Mesa Tubes

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cellardweller

cellardweller

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They recommend you buy through their website, but they don't seem to have much of a selection. Quite a few articles they have listing reason after reason why you should buy ONLY their tubes because your salvation depends on it, and yet they only have 1 type of 6L6!

Also~I swear I read somewhere (but I can not find it now) that there is some kind of color coding on the tubes which you're supposed to adhere to, but I can't find anything about it on their site....

:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:
 
He knows what he is talking about. He also knows what differences which tubes will make in what amp. He is just a very knowledgable guy that is willing to share. I like to drive business to people like that. His prices are also very good on top of it.


The reason why people tell you to get only Mesa tubes is because the amps are fixed bias. They are meant to work with tubes that want that specific bias current. Mesa Boogie doesn't make tubes. They are just re-branding someone elses. They might test them to see which ones fit the spec, but there is nothing really special about them. It's certainly not worth the extra money.
 
Farview said:
He knows what he is talking about. He also knows what differences which tubes will make in what amp. He is just a very knowledgable guy that is willing to share. I like to drive business to people like that. His prices are also very good on top of it.


The reason why people tell you to get only Mesa tubes is because the amps are fixed bias. They are meant to work with tubes that want that specific bias current. Mesa Boogie doesn't make tubes. They are just re-branding someone elses. They might test them to see which ones fit the spec, but there is nothing really special about them. It's certainly not worth the extra money.
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I agree, always good to share positive experiences..

Just for that, I may give him a call to. He states on his site that he likes the convo.
 
He once talked me through moding my Ampeg V4 to accept KT88's
 
I sent him an email yesterday.
They have many different combinations for a single recto.

However, in the FAQ he alludes to having a potentiometer installed on fixed bias amps, and doesn't ellaborate as to whether the single recto retube kits can be bought within "mesa spec".... :confused:

I've found several posts in various forums, from people who have successfully installed and used tubes from Eurotubes in various Mesas....but none of them specify whether they've had a bias pot installed.
 
I think you can get that from him. In order to match a pair of tubes, you have to test them and rate them. He already knows what each set of tubes are, so it is no skin off of his nose to just give you the ones that your amp will like.

Having the mod is cool because you can use any old tubes, but you will have to learn how to bias an amp to make it worthwhile. If you are rehearsing 3 times a week for 3 hours and playing shows every weekend, your tubes will last about 9 months before you start noticing any degredation. If you don't play that much, you are looking at changing your tubes every year or two. (and that might be too much) Finding the right tubes isn't that much of a hassle if you are only doing it every couple years.
 
I've bought non-Mesa (e.g., SED, EH, JJ) tubes from The Tube Store for my mesa amps (Triaxis/2:90, Nomad, Mark IV, Rectoverb) in the past... as long as you tell them you're using them in a mesa, they'll send them for the proper bias settings. I've never had any problems with 'em.

--B
 
bduersch said:
I've bought non-Mesa (e.g., SED, EH, JJ) tubes from The Tube Store for my mesa amps (Triaxis/2:90, Nomad, Mark IV, Rectoverb) in the past... as long as you tell them you're using them in a mesa, they'll send them for the proper bias settings. I've never had any problems with 'em.

--B
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So what about this "color coding" crap???
I can't even find it referred to on the Mesa site....
 
There are certain brands (groove tubes, for example) that pre-test the tubes and rate them. GT used to (maybe they still do) have a numbering system, if you got a set of s-6 EL-34's and your amp was biased to them, you could just keep getting s-6's and never have to bias your amp when you changed tubes.

For the most part, when a manufactuer makes the tubes, it makes them all the same way. Vary small variations in the materials that the tubes are made out of will make all the tubes spec out a little differently. A matched pair is just when someone takes the time to test a bunch of tubes and put them into groups according to how they tested. It's not that the tubes were designed differently, it just happens. So they are making lemonaid out of lemons.
 
I just did some business with Bob from Eurotubes a couple of months ago and the whole process was a shining example of how an internet vendor should conduct business. 5 stars all the way for both the tubes and the service!
 
cellardweller said:
They recommend you buy through their website, but they don't seem to have much of a selection. Quite a few articles they have listing reason after reason why you should buy ONLY their tubes because your salvation depends on it, and yet they only have 1 type of 6L6!

Also~I swear I read somewhere (but I can not find it now) that there is some kind of color coding on the tubes which you're supposed to adhere to, but I can't find anything about it on their site....

:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:
Click to expand...


Mesa designs their amps without anyway to adjust the bias supply. Because of this, they can only use tubes which work for the supply, which means it will only really work RIGHT with a tube identical to the ones they sell.

If you know what your doing, it is not actually all that hard to modify a Mesa so that you CAN adjust the bias supply. It's really just a couple of resistors and a pot. Any competent amp repair shop could do it for you, and retube it while they are at it.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Yes, the JJ (Eurotubes) high gain tubes are FILTHY!
I love them.

I'm kicking my wife out of the house tonight (hopefully) and will be able to crank it! At moderate volumes it still sounds pretty darned good tho'...

Got my footswitch off ebay also.
Now if they'd only sent a power cord with my solo 50, I wouldn't have to rob the one from my mackie 808m.

Having some issues with the neck of the Schecter currently which is impeding my creativity and causing sleeplessness. :rolleyes:
 
cellardweller said:
Yes, the JJ (Eurotubes) high gain tubes are FILTHY!
I love them.

I'm kicking my wife out of the house tonight (hopefully) and will be able to crank it! At moderate volumes it still sounds pretty darned good tho'...

Got my footswitch off ebay also.
Now if they'd only sent a power cord with my solo 50, I wouldn't have to rob the one from my mackie 808m.

Having some issues with the neck of the Schecter currently which is impeding my creativity and causing sleeplessness. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

That sucks about your guitar, I know what you mean about that impeading on your rockness.

Let us know though how the new tubes crank tonight.
 
Just a simple thank you to Cellardweller for creating this thread and to Farview for introducing me to Eurotubes.

Magnificant service, exelent tubes.
My mesa has never sounded better :)

Go!!!! eurotubes :cool:
 
well with every pro there is a con..

I also tried Euro out for a full retube.. I got a bad tube. He sent another one. Then came a clicking sound that wouldn't go away. Pulled his tubes, replaced with my old ones, now I'm back in business.

They did sound good though, but two bad tubes in my first shipment was enough for me.
 
Wow, what a bummer!
Refresh my memory, what kind of amp is it we are talking about?

Naka~glad that you too are happy with your JJ's. For comparison, I'd like to get some Mesa tubes, but who can afford them just to experiment!
I am saving my pennies though...literally :o
 
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