Changing tubes, advice needed!

[tom11]

This my be a silly question to some, but i'm not good with all the tech stuff that goes with amps...

I have a Mesa F-50 and the tubes need changing.

The current ones are: 6L6 GC STR 430

The new ones i'm looking at are: 6L6 GC STR 440

Whats the difference and can I put them in my beloved boogie?

Thanks

 

[MrMarkIII]

Why do the tubes need changing? Although it doesn't hurt to have spares.
430s are Russian Sovtek, older, in the sense that an F-50 is older.
440s are Chinese, and are standard issue in new Mesas.
They should fit any Mesa.
Soundwise, I prefer the Russian Svetlana STR-454s.

 

[tom11]

Tubes are old and have worn.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

You could get a matched quad of Winged C 6L6s rated for Mesa use...

 

[GD_NC]

I've had excelent results with Sovtec power tubes rated for Boogies. I have them in both of my amps.

 

[tom11]

I've read in a few posts about 'winged C' tubes.

What are these? Is it a sperate make to Mesa?

Can manufactures produce tubes to the same standard as Mesa?

Also Mesa branded tubes seem to be made everywhere but the US, why don't Mesa make them in their factory? Is it just a cost issue?

Like I said, i'm a bit of a novice when it comes to tech stuff, before I brought my F-50 i'd never had a valve amp and didn't need to get into too much detail about how it all worked!

 

[LerxstLee]

I've read in a few posts about 'winged C' tubes.

What are these? Is it a sperate make to Mesa?

Can manufactures produce tubes to the same standard as Mesa?

Also Mesa branded tubes seem to be made everywhere but the US, why don't Mesa make them in their factory? Is it just a cost issue?

Like I said, i'm a bit of a novice when it comes to tech stuff, before I brought my F-50 i'd never had a valve amp and didn't need to get into too much detail about how it all worked!

Simply my opinion.

If you like the way your amp sounded, then order the tubes you need from Mesa.
Why?
Simple, they have one of the best warranty on power tubes, the price is the same if not
less than other tube stores. The way mesa tests tubes is second to none.
Their are those who spend more in tubes then they did on the amp.
Which leads me to say why did you buy the amp if had to buy new tubes for it. (yes a new amp)
If an amp does not sound good, I leave it and try another.
Sure you can get real techy, and I can, but if you have played your mesa with stock tubes
and it served you well, replace it with stock mesa tubes and it will continue to serve you well.
Firing up my Amplitrex AT-1000 and
putting on my fire proof clothing. :lol:
Flame me.

 

[212Mavguy]

Wish I had an Amplitrex, Guess I'll have to settle for my Hickok Cardmatic. :wink: Your post is full of good common sense. I agree with it. Who would want to flame that? It's safe and workable. It's not Harmony Central here, and thanks to the members and moderators for that.

However...one man's cup of tea can be another's arsenic... :wink:

From personal experience, when choosing from a varied personal collection of tubes, whether new production or vintage, it's possible to make an amp sound different in a good way from that generic "store bought" tone, and to get the sounds that that amp already makes sound even better both to the owner and the listeners. Even more fun, to have a "sleeper" amp that looks like what most stereotype as a POS that sounds completely different than what the stereotypes are ready for. I have one of those, and wow, is it fun to see the reactions. :lol: Look what Randall Smith did with a Fender Princeton, I have done something quite similar with a 70's silverface Champ. Only Fender parts left are the metal chassis, pots, cabinet, faceplate, and Fender logo.

Also found that the tones I like today are quite different than four years ago. Nice to have the tube-u-lage ( :shock: ) available to chase some new tone ideas around or to craft tones sounding good enough for others to desire to chase.

Does an accomplished oil painter use a palette with just the primary colors on it? Peace.

 

[LerxstLee]

I agree, I gather from his post, he just wants "his" amp back.
Rather than giving him a list of tubes,a list of what sockets,
a list of what fifty thousand people say are the best tubes,
and a list of two hundred thousand combinations, ok I am exagerating but you get my point.
I am willing to bet if he replaced them with mesa tubes, he would be happy and GTG.
Bottom line alot of players end up with worn sockets, and spending 1K in tubes when
they could be buying food,gas, and or some other gear. Just a better guitar cord instead of
starting the chain of buying four quads of power amp tubes, and 12-24 preamp tubes.
ImHo makes one hell of a better investment for alot of people.
Sure even one simple preamp tube makes a difference. Sometimes too much of one.

By the way tom the power tubes have a "colour code", if you do go the mesa route,
you might even want the same color tubes. By a small margin different colours simply
run hotter or colder, but within the safe paramiters of your amps bias.

 

[gummx97]

wow, this will be an interesting thread! replaced tubes in my amp after they were worn, huge difference! by the time your tubes are worn, you'll probably get used to it's sound and wouldn't think about it.

maybe get advice from Bob at Eurotubes, he might shed some light into your dilemma. I once asked him if there was a need to retube a new amp i bought since I was so impressed by the new tubes i got from him. His response was to use/burn the new tubes first before replacing them to get my $$$'s worth. Although he was in the business in selling tubes, he mentioned it makes more economic sense to use my original tubes first.

Anyway, have fun in your journey with tube amps. It's fun and yes, to my ears, different tubes yield different tones.

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

I agree, I gather from his post, he just wants "his" amp back.
Rather than giving him a list of tubes,a list of what sockets,
a list of what fifty thousand people say are the best tubes,
and a list of two hundred thousand combinations, ok I am exagerating but you get my point.
I am willing to bet if he replaced them with mesa tubes, he would be happy and GTG.
Bottom line alot of players end up with worn sockets, and spending 1K in tubes when
they could be buying food,gas, and or some other gear. Just a better guitar cord instead of
starting the chain of buying four quads of power amp tubes, and 12-24 preamp tubes.
ImHo makes one hell of a better investment for alot of people.
Sure even one simple preamp tube makes a difference. Sometimes too much of one.

By the way tom the power tubes have a "colour code", if you do go the mesa route,
you might even want the same color tubes. By a small margin different colours simply
run hotter or colder, but within the safe paramiters of your amps bias.

I'll have to agree with that. Also, a good power conditioner would improve your tone many times over, than just merely replacing your stock valves with "better" ones...