Could have bought a car but got this instead (Mesa Content)

[Nik_Left_RG]

Bam!! Mark V in the house and I am loving it. This thing is all that I had hoped for. 10 watts and 45 watts do bedroom volume really
well. Been saving for this for a long long time. Anyway, lots of questions coming up.
When I was testing this at the store, the clerk connected the speaker to the tuner output and I was wondering for a few minutes on WHY THE HELL was it sounding like crap. I was able to figure out that he had
connected the speaker to the wrong output.I played it for about an hour after connecting it to the right speaker out and didnt
find any issues but do you think that would have harmed the amp any way ?

I had the toughest time getting the footswitch to work. I had set the channel select to fs but except for mute, nothing worked.
It finally started working after setting loop assign to fs and channel select to fs. I can understand the channel select being set
to fs should have worked but I had to set the loop assign to fs also. Is this normal ?

This is my first tube amp and I a have few questions for you guys. I am using a 16ohms (2x12 V30s) connected from the 8 ohms out,
the manual says that its a safe mismatch but also says that tube life could be compromised if the impedence is not matched.
Could anyone care to venture a guess as to how much tube life I'd be losing ? Whats the avg life I can expect from these Mesa tubes?

The manual says that the 2 pairs of power tubes are biased differently. If I need to change the power tubes, how should I go about
things ? Do I need to change both pairs ? 1 pair ? How should I select the power tubes ?

Apologize for dumping so many questions but I am really excited and a bit scared at the same time that I dont screw up anything on
this thing. Last but not the least, I would like to thank all the guys who cared to comments and share their input on the Mark V
thread I started some time back - http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ge...those-threads-should-i-really-get-mark-v.html

I know the Mini mark is here but I knew that I would never be satisfied with it. You want big bottles, get big bottles. LOL! Cheers !!

 

[desmondtencents]

Nice score! I don't think the mismatched ohm issue (in this case) will degrade the life of the tubes a whole lot faster than if it were matched. I'm not too sure but you're right about it being safe for the amp. Just never go the other way, lower ohm cab connected to a higher ohm output.
If your cab is 16 ohms then you've got two 8 ohm speakers wired in series. You could wire them in parallel to get a total load of 4 ohms. I'm not sure if the amp has an output for a 4 ohm load but if it does you should do this. You won't have to worry about any mismatch.

 

[desmondtencents]

Just looked at pictures of the back panel and yes you should wire your cab in parallel and use the 4 ohm output. If you're not sure how to do it just do a quick search for parallel speaker wiring diagrams. It's super simple to do.

 

[desmondtencents]

Wiring Diagrams | Eminence Speaker

Check this out, super simple explanation.

 

[Dana]

car over amp any day

 

[Tranquilliser]

HNAD!!

You can run a 16ohm cab off an 8ohm output just fine. Same goes for an 8ohm cab from a 4ohm output.

Basically, if the output is smaller than the cabinet's impedance, you will be fine, but not the other way around.

EDIT: also, I'm not sure about the footswitch issue but I would guess and say that your issue is probably normal.

I would think the tube life loss is also not too severe, but I could be wrong. I don't think that speaker impedance would have a huge impact on tube life. I think with semi-regular use you'd probably be looking at about a year, maybe more, life out of your tubes on average, and as far as selecting new tubes, I am pretty sure the Mark V self-biases so you can just slot in a new pair of 6L6/EL34s when the time comes.

I'm no tube amp wizard, as the Mini Rectifier is my first tube amp and I have only had it for about 6 months, but I know that I don't want to take any risks with it as Mesas are expensive as balls in Australia, so I will buy tubes from Mesa, even if it is the more expensive option. I wouldn't take that risk with my favourite piece of gear, especially not with a Mark V or the soon-to-be-mine Mark V 25.

 

[TRENCHLORD]

Car = burden
Amp(well, mesa anyways) = pleasure
Good call.

 

[SSK0909]

Good choice! The clean channel on cars is supposed to be terrible anyway ;-)

 

[SSK0909]

Car = burden
Amp(well, mesa anyways) = pleasure
Good call.

Once you've carried a Mark amp and an oversized recto cab up two flights of stairs, you start to look at amps as a burden too :-D

 

[Nik_Left_RG]

Thanks guys. was able to dial usable tones within mins and reading the manual for 10x times does help

Wiring Diagrams | Eminence Speaker

Check this out, super simple explanation.

desmondtencents, appreciate the links and all man I am more of computer guy but I'll try to wrap my head around this for sure. I started soldering recently too

HNAD!!

You can run a 16ohm cab off an 8ohm output just fine. Same goes for an 8ohm cab from a 4ohm output.

Basically, if the output is smaller than the cabinet's impedance, you will be fine, but not the other way around.

EDIT: also, I'm not sure about the footswitch issue but I would guess and say that your issue is probably normal.

I would think the tube life loss is also not too severe, but I could be wrong. I don't think that speaker impedance would have a huge impact on tube life. I think with semi-regular use you'd probably be looking at about a year, maybe more, life out of your tubes on average, and as far as selecting new tubes, I am pretty sure the Mark V self-biases so you can just slot in a new pair of 6L6/EL34s when the time comes.

I'm no tube amp wizard, as the Mini Rectifier is my first tube amp and I have only had it for about 6 months, but I know that I don't want to take any risks with it as Mesas are expensive as balls in Australia, so I will buy tubes from Mesa, even if it is the more expensive option. I wouldn't take that risk with my favourite piece of gear, especially not with a Mark V or the soon-to-be-mine Mark V 25.

Tell me about it, they are freaking expensive here as well.. I saved for a long long time and I almost went with the TH30 but this thing sounds awesome no matter how loud or quiet it is..

Is it normal to get some smell from the amp after playing for an hour or so ? not burning smell,but like the smell you get at an electronics store ?? Its seems to be very faint, I had to stick my nose near the tubes / transformer area.. maybe its me being paranoid..

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

Awesome! I miss my Mark V

 

[jc986]

Congrats! I love my Mark V. I don't think I'll ever sell it.

 

[Dana]

Car = burden
Amp(well, mesa anyways) = pleasure
Good call.

I suppose if your car is a complete piece of junk then it's a burden... But mine has been awesome. Certainly more important in my life than an amplifier.

 

[Thanatopsis]

Hell yeah. Nice score. A lefty I see too. I'm left handed in basically everything in life, yet I couldn't play a left handed guitar to save my life. A year or two ago I was at a party and my friend had a left handed acoustic and asked him if I could jam on it for a few. That was the shortest few ever. I picked it up and wrapped my right hand around the neck and felt like I had never picked up a guitar in my life. I'd try to finger notes and my hand would make all these weird shapes just not doing it what I was telling it to do.

Drums I can do with a kit setup either way, but other that that I'm a complete lefty(writing, golf, etc.)

 

[Nik_Left_RG]

I tried to play right handed but could not play solos for the life of me. Turned the guitar around and my fingers started moving. Lol..

 

[The Hiryuu]

I suppose if your car is a complete piece of junk then it's a burden... But mine has been awesome. Certainly more important in my life than an amplifier.

But a car you could get for the price of a Mark IV? Definitely a burden at that price point.

 

[Trashgreen]

"Could have bought a car but got this instead (Mesa Content)"


Gear gas > other material things ....


Boogie is awesome as always!!

Congrats!!

 

[Dana]

But a car you could get for the price of a Mark IV? Definitely a burden at that price point.

i suppose so. still prefer a car tho

 

[Robrecht]

I'm watching an old Californication episode here and literally the second I read your post title, a dude on the show said the exact same thing. Felt like some kind of weird dissonance in my brain.

Congrats on your beast! Cars are overrated anyway.

 

[Wookieslayer]

I think the question is... which car?