Found some mesa str420 i never new i had..

[james1974]

Hi Folks

Back when i bought my mark4 many years ago it arrived and the second i turned it on.it blew a fuse-
i called the dealer and he had me take the amp to an authorised Boogie amptech.he called a couple of days later said he replaced all the powertubes under instructions from the dealer as he had guessed that a couple of tubes were damaged in transit.. He gave me the 2 tubes he had taken out of it.. knowing NOTHING about tubes back them (still dont haha) I just put them in a box and over the years of several moves i forgot they existed. today i found them and stuck them in the outer sockets class A and man they sound GREAT. I dont know if these are worth anything or hard to come by but man they sound so good.. channel one cranked man o man... i just couldnt stop playing.i dont know if its just novelty factor of different tubes but the low end is groundshaking but not boomy just beautiful.

 

[dodger916]

I'm with you. I love STR420s in my Mark IV.

 

[james1974]

Hey Dodger
From what ive read these are hard to come by.. Id love to start stockpiling these. I ve seen str415's are available on fleabay and other places .Id like to now how they compare.

 

[dodger916]

Hey Dodger
From what ive read these are hard to come by.. Id love to start stockpiling these. I ve seen str415's are available on fleabay and other places .Id like to now how they compare.

420s are not as immediate or forceful as the 415s; slightly rounder. STR415s are rugged as hell and can stand higher plate voltages than the 420s. I think Mesa designed the Mark IV with lower plate voltages maybe because they could no longer get 415s, which are really Sylvania/GE/RCA dual top-getter 6L6s. 415s also last much longer, I think I read like 10,000 hours. 420s are known to be relatively short-lived. I've never tried 415s in my Mark IV, thinking the IV wouldn't have enough juice to really get the 415s cookin. IMO, they are the only tube for a C+.

 

[james1974]

420s are known to be relatively short-lived

Oh so i should enjoy them why they last.

Thanks for your info.

Best Regards

James

 

[gtrrhythm]

I have a dual rectifier solo head with all 420's. Had it for about 14 yrs now, and still haven't had one blow. Yours could last a long time. Luckily I had a mesa 20/20 for awhile I bought used, and it had a bag full of matched 420s of different color codes with it. So I'm set for life.

 

[Jackie]

Wow, this is interesting.

I bought a used 2:90 that was retubed about.. 3 years ago?? Something like that. The tubes are Mesa SRT420s with the "BLU" color code and they look horrible but they sound nice and don't have a lot of hours on them according to the previous owner.

Since the tubes are pretty old and I've been having some popping issues with engaging the 1/2 drive mode, I thought of replacing them but an amp tech told me it's more likely a relay problem (otherwise all 3 voicings would pop) and I can keep them.

I'm leaning towards keeping them more and more, but I'd like to get this out of the way.
I'm a big fan of Russian power tubes, especially the =C='s (I think =C= in EU and SED in the US are the same), and from what I've read, the 420s are Chinese tubes - my tube of choice for replacing the 420s was an octet of =C= 6L6s, and I might do that some day anyways, but here's what I want to know:
While the 420s sound nice, how would =C=s/SEDs differ from the 420s in terms of tone?

 

[dodger916]

While the 420s sound nice, how would =C=s/SEDs differ from the 420s in terms of tone?

Not knowing the sound of your tubes makes it tough to give a specific answer, but in general I'd say the =C=s will be bolder and taller than the 420s, which tend to be slightly blurrier, if this makes sense. Any difference will be negligible and not necessarily noticeable to everyone as it's also a question of the amp's feel. I felt =C=s were an improvement in tone and playability over STR440s in my Mark IV. I then installed 420s in place of the =Cs, and the 420s haven't left. I also run 5881s in the outer sockets. I prefer this set-up because it sounds less "modern" to me and rounds out the tone making for a more vintage sound and feel. I also keep my Mark IV in triode. Hope this helps.

 

[Jackie]

I'd say the =C=s will be bolder and taller than the 420s, which tend to be slightly blurrier, if this makes sense.

Funny, I have noticed they're a bit "smudgy" sounding. If they sound more "modern" that doesn't bother me, it is mainly what I use my Mesa rig for, and if they add boldness, that's also a plus for me.

Thanks, =C='s it will probably be, then. :mrgreen:

 

[james1974]

Not knowing the sound of your tubes makes it tough to give a specific answer, but in general I'd say the =C=s will be bolder and taller than the 420s, which tend to be slightly blurrier, if this makes sense. Any difference will be negligible and not necessarily noticeable to everyone as it's also a question of the amp's feel. I felt =C=s were an improvement in tone and playability over STR440s in my Mark IV. I then installed 420s in place of the =Cs, and the 420s haven't left.

Id Say Dodger is spot on with this description. This is my exact experience with the markiv.

 

[james1974]

Dodger do you run mesa 5881s?

cheers

James

 

[SonicProvocateur]

I've got some 5881 STR-425's (Sovteks) yellows.

Dodger is spot on in his description; they are very not-modern sounding. To me they make for the perfect "brown sound" if you know what I mean. It kinda takes the Mesa out of the Mesa and brings it back to the hotrodded Marshall zone, IMO. It's by no means a bad tone, it's awesome if that's your sauce. It's not the "Petrucci/Metallica" tone though. It's very 1985. It's almost impossible to describe the complexity of the 5881 tone. Very awesome, but not for everyone. Worth just to have around for rainy day rocking though.

Question to the STR-420 users; which is the more desirable tone wise? The "coke bottles" or the "straight bottles"? Just in case I ever happen across some.

 

[james1974]

Thanks for the info SonicProv, I would love to try some 5881's might give them a go as far as the 420s mine are straight bottle.with the brown base they look and sound beautiful... id be interested in getting some more straight or coke bottle ones also..

 

[dodger916]

Dodger do you run mesa 5881s?

cheers

James

Hi James. I run 5881s in the outer sockets, in combination with 420s in the inners. You cannot run 5881s in the inner sockets unless you run them in all four, which I haven't tried yet.

 

[dodger916]

Dodger is spot on in his description; they are very not-modern sounding. To me they make for the perfect "brown sound" if you know what I mean. It kinda takes the Mesa out of the Mesa and brings it back to the hotrodded Marshall zone, IMO. It's by no means a bad tone, it's awesome if that's your sauce. It's not the "Petrucci/Metallica" tone though. It's very 1985. It's almost impossible to describe the complexity of the 5881 tone. Very awesome, but not for everyone.

+1

Question to the STR-420 users; which is the more desirable tone wise? The "coke bottles" or the "straight bottles"? Just in case I ever happen across some.

?+1 I've only run the straight bottles.

 

[james1974]

Hi Dodger. So just the stock Mesa ones as Sonic Prov says the yellow labels 425's
I just went to mesa's online store and remembered they dont ship outside the U.S. for obvious reasons . I can only imagine what the local dealer here in OZ will want for them.

Cheers

James

 

[SonicProvocateur]

This pic is from an older post, to show the difference between the straight and coke bottle:

And here is a pic of the my 5881's for James (dunno what kind dodger uses...I think Mesa used Tung-Sol 5881's early on, these are Sovtek's and they sound AWESOME!):

I'd like to hear from some "coke bottle" STR-420 users and know if there is much of a difference...

 

[james1974]

Great Pics SonicProv!! Thanks for posting

Im going to get myself some of those 5881's,around 120 here for a match pair so guess that is pretty expensive.

Id love to get some more of those str420s as back up..so coke bottles look sick.. why o why is the best stuff OLD..

Cheers again.
James

 

[SonicProvocateur]

These aren't that old, they are fairly recent. These are the 5881WGC, not to be confused with the WXT.

I suppose you live in Europe? Where. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find some regular branded matched Sovteks laying around, without the Mesa label, they are quite cheap.

 

[james1974]

SonicProv ,

I live in Australia , so there isnt many options for Mesa dealers.
I have found some sovtek branded 5881s on ebay from Europe and as you said they are cheap Might give them a go..