RCA/Sylvania Tube Discovery

[Mongo1]

I rolled my remaining tubes through V3 and found the best lead tone was with the Mesa 7025 STR 12AX7A/ECC83. It brought out the most natural sustain and harmonic content. I had a few boxes of them that I bought back in 94. I don't know who Mesa was using back then, but it's a good sounding tube.

I'm not sure if my neighbors had as much fun as I did.
I had the house shaking pictures on the walls... SWEET TONE!!!!

 

[SonicProvocateur]

Yeah, I have some RCA and Sylvania vintage tubes from the late 50's that i've tried in my Mark III (definitely have to be careful about hand smudges, it will take that old paint right off!) Took me a long time to figure out which positions to make it not muddy in for sure!

I'm currently running Mesa 7025's in V2 and V3 for a searing lead tone though. Definitely some of my favorite and most well rounded tones (but I'm also a very high gainer. Those vintage tubes are more for the creamy lead tone preamp; with maybe the exception of the Sylvania). The RCA's breakup is almost wild at times in V2 and V3 (sorta rad, but not my cup of tea). Definitely mix it up with some older 7025's for some great leads! It will take some of the grit out of your cleans too.

 

[Mongo1]

This is where I landed:

Studio Pre
V1. Input..........................Sylvania 12AX7 Tall Grey
V2. Rhy...........................RCA 12AX7A Short Grey
V3. Lead........................Mesa 7025 STR 12AX7A/ECC83
V4. Main/Rec Out........JAN Philips 12AX7WA Tall Grey
V5. Rev..........................JAN Philips 12AT7WC Short Grey

What I have is currently a nice balance of clean rhythm with a nice chimey resonance that sparkles combined with a searing lead that still allows me to clean it up for a driving rhythm with a lot of hair on it. It's a lot of fun and really inspires me to play for hours...

I'm on the lookout for a small selection of inexpensive 12AT7's to see if the Rev will benefit like the other slots did. I have to say though, the Rev does sound awesome right now.

 

[SonicProvocateur]

Awesome selection! I have to roll the volume off on my Mark III for my superb cleans too, but its no big deal (sounds way jazzier, with a huge fat bass anyway!)

I dunno what kind of AT7 you might go with, but i've heard good things about just the standard GrooveTubes, and tubedepot.com has some milspec JAN AT7's on sale for $10!

http://www.tubedepot.com/nos-12at7wc.html