Retube or Rent High Quality Preamp?

[punkrocker]

Hi all so I have a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier that I got used off of craigslist and I haven't yet swapped out the tubes. I think that they're between 2-3 years old (they are groove tubes if it matters). I'm going to be recording a new record soon and I'm wondering if it would be better to do a full retube or spend my money on a renting a high quality preamp such as an avalon 737. I am currently just plugging a 57 into a firepod right now. I have heard mixed opinions on how better your sound. Some say the result is just as drastic as changing old guitar strings and if that is the case I will probably go for the retube but others say it makes almost no audible difference. Please enlighten me.

 

[fishyfishfish]

If your amp sounds good to you save your money. Fresh pre amp tubes won't make your amps sound fresher, but different ones will, and as far as power tubes go, the average lifespan is between 4,000 and 5,000 hours so you might be due for some it just depends on how hard and how often the amp was used. But again if you like the sound spend your money on something else

 

[punkrocker]

Thanks! Perhaps you guys could take a listen to this clip and tell me it sounds like the tubes are going bad? Thanks! http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=853293

 

[fishyfishfish]

Nothing out of the ordinary. You could down load the manual from Mesa. It has a pretty comprehensive section on trouble shooting bad tubes and the noises they make.