mesa strategy 500

[eulogy77]

hello there fellow tbers, i have a question i pretty sure ill find the answer here, i have a mesa strategy 500 that im using with a peavey tb raxx preamp, i really like the sound out of the both specially the mesa, im using 2 ampeg cabs at 8 ohms a piece, im running them one per channel, would it be safe it i use just 1 channel for both cabs with no speaker hooked up to the other one? thanks

 

[Mr. Foxen]

Does the other channel have its own switches? Should be ok if it stays in standby. Ideally, pull all the valves out that side, then you have a spare set for the side you do use and you aren't putting wear on them, because it is the warming and cooling that wears them.

 

[eulogy77]

i contemplated on doing that but i read some posts out of tb that is not to good to do that, it does have a standby switch for each channel, i can run both cabs at the jam spot, but at times shows dont call for 2 cabs and i would just take one, sorry i did specify that on the post, thanks for the reply

 

[Mr. Foxen]

Did they say what harm running no valves would do? I fire up amps with no valves in pretty often as part of testing them but not for long periods. Just checked with another tech, no damage can come of running a whole half empty, aside from the sockets are open to dirt. But if you need the option, the standby being off will save no load damage. The output jack should be shorting anyway, which should be reasonably safe even with nothing plugged in. A lead with nothing on the other end plugged in is the killer.