Mesa tubes, profits and other amp companies...

[Rocky]

Since Mesa biases their amps in a certain band I dont really mind using their tubes or GT stuff...and an amp will sound best when biased properly so it makes sense for the purchaser to adhere to a certain range.

I do branch off and use other makers tubes and have had no issues...I do have access to some bias and tube testing equipment so I cn get a fairly consistent range.

Preamp tubes dont need to be biased so the world is yours as far as the pre goes.


I think people worry to much about tubes, I can make anything work and feel that many guitarists are just to **** picky....

 

[Pinweaver]

For me the decision is extremely easy:
A matched pair of Mesa 6L6GC str440 = 75€ (Benelux distributor price)
A matched pair of SED 6L6 (winged C) = 37€ (Tube Town online store)

Imo the SED's are by far the best current production 6L6 and are 50% cheaper.
Mesa tube pricing is ridiculous. They wont sell me one tube, ever.

 

[Murphy Slaw]

I don't have any amps under warranty, but still bought some Mesa Tubes for my Blue Angel. I was also ordering some other stuff.

In my Fender amps I prefer N.O.S., and have a pretty good stash of old 6L6's (RCA and Sylvania) in fact, a lifetime.

But I've read the N.O.S. EL84's (6BQ5) don't actually work as well in modern amps, so haven't tried em'. Like I said in another thread my Blue Angel is gigging with 7 year old stock Mesa tubes and sounds incredible cranked to the sweet spot. (it's a weird design that uses 4; EL84's, and 2; 6V6's to get 38 watts) I see no reason to experiment, hell they were about the same price as any, freight was correct, I'm happy.

I don't see a problem. Ford, Chevy, Dodge, ect want you to use their filters during warranty. Harley wants you to use their oil. New Holland and Kioti tractors insist you use their filters under warranty.

Critical parts whos failure could damage other parts are very common to be within a certain spec by many, many manufacturers while said equipment is under warranty. This is a very old practice.

Best of luck.

 

[Newysurfer]

I just ordered the following tubes for my 5:50 from www.dougstubes.com

V1 - Tung-Sol reissue 12AX7 Part ID: TS12AX7 = $15.00
V2 - High gain JJ ECC83S Part ID: JJECC83HG = $12.50
V3 - Penta Labs 12AX7C Part ID: P12AX7C = $12.00
V4 - Shuguang 12AX7C9 Part ID: SHUG12AX7C9 = $9.00
V5 - Sovtek 12AX7LPS Part ID: 12AX7LPS = $10.00

Power Amp
SED Winged C 2x6L6 = $19.75 each

All prices are US$. Shipping cost to Australia was $2.

Doug reccomended the preamp tubes to me as the best for Mesa Amps if you want higher gain. Recto-Robbie here recommended the SEDs as well as Doug. :lol:

 

[SixVeeSix]

A 5 year transferable warranty and you are complaining because they have conditions you don't like? Don't buy a Mesa, or buy a used one that is out of warranty. Or buy a Marshall and see what they tell you 13 months later if you fry it.

As far as matching tubes goes the only way to know what you are getting is to have the specs as to how the match was done. A pair of substandard tubes with short life expectancy that are exactly the same on the meter are matched tubes but who wants them? Proper tube matching must be done at full plate current, most tube testers are not capable of this. You cannot just "pop them in there" and see how they do, you need to let them cook for a while. It takes time (costs money) to get properly matched tubes.

Preamp tubes, as previously stated by Rocky, are pretty safe to mix and match at random. Possible exception to this is the phase inverter/driver tube. Nice to have matching triodes on that one. I have had good luck lately with some organ pulls from a couple of old thrift store Baldwins. You can sell the power amps (minus tubes) on ebay for at least what an organ like that will cost you. Sometimes there are some nice vintage alnico speakers in there too. I always end up blowing those so I just test them and sell them. Got a nice little stash of GE grey plate 12ax7a, and some Sylvania black plate 6bq5s (el84) that sound awesome. And some 6l6s and rectifier tubes that look good but I haven't tested yet. I figure if they sound good, are quiet and glow pretty they are matched enough for me. YMMV.

 

[julesman64]

I just put a full set of brand new boogie tubes in my studio .22. It originally came used with a real smish smash of tubes in it, 2 Electro Harmonics el84's, 2 Ei 12ax7's (stamped from yugoslavia), 2 JJ/Tesla 12ax7's, and 1 Sovtek 12ax7. :shock:

When I first saw this combination when I first bought the amp I thought whoa, this guy must have searched long and hard for this combination. This must be the map to great tone, so I figured. After playing the amp for a few months I decided something wasn't right, it was a little brittle sounding and rather moody when trying to find some good growl. So I swapped speakers, first an Eminence Texas Heat, then a Wizard, then a really, really used Black Shadow C90. The C90 really captured what I was looking for, but it still was sort of off. So I broke down and bought ALL new tubes, and that totally did the trick.

As far as I'm concerned, there's no replacement for real boogie tubes. I've seen a friend of mine swap el34's in his Mk III 10 times and now he's back to boogies. They just seem to really bring out the tone he and I are looking for. Some may disagree, but for my boogies, all they will get will be boogie tubes. 8)

 

[yettoblaster]

I put it this way:
When I was campaigning a BF Showman (15 years ago) it cost about $300 every couple of years to go through; re-tube; and re-bias. And I was without that amp for a week or so.

Now, I have three sets of power tubes (one set came with) for my Mark I RI, and some spare miniatures. I can install them myself anytime I want a change in performance or sound, or just for preventative maintenance.

So for less than $150 I might have enough spare tubes for 5 - 10 YEARS.