Blasted
Member
I'm new to this tube amp thing. A while back I bought a Mark IV. It has the Mesa 5881 tubes in it. It was recommended to me to switch those out with the EL34/6L6 combination to get a better (more powerful) tone, as the 5881s are a less powerful tube.
When I first bought the amp, I took it into a tech to fix a broken pot, and give it a once over. The services were reasonably priced, and he was an authorized Mesa tech.
Anyway, since I was interested in swapping out the tubes, I asked the tech how much it would be. He said $80 for the tubes ($40 a pair), plus an additional "re-tube charge."
Is this normal? I though that if I swapped with other Mesa brand tubes, that no technical adjustments (bias) would need to be made. Is there any point of going through the tech to get the tubes, or should I just order them off the Mesa website and swap them myself? Its just as easy as pulling one tube out, and sticking another in, right?
Thanks!
When I first bought the amp, I took it into a tech to fix a broken pot, and give it a once over. The services were reasonably priced, and he was an authorized Mesa tech.
Anyway, since I was interested in swapping out the tubes, I asked the tech how much it would be. He said $80 for the tubes ($40 a pair), plus an additional "re-tube charge."
Is this normal? I though that if I swapped with other Mesa brand tubes, that no technical adjustments (bias) would need to be made. Is there any point of going through the tech to get the tubes, or should I just order them off the Mesa website and swap them myself? Its just as easy as pulling one tube out, and sticking another in, right?
Thanks!