some RK2 pre amp tube help

[superbird]

i am looking replacing my preamp section of my Road King 2 because i had one go bad. Can anyone suggest anything? I was using the original ones that it shipped with (russian 2) but wonder of something better is out there. I have tried JJ's ecc83s, not really impressed. What about Tung Sol? GT's?

Also my amp shipped with all mesa (russian 2) 12ax7's in every position, V1 thru V6.

 

[domct203]

One thing I definatly recommend is trying a Tung-Sol reissue in V1. It's a great sounding tube in that spot that sounds well in all modes of my Roadster. I have also heard good things about the GT Mullard reissue as well. The rest of the spots are personal tastes. Good thing is that the tubes themself are not too expensive and half the fun is trying them out IMO.

I'm happy with my lead tone so far ( it's no JP! ) in channel 3 Vintage, tube rectified. I'm also using a boost in the front end which really helps with the lead tones IMO.

This is my tube compliment for my Roadster. I'm absolutly diggin' this setup!

V1 - Tung-Sol reissue (great tube to push hard)
V2 - High Gain JJ
V3 - Shuguang 9th Generation Chinese
V4 - Electro Harmonix
V5 - stock Mesa Russian 2 (E.H.)
V6 - stock Mesa Russian 2 (E.H.)

V7 thru V10 - SED =C= SV6L6GC

V11 & V12 - Mesa 5U4GB

All the non-Mesa tubes are from Doug Preston (Dougstubes.com). He's been right on with the tube recommendations for me so far. Shoot him an e-mail describing your set-up and desired tone, and he can give you some good ideas. I may try a Sovtek LPS (per Dougs recommendation) in the PI eventually, just for comparison. I did try a balanced JJ (too flabby / no "singing" notes) and a Shuguang (too sterile feeling) in the PI and found the original Mesa (E.H.) the best for me so far.

Use these suggestions as starting points, and have fun!

Dom

 

[superbird]

Thanks for your insight. I will give Doug a call and see if he can get me going. By the way how do you like the SED 6L6's you have compared to stock mesa 440's?

 

[domct203]

To me the =C='s are alot tighter and punchier in the lows, and much, much smoother in the highs in all modes. I am able to run my presence and treble higher in ch 4 Modern for some awesome sizzle with absolutly no "angry bees". They really compliment the Roadster nicely, IMO it sounds more like a Recto should to me now. The amp's sweet spot dials right in at about 10 - 10:30 on the Output (MV) and just gets punchier as you approach 12:00, while the harmonics just jump right off the fretboard. The "feel factor" of the amp is 10X better with the =C='s compared to the STR440's.

A lot of other factors play into this as well, like Guitar, p'ups, etc.

Dom