Jimmy55 said:
Hey guys, will changing tubes make a "massive" difference, i hope it does, the reason i ask is because ive never had a tube amp before and since i got my dual rec a few months ago ive never been happy at all with the orange and red channels which meant me always turning to my metalzone pedal thru channel 1 to get a fairly nice sound thru it, i bought the amp off ebay and its all working fine but the tubes ive got in it are mesa 6l6 str 425`s and according to this thread are intended for jazz, is this why i cant find the smooth heavy sound that everyone talks about? its definately not because of my esp or my 4x12 mesa cab, if anyone can help please do, thanx
If you have to run a Metalzone through a DR to get the sound you want it leads me to believe 1 of 2 things:
1) the voicing of the DR is just NOT for you.
2) you havent speant enough time learning how to dial in the amp.
I tend to (at least I want to) believe # 2, because you stated youve only had the amp for a couple of months. Believe me, these suckers take a VERY long time to get used to so you can really figure out how to dial your tone in.
Also, sad to say, no tubes dont make that big of a difference. The biggest thing that controls the voicing of an amp is its circuitry design, and tubes are just one aspect to that. Changing your tubes is more about fine tuning your sound.
Think of it like a car, I could put bigger wheels on a Toyota Camry, but that wouldnt make it an SUV or a Sportscar. It might make it look better, handle better (or worse) etc etc etc, but it wont change the fact that ultimately the car is a family car.
And if you want a smooth sound, Id say the 5881 tubes you have are pretty ideal. They might not be highest output 6l6 type, but considering all the gain in the preamp section of the DR, it shouldnt make that big of a difference. Save for differences in gain Id say what most metal players want is pretty similar to what jazz players want, which is by in large a stiff-controlled dynamic response.