V1 V2 V3 V4 V5... what is the purpose of each exactly?

[konstantine RK]

Just need to ask since I have been swapping preamp tubes lately

thanks


Kon

 

[MrMarkIII]

Best bet is to go to the Mesa website and download the manuals. You may have to settle for the V.2, as the V.1 does not appear to have a tube tasking chart.
Basically, each pre-amp tube has two sides, usually called V1A and V1B, etc.
Each side of the tube has its own job. In the Road King 2, for example, V2A is the third gain stage for channels 1 and 2. V2B is the third gain stage for channels 3 and 4.
In some of the older, simpler Boogies, it was possible to affect, say, the Lead sound by changing only one tube. Nowadays, the tube assignments overlap quite a bit, it seems.
Hope this helps.

 

[konstantine RK]

Found it! but I dont understand "gain stages"

Now if it's up to my untrained eye I would think that the first two tubes are for the 1st and 2nd channels, while V3 is for the distorted channels gain and this "Stack Driver"?

V4 is for reverb and V5 is for my FX loops...

Now what kind of pre amp tubes are popular from 1 to 5?

I have a Penta lab in V1, a Mesa "russian 2" in V2, a V3, a JJ 12ax7 in V4 and a no name preamp tube with a darkened tip.

I like this combination so far but is there anything I should know about?


thanks

Kon

 

[konstantine RK]

oh man Im peeing me pants - someone must know!?

 

[danvortex]

Hi !

i'm not 100% sure but it's about it

v1= input stage
v2 and v3 = gain stages
v4 = loop send and return
v5= phase inverter (output to power amp)

I experienced a lot with preamp tubes, i have a 3000$ collection of NOS and today's production tubes and there are some findings i can share with you:

- the 2 positions i find to have the greater effect on tone are V1 and V5
- all of the positions have an effect on tone but not in the same ways and a tube you will find the best in a specific position will not necessarely be good or be the best in another one
- I find most of the NOS to sound better than today's tubes
- the two regular tubes i like the most (today's production) are JJ ecc83S and EH (jj is my favorite for a brighter amp and EH for a darkerer amp) but you should not use the same tubne in all positions...
- my personnal receipe with my two pre-500 dual rectifiers
v1= RFT, V2 = phillips 7025 by mullard, v3 = jj ecc83s, v4 = shineese 9th generation, v5= RFT or Tungsram
- I find power tubes to have a greater effect on tone than preamp tubes
- even though i find most NOS to be better tubes, it doesn't mean that they will be what you need, their tonal qualities could not be what is needed in your amp or in a specific preamp spot. For exemple, to my taste in my amps nothing sounds better than a 10$ chineese in V4, not even a 150$ NOS tube, but in V1 there are at the least 6-7 other tubes that sound way better.
- the receipe you will find for an amp will not necessarelly work the best in another one, you have to try different combinations for each amp

hope it helps

 

[konstantine RK]

thanks for the info about the tubes!!

especially V5!!! im going to put some other tubes in that position!!!