wtf

[guitardude05]

i had like an amazing tone on sunday for jamming along to cd's. then monday i jam with a friend and the tone is utter *****. with the gains pegged and pulled on r3 i could only get an ac/dc type of tone. and a crappy ac/dc tone at that. is this a sign of i need new tubes? i assume it is, so what can i expect from stock mesa tubes vs. a eurotube or dougstubes kit? i really only use r3.

 

[Boogiebabies]

It happens. Check your V3 and V4. One may be loose too, if you moved the amp.

 

[trem]

I've had that happen to me too and it was the pre-amp tube. Btw, what you meant was Lead channel. There's no such thing as R3. :wink:

~trem

 

[Boogiebabies]

Oh, the one thing you can expect from preamp tubes is that you will buy every type under the sun, be happy with one brand for a week, change them again and after your 35 years you will finally just settle on one that works.

 

[guitardude05]

yea lead not r3 lol.... thanks trem! so pretty much any properly working 12ax7 is going to satisfy a better sound? im pretty sure that the preamp tubes in my amp are the stock mesa's from '97. as for power tubes, idk... el34 combo or straight 6l6. ive never replaced tubes in any of my tube amps before so im kinda new to all of the brands and stuff.

 

[Roaster]

so pretty much any properly working 12ax7 is going to satisfy a better sound? as for power tubes, idk... el34 combo or straight 6l6. ive never replaced tubes in any of my tube amps before so im kinda new to all of the brands and stuff.

I can endorse the Electro Harmonix 12AX7 as used in my 50 Cal+
The price is nice, and they sound very musical and responsive to my ears. Great crunch as well.
These are paired with SED Winged C 6L6 in the power section.
Best head and tube combo I've ever owned.

 

[guitardude05]

my mark iv's distortion sounds tight as i here a lot, but it sounds so tight that its "choked" to my ears. can be very harsh sounding too out of the c90.

i dont know if this is as a result of the tube problems but its always been like this since i bought it used in july. is that normal mark tone?

 

[psychodave]

Oh, the one thing you can expect from preamp tubes is that you will buy every type under the sun, be happy with one brand for a week, change them again and after your 35 years you will finally just settle on one that works.

haha, how true.