Tubes recommendations for my Roadster combo!

[KoskineN]

Hi guys! I thinks it's time for me to change the tubes of my Roadster. I got it almost three years ago
and nerver changed them :shock: After reading a lot of threads here, I think some changes might
really improve my amp's tone. I love the 6L6s, so I might go for some Winged "C" (SED) 6L6GC. They
seems to be quite popular for the Roadster. For the preamp, I might go with Tung-Sol 12AX7.
On the tubestore.com website, they recommend some "Preferred Series 7025", and they used to
recommend JAN-Philips 5751 for the Mesa Roadking. Any experiences with them?

I play a lot of different stuff, from clean to brit rock stuff, and some heavier stuff too. Important
thing for me is a nice clean with good headroom(tweed mode). Any recommendations or tips?

Thanks!

 

[cradlefish]

Hi guys! I thinks it's time for me to change the tubes of my Roadster. I got it almost three years ago
and nerver changed them :shock: After reading a lot of threads here, I think some changes might
really improve my amp's tone. I love the 6L6s, so I might go for some Winged "C" (SED) 6L6GC. They
seems to be quite popular for the Roadster. For the preamp, I might go with Tung-Sol 12AX7.
On the tubestore.com website, they recommend some "Preferred Series 7025", and they used to
recommend JAN-Philips 5751 for the Mesa Roadking. Any experiences with them?

I play a lot of different stuff, from clean to brit rock stuff, and some heavier stuff too. Important
thing for me is a nice clean with good headroom(tweed mode). Any recommendations or tips?

Thanks!

JAN philips are nice tubes. The 5751 will lower the volume a bit compare to the regular 12ax7 and not to mention the gain. I personally love Sylvania JAN, Mullard, Amperex, Telefunken, RCA, Brimar, RFT to name a few. NOS tubes will last a long time and sound better than most production tube. SED 6l6 are a great choice.

 

[domct203]

I personally love Sylvania JAN, Mullard, Amperex, Telefunken, RCA, Brimar, RFT to name a few. NOS tubes will last a long time and sound better than most production tube. SED 6l6 are a great choice.

Good advise right there. IMO the SED =C= SV6L6GC (and EL34) are one of the best current production powertubes available.

If you're not ready to jump into NOS/VOS preamp tubes right away, Doug Preston at http://www.dougstubes.com offers a generic preamp tube "cocktail" that sounds (and works) pretty good in the Recto's.

I use all NOS/VOS, with the exception of the PI tube. I change that tube with each powertube change, and use the Sovtek LPS. To me it is just as good in that position as my personal fav PI tube, the Matsushita 12AX7.

Right now I am running:
V1 = NOS 1950's Sylvania long black plate 12AX7
V2 = NOS Mullard short plate 12AX7
V3 = NOS GE long grey plate 12AX7
V4 = NOS Mullard CV-2024 (12AT7)
V5 = NOS RCA 12AX7A
V6 = Sovtek 12AX7-LPS

Powertubes are SED =C= SV6L6GC.

I love the sound of the RFT ECC83 (12AX7) in V1 but IMO it makes the amp too "mushy", but YMMV.

Dom

 

[KoskineN]

If you're not ready to jump into NOS/VOS preamp tubes right away, Doug Preston at http://www.dougstubes.com offers a generic preamp tube "cocktail" that sounds (and works) pretty good in the Recto's.

I use all NOS/VOS, with the exception of the PI tube. I change that tube with each powertube change, and use the Sovtek LPS. To me it is just as good in that position as my personal fav PI tube, the Matsushita 12AX7.

Right now I am running:
V1 = NOS 1950's Sylvania long black plate 12AX7
V2 = NOS Mullard short plate 12AX7
V3 = NOS GE long grey plate 12AX7
V4 = NOS Mullard CV-2024 (12AT7)
V5 = NOS RCA 12AX7A
V6 = Sovtek 12AX7-LPS

Powertubes are SED =C= SV6L6GC.

I love the sound of the RFT ECC83 (12AX7) in V1 but IMO it makes the amp too "mushy", but YMMV.

Dom

I'm into NOS yet, but I take good note of your suggestions . I finally ordered the SED 6L6s plus
Tung-Sol reissue 12AX7s and some JAN-Philips 5751 to experiment. Will see!

Question: Where do you bought your NOS tubes?

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[domct203]

A good place to start is KCA NOS Tubes at http://www.kcanostubes.com/

High quality tubes but they are expensive. Once you are well educated in NOS/VOS better deals can be found on EBay.

Dom

 

[KoskineN]

Cool! Thanks for the link!