Mesa tubes?

[LOOPJUNKIE]

I want to re-tube my ROAD KING, and mesa has many different replacement tubes which ones are the best? I was looking at the Siemens NOS EL34 STR-450 for my EL-34 and I really don't know which for the 6L6's. Some suggestions? I remember reading something describing the different characteristics of the tubes one time, dose anyone know anything about that? Is there an upgrade for the 5U4's?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[no soul]

There is no wrong or right answer for this.
Different tubes give different sounds so its gonna boil down to what you are looking for.

Have you considered changing your pre-amp tubes too? That can REALLY make a big difference.

Personaly, I like these
www.EuroTubes.com

good tubes and great prices

 

[Silverwulf]

There is no wrong or right answer for this.
Different tubes give different sounds so its gonna boil down to what you are looking for.

Have you considered changing your pre-amp tubes too? That can REALLY make a big difference.

Personaly, I like these
www.EuroTubes.com

good tubes and great prices

+1 to that. The guy at Eurotubes is Bob Pletka, and he's great to work with. Very friendly, and always helpful. I use JJ's in the preamps of all my amps now. In my Recto ('94 Dual), I use a combo which Bob now sells as a set. A high gain in V1 - V3, a standard in V4, and a balanced in V5. I just got my new set in for my Marshall 6100 30th Anniversary Head too.

I tried using JJ 6L6's in my Recto, and I didn't care for them. They made the amp too bright and brittle for my taste. So, I just have some standard Svetlana's in there now which are working out great. I also enjoy Groove Tubes in my Mesa's power section. Now, I did really like how the JJ 6L6's livened up my old 5150, but it was too much for my Recto. However, as stated, I'm a devout JJ user in the preamps of all my amps.

 

[NoGlassNoClass]

Is there an upgrade for the 5U4's?

Since we're on the subject of JJ's, you might want to try the GZ34/5AR4 rectifiers. I have them in my triple-rec and they are a HUGE improvement. Be sure to squeeze the pin sockets a bit before you install them, as the pins are smaller on the GZ34's.

 

[LOOPJUNKIE]

I was thinking more along the lines of mesa's tubes(for warrenty)? :wink:

 

[NoGlassNoClass]

Mesa sells a 5AR4, but I'm not sure about the warranty thing as this is not the "correct" tube for this application.

 

[Profklamen]

I would avoid the Mesa STR-447 EL34's. I have bought three pairs in the last two days and they are nearly worthless tubes. They rattle terribly. At low volumes the rattle is louder than the notes! Besides making low volume playing impossible, I'm sure they will have a very short lifespan. On top of that, they are WAY overpriced.

I Love my new Lonestar, but these tubes (and the fact that I must use Mesa tubes) is a real problem.

 

[Silverwulf]

For those worried about the warranty problem...why don't you just use whatever tubes you like, and if you ever need anything that the warranty will take care of, simply put the Mesa tubes back in before you take it to the shop? 8)

 

[no soul]

For those worried about the warranty problem...why don't you just use whatever tubes you like, and if you ever need anything that the warranty will take care of, simply put the Mesa tubes back in before you take it to the shop? 8)

exactamundo

seriously, if you have dealt with Mesa before, you would know they really dont care.