50 Cal+ Tube Question

[SixxVanRose]

Hello,
I'm sorry if this has been asked 1,000 times over.

2 questions

First, I want to change out all my tubes in the mesa. I believe they are groove tubes. I play hard rock (VH,ozzy,sabbath,priest).

Are there any other choices that I can go for. What do you guys suggest?

Also do my tubes have to be biased?

I would like alot of gain.. Going for a BIG sound

I appreciate the help.

The amp is all original..

 

[StephenF]

As far as type of tubes, I would leave that question to the experts who have tried more than 1 or 2 sets of tubes. But I did just swap in all new Mesa tubes in mine this week. A tip while installing them: I was given a "ultra low microphonic" tube in my set when I bought them. I swapped them in, replacing the existing ULM (no idea if that's a "real" acronym) with the new one. The old one was put in the power stage (V5) for some reason, which is wrong. If you get a 12ax7 with a rubber-ish band on it, put it in V2. It's a low noise tube, which you want at the front end, because any noise that tube will have will amplify with your sound. When I swapped them around, putting the ULM in V2, noise/hiss was drastically reduced.

All Mesa amps are SELF BIASING. Just "plug and play", literally.

I picked up my full set of Mesa tubes at a local shop (Gelb in Redwood City). I think they are cheaper than buying from Mesa online. $16 per 12ax/at7 and $42 for matched set of 6L6's.

Hope that helps!

Stephen

 

[slayer44]

I use Ruby 6L6s, with a Mullard RI in V1, JJ in the rest. Plug em in and play. The .50 cal + is easily the most aggressive amp Ive ever played.

 

[Roaster]

First, I would buy your tubes from a reputable dealer. Get in touch with them and tell them what kind of amp the tubes are for, they should be able to supply you with a matched set of the correct bias tubes for the 50 cal.

I've had excellent results with SED Winged C 6L6 (Mesa branded) and Electro Harmonix EH12AX7. Good luck!

 

[smcgov]

Just joined here this morning. I recently picked up a beautiful EL-84 based Caliber 50 and I am thinking my other amps are going to be quite lonely for a while.

I am looking to retube, and was thinking eurotubes was the way to go, seems like this topic comes up lot, but are there any suggestions for where / what tubes to use??

Thanks for the help.

GO PHILS!!

 

[Roaster]

Eurotubes has a great rep - and I've had satisfactory service from them. Personally, I put JJs in a 50 cal EL and didn't really care for them. That amp has since moved on for me, but I'd give Tung Sols a shot as I've read great things about them. Eurotubes is strictly JJs if I remember correctly, so you might try Tube Depot who I've also had good service from. For preamps, I'm a fan of the EH12AX7 in my 50 cal+.

 

[#2121313]

I have a .50 Caliber + and here's what I have:

V1 - Tung Sol 12AX7
V2 - Electro Harmonix 12AT7
V3 - Tung Sol 12AX7
V4 - Tung Sol 12AX7
V5 - Tung Sol 12AX7

Power Tubes are: 2 X Groove Tube 6L6's. You may also wanna consider the Mesa Boogie 6L6 STR440's I hear they are sick, I'm gonna try them next, but the above pre-amp tubes sound killer!

Sounds amazing, more than enough gain, very clear/well defined tone. I play strictly METAL and I am happy with the set up I have.

Lemme know if you end up trying it out, lemme know what you think.

 

[smcgov]

My 50 cal is EL-84 based (x4). I'm more classic rock than metal. Any opinions on the tubes Mesa sells on thier website?

I do appreciate the opinions / advice.

 

[SixxVanRose]

I have a .50 Caliber + and here's what I have:

V1 - Tung Sol 12AX7
V2 - Electro Harmonix 12AT7
V3 - Tung Sol 12AX7
V4 - Tung Sol 12AX7
V5 - Tung Sol 12AX7

Power Tubes are: 2 X Groove Tube 6L6's. You may also wanna consider the Mesa Boogie 6L6 STR440's I hear they are sick, I'm gonna try them next, but the above pre-amp tubes sound killer!

Sounds amazing, more than enough gain, very clear/well defined tone. I play strictly METAL and I am happy with the set up I have.

Lemme know if you end up trying it out, lemme know what you think.

I'm going to give doug a call, but your tube selection sounds about right for me. I play heavy metal, so I'm looking for that crazy gain that will punch you in the balls..
Where did you wind up purchasing your tubes from?

 

[user 7737]

All Mesa amps are SELF BIASING. Just "plug and play", literally.

wtf ??? :shock:

r u kidding ? all mesa amps have fixed bias !! they're "plug and play" ONLY if you're using mesa tubes... if you're using another brand of tube you have to set the bias...

i talk about power tubes of course... you can swap the preamp tubes as you want...

 

[StephenF]

All Mesa amps are SELF BIASING. Just "plug and play", literally.

wtf ??? :shock:

r u kidding ? all mesa amps have fixed bias !! they're "plug and play" ONLY if you're using mesa tubes... if you're using another brand of tube you have to set the bias...

i talk about power tubes of course... you can swap the preamp tubes as you want...

Interesting.

I was under the impression from the reading I had done, that they were all self biasing. And as a result, any tubes in the same model line would work, but just be different in performance. Haven't seen an adjustment point in my 50 cal, but it is the only Mesa I have worked on so far.

You have to mod the amp to add a bias adjustment to use non-Mesa tubes?

Stephen

 

[jonarobb]

My 50 cal is EL-84 based (x4). I'm more classic rock than metal. Any opinions on the tubes Mesa sells on thier website?

I do appreciate the opinions / advice.

Look on Ebay for a Quad of Sylvanias or G.E.'s. There is no current EL84 that will last very long before rattling itself to death. Don't even bother.

Here's an example of some EL84's I just picked up:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=170261779659

4 of them went into a .50 Cal that I have for sale.

 

[user 7737]

Interesting.

I was under the impression from the reading I had done, that they were all self biasing. And as a result, any tubes in the same model line would work, but just be different in performance. Haven't seen an adjustment point in my 50 cal, but it is the only Mesa I have worked on so far.

You have to mod the amp to add a bias adjustment to use non-Mesa tubes?

Stephen

i'm not a tech guy... if someone else can give you more info it will be better... but about the mesa bias adjusting i always read that it is fixed and it have to be adjust by a tech guy if you're using another brand of power tube than mesa... that's all i can say...

a non adjusting bias can overheat the tubes (or not heat enough and f*** up the tone) and damage some other pieces

 

[jamme61]

please save your money, don't go crazy over tubes. The JJ's are fine and Bob at eurotubes.com will make sure you get ones that work, in your mesa, without a bias adjustment. also I think the Mesa tubes sound great and no worries. Grove tubes are fine and you get the warranty, also they will work fine in mesa with no biasing(use GT 4-5 #).

 

[scottcrud]

All Mesa amps are SELF BIASING. Just "plug and play", literally.

wtf ??? :shock:

r u kidding ? all mesa amps have fixed bias !! they're "plug and play" ONLY if you're using mesa tubes... if you're using another brand of tube you have to set the bias...

i talk about power tubes of course... you can swap the preamp tubes as you want...

Completely WRONG. The only way you can set the bias on a Boogie is if you have a Bias mod done to your Boogie. Doesn't matter what brand tubes you use.
Call Dougs tubes, tell him what amp you have and be done with it.

 

[jonarobb]

All Mesa amps are SELF BIASING. Just "plug and play", literally.

wtf ??? :shock:

r u kidding ? all mesa amps have fixed bias !! they're "plug and play" ONLY if you're using mesa tubes... if you're using another brand of tube you have to set the bias...

i talk about power tubes of course... you can swap the preamp tubes as you want...

Completely WRONG. The only way you can set the bias on a Boogie is if you have a Bias mod done to your Boogie. Doesn't matter what brand tubes you use.
Call Dougs tubes, tell him what amp you have and be done with it.

It's not considered a mod....

All Mesa(or most) amps have a 'fixed bias' supply. This is also referred to as a "non-adjustable fixed bias supply" even though it is fully adjustable with a simple resistor swap. The jargon has been mutated over the years with the birth of the internet and all the mis-information.

With the introduction of potentiometers, etc, in the bias circuit, amps with this arrangement(having a pot) became known as having an adjustable bias. This is kind of misleading because it's still a fixed bias amp.

There are only 2 types of bias supply that amp owners need be concerned with:

Cathode Bias(Early Tweed Fenders, Vox AC30, etc...)
Fixed Bias(Marshall, Mesa Boogie, Fender, etc...)

As much as I love Boogies, you're kidding yourself if you think you can just order power tubes based on an amp model, or previous rating number, etc. It just doesn't work like that. Too many variables in the circuit. Factor in component drift elsewhere in the power section, transformers, etc...

 

[user 7737]

All Mesa amps are SELF BIASING. Just "plug and play", literally.

wtf ??? :shock:

r u kidding ? all mesa amps have fixed bias !! they're "plug and play" ONLY if you're using mesa tubes... if you're using another brand of tube you have to set the bias...

i talk about power tubes of course... you can swap the preamp tubes as you want...

Completely WRONG. The only way you can set the bias on a Boogie is if you have a Bias mod done to your Boogie. Doesn't matter what brand tubes you use.
Call Dougs tubes, tell him what amp you have and be done with it.

my tech guy can set the bias of my cal50+... what else can i say ?... maybe by changing some resistors :?: