Doug's Tubes evaluation

[Bigfellla]

Hey guys

I have the 2x12 combo 5:50 and I love it, however the burn channel doesn't have quite enough gain for my liking.

It currently has stock tubes and I would like to try some alternatives. What would you recommend to get more gain from the burn channel?

 

[Krek13]

turn the volume up :!:

a tubescreamer works great..

 

[Bigfellla]

turn the volume up :!:

a tubescreamer works great..

Its not the overdrive im after, im after saturation.

Anyway I got a tone kit from Dougs and will see how that goes.

 

[Krek13]

I know, thats why I said to turn the volume up or get a tubescreamer (gain to zero, volume to max which pushes the amp)...

 

[Bigfellla]

I play in quite a hard rock band and found the stock mesa pre amp tubes a little to be desired to be honest.

I went on Doug's recommendations and purchased his tone kit for this amp.

The difference is MASSIVE. The smoothness of the gain, the overall head room of the amp, the warmth of the clean tone.

Seriously massisve difference. The drummer in my band even commented on it

Very happy, big results and well worth the 120 bucks.

Did I say im very happy??

 

[Bigfellla]

I know, thats why I said to turn the volume up or get a tubescreamer (gain to zero, volume to max which pushes the amp)...

Ok thanks mate, ill look into that.

 

[amrose57]

Good morning all. At a rehearsal yesterday heard some light crackling and I would sometimes loose a note as it decayed. Obviously preamp tube issue. Have had a set of Doug's tubes for my Express 5:25+ but just hadn't gotten around to putting them in. Amp is new (Got it March 7th this year) so I wasn't in a big hurry. So this morning I swapped out all 5 of the 12AX7A's with Doug's recommended tube layout. I must say my hiss is reduced by quite a bit - still some there, but much less noticeable. Especially on the clean channel. I am set up for clean channel rhythm, blues channel rhythm, can and do use the solo on each, and get my dirt from either a Quinn Hot Buttered Scotch or a Fulltone OCD. All-in-all, I think I hear a bit "fatter" tone as well, but need to get the tubes burned in for a few hours before I come to the final conclusion. I will say that so far, the sound is such that I'll probably buy another set from Doug's Tubes to keep as a spare set, so I can use an exact replacement if one does go down.

Question for all - has anyone used any Mullard 12AX7a's in their express?

Thanks!!

Al

 

[SteveB]

Good morning all. At a rehearsal yesterday heard some light crackling and I would sometimes loose a note as it decayed. Obviously preamp tube issue. Have had a set of Doug's tubes for my Express 5:25+ but just hadn't gotten around to putting them in. Amp is new (Got it March 7th this year) so I wasn't in a big hurry. So this morning I swapped out all 5 of the 12AX7A's with Doug's recommended tube layout. I must say my hiss is reduced by quite a bit - still some there, but much less noticeable. Especially on the clean channel. I am set up for clean channel rhythm, blues channel rhythm, can and do use the solo on each, and get my dirt from either a Quinn Hot Buttered Scotch or a Fulltone OCD. All-in-all, I think I hear a bit "fatter" tone as well, but need to get the tubes burned in for a few hours before I come to the final conclusion. I will say that so far, the sound is such that I'll probably buy another set from Doug's Tubes to keep as a spare set, so I can use an exact replacement if one does go down.

Question for all - has anyone used any Mullard 12AX7a's in their express?

Thanks!!

Al

Al,
Did you replace the power tubes too? And with the preamp tubes did you follow Doug's recommendation exactly or switch the V1/V2 and V4/V5 tubes as others have suggested on this thread?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[amrose57]

Good morning all. At a rehearsal yesterday heard some light crackling and I would sometimes loose a note as it decayed. Obviously preamp tube issue. Have had a set of Doug's tubes for my Express 5:25+ but just hadn't gotten around to putting them in. Amp is new (Got it March 7th this year) so I wasn't in a big hurry. So this morning I swapped out all 5 of the 12AX7A's with Doug's recommended tube layout. I must say my hiss is reduced by quite a bit - still some there, but much less noticeable. Especially on the clean channel. I am set up for clean channel rhythm, blues channel rhythm, can and do use the solo on each, and get my dirt from either a Quinn Hot Buttered Scotch or a Fulltone OCD. All-in-all, I think I hear a bit "fatter" tone as well, but need to get the tubes burned in for a few hours before I come to the final conclusion. I will say that so far, the sound is such that I'll probably buy another set from Doug's Tubes to keep as a spare set, so I can use an exact replacement if one does go down.

Question for all - has anyone used any Mullard 12AX7a's in their express?

Thanks!!

Al

Al,
Did you replace the power tubes too? And with the preamp tubes did you follow Doug's recommendation exactly or switch the V1/V2 and V4/V5 tubes as others have suggested on this thread?

Thanks,
Steve

Good morning Steve. I used Doug's recommendation for the preamp tubes and did not switch out the power tubes. I plan on rolling with this set-up for a while, then do the switch folks recommend here to see the difference.

Al

 

[DannyB_KY]

FYI, According to his website, Doug claims to burn in all his tubes prior to testing.


POST UPDATE for Doug's Tubes:

As I have stated before, my 5/50+ was only a few weeks old when I called Doug. I strongly disliked the tone of every channel on my Mesa. I followed his suggestion and I completely retubed the amp, including the changing the 6L6s.

As far as I'm concerned, he has magical instinct.

His tube wizardry transformed my "blah" Mesa into a monster blues machine!

My tube mic-pre is tubed as he recommended. Outstanding performance, also!