(Euro?)tube me? Dual rectifier

[Jacko123]

Hi guys, I've been lurking for a while. I love this forum. Lots of knowledge and class. I haven't seen any flame wars yet; knock on wood.

I'm the proud owner of a 3ch. dual rectifier as of 3 weeks ago. I bought it used off Ebay and I love it! I sold my Orange Thunderverb (50W) head to get this because I play real high gain stuff, such as Metallica and Slayer. I'm in heaven; plug straight in and rock out. I haven't even run any pedals through it yet. I didn't know it was possible to get that much sweet gain without using pedals.

I still find that the amp feels a little tired and the previous owner told me he never replaced the tubes; they're all Mesa Boogie tubes.

I've been wanting to do a full retube and came across Eurotubes a lot. The problem is that I've never really played with tubes. I'm wondering what you'd recommend. Since I'm a tube newb, I thought that it might be a good idea to go with a full kit, then later experiment with different tubes. Which one would you recommend:

https://ssl.eurotubes.com/cart/index.php?page=view_products&category_id=6&sub_category_id=29

I'd appreciate any input. Maybe I should get some other tubes on top of getting a full kit? Maybe other options I should consider?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Benraldo]

for what it's worth i was very pleased with the high gain 6l6 set of jj's i got from Bob.

 

[joel310]

Hey there hows it going,

Im in the same situation as you, I bought a dual rectifier but the previous owner had told me that the tubes were a bit old so i did some research and came across JJ tubes. I called the number on the website and the gentleman that answered gave me alot of different options on the tubes that would go with a dual rectifier. Perhaps You can call and see what they recommend for your style of music. Heres the number 503 659 7401 Good Luck

 

[Jacko123]

Hey Joel. That's great. I might do that.

I'm also looking at the Tube Store in Canada, since I'm from Canada. I see real good comments about their customer service too:

They have a few full kits for Mesa:

http://thetubestore.com/mesaboogie-amps.html

I might go this route this time.

 

[Jacko123]

I decided to get the "premium" tub kit for dual rectos here:

http://thetubestore.com/sba-mesa-3ch-dualrectifier2.html

I'm a canadian, so why not. I'll try Eurotubes next time.

I also decided to get a pair of these:

http://thetubestore.com/tungsolel34.html

so I can see/hear what EL34's sound like. I'll be running it with 2 tubes and 1 rectifer as per the manual.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[MusicManJP6]

Good choice on the premium kit. JJs in a Recto sound terrible IMO.

 

[mikey383]

Good choice on the premium kit. JJs in a Recto sound terrible IMO.

I don't really think so. I think their preamp tubes are too dark to put in V1, but they seem to work well in the other spots.

 

[Jacko123]

Wow. They shipped the tubes out exactly 5 hours after I placed my order. :shock:

 

[steelhorse]

JJ's terrible?

Haven't tried them in my DR yet but I have different sets in my Marshall's and they sound great. I use either E-34L or KT77's though for my Marshall's.

For the DR I would have gone with the KT77-6V6-GZ34 Power Section or Integrated Quad High gain Option with KT88's and KT66's and add a pair of GZ34's. I know they'd slam. Euro Tubes provide great-great service and are very knowledgeable about the many different applications and figuring that the Dr is one of Bob's favorite amps I imagine the man knows a thing or two about what sounds best in them

At the very least I'd definitely go with 6L6's in the DR. The EL-34's have always been too light in the *** for my ears, I need more tight bottom end.

As for now I have GT 6L6'd and GT pre's that are brand new when I got the amp a few months ago and they sound great.

 

[Jacko123]

Holy smokes again :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: I received my tubes already; they were shippped Friday night. It's Monday night and they would have been dropped off at noon today.


I'll have to fight off the urge to just dump them in my recto. I want to record before and after and see if there's any difference.

 

[droptrd]

Good choice on the premium kit. JJs in a Recto sound terrible IMO.

I don't really think so. I think their preamp tubes are too dark to put in V1, but they seem to work well in the other spots.

I agree. No good in V1 but some high gain jj's in V2 & V3 are kinda cool. I like the Sovtek LPS or the Tung-sol in V1

 

[mechanic]

Hey Joel. That's great. I might do that.

I'm also looking at the Tube Store in Canada, since I'm from Canada. I see real good comments about their customer service too:

They have a few full kits for Mesa:

http://thetubestore.com/mesaboogie-amps.html

I might go this route this time.

+1. Jon at The Tube Store is awesome. They have tons of Mesa customers and he can usually answer any questions I fire his way. FWIW, I play metal, and have been using TAD 6L6s in my DR for the past few years and love em.

\m/echanic

 

[steelhorse]

TAD's are nice sounding tubes when new, problem for me is that I gig and practice constantly and the tubes degrade -rapidly- Mine last barely 3-4 months which by then they're no longer covered under warranty which is why I go w/JJ's. They last and they're road tested and they sound great too.

For the weekend warrior thing TAD's would seem to be ideal but not for the players who are gigging 5-7 days a week.

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

TAD 6L6s are nice, but if you want better, I suggest the Winged Cs equivalent...

 

[wundergussy]

Steelhorse wrote:
"For the DR I would have gone with the KT77-6V6-GZ34 Power Section or Integrated Quad High gain Option with KT88's and KT66's and add a pair of GZ34's. I know they'd slam. Euro Tubes provide great-great service and are very knowledgeable about the many different applications and figuring that the Dr is one of Bob's favorite amps I imagine the man knows a thing or two about what sounds best in them"

I just got the KT77-6V6-GZ34 power section and the high-gain front end in my Tverb, and could not be happier. It sounds like I just bought a new amp! I find it odd that people hate on JJ's when there are so many different options...just because one was underwhelming doesn't mean the whole line is bad.