Do you mean brand or do we like 6L6's or eL34's?
Brands I've used and liked........ the standard Mesa tubes, if you like the stock sounds go with Mesa tubes... They don't put they're name on junk tubes.
Are there better tubes out there?? Depends what you mean by better, but yes there are better quality tubes out there. Svetlana tubes come to mind as being a great quality tube (I think the higher priced Mesa tubes may be these too). Some people like JJ tubes, some like Electro Harmonix tubes.
Type of tubes (6L6 vs EL34)... Depends on what you play and what you like. The 6L6's are the tubes that put the Rectifier sound on the map and made it famous, but the EL34 tubes still sound like a rectifier, but with an extra bite.
6L6 tubes......
* More low end
* not as tight as a low end
* More of a low-mid throaty sound
* Have a bit of a sizzle to them
* Some would say more of a "Nu-Metal" sound
EL34's.......
* Less low end
* a tighter low end
* More of a high-mid sound
* more of a bite instead of sizzle
* Some would say more of a "British" sound
I had two Tremoverbs at one time and when I recorded I used the 6L6 amp for rhythm and the EL34 amp for leads and an extra rhythm track to give it some contrast. In my band, the EL34's worked best for me ( I play in an 80s, 90s and modern rock band doing stuff like: Bon Jovi, Poison, Puddle of Mudd, Creed, AC/DC, Warrent, Hoobastank, ect....), but I personally like the 6L6's better, but I did what sounded best with the band which happened to be the EL34's.
No matter what tubes you use, it's still going to sound like a Mesa Boogie Rectifer, the tubes just add little bit of personal taste to your sound.
If you still have questions as to what you want, you might try emailing Bob at Eurotubes.com, he's really good at answering your questions and knows alot about tubes and has some good prices too.
Thats my $.02 worth :wink:
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