Mesa Boogie Rectifier | All About Tubes and Bias | Refurbishing a Triple Rectifier | Series: Part 2

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The Mesa Boogie Triple Rec as they are known remains a rock icon of the last 20 years or so. I'm refurbishing this one and PART Two shows everything I found about tubes and bias and shows a bias modification along the way.
What you will learn:
How good are Mesa Boogie tubes or valves?
What is the price of a full set of tubes?
Was this amplifier modified?
Are Mesa Boogie tubes easy to fit?
Were there any problems found?
Did you carry out other modifications?
What was the warranty on tubes?
Do I need to be qualified to do this work?
Intro to the amp I refurbish: • The Monster of Rock Tr...
Part One: The Power Transformer: • Mesa Boogie Rectifier ...
A closeup of a Road King II: • Mesa Boogie Road King ...
This used triple rectifier amp was bought from Reverb and I have already converted the amp for 240 volts operation in part one of the video series. Here we show and discuss everything about the tubes or valves, the 6L6GC, the 12AX7 tubes and the rectifier tubes. Also shown is a bias modification carried out to the amplifier before I bought it.
After fitting the original tubes, I check the bias measurements, then fit new tubes and check again. Lastly I adjust on this amp the final settings with the modified bias adjuster. Also fitted are the rectifier tubes and five 12AX7 pre-amplifier tubes.
This series of videos covers an updated transformer to 240 volts and also tube replacements, the question of biasing and showing a modified amp being biased as well as other things to know if you are going to refurbish a triple rectifier, but also any other Mesa amp. On later videos in this series I'll also be covering some cosmetics that will help make your amplifier really look the business.
I have an engineer (Phil Smith) and also great support from the authorized Mesa Boogie dealer 'Rob' based near Leicester in the UK. His information is available in the video.
So if you want that genuine real rectifier tone that is unique to Mesa Boogie then this series is the one to watch - I show some of the problems I encountered while carrying out the refurbishment. I also did give a score for the tubes from Mesa Boogie.
All parts were bought by me personally - an ordinary user of this amplifier and I was not given anything - it's a totally genuine review of what I bought and did to improve the amp. As an ordinary user my experience with any buying is exactly what yours might be.
If you are not a qualified engineer that has experience of working on tube or valve amps with up to 500 volts inside then do NOT attempt these modifications as there are very high voltages inside all valve and tube amplifiers, but you are more than welcome to watch what I did with my amplifier.
Visit www.tonymckenzie.com for more incredible reviews or my RU-vid channel
(c) A B McKenzie and tonymckenzie.com 2020-21
All Rights Reserved. All Trade Marks Acknowledged
#mesaboogierectifier #tubesandbias #biasmodifications #whyusemesatubes

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6 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 72

@baronvonchickenpants6564 3 года назад

Remember when amps came with a selector switch for mains voltage well my JCM did, another great video Tony

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

I certainly do remember that. On the international power transformer they supplied me from the multi-watt rectifier that does have all the voltages - but only settable internally with other changes. Marshall used to have the switches as did so many brands but today those are pretty rare to find. Merry Christmas and stay safe.

@stevp372 3 года назад

Great video Tony. I need to replace the tubes in my Triple Rectifier, but having seen the price from this video I may put it off till I have the money. Luckily I have a recently serviced Mark IV, after swapping valves back and forth yesterday I realised just how much better the Triple Rec sounds with Mesa tubes. Looking forward to the next vid and Merry Christmas

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

The tube prices are shocking really. My thoughts immediately went to used rectifier amps... just how many would have EVER had replacement tubes? My guess, as like this video is none, so buyer beware on used amps like this. It's a cost you don't always consider at the time of buying the amp. The Bias as set on this amp was very low as I showed, now that could clearly be from the conversion that was done internally. I would love to see what the bias figure for 6L6 tubes is on an unmodified triple rectifier - if anyone has the info PLEASE post it here. I guess 30ma which is in the middle of approximate ranges but would be nice to see what an unmodified amp shows. I might at some stage even remove the mod... then it's stock. There will be some more videos over Christmas but the guitar build is delayed because of the parts from Europe and Australia. Likely I'll get to dye the parts though (or screw it up and start again!). Yes merry Christmas to you too and stay safe.

@rickycompton2610 3 года назад

I always learn a lot from your videos Tony thanks for all your time and great videos stay safe.

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Great to know that guys do get at least something from it all. Stay safe and thanks for watching.

@Twobarpsi 3 года назад

As a Triple Rectifier owner, I'm enjoying this. Yes, I've seen Guitarologist's video on the Dual Rectifier 👍

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

I have had three now altogether... and thankfully on the others I did not have to change the tubes! They cost the earth here. Guitarologists video did prompt us to check that voltage on the strong setting and there it was... increased from 240 up to at least 280 volts - and I think his was (relatively) even higher than ours as a percentage. Worth bearing in mind for sure... but I suppose Mesa know what they are doing. I'm not entirely convinced about the new 'Badlands' amp - I have been in similar territory with another amp and for the 'extra cost' it seemed that might have been OK as an optional add on, but not really that great as standard on every amp. Interesting though. Merry Christmas and stay safe.

@bronzesnake7004 3 года назад

Hey Tony! Fancy meeting you here! Merry Christmas brother! Jack ~'()'~ Canada

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Mr Bronzesnake - great to hear you and I trust that you're doing OK there. Yes you have a great Christmas too and remember - stay safe!

@rightfromwrong 3 года назад

Merry Christmas Tony and all your family, from Mal.🕊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿❤️

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Yes and the same to you too. And absolutely stay safe...

@Thomasdgolden 3 года назад

Great Video! Merry Christmas man! Busting out the guide key, x 2. Must have tried the counter clockwise removal system.

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Ha why am I surprised about any of that stuff? I should know better than to expect the tubes to be good :). There was no floor pedal too? (Very questionable why really). I think I know. I bought a floor pedal on eBay and tried it. After about 5 mins it goes funny and affects the am/pedal. I have seen this before on MK IV floor pedal. There are one or two chips in the amp and three in the floor pedal that sometimes fail. Coming up in a video... but my guess as to why there was no floor pedal was that maybe they knew of the problem and easier to sell the amp without it. Call me cynical. In any case merry Christmas to you and yours too. Stay safe.

@Thomasdgolden 3 года назад

@@tonymckenzieofficial No pedal on the TA 30 and I used a few spare switch boxes. Only the channel changes, not the FX. I’m not spending money on that. It will wind up probably receiving the new Celestion and the old one will go in the new. But it exactly happened as what you stated, one part doesn’t function. Mesa tubes are so expensive. But I’ll wait until I get the new beast and see. Sort of licking the wounds on the cash spending.

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Check the cable. SOME mesa need a 7 pin and some need an 8 pin. If it needs an 8 pin and you use a 7 pin half the stuff does not work. Ha... I've been there before myself. Mesa tubes there are far cheaper than here! Here I really don't like to pay it. Somehow I feel ripped off a bit, and our 20% VAT certainly is part to blame. I'm the same on the cash for sure. I spent on the PT and the tubes so far on this, and there is more yet to come. And I changed my car, which is nice, but man so expensive... oh well. Stay safe.

@Thomasdgolden 3 года назад

@@tonymckenzieofficial this is a stereo jack.

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Oh OK... I have not owned a TA30... :(

@1961jscofield 3 года назад

Merry Christmas from frozen Indianapolis where I'm grounded & watching Tony because my POS car won't start!

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Ouch... that feels 'cold' from here! I've never been to Indianapolis yet, but there is still time... I did own a Corvette Indy pace car though :) at one time. Hey, I hope it's all running now or it might be very cold... stay safe and merry Christmas.

@Pilotltd 3 года назад

Merry Christmas Tony, adjustable bias is a godsend with Mesa's - especially at those tube prices 😂

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Yes have a great Christmas too... I'm not entirely sure of the bias mod. This was set so low honestly I never saw one so low for that setting. But it seemed to me like they had also changed the resistor AND added a pot.. that was limiting to 30ma on the test gear maximum. I might revisit it and take a look at the bias and resistors etc. The tube prices are not good, and it's clear why the amps mainly get neglected particularly re the tubes. Even cheaper ones are not that cheap really. Stay safe.

@Pilotltd 3 года назад

@@tonymckenzieofficial looks like the added the pot to the original resistor looking at 10:12 time on the 19th's video making resistance value wrong - should be getting around -51V on the 6L6 setting.

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

I never really checked the resistor but I did check the pot. I will go back and look at that. The link you sent seems wrong? Thanks for that and if you can amend it would be great Steve.

@burnbacktime 3 года назад

I'm just trying to figure out why my Triple only works with EL34s. I put multiple new sets of 6L6s in it and no matter what, it has a glorious crackle sound sitting idle. (Yes I remembered to switch the bias switch before anyone asks!) 😁

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Oh that sounds like fun... not. So the amp works but crackles? if so look at the sockets... and also check those tubes again!. That would be my first choice of things to look at. If you do find the problem please do come and post it on here... could be useful for someone. Merry Christmas and stay safe.

@burnbacktime 3 года назад

@@tonymckenzieofficial It only crackles using 6L6s, which are brand new. And I had an extra set to troubleshoot with and replace each pair. Same crackle no matter what. Which sucks because I prefer the amp with 6L6s. It's something not very obvious. I almost suspect the actual bias switch at this point.

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

It's interesting stuff for sure. Stay safe.

@monkeybrains 3 года назад

Hey Tony. Guess what advert came up when I clicked your vid? Positive Grid spark amp 🤣🤣🤣

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Ho Ho Ho and I'm not even Santa :) well maybe they have some sort of stock inventory to 'get rid' of? or maybe they just did that to make us all smile :) What would be a killer, is that if they ran that ad before my video :) now THAT would be a pi***r. Stay safe.

@bronzesnake7004 3 года назад

I remember back in the 60's looking in the back of my parents TV and seeing these huge glowing hot tubes, that threw of a lot of heat that I felt on my face. Then I felt heat on my ass from Dad letting me have it for pulling the cardboard backing off the TV again! He warned me I was going the "right way for a smacked ass" several times, and to keep my "hot little hands" away from the tv because I could get electrocuted, apparently it took a smacked ass to sink in! My sister had her tubes removed by a doctor! ") Thousands of comedians out of work and I'm doing it free! Jack ~'()'~ Canada

@tonymckenzieofficial 2 года назад

Hello Jack, I just 'found' this post wow from a year ago.. sorry for my VERY late reply! Ha that's how it felt to me too with this many tubes in the amp... could light a room up. Ouch sister! :) In any case I trust you're OK there... and thanks for the post I eventually found it.

@davidflint12 3 года назад

Merry Christmas Tony and family

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Yes and merry Christmas to you too... and of course stay safe especially at the minute....

@paulycornwelly 2 года назад

Do you have figures for the plate voltage? This will enable calculation of actual dissipation of the output tubes to ensure they're operating within design parameters

@tonymckenzieofficial 2 года назад

If its in the video they will be published and if not I don't remember what those were... sorry I can't help more right now, but if I open up the amp again then I'll post them... thanks

@aipsong 3 года назад

Another cool video - thanks!! How did you manage to get Tom Hanks as your engineer? Have great holidays.

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Ha classic. Phil, if you get to read this... you must tell aipsong how you got the time from the current filming schedule... :) Actually Phil works in the company I work in and his specialty is serial ports :) (right Phil?); Unfortunately... serial ports have faded a bit :) so he plays around on digital RF equipment. Stay safe aipsong and merry Christmas to you...

@aipsong 3 года назад

@@tonymckenzieofficial Champagne and music - better than sham pain and moo sick. Happy year's end and let's hope for a beautiful 2021!!!!!!

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Ha Brilliantly said! I was rolling around when I read that... yes I sincerely hope 2021 is better too...

@dethstormpx4 3 года назад

I loved the 430's

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

They are no more :( so what was special about those? Stay safe.

@Kswannbro 3 года назад

Hey Tony! I have a question if you could help me out! 😁 Could preamp tubes cause my amplifier to not power up at all??

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

You could pull them all out and see if the amp comes on then? if it does, then refit them one at a time. But I have not personally seen an amp not come on through pre-amp tubes. Not powering up at all sounds ominous... check the fuses FIRST. Let me know what you find... and stay safe.

@Kswannbro 3 года назад

Ok Im trying that out as we speak man! Playing without the amp gets quite boring after awhile. 🤣

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Let me know what you find... thanks.

@TheChadPad 3 года назад

What does the number and color on the tube mean? I'm sure 10 isn't the idle plate current. That seems wayyy too low. Maybe just a batch code? To show they are the same parameters?

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Well I think they use their own colour code to show particular matching... i.e. orange goes with orange for example. Not sure of the other codes but they are all pretty similar :) The tubes were absolutely spot on BTW. Thanks and stay safe.

@SuperJiggawhat 3 года назад

Hi Tony, great video! Question, I recently had the chance to barrow my friends Mesa Boogie mark 5. When I started it up, I noticed a bright flash from the back. Do you know what that is? I suspect it is the 5u4gb rectifier tube maybe?

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Well hard to actually diagnose from here, but the 5U4GB often have a blue color around them. My guess is that it's probably a tube with issues though. Get them checked! You can get real trouble if a tube goes big time. I just saved an amp once because as it was lighting up like a light bulb I was there right in front of the amp and managed to turn it off quickly. Merry Christmas and stay safe.

@SuperJiggawhat 3 года назад

@@tonymckenzieofficial Thank you Tony! I didn't know that would damage the amp. I have noticed a drop in volume also, but that could be something different.

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Even if you have only one 'spare' tube you could switch them one at a time and see if the problem goes away. If after a change of one the problem goes away then you found the bad tube. I would then change the set. Oh yes, of you get a power tube failure that is a bad one you can get amp trouble as it can damage components. I always watch them for issues and the slightest problem don't take chances. Stay safe.

@SuperJiggawhat 3 года назад

@@tonymckenzieofficial That is very helpful, thank you Tony! I have some knowledge in preamp tubes but not so much with power or rectifier tubes yet. I appreciate the help buddy. ✌🙏

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Well I'm basically like you... I'm no wizard on electronics really although I have been inside amps for a long time. Stay safe!.

@SevenSinsChoppers 3 года назад

My Triple gets a huge volume spike after a minute or so of playing then it drops. Tubes all look fine and the amp has low hours on it. The amp was bought new. It’s like you are playing at volume 2 then it spikes to 7 on all channels. Guitar cables & guitar is good. It is definitely something with the amp.

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

That could be many things... but change the pre-amp tubes just one at a time and see if it goes away. Also clean the sockets on the pre-amp tubes. I have had all sorts of things with dirty sockets... crackling and much more historically. Let me know if you find out what that is... just post it here... and thanks for watching. Stay safe too.

@Machca 3 года назад

Hey I'm dissassembly blown output transformer from my triple, and its worst work I ever seen. I've triple from 90's. And bias is cold and static, pot is good uprgade...

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Thanks for the info. I have had a few different Mesa and never had an issue except MK IV floor pedal did not work. On this amp there are multiple issues and this floor pedal is dodgy too but its inside the amp. I'll be covering that in a video soon. Also a mod for the 'pop' when changing channels. Stay safe.

@gab_ale 3 года назад

And I though my Mark V re-tubbing was expensive.

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Oh this one was expensive for sure...

@thestrum71 3 года назад

STR 440(s sound amazing! Way smoother than the (Russian made) STR 430....

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Expensive but I like them too... :)

@thestrum71 3 года назад

@@tonymckenzieofficial About 70 Euros for a pair of reliable and good sounding tubes. I'm not complaining.... 🙂

@evitative462 2 года назад

@@tonymckenzieofficial ahh the good old days, when you could buy MESA branded tubes for your MESA amplifier.

@tonymckenzieofficial 2 года назад

Not really that long ago.... or so it seems.... wat next? who knows. No Mesa stuff over here UK.

@thestrum71 2 года назад

@@tonymckenzieofficial China's tube production halted in 2019, Russian tubes are off the board now, we have a problem....

@JPDESS 3 года назад

Hi tony merry Christmas. Send me those old tubes ill buy them!

@tonymckenzieofficial 3 года назад

Ha way too late my friend they went to the tip! Actually I ended up keeping just one of them. You will notice that only one pair had the newer black lettering. One of those had the lug broken so I kept the other one. Honestly, for the most part they had been well overheated and completely without history. Seems to me that tubes from 2002 would not be a good option! Merry Christmas to you to and stay safe.

@JPDESS 3 года назад

@@tonymckenzieofficial ¸Thanks for the answer and Thanks for sharing all these videos!