The preamp swaporama!

[konstantine RK]

Preamp tubes...
For the Roadking 1

V1 - Tung sol Russian 12AX7
V2 - Penta Lab Chinese 12AX7B
V3 - Sovtek Russian 12AX7LPS
V4 - Sovtek Russian 12AX7LPS
V5 - blank blacktop 12ax7 ----

good sound to this preamp combo.. nice defined gain in channels 3 and four. Good definition and the cleans are not so muddy as we all know RK1 cleans can be.

I have Mesa 6L6's and EL34's with JJ's 5UGB's

What are these mysterious preamp tubes with the black burned glass tops? They have no markings but just a blackened top. Anyone have an answer for that one?

Also should I run 3 Sovtek's in a row V1 V2 V3? what is V3 for anyhow?

Im getting some Mesa SPAX-7's and ATS-12's soon. 2 old tubes from the 80's and one new one. Any thoughts or advice on these?

Thanks

Kon

 

[MrMarkIII]

Mesa SPAX-7s are picked for low-noise and microphonics, not tone.
Mesa says they work best in the early V1 position, but I've seen some in the reverb slot, and once bought a Maverick with 6 of 'em. But again, they may have lower noise, but not necessarily better tone. NOS is the way to go. Unlike power tubes, 12AX7s can last for many thousands of hours. Tubes made in the swinging Sixties can go for $30-$100 each. Yes, you gotta do the research, but as long as you're throwing money at tone...

 

[konstantine RK]

ok so the guy says on ebay: V1 and the ATS-7's in the drivers

what are the drivers???

thanks for the advice on older tubes and I am researching as best I can (I can be a real idiot)

 

[MrMarkIII]

The driver is also called the phase inverter. It's V6.
Manuals may be downloaded at Mesa's website.
Go to page 43 for the tube tasking chart.
http://www.mesaboogie.com/manuals/RoadKing2_v1.pdf

 

[konstantine RK]

wow the RK2 has 6 preamp stages??

Mine has only 5