Mesa tubes?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ecktronic
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ecktronic

ecktronic

Mixing and Mastering.
2 of my power tubes (6L6) for my Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier have blown.
I have been told that its best to replace with Mesa Boogie tubes, but I have also heard from other sources that there are better power tubes I can get for my Mesa.

Here is 1 set of tubes I found that are meant to be better than Mesa tubes.
http://thetubestore.com/tad6l6gc.html

What do yous think I should get?

Cheers,
Eck
 
go to www.dougstubes.com

Doug Preston (owner) is a tube guru, and sells all major current production brands, his prices are the best...and ive been buying from him for 5 years now.....

you can even call him, and he will help recommend the tubes youll want based on what amp you have, and what kind of sound you are trying to achieve.

trust me.....you cannot go wrong with doug.........
 
Thanks all.
The thing is from tube shops (one being Eurotubes) they all say that I shouldnt get Mesa.
Im starting to think that they are only saying that so I buy from them.

Eck
 
not really......mesa doesnt make tubes....they "re-brand" them and put their logo on the tubes.....but they buy them from someone else. Youll pay more $ on those mesa tubes, when you can go straight to the source and buy the tubes your self......

For 6L6 tubes .....you can get Ruby tubes, JJ tubes, Sovtek, Shugang, Groove tubes, TAD, etc etc etc......

they all have a different flavor to their sound and characteristics. Give doug a call, or shoot him an e-mail....he will set up up with what you need in "tone".

all those other "tube stores" are right.......you shouldnt buy those Mesa tubes. youll be wasting extra $ for nothing.....
 
ecktronic said:
Thanks all.
The thing is from tube shops (one being Eurotubes) they all say that I shouldnt get Mesa.
Im starting to think that they are only saying that so I buy from them.

Eck
Click to expand...


Get a matched set from eurotubes. Cheapest place I've found. I have ruby tubes in mine at the moment because when I had my head modded, that's what they put in. They sound really nice too.
 
Ruby makes a kick ass EL34 ( i have em now, and it my tube of choice).....ive never tried their 6L6 type...........

But the Rubys tend to sound "big and open"..........
 
bkkornaker said:
Ruby makes a kick ass EL34 ( i have em now, and it my tube of choice).....ive never tried their 6L6 type...........

But the Rubys tend to sound "big and open"..........
Click to expand...

One of these days I'm going to try the EL34s in my mesa.
 
Thanks again.
I think I'm gona send a few emails to different tube companies to see their differences of opinion.

Cheers,
Eck
 
i also heard Svetlana (SED?)makes a "winged C" 6L6 type that alot of people are raving about.........
 
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the only minor advantage to mesa tubes would be that you could buy a set that's the same as what you had... there by eliminateing the need to rebias... most mesa's are sovtek or atleast were when i was doing tech work...
 
The Mesa labelled tubes are quite crappy, but as dementedchord mentioned, the advantage is that they're sorted into particular bias ranges so you won't have to rebias your amp when you replace them with the same type. If you retube with anything else, your amp will need to be rebiased, or at the very least, have the bias checked.

NOS would really be the ultimate upgrade; that can be pricey though. For new production a lot of people like JJs and Winged C tubes... what works also has a lot to do with what amp it's going in. The Mesa/Sovtek stuff (if they're indeed still using Sovtek) is pretty much the bottom of the pile...
 
Bob from eurotubes set me up with a matched set for my Triaxis and 2:90, worked great for me!
 
bkkornaker said:
Ruby makes a kick ass EL34 ( i have em now, and it my tube of choice).....ive never tried their 6L6 type.........=
Click to expand...

Really? I thought the JJs have the sylvania sound that I love so much in EL34 form. What are the Ruby el34s equivalent to?
Also, I had a Mesa w/6L6s, I switched from Mesas (Sovtek) to Ruby Tubes. The Rubys made a huge difference, really opened up the amp, far less murky.
 
the Ruby EL34-Bstr are unlike any other EL34 ive tried. They have a BIG open sound, extended range with big lows and crystal clear highs......

they kinda have a sound that is a cross between an El34 and a 6L6.......it has the open sound and big lows/higs of a 6L6, but still has that midrange growl of a El34.....

my favorite tube for years now...............
 
Mesa tubes are graded in colors and are also matched that way. So, they aren't "exact" matches like you would get from someone like Bob at Eurotubes. An authorized Mesa repair tech recently tested my Mesa tubes (just to see how matched they were, I had JJ's in it) and they were all over the place.
 
Matching isn't the same as grading. Matching is about plate current, grading is about when the tube will start to break up. And any set of tubes will be unmatched in about a month.:p

Anyway-

Tight-matched power tubes= not a big deal, and a new thing. The standard pretty much forever was 25%. 5-10% is great. It's not gonna get much better than that, and it's not necessary anyway.

Amp components= +/-10%, +/-5% in the output section.

Truth is, amps really don't care about sloppy tolerances. Neither should anyone else.:) Just worry about the sound.
 
boingoman said:
Matching isn't the same as grading. Matching is about plate current, grading is about when the tube will start to break up. And any set of tubes will be unmatched in about a month.:p

Anyway-

Tight-matched power tubes= not a big deal, and a new thing. The standard pretty much forever was 25%. 5-10% is great. It's not gonna get much better than that, and it's not necessary anyway.

Amp components= +/-10%, +/-5% in the output section.

Truth is, amps really don't care about sloppy tolerances. Neither should anyone else.:) Just worry about the sound.
Click to expand...
I stand corrected.

However, I can't deny the increase in sound goodness I hear since chucking the Mesa tubes.
 
Ritzy said:
The Mesa labelled tubes are quite crappy, but as dementedchord mentioned, the advantage is that they're sorted into particular bias ranges so you won't have to rebias your amp when you replace them with the same type. If you retube with anything else, your amp will need to be rebiased, or at the very least, have the bias checked.

NOS would really be the ultimate upgrade; that can be pricey though. For new production a lot of people like JJs and Winged C tubes... what works also has a lot to do with what amp it's going in. The Mesa/Sovtek stuff (if they're indeed still using Sovtek) is pretty much the bottom of the pile...
Click to expand...

You won't have to rebias your amp if you get your tubes from eurotubes either. At least this was what I was told when I wrote them concerning a tube swap for my Mesa DC3. Besides, aren't Mesa's fixed biased.
 
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