Mark V + external power amp for quick EL34/6L6 switching?

Hello,

After almost 5 years playing my Mark V with stock tubes I finally tried it with EL34 tubes and I am very happy with the results. IMHO depending on the guitar, pickups and style, the EL34 is a perfect match, and the same is true for the 6L6.

That is why I’m thinking how cool would be if I could quickly swap the tubes, and I realised I could add an external power amp like a Mesa 2:50 with EL34’s (or 6L6) and just switch cables instead of tubes. Does anyone here is doing that? Any disadvantages I should know? What features will I “lose” with a external power amp?

You would still have to have a load e.g a speaker or a loadbox on the actual amp to save killing the output transformer.

Don't Mess Boogie themselves make a piece of equipment to do just this? Isn't that what the amp switcher or whatever it's called does?

Wayno said:

Don't Mess Boogie themselves make a piece of equipment to do just this? Isn't that what the amp switcher or whatever it's called does?

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Yep, the Head-Track!

OP, if you want to go that route, you could runt he Slave Out from the Mark V to an EL34 power amp, and use the Head-Track to switch between either speaker output and a cab.

But the head-tracker or loadbox is required if I run a EL34 power amp from the slave output of Mark V? I thought I had just to plug the power amp in the Slave out and the cabinet in the power amp. Actually, my cabinet have 2 inputs.Should I plug the power amp in one, and the MKV on the other? I don't need to switch from EL34 to 6L6 while I'm playing...

Also, do I lose the EFX loop if I use the power amp?

guijs said:

But the head-tracker or loadbox is required if I run a EL34 power amp from the slave output of Mark V? I thought I had just to plug the power amp in the Slave out and the cabinet in the power amp. Actually, my cabinet have 2 inputs.Should I plug the power amp in one, and the MKV on the other? I don't need to switch from EL34 to 6L6 while I'm playing...

Also, do I lose the EFX loop if I use the power amp?

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You need to provide a load for the Mark V when it's on, even if you just want to use the Slave Out. That can be a cab, a dedicated loadbox, or the built-in load on the Head Track or similar device.

And you want to be very careful with the idea of plugging two power amps into the same speaker cab. If it's a stereo cab, meaning it has two speakers with their own input jacks, ok. But if it's just one speaker or two speakers wired together, you really don't want to plug two power amps into it. Really. So unless you're sure, don't.

Thanks for the info!

About the FX loop, will it still work using the slave out?

guijs said:

Thanks for the info!

About the FX loop, will it still work using the slave out?

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Yes, the Slave Out comes after the effects loop in the Mark V, so whatever delay/reverb/etc you have in the loop will be there in the Slave Out signal.

Great, thanks!