Re-tubing DC-5, comments on this selection?

[thurston]

I sent an email to dougstubes for suggestions for replacing the old preamp and power amp tubes on my DC-5a. His first response was to ask; what tubes are in the DC-5, a pair of 6L6GC's and 5 x 12AX7's? After I told him there were 6 12AX7's he recommended their Mesa 12AX7 tone kit plus one extra Penta Labs 12AX7. I sent an email back to confirm what the tone kit consists of, but I think this is what his recommendation is:

(1) Matched Pair RUBY 6L6GCMSTR
(1) Tung Sol 12ax7
(1) High Gain JJ
(2) Penta 12ax7
(1) Shuguang 12ax7 9th gen.
(1) Sovtek LPS 12ax7

I would REALLY appreciate any feedback or opinions on this tube set. For reference, I play mostly 90s/alt/hard rock (think Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, etc) with a Seymour JB & Jazz equipped Agile Les Paul, and a stock American Fender Strat.

 

[edward]

My opinion only, so take with a grain of salt:

No slam on Doug, but if he's going to make a specific "recommendation" as he has to you, shouldn't he know exactly what that amp has?

Rubys are simply tubes that are tested/matched then rebranded. Origin is from wherever? I'd personally get a pair of real (not reissue) SED Winged-C ...just a great ower tube I've used in a few amps.

I like the TungSol 12ax7s. A very nice current-production tube, sweet top end, and better IMHO than the stock Mesa ones.

The other tubes mentioned, I have not had the chance to A/B compare wo will not comment. But my general experience with Mesas is that they tend to sound better, with better indiv note definition, with lower-gain tubes (and there is plenty of gain on tap with these amps). Higher-gain ones tend to blur notes, in my humble opinion and experience.

I have seen Dougstubes make this very recommendation before, but I have never seen/heard why he has done so. Is there a rationale behind it? He certainly has infinitely more experience with tubes than my meagre experience, but I would personally want to know how he derived this recipe. This is no aspersion to him, just a healthy question as to why he'd make these particular recommendations. If he can answer that to your satisfaction, then great. If not, would you feel comfortable with that recommendation? Just saying...

Edward

 

[thurston]

My opinion only, so take with a grain of salt:

No slam on Doug, but if he's going to make a specific "recommendation" as he has to you, shouldn't he know exactly what that amp has?

This was my thought exactly. Doug gets a lot of great recommendations here and elsewhere so it kind of suprised me that he didn't know this information. I'm also not so sure about the one size fits all "Mesa tone kit" solution. This is why I'm posting to try to get some other opinions from people here who might have more experience with the DC-5 itself.

Rubys are simply tubes that are tested/matched then rebranded. Origin is from wherever? I'd personally get a pair of real (not reissue) SED Winged-C ...just a great ower tube I've used in a few amps.

I didn't realize that about the rubys. Thanks for the SED Winged-C recommendation I'll look into those.

 

[lockbody]

I have seen Dougstubes make this very recommendation before, but I have never seen/heard why he has done so. Is there a rationale behind it? He certainly has infinitely more experience with tubes than my meagre experience, but I would personally want to know how he derived this recipe. This is no aspersion to him, just a healthy question as to why he'd make these particular recommendations. If he can answer that to your satisfaction, then great. If not, would you feel comfortable with that recommendation? Just saying...

Edward

It's the same recommendation for every Mesa amp. He just adds the second Penta for six pre setups. When questioned why, he's said in the past it's just so you can have a wide range of tubes to try in the various spots, not that the particular tube he's selected is neccesarily the best tube for that spot that he can come up with.

That said, I did buy his pre setup when I first got my DC-5 just to quickly get some fresh ones in there. The Tung Sols are nice, but the Penta's simply bite in the 4th slot, and I still haven't met a JJ tube I like very much other than their EL-84s.

 

[thurston]

It's the same recommendation for every Mesa amp. He just adds the second Penta for six pre setups. When questioned why, he's said in the past it's just so you can have a wide range of tubes to try in the various spots, not that the particular tube he's selected is neccesarily the best tube for that spot that he can come up with.

Good to know. I guess that makes sense for people who want to experiment a bit.

Any other tube recommendations? I'm now considering a 5751 in the V1 spot, 12AT7s in the reverb and PI spots and SED =C= for power tubes.

 

[thurston]

I'd personally get a pair of real (not reissue) SED Winged-C ...just a great ower tube I've used in a few amps.
Edward

How do you know the difference between "real" and reissued?