Dual recto sounding anemic after tube swap

[MrT-Man]

Hi, I was having problems with my Dual Recto & I decided to swap out all the tubes (a lot of them were very old, anyway). I went with all Mesa tubes. For the preamps I put in five of the SPAX7A, not realizing when I bought them that they're really meant for the V1 position (but there's no harm in using them in other positions, is there?).

The main problem now is that the amp sounds a bit anemic, particularly on the red channel -- rather than having an insane amount of gain, like usual, it's more like heavy overdrive or crunch. It mostly seems fine otherwise.

Any ideas? Should I try other preamp tubes? Could this be the result of one of my new tubes being a dud (as unlikely as that might be)?

 

[MrT-Man]

I'll clarify my problem a bit more -- after playing with it for a while longer, it seems the main issue is that the red channel sounds almost indistinguishable from the orange channel (I've made sure the "channel clone" switch is set to the middle)... hence my perception of the red channel sounding weak.

I'll keep swapping around preamp tubes & see if that changes anything, unless anyone has some other ideas...

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

The tubes you bought are doing exactly what they are supposed to....they are lower gain versions of a 12ax7, meant to calm and preamp, bring down the noise, and the gain.

So, there is your problem. Go back to some standard 12ax7s in either all positions, or focus on V1 and the position that drives channel 3, and you'll be good.

 

[MrT-Man]

I thought the SPAX7A were less prone to noise than the regular 12AX7s, but otherwise had the same gain characteristics, no?

Anyway, I will give that a try. I guess the other possibility is that something other than the tubes is fried, it's a 10-yr old amp...

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

As far as I know, they are less noisy because they have a lower gain. I could be wrong, but it does seem logical to me as I recall....if it were simply a magical tube that had the same tone, and less noise, everyone would use it

 

[MrT-Man]

You were right -- that was the problem. I put in regular 12AX7s and it's back to normal!

Well, I guess I have a lifetime supply of V1 tubes now...! :wink:

 

[InsomniaClown]

I ran out and bought 5 spax7's too, and had the same problem. The description of these tubes is misleading on the mesa site. I got the impression that they were just a 12ax7 that passed more stringent tests. I pulled out the V2 and V3 tubes and put in EH 12ax7's. Way better, but still a little anemic.

 

[xnatex]

i was wondering why my DR was sounding a little less "Ballsy"

after work im putting some JJs in V2-V5

 

[fleeced]

Glad I read these posts ... was just about to order a load of SPAX7's as from the description on Mesa's site I too thought these were just higher quality 12AX7's.

Thanks for saving me some money!

Gonna try some Tungsols instead!

 

[fleeced]

Just put a Tung sol in V1 ... I think I like it ... but will have to swap back and forth a few times to make sure!

And they're not as easy to change as the power tubes!