Need new tubes for my Roadster

Hey folks, My Roadster combo 1x12 needs tubes. I'm wondering what the community here is using. I mean, I can always go with the mesa branded. But I'm sure that there must be some other good options. I'm on a budget, so I'm not looking for high end stuff. Maybe keep it around $200 without rectifiers. A tube seller mentioned Tung Sol as an option. What do you think?

Doug's Tubes has a good "Cocktail" for a Mesa amp. It sounds really good in my DC-3.
I think I used the same set in my old Roadking when I had it.

I have experimented with just about every preamp tube and a select few of the power tubes in all of my amps.
What I do like in the Roadster may surprise you, all stock Mesa tubes. Every time I change preamp tubes to something else, it always return back to the Mesa tube. The Roadster does not respond well to preamp tube changes as the tone stack is much farther up in the gain stages than say the Mark V. I run the Mesa SPAX7 in V1, everything else is the standard Mesa 12ax7 tube. I have tried other tubes as I mentioned, but that seems to take away what I love about the Roadster tone and character.

However, for power tubes, Definitely consider the Ruby MSTR as they are the same as Mesa but have a slightly different tone. I actually like them better. For preamp, you can opt for the Mesa SPAX7 for V1, or Tung Sol 12AX7 (to make it brighter). Even a sovtek 12ax7LPS in the PI (V6) will add some brightness too (prefer this over the tung sol in V1). If you are looking to change preamp tubes, V3 and V5 can be the Chinese (penta-labs) or the Mesa (same as JJ, but selected and tested) 12ax7 tubes. The New Sensor type (mallard, tungsol, EH, Svetlana, sovtek) will fail due to the cahode follower circuit used in those positions. Do not substitute the 12ax7 for V3 or V5 with an alternate like a 12AT7 or 5157 as those will also fail (you may use them for other positions if you desire, just not in V3 or V5 or pop goes the weasel (tube).)

If you really like the tone of your Roadster as it was before the tubes have reached their life, keep with the same type and brand. If you opt for something else, especially with power tubes, you should indicate what amp they will be used in as most places that sell tubes will select tubes for your amp (tube depot and "the tube store", as well as Doug's tubes").

What type of music do you play? I have KT77s in my Dual Rec head and I absolutely love them. The gain channel is less 'gainy', if that makes sense. Almost more like using a Timmy or a Klon to boost a slightly pushed channel. It is less compressed than the red channel on my Triple with 6L6s but the clean channel still sounds great. Just something to consider.

I have changed the tubes in my Roadster twice and purchased the tubes from Humbucker Music. They have Mesa Tube Packages for each Mesa/Boogie amp so its pretty convenient. For an additional $24, I upgraded all of the preamp tubes to SPAX7's both times. The grand total was $260 with free shipping. (There was no tax either but I'm not sure who gets taxed and who doesn't.) I have been happy with the results and have no desire to start testing out different tubes. Maybe someday...

Ruby MSTR and TAD 6L6GC-STR both sound great in my Roadster combo. For preamp tubes I recommend a TungSol RI in V1. I'm not a fan of JJ 12ax7's in the roadster in any position. Muddy as hell

The roadster combo 1x12 is currently my metal amp. Ive always found that amp muddy and hard to dial. Also find it to be really bassy. I'm a mark type of guy but the roadster combo is just very convenient. I wish to get the best tone possible.

I often run mine with the bass knob nearly turned off. The higher the gain the lower the bass. FWIW I traded a mark IV to get the Roadster and never looked back. Also, a Maxon OD808 in front is the secret sauce with any recto.

My Roadster was really picky with 12ax7s, A Tung Sol in V1 added some gain and a smoother top end when compared to Mesa stock. Tung Sols didn't work in every position though, some sounded pretty bad. I did like Svetlana 6l6s in my Roadster too, they have a pretty balanced tone and have held up well for me in the past. I just got a Road King and haven't gotten around to swapping anything around in it yet.

I have rolled some preamp tubes in my Roadster. I did a cocktail from dougs tubes almost exactly like Bandit203 mentioned in his post, but kept the Mesa 6L6's. I later made some changes based on recommendations from Eurotubes in this post:
http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=69955&hilit=+KT66

I put in KT66 power tubes and it is the best my amp ever sounded. Although I like what Eurotubes suggested for the preamp, I can't definitively say it was better than what Doug sent me as the power tube change could have been the major impact. Both changes were a markedly better than stock for me.

I primarily play classic rock. Reach out to Doug and or Eurotubes to see what they recommend for your style of music. I have found them both responsive and very helpful.

Thanks everyone for your input. The truth is that I got this amp second hand a while back and since I don't use it often I have never change the tubes. Probably stock tubes will make it sound better than it is right now. Another question, what's your highest gain setting on channels 3 &4? I found that more than 2:00 the amp sounds crappy. At least palm muting sounds horrid.

JAMz said:

Thanks everyone for your input. The truth is that I got this amp second hand a while back and since I don't use it often I have never change the tubes. Probably stock tubes will make it sound better than it is right now. Another question, what's your highest gain setting on channels 3 &4? I found that more than 2:00 the amp sounds crappy. At least palm muting sounds horrid.

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Yeah, on channel 3 I keep it low, maybe 10:00 on vintage and on channel 4 I have it on 11:00 voiced for modern. I play classic rock and use channel 3 for rhythm and use channel 4 for some leads. For my purposes, 2:00 gain on either channel would sound terrible. Perhaps others can weigh in on different styles of music.

Horrid palm muting, yes, things can get muddy depending on speakers and such (speakers are the key to this amp vs tube rolling). I found the V30's did the same thing in my RA100 Combo, so I changed them to Celestion G12H75 creambacks and a huge improvement. I have tried a mix of creamback and V30 which was good as well. The roadster on the other hand is obviously different in its tonal spectrum. My roadster is a head and I am currently using an old 412 cab that I bought new in 2000. I never really liked it all that much with my Mark IV, got a Mark V and well, I removed the V30's for something else (Mark V is bright). The Roadster took its place and found the EV speakers I installed were way too much bottom and lacked the midrange and palm muting was undesirable (bass heavy even with the bass dialed out completely). Went to V30 again, not bad improved the dynamics but lacked a focused bottom end, and recently mixed V30 with EV with favorable response.

I generally do not go beyond 2pm with the gain on CH4. CH3 I dial to taste. With the Roadster and other Rectifier amps, the cathode follower circuits can degrade a tube quickly compared to the other tube positions. I sometimes find swapping tubes seems to help (change V3 with V2, if they are the suitable type for cathode follower). I have experimented with changes to all preamp tubes (using mesa or Chinese in V3 and V5, not much will be noticed with these two tube positions). V1 and V2 have the biggest impact and then the PI tube (last one in the chain). Change in PI tube will enhance how the power tubes are driven, depending on the tube gain response it will add some alterations in tone but not dramatically like V1 or V2. That being said, the Mesa 6L6 tube does have it's characteristic tone which seems to be on the dark side of the fence. TAD 6L6GC STR I have tried and like them, Svetlana 6L6GC actually sounded really good too. I generally run my amp on the dark side but have managed to stay out of the mudd. Try cutting out the midrange. Actually if you got the amp second hand, I would suggest downloading the user manual from Mesa, the sample settings are a great guide to help you dial it in. Without it I would have been lost as I am a Mark series user and the Rectifier amps are not very intuitive. Once you figure out the channel settings, the amp really is awesome, I actually love my Roadster even with the stock tubes (except V1 is SPAX7).

The mid-enhanced power amp response of Modern will make gain above 2:00 still usable, with increasingly harsh upper-mids in the "treble-to-presence" area. Just dip the presence until it stops being harsh, unless you want that sound (death metal, thrash metal).

On Vintage, I don't go above 12:30 most of the time. If I do, I pull bass back to 11:00 or lower. If I had gain on 2:00, I'd have bass at 9-10:00. Vintage has a pretty flat power amp response. Since there is a treble boost on the gain control, it gets darker as it is increased, hence decreasing bass at high settings.

Other than using the tweed setting on channel one and cranking the gain, almost all of my knobs are set between 10 and 2