Mark VII power tube colours

[Voyager72]

Hello fellow Mark VII users

curios which bias colour for the STR445 came with your Mark VII?

 

[bandit2013]

The first Mark VII came with green. Those got swamped out at gig level and lost all detail. Sounded more blah but at lower volume settings the amp was ok, even with the different power modes. I ordered some STR445 not thinking about requesting any color codes and ended up with two complete quads of yellows. Those work very well at any volume.

Second Mark VII was shipped with yellow coded STR445.

 

[Voyager72]

Thanks @bandit2013
Interesting the green and yellow being one gradation apart behave different.

 

[bandit2013]

I can tell the difference between colors of the same tube type. I am surprised that some cannot.
Sure the green coded STR445 sounded good at a close bedroom level. Just that slight turn on the channel master did not take much to get to gig levels. 9am setting is near gig level. 9:30am to 10am is nuts. Just what I noticed with the first Mark VII that came equipped with the greens, I found it less desirable and muddy at gig level. It does not take much to make a difference. Those greens I have may be closer to grey. They sounded great in the Badlander and not so bad in the JP2C. Just thought they seemed too much for the Mark VII. I could revisit those again as I have two Mark VII. I can do a side by side comparison as this has sparked my curiosity to find out how different they are. When I was exploring the tube colors, it was before I got the second Mark VII. At that time I was comparing the Mark VII to the JP2C when I noticed the greens in the Mark VII did not sound as satisfying. Note: I strive for the most aggressive grind characteristics. I was not getting that with the greens, as it was more muddy and less detailed. The yellows made a difference that sounded on par with the JP2C (this amp requires greens or grey, running the yellow or red it goes lame).

 

[Voyager72]

How did the green or gray compare with yellow on channel one clean?

 

[Jamme1961]

We’re a funny bunch

 

[Voyager72]

We’re a funny bunch

At least we are not talking about the impact of power cables on the sound

 

[Jamme1961]

At least we are not talking about the impact of power cables on the sound

I’m guilty of all this stuff

 

[bandit2013]

I did not notice much of a difference on the clean or fat with the yellow vs green, it was more so with the VII, IIC+ and IV mode at 90W.
If the amp sounds good with what it came with, stick with it. It could just be the batch of the STR445 tubes as they have been hard to come by for a while. Sweetwater removed that part from their pick list. I got them through AMS but took over 6 months to get them.

 

[bandit2013]

Hello fellow Mark VII users

curios which bias colour for the STR445 came with your Mark VII?

I told you my colors, what are yours?
All I have are one set of greens, and three sets of yellows. Almost as if there was a stripe on the chassis or transformer to identify what mod it has. Mine has the JP2C signature badge on it. It was a special-order thing. It was the JPV7 reissue, oops I let the cat out of the bag too soon. This was supposed to wait until April. Not, I just swapped the faceplate to match the one cabinet.

I like that they made the access window much larger than the JP2C. Much easier to get to the preamp tubes.

 

[Voyager72]

I told you my colors, what are yours?

My current VII came with Green.

Man I really love those grill cover colours! How much does Mesa charge for these?

Yes that front access was a very welcome addition. On Mark V it doesn't exist at all.