What tubes do I replace in my Mark III?

[droptrd]

My Mark III is starting to lose lowend and a little bit of gain. What tubes would cause this? Power tubes or preamp tubes?

Thanks in advance

 

[Neptical]

I'm gonna say your power tubes are taking a dump. If you have some spare 12AX7s lying around, swap them around in there as well. If you need tube recommendations, there's a ton we can share that'll make your III sound like pure heaven.

~Nep~

 

[droptrd]

Cool thanks guys. I have some brand new TS EL34Bs to throw in. Now I need to order some 6L6s. Ive always used SEDs in the past and loved them but Im not spending that $$$ on tubes. Currently have JJ 6L6s and BHTs in it. Sounded great when they were new about 9 months ago. What do you guys like besides the SEDs for 6L6s?

 

[daveg62]

I have Ruby 6L6 and Ruby el34str in mine and I think they sound great.

 

[kdorsey]

Only 9 months on a set of power tubes??!! Either you're running a 2 Ohm cabinet load or the quality of power tubes is going down the toilet. :shock:

Sounds like your power tubes, but if you're having gain issues or tone suck, maybe there's a preamp tube flaking out too? Maybe a NOS cocktail is in order?

 

[droptrd]

I dropped in the new TS 34s and an older pair of 6L6s (JJs)today. Made a huge difference. I still want to replace the 6L6s with a new pair soon though. Preamp tubes I swapped a couple months ago due to microphonic issues. Im runnin a mullard RI in V1, JJs in 2&3 and LPS's in the rest. I have been wanting to try some NOS in this amp for a while.

This amp gets a lot of hours put on it every week. 2-3 rehearsals + 2-3 gigs a week. Plus I usually jam on it for at least a couple hours a week at home. If Im out of work then Im usually playing through it 4-5 hours a day at home. It gets moved around practially every day too. Its a work horse.