?? for the tube meisters ??

F

flamin-gitaur

New member
I plan on re-tubing my Mesa amp,(strategy 500). Question is, are Eurotubes significantly better than the stock Mesa tubes? The reason why I ask is, if I buy replacement tubes form Mesa, I can get them half price (about $150.00). vs $300.00+ for the Eurotubes (JJ's to be exact). I don't have a problem dishing out the cash for the tubes, I just want to know if they are significantly better and worth the extra cost. I have never replaced my tubes before, so I have no way of comparision.
 
i have no idea what brand of tubes comes with your mesa.......so trying to compare is trying to drive with a blindfold on......

But i will say this.....JJ makes a great tube. And BOB at Eurotubes is a great guy who knows his stuff.

are you going with 6l6 tubes ...right?
 
bryank said:
i have no idea what brand of tubes comes with your mesa.......so trying to compare is trying to drive with a blindfold on......

But i will say this.....JJ makes a great tube. And BOB at Eurotubes is a great guy who knows his stuff.

are you going with 6l6 tubes ...right?
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8ea. 6l6's, 4ea.KT88's, and 4ea 12ax7's
 
While we're talking about tubes, I'd like to say something about all the fuss being made about changing an amp's sound by changing tubes. I get calls all the time asking what tubes someone should use for a darker sound, or a brighter sound, or whatever. The truth is, the changes you get by changing tubes are so subtle that it's hardly worth the effort. You can do much better, and have more options, by experimenting with different speakers instead. Speakers can do more to color an amp's sound than tubes could ever do. -Mike Soldano
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Just something to think about.
 
As someone who went from the Sovteks to Ruby tubes, I can tell you, there is a significant difference. I have a set of JJs in my Sound City but I'd stick with Rubies on a set of 6L6s. The tonal difference is a noticable one, in my experience, Sovtek tubes are a little darker and less ripping with the dirty channel, more tame I suppose. It took the Rubies a couple weeks to break in, but when they did, oh man...
 
hungovermorning said:
As someone who went from the Sovteks to Ruby tubes, I can tell you, there is a significant difference. I have a set of JJs in my Sound City but I'd stick with Rubies on a set of 6L6s. The tonal difference is a noticable one, in my experience, Sovtek tubes are a little darker and less ripping with the dirty channel, more tame I suppose. It took the Rubies a couple weeks to break in, but when they did, oh man...
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it's all in the mind. when people have to pay more they are more satisfied. expensive = good. your brain does not have a detailed enough record of how that amp sounded before.

you can not tell.

side to side .. you would barely hear a difference.

if you did at all.
 
There are SIGNIFICANT differences in sound reproduction by both changing tubes, and or speakers,... and for both,... it requires time to actually notice the full impact,......


By that, I mean a speaker must be broken in in order to appreciate all the subtle things it reproduces in your sound....

This is not as pronounced in cheaper speakers,....

and a change in tubes can do equally as much for your sound, depending on how much you push your amp,....


In other words,... the louder you play,.. the less noticable the enhancements are, IE:... going from a Sovtek 12AX7WA to a NOS RCA 7025, made in Holland in an Amperex factory,...... and you notice changes immeadiately,..... the Sovtek sounds thin and without charactor next to the RCA....

If you've ever time to try this,... you'd know....


Broad statements are not correct in tone assessment,... there are just too many variables, .... kind of pickups, color of music that is played ( Metal, Jazz, Rock,..etc.), circuits in the amp, type of tubes,.... size, type, and quanity of speakers,.....how much processing is done,...before the signal gets to the amp,.... or before the speakers,.... or both,.....

I hope I've totally confused the issue now,...... :confused: :eek: :eek:


Steve :D :D
 
I changed the stock Mesa tubes in both my Triaxis and Simulclass 2:90. and there was a huge difference. The Mesa tubes were quite flat and untill I changed them I was thinking of selling my rig. I emailed Bob at Eurotubes, told him the rest of gear in my rig (including guitar and pickups) plus the sound I wanted and he gave me a couple of options with a write up for each. I'll definitely go with Bob's advice again, the improvement in tone and overall sound from my rig significanlty improved with his retube.
 
Superhuman said:
I changed the stock Mesa tubes in both my Triaxis and Simulclass 2:90. and there was a huge difference. The Mesa tubes were quite flat.
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What do you mean by "flat"?
 
Any new tubes will be a big improvement over old worn out tubes. I would go with the Mesa tubes just on price alone.
 
Thatupstateguy said:
There are SIGNIFICANT differences in sound reproduction by both changing tubes, and or speakers,... and for both,... it requires time to actually notice the full impact,......


By that, I mean a speaker must be broken in in order to appreciate all the subtle things it reproduces in your sound....

This is not as pronounced in cheaper speakers,....

and a change in tubes can do equally as much for your sound, depending on how much you push your amp,....


In other words,... the louder you play,.. the less noticable the enhancements are, IE:... going from a Sovtek 12AX7WA to a NOS RCA 7025, made in Holland in an Amperex factory,...... and you notice changes immeadiately,..... the Sovtek sounds thin and without charactor next to the RCA....

If you've ever time to try this,... you'd know....


Broad statements are not correct in tone assessment,... there are just too many variables, .... kind of pickups, color of music that is played ( Metal, Jazz, Rock,..etc.), circuits in the amp, type of tubes,.... size, type, and quanity of speakers,.....how much processing is done,...before the signal gets to the amp,.... or before the speakers,.... or both,.....

I hope I've totally confused the issue now,...... :confused: :eek: :eek:


Steve :D :D
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I'd have to agree with Steve. The guy who works on and builds my Fender amps has a ton of old,new, and NOS pre and power tubes. I've spent a least an hour or more going through differnt power and pre's in several of my amps. There is a noticable difference. I've had the luxury of actually fine tuning the tonal characteristics of the amp through the combination of power and preamp tubes I chose for a particular amp.
 
ggunn said:
What do you mean by "flat"?
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Hard to explain... some people like to say Mesa tubes are too 'cold' (never could really justify that use of that adjective when it comes to tubes). To my ears the tone was just a lot 'flatter' before I changed them. I had them for about three months but there was always something about the tone that I can only describe as flat... especially when I compare it to the new set. The distortion was heavy and nasty with the Mesa's allright.. it's just a lot heavier and a lot nastier now :D Besides that, lead played off the neck now has a totaly different feel to it (nothing else in my set changed, just the tubes) - seems to be more depth and colour to the tone. Anyway, I suppose good tone is in the ear of the beholder.
 
While we're talking about tubes, I'd like to say something about all the fuss being made about changing an amp's sound by changing tubes. I get calls all the time asking what tubes someone should use for a darker sound, or a brighter sound, or whatever. The truth is, the changes you get by changing tubes are so subtle that it's hardly worth the effort. You can do much better, and have more options, by experimenting with different speakers instead. Speakers can do more to color an amp's sound than tubes could ever do. -Mike Soldano
Click to expand...

hixmix said:
Just something to think about.
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Darn right! You can mess with your tubes all year long, and then get it right where you want it, then put in a new speaker and you will start your tube quest all over again.

Change the speaker first.......3 or 4 times........and plug in a good 2x12 cab once in a while.....you'll forget all about the tube quest in no time!
 
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