New Mesa Boogie Mark V owner + Tube Problem

hello everyone ,

Finally after dreaming about getting this mighty amp for a long time i decided to get my self one . i got it like couple weeks ago but never had enough time to spend playing it cause of busy days at work . so 2 days ago i started the amp on standby mode had a look at the tubes and i realized that one of the tubes looks different from the others . since its my first REAL amp and TUBE amp i had no idea if its normal or there is a problem with it , because all other tubes got bright light but this tube just look darker and there is no light on the top of it so i thought something wrong is going on .

so please if someone can tell me is it normal that this tube on the left looks like this or all tubes should look the same ?

here are some pictures i tried to take of the tubes hope it helps

The one that does not light up is your rectifier valve. Those that do are your power valves

What all your valves do is detailed in the manual, which is a must read if this is your 1st valve amp. A lot of your potential "issues" going forward will be valve related, and some easy self help knowledge will save you time and money

Enjoy the journey

Yep...

No tube problem.
That's the rectifier tube. It looks different because it is different.
Enjoy the new amp!!!

The "glow" from tubes differs greatly, even among the same type, and same brand. It's not a great criteria for judging operational quality.
That's OK, it's a learning curve. We're here to help.

Thank you guys for your replies you saved me some $$$ for now even tho keeping back up tubes would be better , but knowing that the tubes are fine and nothing wrong is the purpose .

Theoutlaw77 said:

even tho keeping back up tubes would be better

Click to expand...

Back up tubes and fuses!!!

Sometimes, when power tubes go out or are about
ready to go out, they will blow a fuse with it. Sucks
to have spare power tubes and no fuses when this
happens...heh.

+1 on fuses. Definitely get some for use when the time comes.

A note for the power tubes, when you feel the need to replace them, you will also need to replace the Rectifier tube. If you look at the plate inside on the wall of the amp, it should have a tube chart (indicating what tube is what) in case you forget or remove all the tube and get lost which is which. Rectifier tube should be easy to figure identify, it is the only tube you can see though the center, also does not have as many pins as the power tubes. If you can remember it is the one closest to the power chord, least likely of mixing them up when you go to replace them. Also having a few preamp tubes available helps too.

Expect about 2,500 hours of use on the power tubes, and about 10,000 hours on the preamp tubes.

Enjoy your new amp and have fun exploring the tone possibilities.

Am I a complete idiot or is it extremely cumbersome to replace pre amp tubes in the Mark V Head?
Do you guys have any suggestion on how to this easily? I can't believe I have to take out the chassis just to replace a tube. Am I missing something?


EDIT: Chris from Mesa called me and told me how to do this. I'll try removing a couple of power tubes first (worry about V1 only, really) and if I cannot make it that way... out goes the chassis...