!
I enjoy that you can actually play.
Great amp. I have had one for a few years that I don't use very much because you nailed it when you said, "this thing sure is heavy." It truly is. Great sound though. And, for the most part it seems like they use great parts (sturdy toggles, jacks), rugged foot switch with a really long cord. Rather than putting all of those jacks for traditional switching on the back, I wish they had separated the tube sockets from the board. Great video.
DId you have a board issue?
@@shckltnebay No, but I worry that as the components age it will create heating issues. I have had trouble in the past with older amps that had tubes that plugged into a board and overheated components on the board. Like with a laptop, the older it gets the hotter it gets. Who knows, it may not ever have heating issues, but I wish they had mounted them to the metal.
@@THUNDERWORX At least its a seperate board from the main one. Make sure your tubes dont get too hot and keep it way from heat or being against a wall
@@shckltnebay It is a great amp. I really like the sound of the Fillmore. It is a fantastic-sounding amp that has a variety of great sounds. I like the Lone Star too, but it seems noisy in a lot of the videos I've seen of it, and I've heard people say it has power issues. I wondered if they meant buzzing when idle by power issues...LOL.
wait a min I just sat through 20 min of troubleshooting over a bad tube, nice
No soldering that has to be a plus. Liked this video bro.
Had a similar problem with a customer's JCM800 a little while ago. Pulled the preamp tubes and replaced with brand new, which were iffy too---went through 6 new ECC83's before I found a quiet combination, talk about maddening . Luckily, A.E.S. did right by me and exchanged them out.
I recently replaced the all the tubes in my multi watt dual rectifier with Mesa tubes from Mesa boogie and the 6L6 power tubes that were sent were STR-440s.
Love my Mesa"s….. My 5.25 is doing the same thing. thanks!
Did you sort it out?
@@shckltnebay i bought a tube tester and checked my tubes. Cleaned all my switches and connection's. Don't know what i did. But the changes i did worked.
@@johnnytruck2009 WOW nice, I had a poor testing EL84 so ive ordered a matched set of JJs, cleaned out all the pots and switches but not expecting the hiss to be gone. Thanks for the reply.
@@johnnytruck2009 Mine has hiss only in the clean channel, the crunch is much less noisy
@@shckltnebay i did find that mine were not up to par so i did change my rectifier tube and 2 others cus they were weak. I am not a technician. But i actually found how valuable a tube tester is. If you don't have one. I suggest getting one. As far as wiring stuff i am clueless.
At 4:50 you had your belly stuck out with the mic in your hand..... I kinda thought we were gonna hear the baby's heartbeat!!
Phillip LeRoy I didn’t know Sure made fetal heart monitors!! Hahaha!!
thanks for informative VDO, i watched it before ordered a new set of tubes from sweetwater, cleaned all sockets with contacts cleaner then replaced all the tubes, came to find out V4 was the one making poping noises, tried swap back and forth with all new tubes...sadly didn't fix the problem
Love the tuner condoms on your tele!
Not much for me to say here other than I enjoyed the video and learned something. BRAVO! Now whip out some Estaban!
I had a similar problem with my JCM900 4101, but the noise was only from the pre. The solution was to clean all tube sockets...
My 5:25 was in the shop for a couple months due to noise. In the end it was a bad power transformer but it was hard to track down because the voltage was like .1 or .2 volts off spec and seemed "close enough".
Did Mesa warrant it?
@@shckltnebay It was at least a couple years out of warranty. I bought it used in 2011 and the repair was 2016. My guy was in contact with Mesa techs for over a month trying to figure out the problem. And the same amp is now making funny noises that I need to debug. For a long time it's been making a kinda ... sizzling noise, like water spilled on a hot stove, when turned off standby, with or without input. And last week while playing it made a kinda "honk" noise like something shorted bad for a second or so, definite 60Hz overtone. I turned it off immediately. If the next repair costs as much as the first I may as well buy a brand new one. Hopefully it just needs new tubes.
Turns out the giant "honk" was just bad pedal cabling. And the sizzle coincides with some tiny blue sparks in the power tubes. I'm not worried about it.
@@dbkeebler2 Ill never get another MB
i had this amp got rid of it. problem with it is the clean and crunch modes are the best channels but they are shared and you can't switch between them in a live situation
been using 1 for 6 years now
Have you ever encountered a 550 Express that won't switch channels? Mine is stuck on Channel 2
A simple fix this time!!!
It's one of those transistor amps like paw, has just spit in the back of it,and give it a womp,on the side. It will work.lol
wow! My Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier is doing the same thing!
love your channel
Nice straight forward vid .. Enjoyed ..BTW.. You know you've made it when you get you very own trolling wombat .
Love your videos brow! Keep it on!
I find it funny how many people in the comments are bitching about board mounted tube sockets.
Listen, if Soldano does it, it's probably fine. Plus, board mounted sockets are theoretically lower noise - no unshielded leads flying every which way.
I'm sending all Mesa repairs to you,Brad. Ones,Twos and IIBs.After those three models they lost me.Ten Pounds of "STUFF" in a One Pound Bag. Boogies ain't it.
Could see you were struggling to turn that behemoth around Brad ... I guess if anyone has a written off one of these they could always use it as a boat anchor 😊
It is very heavy for what it is. I do love it though.
fillmore 50 is my dream amp, but I can't afford it. Sometimes I see the express 50 for a decent price, I should give it a try. I'm looking for big 6L6 clean/crunch, maybe this old mesa will still be better than the hot rod 4 ( which is decent for the price I must admit)
Another awesome video!
Mine makes a very loud hum ONLY on the class A setting. Cannot figure it out so far. Tubes are newish. Speaker is great. No pedals or anything. Just unusable at 5 watts.
Great video, I’m sitting on the 5:25 version of this amp and it makes a “wind noise”.. no switches or volume pots effect the noise. I replaced all tubes but didn’t make a difference.., tried disconnecting the reverb and wiggling the cables.. again nothing effects the noise.., ? Any ideas anyone?.. I’ve had the chassis out and can’t see any cause.??
I seem to be having the same issue only on the clean channel
Hey Brad, the comments from Doug the tech guy, cracked me up, I bet you've forgot more than he will ever know!....
Electrofrying D wasn't intentional jackass
As Mesa's go, this amp is one of my favorites! I like the chanel(s) layout!.... Mods????
No digging on Doug, but if you own a tube amp and get that "crackle", the first thing you do it check tubes. Mesa Boogie even has that in their user manuals. Love the videos, but the guy that sent this amp in could have fixed this himself with a couple of spare tubes.
Christian Ploeger Very true, but this is a great way to show those who aren’t familiar what to listen for and how to trouble shoot. Great little free education, you know?
I have this Express too and I am having the same problem. Tubes checked and replaced twice. Yes, it was first thing, but no the last one. No luck at all. I still do not know, where problem is - I use another amp.
I own the same amp, but I have the model that came with two speakers. I believe the ones with two speakers were the earlier original models and later on switched to just one speaker. Anyway thanks for the video, I also have some crackling noise from the amp, probably the same problem since I bought it with the original tubes. I also have a problem with the footswitch. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I think if you get the cord in just the right position it'll work. Any free advice?
I suspect that shield is more about protecting you from burning your arm than it is protecting the tubes
I think it's to keep the tubes safe from simple stuff like throwing the power cord, footswitch, and footswitch cable in the back. It won't protect from active abuse, but it should be more than sufficient to prevent you from smashing a tube because your power cord got tangled up in back.
Would you say they are good sounding amps in comparison to vintage handwired Fenders?
Is there a difference in construction between the expres serious and the regular 5:25,35 and 50? because the express is much cheaper.
HEY GUITOLOGIST! hope you are doing well did you like this amp?
Its got a good sound to that amp.
Watched all the video only to hear that amp, but great job😂😂😀
How can I switch tones like for example if I am playing clean and then I want to solo what do I have to do switch tones
I have a mark 3 and I have an issue when I plug a axle into the fox loop just in the send and I lose the high end sound and only have a muddy sound it’s af if the pre amp is only working
43rd !
Eeeyyyyeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaa !
Lots of good comments here !
00:05
Made With Love !
Well, I believe that she really did cover all of the bases with that one !
04:54
With that particular sound, I would spray some contact cleaner in all of the pots and work them around a good bit to clean them up, and then I would spray some more in all of the Tube Sockets, and run them in, around, and out, a few times as well to clean them off too .
But, if that were the case, then we would not have a show !
19:37
Well, I feel better !
I am so glad that I do not own a mess of boogie !
Aside from all of the proprietary bullsh*t about their tubes and crappy printed circuit board designs that put tubes into the board itself, et cetera and so forth, I still would not own one.
At the beginning of the video, you showed the one and only Input Jack, with the switches : Clean/Crunch and Blues/Burn, none of which I like.
I prefer the 1971 Traynor YSR-1 Custom Reverb that I have.
I can plug into either Channel 1 or Channel 2, and then put a cable in from Channel 1 into Channel 2, and I have access to BOTH Channels, Including Separate Volumes. In this manner, I have the Freedom to create the Full Range of the Clean to Crunch Spectrum, at ALL times !
That mesa will let you switch from 1 to 2, but, that is just an extra footswitch that nobody really needs, but, has to have for amps like this, no matter who makes it.
Well, that is just one point. I would have walked Right past this amp without even asking about it, and here you are EXPOSING all of these other built in manufacture faults, that just would have really pissed me off if I had bought one !
Woo - Hoo !
Saved from a terrifically horrible mistake by just my gut instinct and Personal Preference !
Thanks, Brad for the Great Show, and All That You Do !
i have same defect, that crackling and poping sound on some transistor amp. weird?
Its not the same "defect lol" if its a transistor amp
@@shckltnebay of course
I once inserted a preamp tube in an amp while it was on and one of the dropper resistors exploded violently.
I have to admit that amp sounded great. But the Mesa MO is they are a PITA to work on. Not sure why
I think it might be the osculation overthruster.
what book, or lesson, or sheet music, or tab or youtube vid or whatever do I gotta aquire to learn and dissect that blues stuff you did for 4 minutes starting at 16;50, especially 17:20 and 18:10???? please halp
Why don't you just install a medieval torture device??, perhaps a 'rack', 'stockade', or 'iron maiden' (the "other" iron maiden) in the shop, as they will deliver a far-less tortuous result/experience, than pulling the chassis and repairing a Mesa Boogie amp!
Had this amp. Returned it immediately and got the mark 5
MyNameIsMud you are a smart dude! Any Mark Boogie will destroy this line of amps. I liked the old DC line FAR better than the F or Express series.
Ive opened up my mkV. That thing has a terrifying amount stuff going on inside.
Hey gitalijust, did you notice that every time you wrote 5:50 it appears as a link for that timeslot in the video and OCD people like me keep clicking in them links and every time I click there it goes to 5:50 in the video and there is nothing interesting to see in that particular moment?
You're cool Brad, I hope you do well just playing around with amps like this. I'd pay you $1500 per episode if I was able to. High Five .
Crickets, that's what my girlfriend says!It's making noise and I drive the car and hear nothing but car!If I may ask are triode/pentodeamps,problematic in general?Thanks for sharing brother!
Grammatically the norm is you should put a space at the end of a sentence before the start of a new one, or check to see if your space bar works.
Ron Dunagan,thanks brother, I'm Guitarded!
You did not need to bias after putting in the new output tubes? I was always told no matter what to re bias when changing the output tubes unless its a Bugera or something to that effect that has a self bias. I do not know enough about Meas amps so what do I know!
Mesa amps have fixed bias. You are supposed to buy Mesa's power tubes to ensure that they are compatible with the amp's secret fixed bias.
Hi Brad Thanks for awesome video. I have the same amp and it making the same noise, i replace all new tubes and clean the sockets and all the pots still doing the same thing. Do know what else I can check on the.amp Thanks for your help
Did you figure it out?
@@shckltnebay no still making that noise i check all capacitors and replace all new tubes and clean all the tubes sockets still the same i give up
aloha mahalo braddah
@@mickwong8507 wow that sucks
Hell, yeah! Exactly the same here!
good work dude. i have a Thor 70,s 100 W tube amp. peavy 4-12 cab. i will send pics if interested.
Hey Brad. No SPF?
Can you pull these out with the amp on? I thought that would break the amp?
Output yes, input no
Hey, I have this same model Mesa and I'm experiencing a burning electrical smell particularly (and ironically) when I'm on the "burn" channel? It's not the smell of warm tubes either. I haven't replaced any (power and pre) tubes , and even more concerning I haven't blown its fuse. What should I do?
It would be a cool feature when burn not only sounds but alsp smells so. But be sure: it shouldn't !!!
When inly in burn mode then probably some bad wiring, soldering or connection in the burn stage or tube of the amp.
Take it to a really good tech and don t leave it on when you re not around.
Tube amps. It s beautiful but basic electric tech. It can break up. It can cause shortage. It can cause fire ...
You can open it up and look for any burnt wire jacketing or PCB areas.
For all you know, it could have been a dead bug cooking under a tube socket.
I thought the sound came from the front......
Old = light weight!!! I am having a fit with the champ I just built and I'm beginning to believe it is a tube or tubes also. I have changed this and that and may be something simple. I love to make things harder than they have to be.!!! You just can't please a lot of people on you tube!!!
Who else thinks Brad should reach out to fender to get his own signature model?
lindo amplificador
Mesa told me that they were using Ruby tubes as of 2017.
Why they recommend Mesa power tubes? It's because their amps have a fixed bias with no potentiometer. Even if you buy a matched pair of another brand, it's pretty sure you'll be out of specs. To me, at 90% that kind of an issue has nothing to do with the tubes. Luckily, it was not the case with that amp!
Dont you hate board mounted sockets!?
Well, YES, I do !
I hate pcb mounted anything !
OK ! OK !
I admit it !
I hate pcb's ! ! !
Im ok with PCBs in general, as long as the quality of the PCB was there. However, mounting a socket subject to semi-frequent stress of removing and inserting tubes just sets my hair on end whenever I change tubes in the amps I have with PCBs
WOW! Sounds like bad filter caps. Old B+ preamp resistors can make noise but a mor "Rice Crispies" sound. My money says filter caps.
What about building a PWM based guitar amp using vacuum tubes for a suitable circuit just google Vacuum tube PWM.
11:21 "Squanky" ?? Google doesn't tell me what that word means.
Squonky. My vocab is better than google's.
You know. Like it sounds like 'squank'. :)
ruclips.net/video/iE7k--I0f7I/видео.html
but it's more properly spelled "squonky": ruclips.net/video/TzL-up4ZKgI/видео.html
I love engineered words
Skewed + Wonky = Skwonky www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Skwonky
Squanky, like yo mama. Get it?
Mesa amps are fixed bias aren't they?
Robert Frias Yep! Unless you want to mod them.
Hello everyone.
I have a Mesa Boogie express 5:50, it is installed a loud crack on the speaker when I put it on stand by before turning it off Would you know if this is normal or if it is a defect? Thank you.
Are you using the stand by before tuning it off?
@@shckltnebay yes, first I put it on stand by, only then after I turn off the power
@@MZampa1 Mine does that if I turn the power off right after standby if I wait 20 secs its doesnt
I had a 5:25. I sold it because I was flipping switches and twisting knobs more than I was just sitting down and playing it. Also, kinda wasn't into how it sounded. It's a great amp, just didn't like it.
Did you ever try a different speaker?