Tubes for 5150 III?

So I picked up a 5150 III the other day.. it needs new power tubes, and I'm ready for a retube... however, this being my first non-Mesa, non-fixed bias amp in a decade... I'm not sure what to get... I talked to Doug from Doug's Tube who recommended his cocktail of preamps, and ruby 6l6gcmstr's... I have that setup in my recto, and I dig it. However, I've read places that those amps are meant for JJ's... I've never been a huge JJ fan, and actually prefer stock mesa tubes to JJ's (at least in Mesa amps) - has anybody with a 5150 III, tried a different tube setup... I was also considering putting in some Mesa str-440s for the power section, and then dougs preamp cocktail... thoughts?

The Mesa 440's ARE Ruby 6L6GSMSTR's, so save a few bucks and get the Ruby's if that's what you want to go with. It's a good Chinese 6L6GC. Well rounded, not super deep in the bass or extended in the highs. I am a fan of the TAD 6L6GC STR black plates. They are a Chinese Tube as well but have a bigger, fuller bottom end and a really sweet "sizzle" in the high end. Great for the high gain and drop tuned stuff.

R_ADKINS80 said:

The Mesa 440's ARE Ruby 6L6GSMSTR's, so save a few bucks and get the Ruby's if that's what you want to go with.

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I haven't posted in this thread as I don't own, nor have played a 5150 III, but the original 5150 loved those Ruby tubes. R_ADKINS is right, the STR440 Mesa tubes are selected Ruby 6L6GMSTR, so if you did wanna get some cheaper just get some elsewhere and have them matched to your liking/needs, I own a pair and they are very excellent tubes.

If you want some more Soldano-esque tones, you may consider some Sovtek 5881's, they have a very broad and flat power band (it's what the SLO is powered by). I throw them in my Mark III from time to time for a bit of a different tone. It isn't as "modern" and deepscooping woof as a 6L6, but definitely has more of that SLO hard crunching vibe to it. Certain parts of the gain structure sound a little more defined in the mids because of its high end roll off.