HELP W/ 5153 HEAD OR I AM THROWING IT OUT THE WINDOW.

[renegade5150]

A " What would you do question from left field". Trade the EVH 5153 for, what looks like, a Mesa Dual Rec w/ black diamond plate, chrome knob plate, and small logo. It really got my attention.

 

[nevusofota]

A " What would you do question from left field". Trade the EVH 5153 for, what looks like, a Mesa Dual Rec w/ black diamond plate, chrome knob plate, and small logo. It really got my attention.

For what I do (see the link in my sig) the EVH is perfect. The Mesa Racto that I owned (basically the same amp you speak of) didn't work nearly as well. To me the EVH has the in your face clear rhythm channel (I boost it) that I'm looking for and a great sustainy more saturated lead channel (all with separate eq's). It also has a perfect fx loop and takes pedal/processors very well. And you can't forget the awesome clean channel. To me, its the best "all around" amp I have played and it has kept me from flipping amps and allowed me to concentrate more on the band and playing.

 

[renegade5150]

I feel the same way about the EVH, love it, but it just pissed me off so bad yesterday night. It was a big show for us and my third channel doesn't work . It just had me in a funk all night. I am just gonna go early and change out the v4,v5,v6 slots and hope it works.

 

[nevusofota]

I feel the same way about the EVH, love it, but it just pissed me off so bad yesterday night. It was a big show for us and my third channel doesn't work . It just had me in a funk all night. I am just gonna go early and change out the v4,v5,v6 slots and hope it works.

I totally understand. I had a big outdoor gig last year and also lost my third channel. I attributed it to having a dose of bad power because right before the preamp tube blew we had a brown out then a black out in power. If I were you I would go the midi switching route (to get rid of the cable/footswitch) and get a good power regulator (I know this can be costly though). I haven't had an issue since.

 

[renegade5150]

Are you talking about an Amp Gizmo and then get a Furman Power conditioner? I have always been "guitar-od-amp" kinda guy and never looked into midi or power conditioners.

 

[nevusofota]

Are you talking about an Amp Gizmo and then get a Furman Power conditioner? I have always been "guitar-od-amp" kinda guy and never looked into midi or power conditioners.

Yup. But I would get not just a power conditioner but one that is also a regulator.

 

[tonmazz]

I had the same issue with this head. Went through 2 that had switching problems and both eventually just stopped playing. Nice amp but I don't trust it.

 

[renegade5150]

Well good news folks, just a preamp tube. Changed out V4,V5, and V6 for safe measures, I'll check tomorrow for which one was bad. Thank you guys. It really helped me have a steller show tonight.

 

[MississippiMetal]

An accurately perceivable fail rate of any given production run of amplifiers is buffered by a certain degree of user-error/neglect. This can be everything from dropping it down a flight of stairs, or simply biasing the power tubes too hot, running the amp cranked into an attenuator for too long or too often, running mismatched cab/head impedances, or storing the amp in unsuitable environments that cause gradual harm to the components inside. If you ever want to know if the storage space for your amp is too humid, keep an eye on the transformer laminates. If they begin to show signs of oxidation in 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, whatever, you need to either move it to a dry space or dehumidify your storage area.

Of course I doubt that applies to many of the people here with Camerons, Fortins and Diezels who have probably built separate onto their houses for each amp complete with a crib and mobile with dangling tubes and guitar wallpaper.

Glad you got the issue fixed. Tubes are almost always the first place to look when trouble starts.

 

[nevusofota]

Well good news folks, just a preamp tube. Changed out V4,V5, and V6 for safe measures, I'll check tomorrow for which one was bad. Thank you guys. It really helped me have a steller show tonight.

Thats great news. THE THING EATS PREAMP TUBES. I take extra tubes to every gig and sometimes keep the back grill off for a quick swap out if needed. I bet the majority of the horror stories that we hear about from this amp are mostly preamp tube issues. Which is odd because I always thought that in general power amp tubes needed to be replaced more often.

So, to be clear about the orginal problem, are you saying that the bad preamp tube prevented the third channel from turning on? no red channel light when pressing the channel three button on the head itself? If so, that is odd. I can understand pressing the button, red light turns on, but no sound, but to be unable to even engage the third channel with a bad preamp tube sounds very weird.

 

[protoplasma]

Well good news folks, just a preamp tube. Changed out V4,V5, and V6 for safe measures, I'll check tomorrow for which one was bad. Thank you guys. It really helped me have a steller show tonight.

Thats great news. THE THING EATS PREAMP TUBES. I take extra tubes to every gig and sometimes keep the back grill off for a quick swap out if needed. I bet the majority of the horror stories that we hear about from this amp are mostly preamp tube issues. Which is odd because I always thought that in general power amp tubes needed to be replaced more often.

So, to be clear about the orginal problem, are you saying that the bad preamp tube prevented the third channel from turning on? no red channel light when pressing the channel three button on the head itself? If so, that is odd. I can understand pressing the button, red light turns on, but no sound, but to be unable to even engage the third channel with a bad preamp tube sounds very weird.

When I read through this thread I was pointing my finger at a switching circuit issue early on. The original problem of just a little sound coming through with the amp turned up sounds like some of the channel switching relays switched over, but not all, and probably just one -- likely near the end of the line before the loop. Given that he couldn't even select the channel is also odd, and leads me to think of a controller issue. The switching circuit is either messed up in a couple places, or something like an internal power supply problem is causing the weirdness.

I'd be really surprised if the problem didn't continue to come back until it is truly located. Time will tell...

 

[renegade5150]

Well good news folks, just a preamp tube. Changed out V4,V5, and V6 for safe measures, I'll check tomorrow for which one was bad. Thank you guys. It really helped me have a steller show tonight.

Thats great news. THE THING EATS PREAMP TUBES. I take extra tubes to every gig and sometimes keep the back grill off for a quick swap out if needed. I bet the majority of the horror stories that we hear about from this amp are mostly preamp tube issues. Which is odd because I always thought that in general power amp tubes needed to be replaced more often.

So, to be clear about the orginal problem, are you saying that the bad preamp tube prevented the third channel from turning on? no red channel light when pressing the channel three button on the head itself? If so, that is odd. I can understand pressing the button, red light turns on, but no sound, but to be unable to even engage the third channel with a bad preamp tube sounds very weird.

That's what happened. I set up, started to play, went to switch channel 3, nothing. unplugged the footswitch and tried it from the front of the amp, wouldn't even engage. I went the next day with more preamp tubes, thanks to your suggestions, swapped out V4,V5,V6 all at the same time becasue I didn't have time to test each one and channel 3 works! I love the amp but I am not digging the " will it work today" factor. It is really making me want to trade it for the mesa dual rec blackface, chrome knob plate, small logo head. I looks like a pre-500 that everybody raves about but I am no expert by anymeans.

 

[nevusofota]

Well good news folks, just a preamp tube. Changed out V4,V5, and V6 for safe measures, I'll check tomorrow for which one was bad. Thank you guys. It really helped me have a steller show tonight.

Thats great news. THE THING EATS PREAMP TUBES. I take extra tubes to every gig and sometimes keep the back grill off for a quick swap out if needed. I bet the majority of the horror stories that we hear about from this amp are mostly preamp tube issues. Which is odd because I always thought that in general power amp tubes needed to be replaced more often.

So, to be clear about the orginal problem, are you saying that the bad preamp tube prevented the third channel from turning on? no red channel light when pressing the channel three button on the head itself? If so, that is odd. I can understand pressing the button, red light turns on, but no sound, but to be unable to even engage the third channel with a bad preamp tube sounds very weird.

That's what happened. I set up, started to play, went to switch channel 3, nothing. unplugged the footswitch and tried it from the front of the amp, wouldn't even engage. I went the next day with more preamp tubes, thanks to your suggestions, swapped out V4,V5,V6 all at the same time becasue I didn't have time to test each one and channel 3 works! I love the amp but I am not digging the " will it work today" factor. It is really making me want to trade it for the mesa dual rec blackface, chrome knob plate, small logo head. I looks like a pre-500 that everybody raves about but I am no expert by anymeans.

Before you replaced the tubes did you try turning the amp off and then back on w/out the footswitch/cable and then try pushing the front Channel 3 button? A couple of years ago this happened to me before I went midi and I just turned off the amp, unplugged the footswitch, and everything worked fine when using the front channel buttons.

 

[renegade5150]

Well good news folks, just a preamp tube. Changed out V4,V5, and V6 for safe measures, I'll check tomorrow for which one was bad. Thank you guys. It really helped me have a steller show tonight.

Thats great news. THE THING EATS PREAMP TUBES. I take extra tubes to every gig and sometimes keep the back grill off for a quick swap out if needed. I bet the majority of the horror stories that we hear about from this amp are mostly preamp tube issues. Which is odd because I always thought that in general power amp tubes needed to be replaced more often.

So, to be clear about the orginal problem, are you saying that the bad preamp tube prevented the third channel from turning on? no red channel light when pressing the channel three button on the head itself? If so, that is odd. I can understand pressing the button, red light turns on, but no sound, but to be unable to even engage the third channel with a bad preamp tube sounds very weird.

That's what happened. I set up, started to play, went to switch channel 3, nothing. unplugged the footswitch and tried it from the front of the amp, wouldn't even engage. I went the next day with more preamp tubes, thanks to your suggestions, swapped out V4,V5,V6 all at the same time becasue I didn't have time to test each one and channel 3 works! I love the amp but I am not digging the " will it work today" factor. It is really making me want to trade it for the mesa dual rec blackface, chrome knob plate, small logo head. I looks like a pre-500 that everybody raves about but I am no expert by anymeans.

Before you replaced the tubes did you try turning the amp off and then back on w/out the footswitch/cable and then try pushing the front Channel 3 button? A couple of years ago this happened to me before I went midi and I just turned off the amp, unplugged the footswitch, and everything worked fine when using the front channel buttons.

Yeah, I turned it off and on, I tried everything I could think of doing in that moment before starting our first set. Next day, tried it again. Same thing. Swapped the tubes, BAM! We have channel 3 Houston!

 

[Stramm8]

I woudn't ditch the amp just yet either. I've had similar issues with nearly every mesa/boogie I've owned including a .50 cal, and two rectos (one of which was an early 2-channel). In all cases I took the amp off standby and...nothing In every instance the problem was tube related - bad preamp tube or tube socket. If you like the sound, I would stick with it. FWIW, I am saving for a used 5153