Which Tubes Do You Use In Your Dual Rectifier?

At the moment I'm using Winged C 6L6, JJ hand picked 12AX7s and EH 5U4GBEH (I use the diode mostly). Sounds real good. What tubes are you guys using? Do you guys have any suggestions for a great set for the metal player?

Roadster
Tung Sol 12AX7 - V1
Mesa 12AX7 (JJ ECC83) - V2 thru V6
Mesa STR 440 (Chinese 6L6)
Mesa 5U4GB (Electro-Harmonix)

Dual Recto
Mesa Russian 2 (EHX 12AX7) - V1 thru V5
Mesa STR 440 - (Chinese 6L6)
Mesa 5U4G (Sovtek)

I have Svetlana Winged C,Mesa str 440,Mullard EL34 and JJ KT77...I spent nice time to find out which tubes will fit for tight metal stuff better....They are all great but JJ KT77´s are clear winner...You can´t beat them for their tight bottom and crispy and agressive upper midrange...The amp souns more open and definitely responds faster...I would highly recomend them to anyone who wants to stay with no boost in front of amp....

SED Winged C 6L6 or EL34's, Tung-Sol 12AX7 is V1, Mesa 12AT7 in the phase inverter, Shuguangs in the rest.

Same as Screamin here:


Roadster
Tung Sol 12AX7 - V1
Mesa 12AX7 (JJ ECC83) - V2 thru V6
Mesa STR 440 (Chinese 6L6)
Mesa 5U4GB (Electro-Harmonix)

I swear I am not trying to copy you.

Though I have the inner tubes pulled and one rectifier pulled. I know it's not necessary, but I don't think I'll ever play a place large enough to warrant it. Plus it gives me a hot backup set, and it was a lot easier to dial in with 2 power tubes (for me at least).

Not that it matters, but My DC-3 has this (dialed in to sound close to the Roadster). I love the tone of this amp, and getting close to the Roadster wasn't hard. It's great at practice, and small bars without stages. It cuts through everything. I did add a fan to it to control the heat because I use it on a tilt-back. On the Rhythm channel it's silent, very slight buzz on Lead, but no more so than Ch3&4 of the Roadster.

Mesa DC-3
Mesa SPAX7 - V1, V2
Mesa 12AX7 (JJ ECC83) - V3 - V5
JJ 12AX7 gold pin in the PI (everything else gets eaten alive in there)
JJ EL-84 matched quartet

Daisy and/or bendo,

Have any input on how the Tong Sol colors/sits in V1?

I'm getting ready to fully retube my RK2 (new job, and catching up on needed maintenance). I currently have a Mesa SPAX7-A in V1.

Thanks,
Strat

My Roadster came stock with all JJs in the preamp. Compared to my old Recto it felt like I had the proverbial blanket on my cab. The high gain modes felt particularly bad, lacking punch and detail with a sluggish response.

Switching the V1 for a TungSol brightened the amp up considerably. More punch and detail.

Same here. Tung-Sol brightened and tightened things up quite a bit. At first I had the bass dialed all the way back, after the Tung-sol, I could start making effective use of the bass control.

Was originally a bit muddy when palm muting, now it's quite defined. It "Hits" more.

Mine's a Triple, but same difference. V1 tungsol, V2&3 high gain JJ, V4 JJ (but loop is off) and V5 is a JAN GE 12AT7. EH6550 power tubes and Sovtek GZ34 rectifiers. I play nothing but metal and hard rock and this setup kills. I also boost it with a modded TS9.

All,

Thanks for the Tung Sol info.
I'll definitely be dropping one into V1 for my retube.

Strat

Gold lion or tungsol in the v1. v2 v3 v4 old stock v5 mullard/penta reissue. Never would use JJ pre or chinese pre's in my amp. You guys really need to roll some till you find the right match. JJ power tubes are fine with my mini rectifier.

I just dropped in a Tungsol 12AX7 in my roaster on Sreamingdaisy's advice on a separate thread and I have to say overall, I'm pretty impressed with the difference. I think i was hoping that I would be able to turn the bass up a little and turn down the treble and presence a lot, but it definitely cut down on the muffled sound. I still have the bass way down and I did cut the treble a little across all channels, but it's definitely the right choice. I think the change is most noticeable on channel 3. I originally steered away from the vintage mode because it seemed muffled before, but now it's bright and cuts through the mix. I think that it also takes my xotic AC booster better. It sounds great for blues and rock and then there's channel 4 for when I want to take it over the top. My current bass player said it's the best sounding mesa he's ever heard, and I trust his opinion.

I am thinking about dropping one in my LSC as well. Overall I'm very pleased.

knotts said:

I just dropped in a Tungsol 12AX7 in my roaster on Sreamingdaisy's advice on a separate thread and I have to say overall, I'm pretty impressed with the difference. I think i was hoping that I would be able to turn the bass up a little and turn down the treble and presence a lot, but it definitely cut down on the muffled sound. I still have the bass way down and I did cut the treble a little across all channels, but it's definitely the right choice. I think the change is most noticeable on channel 3. I originally steered away from the vintage mode because it seemed muffled before, but now it's bright and cuts through the mix. I think that it also takes my xotic AC booster better. It sounds great for blues and rock and then there's channel 4 for when I want to take it over the top. My current bass player said it's the best sounding mesa he's ever heard, and I trust his opinion.

I am thinking about dropping one in my LSC as well. Overall I'm very pleased.

Click to expand...

if your using stock preamp tubes that will cause the muffledness, every tube in the line will effect performance in one way or another. keep rolling the rest till you eq it just right

ken361 said:

if your using stock preamp tubes that will cause the muffledness, every tube in the line will effect performance in one way or another. keep rolling the rest till you eq it just right

Click to expand...

Thanks Ken. I emailed Doug to see what he suggests.

I practiced last night for the second time with my Roadster since I dropped a Tungsol in the V1 position. It sounds GREAT. I think I need to to tweak it a little more before I start messing around with the preamp section in a significant way. My other guitar player is a tone snob...in a good way, and it's the first time he's ever commented on me having great tone. CH3 in the vintage mode has an amazing sound. I am very happy with this amp and the V1 change.

I'm glad swapping the tube in the V1 works for others as well as it did for me.

Just did a gig with a professional musician that I respect very much. He pulled me aside and commented that I had great tone. I've been a fan of just about everything I'm hearing out of my roadster. I've owned it for 3 weeks and already I've had 2 comments on my tone. I'm beginning to think that this is definitely the right amp for me.

If I repurpose my 2 CH Dual Rectifier Rev F entirely for metal (Electra Dyne covers all other styles with ease) I'm wondering what would be suitable tubes to use for this? Basically, I'd want more aggression and high end definition overall. I currently have all stock mesa 12ax7s as well as 2 6L6 STR454s paired with the Mesa 5881s.

Right now, I'm thinking of trying a Tung Sol in v1 and seeing how that works out.

@ YellowJacket, I'd say this preamp tube combo is very aggressive:

V1 - Tung Sol gold pin
V2 - Shuguang 12AX7B
V3 - Shuguang 12AX7B
V4 - Shuguang 12AX7B
V5 - JJ gold pin ECC83

I played around with non NOS tubes for a while and nothing sounded more aggressive then this combo :twisted:

Power tube choices are up in the air, as I'm using Svetlana EL34's in my 2 ch Triple.

NOS Mesa preamp tubes from the 80's
NOS 6CA7 in the poweramp.
Tremoverb original owner first run.

I also sometimes use NOS 5881, 6L6, and newer JJ KT77. I use a THD Hot Plate with this amp often & usually a full stack.