Tube Failure - Doh

[Triple Cheeseburger]

interesting failure tonight, used my Mark V head last week and it was right on the money, a week later after no use i fired her up tonight, and all i could hear was the faintest signal. Double checked cables etc. turns out the PI blew. im a bit pissed as tubes aren't the cheapest in Australia and i bought a sovtek LPS specifically for that spot. I heard they aren't the most reliable tube but PI should have been fine. only put her in 3 months ago so im a bit edgy about putting another one in. Any other suggestions?

 

[MesaGod666]

Stock Mesa Tubes sound fine. Just roll with those.

 

[Mrjason]

I owned my Mark V for a few months before I started having some tube noise. So i tried finding the noisy preamp tube. First I grabbed an old SP12ax7 I had in my rectoverb and threw it in V1. Huge improvement on the noise issue but it lowered my gain too much. Then i began reading up on preffered tubes for a Mark V on these forums. My impression was that Mesa Tubes are basically JJ tubes that are tested and relabled at Mesa. Allot of people seemed to like Tung-Sol 12ax7's. Others preffered JJ tubes. I ordered 5 Tung-Sols and 7 JJ's to experiment. I ended up using Tung-sols in V1 and V3 and the JJ's in the rest of the preamp slots. HUGE improvement in my opinion compaired to the (Mesa) tubes that came with my $2200 brand new amp. Cheaper to buy online than from guitar stores who carry Mesa Tubes. Using tubes other than Mesa tubes voids the warrenty mind you, but after reading the forums I felt the need to hear them.

I for one am glad I decided to try them. I also tried a quad set of Winged C SED 6L6's power tubes for like 160 bucks that i read nothing but good things about. Im still deciding but i beleive they make my amp sound a bit thinner. I think i prefur the Mesa power tubes (JJ's??) There are allot of opinions in the tube area forums. I think only your ears and experimenting will tell you what you like best. Its not cheap to try ... but I had to bite the bullet so I would stop wondering about it. Good Luck!

 

[screamingdaisy]

I also tried a quad set of Winged C SED 6L6's power tubes for like 160 bucks that i read nothing but good things about. Im still deciding but i beleive they make my amp sound a bit thinner. I think i prefur the Mesa power tubes (JJ's??)

If I remember correctly Mesa's current 6L6s are sourced from Ruby and are made in China.

 

[domct203]

If I remember correctly Mesa's current 6L6s are sourced from Ruby and are made in China.

You are correct.

Dom

 

[Triple Cheeseburger]

I owned my Mark V for a few months before I started having some tube noise. So i tried finding the noisy preamp tube. First I grabbed an old SP12ax7 I had in my rectoverb and threw it in V1. Huge improvement on the noise issue but it lowered my gain too much. Then i began reading up on preffered tubes for a Mark V on these forums. My impression was that Mesa Tubes are basically JJ tubes that are tested and relabled at Mesa. Allot of people seemed to like Tung-Sol 12ax7's. Others preffered JJ tubes. I ordered 5 Tung-Sols and 7 JJ's to experiment. I ended up using Tung-sols in V1 and V3 and the JJ's in the rest of the preamp slots. HUGE improvement in my opinion compaired to the (Mesa) tubes that came with my $2200 brand new amp. Cheaper to buy online than from guitar stores who carry Mesa Tubes. Using tubes other than Mesa tubes voids the warrenty mind you, but after reading the forums I felt the need to hear them.

I for one am glad I decided to try them. I also tried a quad set of Winged C SED 6L6's power tubes for like 160 bucks that i read nothing but good things about. Im still deciding but i beleive they make my amp sound a bit thinner. I think i prefur the Mesa power tubes (JJ's??) There are allot of opinions in the tube area forums. I think only your ears and experimenting will tell you what you like best. Its not cheap to try ... but I had to bite the bullet so I would stop wondering about it. Good Luck!

the only reason i started experimenting was my V1 tube became microphonic. tried a few in different spots and worked out with a combo that i liked. i might just stick with the mesa tube for now.