should I or not (mesa 22+)

[paige]

I have the chance to trade a import kelly and a line 6 spider 2 30 for a mesa 22. Sounds like a no brainer, but, the kelly is a guitar I painted metallic green with black edges, put a reverse neck off a ps-4, black hardware off same ps-4 and I'm getting ready to put emg's in. The mesa I think is messed up. I don't have experience with tube amps so I'm not sure. First off all it will not play with the standby switch off at all. I always thought you turn them on with standby on let them warm up and kick it off, I could be wrong so please enlighten my ignorance. I also much prefer the sound of my pod 2.0 and xt live through my computer set up, but maybe the amp has some issues that need to be looked into. I'm just trying to get a idea of what you guys and gals think. Thanks in advace.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

unless you know exactly what your getting into, i'd keep the kelly and spider and pass this one by.

[charvelguy]

so, I take it there's no sound coming out of this amp at all even when full on? The standby is simply a warmup stage.. you got that, so you seem to understand it and are not ignorant.
If I recall correctly..it doesn't have the full voltage to the grid plates but it also doesn't allow any sound until bypassed.


So.. no sound at all.. could mean a speaker connection, a bad output tranny.. a number of things.

Mesa .22+ are said to be a great little amp.. usually worth 500+ range, but if it needs repair and you aren't a repair guy.. the value goes down and so does its usefulness until you have it tech'd out.

[paige]

Thanks for the replies, greatly appreciated. I do get sound out of it but only if the standby switch is on. I even let it warm up with the switch on for 30 minutes, as soon as you turn the standby switch off, it's like you unplugged the guitar, you can still here the whoosh of the speaker but no guitar comes through. Plus its real thin sounding, not what I expected from a mesa tube amp.

[charvelguy]

That sounds like normal operation, however, think of the standby as a circuit bypass.... once the standby is on, no sound should come from the amp.. even the speaker, save for maybe just a bit of decay from the live sound when switched. If the amp makes no sound when the standby is on.. it's normal.
but .. if the amp sounds thin, it may need a cap job or a retube.
Just a little tube amp 101 background in case your considering a tube amp.
Tube amps should be played or fired up every few months, at least a time or two a year to keep get the caps charged up and keep them in good health/tolerance.

Once the capacitors in the amp stop staying within a certain voltage tolerance, then the amp starts having tonal problems (ie; sounding thin) and those caps will need to be replaced.

I'd ask the guy how often he's played the amp since he's owned it and check if those are the original tubes.

[paige]

When the standby is on is the only time I can play through the amp. Unless I'm totally missing something here I think something is really not right. Once again thank you for your time and patience.

[charvelguy]

I messed up.. standby to switched to on (both switches pushed up) in a Mesa.. you are live. With standby switched down, you should not hear anything.

[blindmuddy]

With every tube amp I've ever had BOTH switches have to be in the same position for you to get sound. Standby in the off position is for warming up the tubes before you play. You've got it backwards.

[Twisteramps]

Standby switch keeps high voltage from the tubes - it helps keep the amp in a 'warmed up' state, and keeps a rush of current from damaging the tubes on powerup. Your amp has what are called 'heaters' that run at low voltage - typically 6.3 or so volts, this is what makes them glow. The high voltage is generally around 300-600 volts in the power tubes and 150-300 or so in the preamp tubes. The high voltage does not reach the tubes until the standby switch is turned on.

A good habit to get into is to leave standby OFF when you turn the amp on, let it run for a minute or so, then turn the standby on or wait until you're ready to play. When you take a break between sets or for more than a minute or two, switch the standby off. When you are ready to turn the amp off, turn the standby off first, and wait a few minutes before turning the amp off. This way when you turn the amp on again, the standby will already be in the off position.

Hope it makes sense! BTW, if the amp is a combo, the stock speaker isn't that great imho on those amps. Plug it into a 4x12 and stand back! Of course, like most mesa mark series, if it doesn't have the 5 band EQ then it's going to sound nasal as hell no matter what you do.

Pete

[paige]

I knew I had something backwards in my head, now it all makes sense. Thank you for taking the time to help a tube ignorant newbie lol.