If you carry it to GC they will very likely farm it out anyway. Our local GC has a guy come in one day a week to work on stuff. He's a local repairman with his own shop in town.
 
On the amp blowing fuses. Generally the Mesa stuff is built like a tank.... so a quick check at home would be to pull all the POWER TUBES out.... the biggest ones, usually either 2 or 4 of them in there. I see that BA MB uses 2 6L6 and 4 EL84 in the output stage.....  Replacing all the tubes could be a bit costly.
 
 
Get a couple of packs of fuses to experiment with. More than you will need.... maybe a dozen or so.
 
Probably the easiest and fastest way to find that bad tube is to pull the power tubes out... put a new fuse in and turn it on. The fuse should not blow. If it blows, pull ALL the tubes, install a new fuse and turn it on again. If it does blow at this point, the short is somewhere else in the amp and a service tech should look at the amp.
 
Assuming the fuse holds.... turn it off and insert the 2 6L6 tubes and turn it on.  If it holds, those tubes are good. Shut it off. Leave the 6L6's in and insert 2 of the EL84's in the sockets that are furthest apart. Turn it on again. If it holds, pull them out and insert the other 2 84's in their place. turn it on again.  At some point, the fuse should blow when the shorted tube is installed.  By trial and error, you should be able to find it quickly. Always turn it off, insert the tubes and turn it back on. Tubes can get hot very quickly so be careful not to burn yourself on the glass envelopes.
 
You can then replace the tube(s) yourself and save the shop's hourly bench fee.
 
If you have enough fuses, you can substitute the tubes with one good one and find and replace the bad one if you're in a pinch for money. If I was selling the amp, I would replace ONLY the power tube that was bad.
 
The repair shop will generally replace the bad tube only unless you instruct them to replace them all. I will probably start a war here, but, I don't see any use in replacing all the tubes in an amp "just because"..... I say replace the bad one and let it roll. It is generally not going to be a noticeable difference in the sound either way, but one way is certainly going to cost a bunch more money to do.
 
I have run tube amps for many, many years. I always kept spare fuses (lots of them) and spare tubes as well. Generally one output tube and a few preamp tubes because they do go bad. I have also run some 100w 4 tube amps with 2 tubes when one of the quads went bad and I had no spare. Tube amps are designed to handle lots of abuse so don't worry about damaging the amp with the swapping and missing tubes.
 
I have replaced all the tubes in my Mesa studio 22 (as well as other amps I have owned) and personally noticed no change in performance or tone from the old, supposedly worn out tubes to the brand new factory, high dollar matched set replacements. It is for THIS reason, I say to simply replace the bad tube and put the amp up for sale if that is your goal. I replace tubes only when they burn out the heater, short out, crack the glass envelope, become microphonic in the preamp stages, or short internally. 
 
Yes... I do agree there is a difference in tone between brands of tubes, and also from very old tubes to brand new ones. When selling the amp, that is generally not in play. The casual listener and the guy buying the amp will base their judgement and decision to buy the amp on the sound they hear when they plug in and play through it. I have never had a single person discuss the tubes in the amp when I sold the amps I have had. If that person wants, later, they can play with the tube brands to their heart's desire. If I have spare tubes for that amp that I don't need for any other amps I own, I will include the spares in the sale.
 
Anyway... try the process above and replace that bad tube if it is a tube. Save the bench fee. If you are selling the amp, repair it as inexpensively as possible. You will NOT recover the cost of new tubes all the way around in any amp you are selling.
 
Kinda like putting new, top of the line, tires on a used car before trading it in.... a waste of money.

 
I had a guy from New jersey send me a 100% stock 1975 Princeton Reverb with 6V6 Russian tubes in it.
 
They lasted about 2 hours before they shorted out and had a lightning show banging away inside them.
 
Didn't hurt the fuse though... so I fixed it with some 6V6 tubes that actually worked in the amp.
 
 
 

Thanks Herb....excellent points/tips there. Haveing never done this (pulling out tubes etc..) and of course the warning above about getting fried, I'm a bit worried on doing this myself. Generally, I'm ok with fiddling around and getting things to work, but if my life or there was bodily harm that could come out of it, I'd rather have a "professional" look at it.
 
You guys are all experts and have a lot of experience in doing this and I don't........so, I'm obviously a bit hesitant....   

You won't get zapped by the high voltage just swapping tunes in and out. I said to shut the amp off between the tube swaps so that if the tube was shorted, the "pop" that happens when you install the tube in a "hot" circuit would occur in the fuse and not there at the tube. It might scare you, but won't hurt you.... so shut it off and that is not a factor.
 
Do be careful since tubes get hot fast and can burn your fingers.
 
If the amp has an even number of output tubes.... it has a classic "push pull" power section and needs to have one tube on each side of the transformer to function properly. Be sure to note which tubes are where so the amp sounds like it's supposed to after the tube swaps. Hopefully the sockets are marked for the tubes.
 
Like Mike said, power tubes can go at any time due to the voltage on the plate and grids,  and the current through them. They do get beat up. It's not as common (in my experience) to have preamp tubes go bad but they can, and do on occasion. I've never had a tube amp go bad where it needed a tech to repair it, it has always been tubes since they are the most fragile part of the amp.
 
I don't think I have had a preamp tube fail... other than to become microphonic to the point where it was feeding back at higher gain settings.
 
Good luck....

Mesh
I have a Mesa Boogie Blue Angel amp that I'd like to get serviced (possible tubes needing replaced etc...) as I've never had it done (ever) since buying it brand new. I haven't used it in years and the last time I tried to power it on (last summer), the fuse(s) kept blowing. 
 

 
when i needed my boogie serviced, i contacted boogie directly to find out who was an 'authorized' repairman in the area....
 
the guy i found, was very knowledgeable, very nice, very quick, and very cheap.
 
 

mesh, you have a unique amp there..
 
before i would sell it, i'd run it clean and fresh, and then decide......
 
if i were you, and i could find a repair guy i trusted, i'd have him go over the whole thing....
 
check the caps, look for any cold solder joints, see if everything is in spec, and then clean it up, and re-tube it...
 
experiment with the different sides of the amp, the el84 side, and the 6v6 side....
 
try 12at7's in the V2, V3 and V5 positions.....
 
is this a combo, or a head?
 
i like heads, for the ability to change out the speakers and cabs at will, plus it's easier to portage.
 
 
i know there is a 4x10 version, i'd at least put it into a 1x12, 2x12 or 4x12 cab to see what THAT does for the sound.
 
 
 
 
 
 

I don't know where you are but I know a GREAT tech in Indiana. He goes by Admiral Ballsy online but if you are in that area I can give you his real name. I am in the south but I sent him my CVR (Vibrolux), he swapped the tubes for the better, added Iwith my permission) a switch to the back panel that adds/removes a negative feedback loop, made it where it only has reverb on channel 2 which makes the verb much deeper and adds a bit of extra gain to channel 1. It was very good work.
 
About GC... it is like any other business, they may have a good tech or may not. When MARS was in business the Marietta store had a really good luthier. I am in the exterminating business and it is the same thing... the company is whoever the tech is. Some are great, some don't know what they are doing. I know someone else in the midwest from online, known him for years and I think he does good work. In the PNW, Wolfe at Wolfetone pickups would know who is good. He is a good guy.
 
Good luck with it...
 
Julien

batsbrew

Mesh
I have a Mesa Boogie Blue Angel amp that I'd like to get serviced (possible tubes needing replaced etc...) as I've never had it done (ever) since buying it brand new. I haven't used it in years and the last time I tried to power it on (last summer), the fuse(s) kept blowing. 
 

 
when i needed my boogie serviced, i contacted boogie directly to find out who was an 'authorized' repairman in the area....
 
the guy i found, was very knowledgeable, very nice, very quick, and very cheap.
 
 

I didn't see this post but it is very good advice. IMO.
 
J

Ditto on Bat's advice.
 
I'd think long and hard before getting rid of a nice Boogie......
 
I paid $550 for my Studio and have been offered twice that much for it. I thanked them for the compliment and turned the offer down.
 
Last time I looked the new small Boogs were selling for over $1000 in GC.
 
I try to stay out of music stores..... it's much too hard to resist buying some new gear which I have to try and explain to my wife.......

Boogies are excellent amps. I hadn't heard of the Blue Angel, so I just looked it up. Looks like a nice little rig.