Mark III tubes

[bradg]

What tubes (6L6's and pre's) do you like with the Mark III? I don't really want to spend the money on expensive NOS tubes FWIW.

 

[goodwill559]

My favorite non-NOS power tubes have been Mesa 6l6gc str420, not available through Mesa any longer but you can find them around sometimes, and SED =c= el34 @ 50.00USD/pair.

But I have to admit that I prefer the sound of my mark iii when it's tubed with NOS; Mullard el34 xf2 @ 90.00USD/pair, and sylvania 6l6gc str 387 @ 80.00USD/pair...

edit: prices added for reference

 

[CoG]

I have found, somewhat suprisingly, that the PI (V5 if you have reverb, V4 otherwise) and power tubes seem to make a bigger tonal difference in Mark IIIs than the other preamp tubes, which is very different than in other amps.

I've sprung for some NOS RCA and Sylvania tubes for the front end but haven't really found them to be worth the money for the difference they make. They sound amazing in *other* amps, but in the IIIs it's "eh." However, I run Mullard CV4024s in the PIs and reverb slots and that makes a big difference in clarity.

I run Siemens NOS EL34s in the outer sockets, which are great, but am still finding 6L6s I like. I will probably end up with the new production =C='s.

 

[Sander]

I used to have a pair of EHX El34 in the outer sockets and NOS 'coke bottle' Sylvania 6l6's which sounded great.

I have a complete JJ retube set now (6L6 and El34L) but only did one practise session with them so really can't tell much about the difference yet.

As for preamp tubes: tung sol selected V1 and ehx tubes.

 

[CoG]

I have a complete JJ retube set now (6L6 and El34L) but only did one practise session with them so really can't tell much about the difference yet.

Curious to see how the JJ EL34Ls work for you. I found they sounded pretty decent but they only lasted about three months (we play loud, though.)

 

[Sander]

Curious to see how the JJ EL34Ls work for you. I found they sounded pretty decent but they only lasted about three months (we play loud, though.)

I play quite loud as well, but am sure hoping to get more than three months out of them though!

 

[CoG]

Yeah, nice thick sound but they just didn't hold up. I got a really chewy, raunchy, garage-y-blues-psych-stoner kinda roar going with those in the outer sockets and Mesa 5881s in the middle. But yeah, after about half an hour of that it started smelling like the 70s and I don't just mean the weed :lol:

 

[Sander]

A small update on the JJ's: I noticed that I no longer need to have the master pulled, just a bit more bass in the EQ did the trick and the sound is a bit more open, yet it remains very tight.