An Easy One: Mesa Express 5:50

[goodun]

At this point none of us expect to see the word "easy" and Mesa in the same sentence! As for tantalum capacitors, their main Achilles heel is that they're even more sensitive to damage from brief voltage-reversal pulsing than electrolytic caps are. Tantalums were once extensively used in solid state Hifi gear because when they're new they have very low leakage, but high quality electrolytics nowadays can have equally low leakage. I've replaced many many many small tantalum caps with Panasonic electrolytics and never had a problem.

[SteveHart-ttwk]

I fixed my Mesa Subway Blues myself! After multiple trips to good service techs I unplugged the speaker in the Mesa and plugged it into a cheap Fender amp. At last I can enjoy the sounds from my Mesa amp without all the horrible buzzing, etc.!

[TNTales]

I have to say thanks to your videos I've ended up looking at either a Friedman Small Box, a Orange Rockerverb Mk III or a SLO 30.

[metalheadecr]

This just happened to me during an Express 5:25 repair. That exact tantalum cap (C36) released the magic smoke. I've done a similar repair as you've shown, although I'm trying to swap out the larger C50 cap as well just to be sure it wasn't damaged in the process. Accessing the underside of the board is a total pain though!

[tgchan]

I love those small rainbow sausages/ Always did. Always will. No idea what they even are but I've seen them many times and they are too cute xD

[christopher.hallissy]

Held it together with that Mesa! Haha.

[stuartangel]

I have the 550 plus and its a great amp but has had this same problem twice over 8 years

[thesoundpurist]

good mesa power tubes? I used to have mesa's 2003-4? can't recall, they were horrible

[Jeff-vkig]

Question- what is that long bolt for toward the bottom of the shot, below the PCB? Your pokin stick bumps it at about the 2:15 mark. My Lonestar has this but it’s just there, not really holding anything in place. Does it need to be there or can I remove it?

[richpedals]

what is the uf value of the tantalum cap you replaced?

[BenState]

I had one of these. Never sounded that great.

[ColMustardCap]

I always thought those particles inside the tubes was just mica particles separating from the spacers.

[davidpoe]

Is there a place to find descriptions/meanings of the relay designations in the schematic: RYTS; RYOD; RY2; RYE, RYA, etc?

[klepetar]

i have an easy one for you.. wanna buy mine??

[plumbummusic]

Do you have any sound demos with this amp on your channel? I think I'll try to dig a video when you first changed those 6L6s

[jamescassidy]

Have you ever worked on a Mesa that has sort of a constant cracking/Staticky sort of sound? Like I have a couple Mesa’s that are doing it, (A Blue Angel and an Express 5.50, and even with the volume down and no guitar plugged in you can just hear the cracking/staticky sound. Also the noise doesn’t get louder as you turn the amps volume up, just kinda stays the same in the background. Any idea what could cause that ? I know it’s hard to say exactly, but just mostly wondering if you’ve encountered that issue, and I’d so what caused it or some things that might cause it? Cheers!

[Satchmoeddie]

I will use tantalum caps, but I use at least a +100% safety factor for the voltage ratings. For the life of me, I don't know why Mesa cuts it so close on ALL of their capacitor voltage ratings. They charge enough money for their overpriced junk.

[TheCyberMantis]

MESA "boutique" quality strikes again.