Replacing power tubes in Dual rec head

Just curious .... I need to replace the pwoer tubes in my 3 channel dual rec head, what do you reccomend? In the past i have just used Boogie tubes, but i was thinking about using groove tubes possibly or just something else any suggestions??

I have 6l6's in it now

Also what do you think of changing to el34's. I play out ALOT , and I bought the head new 8 yrs ago no issues just getting bored maybe and thinking of changing things up lol

But the pressing questions is what power tubes to put in...

I was told a while ago by Mesa NOT to change the pre amp or rectifier tubes unless there is a problem, just to change power tubes from time to time

Thanks for the advice

Firt time post long time reader, great board!!!

sonny7 said:

I have 6l6's in it now

Also what do you think of changing to el34's. I play out ALOT , and I bought the head new 8 yrs ago no issues just getting bored maybe and thinking of changing things up lol

But the pressing questions is what power tubes to put in...

I was told a while ago by Mesa NOT to change the pre amp or rectifier tubes unless there is a problem, just to change power tubes from time to time

Thanks for the advice

First time post long time reader, great board!!!

Click to expand...

Well first off, Mesa will tell you alot of things. Alot of folks (myself included) spent loads of time simply playing with tube combinations because thats the joy of having a tube amp, ya know?

You can install any brand tube you want, but it comes down to just trying stuff out and reading lots (i.e. this board) but IMO Groove Tubes are re-branded, more expensive versions of tubes that can be otherwise had for much less money.

I personally didnt like EL34's in my Recto, but a good EL34 to try is the Electro-Harmonix model. Very robust, good sounding tube that wont break the bank. Once you find a tube you like, you can then go the nOS route if you choose, but get comfortable playing with less-expensive tubes first. A great drop in replacement is the JJ KT77. Good mids with more low end oomph.

And lastly, welcome to the board!

There are sites you can find (doug's tubes, etc) that will recommend you a "tube set", based on your amp, tube type, and the style of music that you play. I've never tried this before, but other folk seem to have had good luck with it. Apparently Doug knows his **** and will ship you a nice package of whatever you need, pre-amp tubes as well, if you'd like that.

Other than that... like fluff said, in the realm of non-NOS tubes, I don't think there is a hell of a lot of variation. There is a lot of flakey advertising that goes on with power tubes I think... personally, unless I had the money to buy a sweet set of NOS tubes for $1200 or some ****, I'll just stick with Mesa, thanks.

However, you might want to look into trying to find the odd NOS pre-amp tube for your head. A while ago, I was given (!) a NOS Mullard 12AX7, I put it in the V1 slot of my MKIV and I noticed an immediate and awesome difference, and I've never taken it out. Might be worth a shot.

And yeah, Mesa is right. Pre-amp tubes and rectifier tubes don't burn out like power tubes do, they either work or they don't and when they don't you will definitely hear it and know it. Blown recto tubes will blow the fuse repeatedly until they are replaced. Shitty pre-amp tubes will have insufficient gain, shitty, noisy sound or popping/fizzing, etc. A nice way to test the "cleanness" of a pre-amp tube (or a power amp tube, as well) is to open up your amp while it is fully powered up and flick the tube lightly. If you hear any pinging, noise, scratching, whatever, it could be a tube on it's way out. Or perhaps the socket is just dirty and all it needs is some contact cleaner.

I'm a big fan of tight low end in my tone and that's why I used 6L6's for years. I always loved the crunch of EL34's but the lack of bottom end really turned me away from them. Then, I discovered Tung-Sol EL34b's. I absolutely swear by them. All of the tightness and low end of 6L6's, but with the top end crunch and warmth of EL34's.

Nitrobattery said:

I'm a big fan of tight low end in my tone and that's why I used 6L6's for years. I always loved the crunch of EL34's but the lack of bottom end really turned me away from them. Then, I discovered Tung-Sol EL34b's. I absolutely swear by them. All of the tightness and low end of 6L6's, but with the top end crunch and warmth of EL34's.

Click to expand...

That's how I feel about the JJ E34Ls. I think they have a little too much low end sometimes. Running them at around 45mA (about 90% dissipation) helps beef them up a little bit too

(I don't recommend doing it, but they've been running in my Recto for 2 years and no issues!)

I guess this was the thread where I had previously posted my EL34 vs. 6L6 sound files in a 2 ch. Dual Rec, but yeah, here they are again! (note: this was at slightly above painful in the room volumes, so the differences would probably increase at higher levels as the power amp was pushed harder)

http://files.getdropbox.com/u/332050/2%20ch.%20Dual%20Rec%20EL34%20vs%206L6/A.mp3
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/332050/2%20ch.%20Dual%20Rec%20EL34%20vs%206L6/B.mp3

guys, can you drop any power tube in or do you need to get a specific rating as there's no bias control?

I've got a solo 50 V1 by the way.

You just let Tube Depot or Doug's Tubes know what you got and they will set you up with tubes rated for your amp. You just pop them in and play.
Metaltastic: Those files sound awesome, what were your settings if you don't mind my lazyness?

Thanks dude! And yeah, no problem on the settings, it took me so many recorded tries (record, listen, post for feedback, wait 3 days, notice everything you hate :lol: ) to get 'em, so I'm proud of 'em and happy to share! (read: Brag )

Gain: 2:30
Treble: 11:30 (this was the BIG one, took away the nasally/beehivey quality of having it even at 12:00)
Mid: 10:00 (any higher gets "honky" IME)
Bass: 10:30 (already PLENTY, especially with a Recto cab)
Presence: 11:30-12:00 (honestly isn't that powerful a knob)

And then set the volume as loud as you can, I guess (meaning, because of neighbors, but if you really have no volume restrictions, not above 11:00 on the master with the loop hard bypassed honestly, cuz then it can be too much and the speakers can start farting out). And this was on the red channel in modern mode, with a Tube Screamer before it (Drive 8:30, Tone 11:00, Level 11:30) and the cab was a Recto Standard (Oversized)

Hey Metaltastic, thanks for the comps., but am I missing something? Which is the EL34 and which is the 6L6? Hope I havent missed something obvious...? Cheers

Well it's meant to be a blind test, meaning can you pick out which is which without knowing? And if it turned out to be the opposite of your expectations, and you took the test again (for the first time) and already knowing the results, would you still pick the same one? Basically, my point was to prove that there really is very little difference (but as Juan/nitrobattery rightly pointed out, I was at slightly painful in the room levels, so it's pretty likely that the differences would increase as 100 watts of power tubes were pushed quite a bit more towards their saturation point)

However, it's been long enough that I might as well throw them out:

A - 6L6
B - EL34

HA! I totally guessed right! You gotta listen pretty closely though.