What's your favorite 6L6?

[Uncle Rocker]

Hi Guys, I've had my 5:50 Express for almost a year now. It's the first Mesa I've ever owned and I love it. I play mostly Classic Rock & Blues in a cover band. I've ordered the Pre Amp "tone kit" from Doug's Tubes. Not that I dislike the tone as is but, I just wanted to see if I could tweek it a little bit. As for the Power tubes, Doug suggests either:
The Ruby 6L6GCMSTR... If I'm not mistaken, this is same as the Mesa 5:50 Express stock tube or....
The JJ 6L6GC... "These sound great in many amps like Fender (accodring to Doug)."
but, I"ve also heard guys on this forum talk about other tubes like the Ruby Winged "C" 6L6GC and the SED 6L6GC.
So, I'm wondering what's your favorite power tube for the 5:50 and/or which power tubes you'd recomend for me. I like good Cleans but also want good OD for Classic Rock & Blues.
Thanks for your help.

 

[MusicManJP6]

I'm a fan of the SED Winged =C= 6L6s. However, in my Mark V I am fine with the stock Mesas. Preamp tubes are getting swapped for TungSol Reissues though. The JJ relabeled Mesas are a bit harsh in this amp.

 

[Newysurfer]

Hi Guys, I've had my 5:50 Express for almost a year now. It's the first Mesa I've ever owned and I love it. I play mostly Classic Rock & Blues in a cover band. I've ordered the Pre Amp "tone kit" from Doug's Tubes. Not that I dislike the tone as is but, I just wanted to see if I could tweek it a little bit. As for the Power tubes, Doug suggests either:
The Ruby 6L6GCMSTR... If I'm not mistaken, this is same as the Mesa 5:50 Express stock tube or....
The JJ 6L6GC... "These sound great in many amps like Fender (accodring to Doug)."
but, I"ve also heard guys on this forum talk about other tubes like the Ruby Winged "C" 6L6GC and the SED 6L6GC.
So, I'm wondering what's your favorite power tube for the 5:50 and/or which power tubes you'd recomend for me. I like good Cleans but also want good OD for Classic Rock & Blues.
Thanks for your help.

The stock Mesa tubes are Chinese no-names. They're just ok IMO. Nothin special.
On Dougs advice I stuck in the SED 6L6's over a year ago. Think I was the first on this forum to do it.
They were significantly better / smoother than the stock Mesa tubes.
Haven't tried anything else in the 5:50 cause I'm happy with the SEDs :mrgreen:

 

[EtherealWidow]

Dude I hear so many things about what kind of tubes Mesa uses. I don't think that they use Chinese no-names. That's ART. (I'm sure others do it too, they just come to mind rather than Mesa) My local dealer told me that Mesa actually uses two different brands of tubes. Ruby's for the power section, and JJ's for the preamp section. And then I guess EH tubes are fine as a replacement but they're not the stock tubes. I don't even know what to think anymore. Although, I guess this could all be settled with a simple phone call.