100W Tremoverb tube question..

hey all, i would like to try a Tungsol 12ax7 reissue in the V1 and a Sovtek LPS in the V6 of my 100W TOV head. Anyone have experience with this combo or have any suggestions for me to try? Sounds clips would be awesome. I am currently using standard Mesa tubes.

I like the tung sol in V1 it smooths out the sound. Making for a little less grain.

It is one of the best tubes I have found for V1.

i had a tung sol in my v1, but when i sent the amp in for repair at mesa, mike b said not to use chinese tubes in V1 of the t-verb i forget the reasoning, but im sure the mesa tech dept could elaborate. sorry im not of more help, if i remember i will post exactly what was written on the repair sheet i got back.

i ordered some NOS russian tung sols and sovtek LPS to use in V1 and V6. i will report after i try em out.

ok looking back at the repair sheet, it says smooth plate type tubes are not good for V1, not sure exactly what that means though.

That means they do not think the gain and tone from that tube fits that amp?

bs.....TS reissue tubes are russian....not chinese lol

yeah, sorry about that, i dont know where i got the chinese part from, it had been a while since i read it. it just mentions the smooth plate type tubes

I used a Tungsol in V1 on my TOV and it sounded great. I also used EL-34s for a long time and thought they sounded better in the power section. HOWEVER, when I switched back to 6L6s, i couldn't believe I ever like 34s....LOL!

its hard to make a TOV sound bad whichever way you slice it...its like the perfect amp! ...unless your a Mark guy.

thanks for the note vitor, i will let you guys know how the new tubes work out. i have a Mark IV as well and this TOV has a different voicing for sure. I really like this amp.

ok this is what my repair sheet from mesa says: "Note: Tube in V1 is Not Good!... Also "Smooth Plate" 7025's DO NOT WORK in V1... Leakage problems with masters low and Rev turned up-(signiture looks like MB)"

i dont know if this even applies to this situation, but i just wanted to clarify what i had said by giving you guys the exact information i had on my repair sheet

Commander Coo1 said:

ok this is what my repair sheet from mesa says: "Note: Tube in V1 is Not Good!... Also "Smooth Plate" 7025's DO NOT WORK in V1... Leakage problems with masters low and Rev turned up-(signiture looks like MB)"

i dont know if this even applies to this situation, but i just wanted to clarify what i had said by giving you guys the exact information i had on my repair sheet

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from what i remember, 7025s were an older variant of the 12ax7 which could be substituted for an 12ax7. however, i do not know if the reverse is true. the tung sol and sovteks i want to put in my TOV are standard 12ax7s, not 7025s. anyone else care to chime in on this?

Without a lot of tube experience I can tell you experimentation with different tubes will create subtle differences. I ordered a set from Doug tubes and went with his recommendation. The amp was a Marshall but drop him an e-mail and see what he suggests for the TOV.

I went with a Tungsol in V-1, Penta Labs in V-2, JJecc83 in V-3 and an balanced unbranded in V-4. Doug originally suggested an EH in V4. It was bad so Doug sent me another. I liked the unbranded tube in V-4 so I left it. I'm a firm believer in a balanced PI.

Later I tried other combination including other Mesa, JJ, and mixing up the order he suggested. Ultimately what you see above is what I still run. I orded a back up set I like it so much. Just my .02.

clutch71 said:

Without a lot of tube experience I can tell you experimentation with different tubes will create subtle differences. I ordered a set from Doug tubes and went with his recommendation. The amp was a Marshall but drop him an e-mail and see what he suggests for the TOV.

I went with a Tungsol in V-1, Penta Labs in V-2, JJecc83 in V-3 and an balanced unbranded in V-4. Doug originally suggested an EH in V4. It was bad so Doug sent me another. I liked the unbranded tube in V-4 so I left it. I'm a firm believer in a balanced PI.

Later I tried other combination including other Mesa, JJ, and mixing up the order he suggested. Ultimately what you see above is what I still run. I orded a back up set I like it so much. Just my .02.

Click to expand...

clutch, thanks so much for the feedback. doug actually suggested the tungsol and the sovtek LPS for my amp. i only asked for V1 and V6 positions. what tone differences do you notice with replacing V2-V5? i've always stuck to the stock mesa tubes but i've gotten to a point where I would try different things and see what they can produce.

also, do you have any sound clips of the config you use currently? i'd like to know what to expect if i try out your suggestion.

sehnsucht77 said:

clutch71 said:

Without a lot of tube experience I can tell you experimentation with different tubes will create subtle differences. I ordered a set from Doug tubes and went with his recommendation. The amp was a Marshall but drop him an e-mail and see what he suggests for the TOV.

I went with a Tungsol in V-1, Penta Labs in V-2, JJecc83 in V-3 and an balanced unbranded in V-4. Doug originally suggested an EH in V4. It was bad so Doug sent me another. I liked the unbranded tube in V-4 so I left it. I'm a firm believer in a balanced PI.

Later I tried other combination including other Mesa, JJ, and mixing up the order he suggested. Ultimately what you see above is what I still run. I orded a back up set I like it so much. Just my .02.

Click to expand...

clutch, thanks so much for the feedback. doug actually suggested the tungsol and the sovtek LPS for my amp. i only asked for V1 and V6 positions. what tone differences do you notice with replacing V2-V5? i've always stuck to the stock mesa tubes but i've gotten to a point where I would try different things and see what they can produce.

also, do you have any sound clips of the config you use currently? i'd like to know what to expect if i try out your suggestion.

Click to expand...

Remember I'm using a different platform with the Marshall. My main point was IME to trust what Doug suggested. Maybe he thinks the Mesa's are just fine for that particular preamp for what you are trying to achieve. One thing I've noticed is that he likes that Tung Sol in V-1 and recommends it in a lot of different amps.

I want to stress that the differences in the tube combinations V2 and V-3 ( I only have 4 premp tubes) I tried were subtle w/ the exception of V-1. I don't think your going to try a bunch of different tubes and then the amp is going to sound totally different. In my case it just seemed to me that I preferred what was nearest his recommendation. One thing I've learned (and buddies and my little brother have beneffited from) is that you can never have to many preamp tubes laying around.

Experimentation is half the fun and preamp tubes are relatively inexpensive.

Good luck

BTW the only Tremoverb I played was all stock Mesa. I thought it sounded just fine, yet I never liked them in my Rectoverb or Dual Rec when I had those. GO FIgure.