Mark IV Tubes ...

[Dror520]

Hi I want to re tube my mark iv .... I heard the 6L6CS STR 415 and 420 are the best ... but where can i find them ? and what preamp tubes should I get ? I want to a have a liquid lead tone ... kinda like Petrucci and a beautiful clean tune .... thx for your help ...

 

[trem]

I believe JP uses stock tubes, STR 440 on the inside sockets, and STR 447 on the outside.

 

[Dror520]

JP is using now 2 6L6CS and 2 EL-34 tubes .... does anyone know what tubes and settings he used on the Once in a Livetime CD ??? thx ...

 

[ANIMATED SUSPENSION]

If you want to nail the lead tone you need the JPM Ibanez guitar with Air Norton/Steve's Special pups and the Traditional 4x12 cab for a start ! As for tubes he used 4 x 6L6's in those days I believe. They would have been standard Boogie pre and power tubes from that period which will be nigh on impossible to find nowadays. You should have a liquid lead tone and reasonable clean tone with a MKIV if you have std tubes anyway. For the cleans he used the Triaxis but don't forget he used the single coil position and not the humbuckers.

 

[Dror520]

what type of preamp tubes are in the Mark IV ?

 

[ANIMATED SUSPENSION]

Mine has Russian 2's in it which are essentially Electro Harmonix 12ax7's that have been tested for high gain and low noise.

 

[Dror520]

does anyone happen to know witch tubes he used ? what's the number ... like STR ? and for the preamp tubes did he just use the ordinary Mesa preamp tubes ?

 

[trem]

Don't worry about it too much Dror. Stock tubes will be good enough for you to approximate his tone. You should get a Mesa cab with V30s before playing with tubes. Speaker selection has way more influence on tone than tubes.

 

[Dror520]

thx trem .... I want to switch my cab to a Mesa Boogie 2x12 Recto cab ... is that good for the mark iv ?

 

[trem]

Can't go wrong with Recto 2x12. JP used that for "An Evening with....", and that's really not a bad tone he got there . A cheaper route would be to replace the G12H in your cab with V30.

Note that even with all these gears you may not get his tone at all. There's always the "finger" factor. I'd say your current setup is great as it is.

 

[Dror520]

thx trem ... I don't want to get the exact tone and I can't .... but really like the lead tone he gets in that CD .. after I buy the cab I'll replace the tubes with Mesa's stock tubes ... thx !!!