Are my tubes old?

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Anonymous

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I just bought a single rectifier off of ebay and finally got it a few days ago. The owner assured me that they were brand new preamp tubes. I messed with the settings for a while until i got the best tone I could find. Now granted I have a cheapo half stack of speakers so I wasn't expecting gold. However, it sounded very mushy and not very good. When I cranked it up, yes it helped but it still wasn't very defined.

So did I get old tubes or is this just a case of not having good settings on the head and a crappy cabinet?
 
i think it could be all 3. having a quality cab DEFINATLY makes a difference, especially with the rect. i just went from a marshall to a mesa cab with my triple rect and wow is all i have to say. yes could be crappy settings too. you said it sounds "mushy" and not very defined, i think mesa's are kinda known for that out of the box. i think theyre over rated personally, yet i own one.

i'll tell u i just bought a brand new triple rect and out of the box i was not happy with it. i WAS using a 5150II (2 TOTALY different amps)

try using a Ibanez Tube screamer in front of your mesa. drive:0, level: 9o clock, tone:12 o clock , it really cuts the mushy bass out, and adds clarity

i also had total retube done by bob at euro tubes even thouh my tubes were brand new, shoot him an email, lots of differnt options with the mesa's as far as which tubes will make it sound diff. he has lots of nice combos.

www.eurotubes.com

sorry to get off subject but i think your tubes are probably fine if they are not "rattling" or making funny noises.

what kinda of pick ups are you using and what kinda of sound are you trying to get?
 
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