what tubes do the pros use in their mesa amps?
- Thread starter Rocky
- Start date
Help Support The Boogie Board:
ANIMATED SUSPENSION
Well-known member
Petrucci uses stock Mesa STR440's and STR447's in his MKIV's, and all pics of his previous amps I've seen have had std Mesa tubes in too. I think Vai has used GT tubes in the past, but I've never heard of any using NOS tubes at all !! Eric Johnson surely does, but who knows ?!?!?
fishyfishfish
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2007
- Messages
- 1,164
- Reaction score
- 2
Most if not all of the "Pro Riggs" I've seen have had either Groove Tubes or if it was a Boogie set up, "Mesa Tubes". Mostly because they can buy matched sets in bulk.
A
Anonymous
Guest
fishyfishfish said:
I would think they'd use NOS pre tubes though.....
TheMagicEight said:
why?
Guys on the road have more to do than fiddle with preamp tubes. When you are on the road you want reliability first and foremost. Groove Tubes, Mesa Tubes, EH or whatever are consistent, not overly pricey and are easy to get. On the road that is what you need. When I used to tour I set my rig to have the most reliable and replaceable gear I had that did the j ob I needed it to do. Using my fav NOS 12AX7 would maybe sound better but if it blew when I was in the middle of some obscure place would suck and I could kiss a speedy replacement goodbye. Lets say I do find a replacement....oops that tube is cooked to death....now what? Get something that can be reliably replaced is what. I used Groove tubes and kept extras....and I didnt have to worry.
I th ink people are kinda crazy to think that 'pro's' are using custom this and custom that or that their stuff is all heavily modded. If you plug in amp 'A' and it sounds great then you should be set...chasing the pink elephant of tone is counterproductive and expensive. Think about it....the time that you have wasted swapping tubes for a 5% improvement.....you could have been practicing alone, with a band or writing songs (3 activities far more important than tweaking)
Roy from Anderson guitars once gave me a line to use on people that are WAY over the top about tweaking to death. Ask them "Can you play or not?" that question will piss people off but they should get the point.
A
Anonymous
Guest
^^
To each his own, I guess.
I'd want NOS tubes. I'd have some modern spares, maybe, but it doesn't seem like it's that much more trouble to use NOS tubes.
As far as price goes, if I'm talking about the same pros I think is being discussed, I really doubt they'd think twice about it.
To each his own, I guess.
I'd want NOS tubes. I'd have some modern spares, maybe, but it doesn't seem like it's that much more trouble to use NOS tubes.
As far as price goes, if I'm talking about the same pros I think is being discussed, I really doubt they'd think twice about it.
JOEY B.
Well-known member
In the studio, it's whatever sounds best. On the road, I would say reliability and ease of replacement would win hands down. 8)
