TNTRoy
Well-known member
Hello new to the solo 150w triple head. do you replace the power tubes in sets of two or do they make a complete set? couldnt find anything on Mesa website...
silentbob said:As long as they are replaced in pairs (2,4,6) you shouldn't have any issues. If you buy Mesa tubes in the same color code, you don't even really have to worry about keeping them paired. I have never tried mixing color codes on Mesa amps, but even their most extreme mismatch is still closer than the "matched pairs" you will get from some vendors.
Just buy three duets. If any of the duets has a different color code, just make sure they are placed in the same pair when you install the tubes. It won't make much, if any, difference but I'm anal about my tubes.TNTRoy said:silentbob said:As long as they are replaced in pairs (2,4,6) you shouldn't have any issues. If you buy Mesa tubes in the same color code, you don't even really have to worry about keeping them paired. I have never tried mixing color codes on Mesa amps, but even their most extreme mismatch is still closer than the "matched pairs" you will get from some vendors.
I have looked on Mesa website and can not find a set of six tubes for my amp head.. All I can find is sets of two..... how would I go about getting the same color code? I have never had a amp head with this many tubes... All the amps I have had have only had two power tubes.. I loved my Rectoverb 50 v2 combo so much I had to get a Triple Rectifier head..... I love the tone and the ability to play any style of music thru them... and the build quality is far superior than any thing else I have ever owned...
woodbutcher65 said:Actually by the way things are actually wired in the amp, there is nothing in the power stage that either knows or cares if you arrange your power tubes in symmetrical pairs or not.
Let's say your power tubes are three pairs color coded red, green, and blue. One pair of each color.
Traditionally you'd think that you'd arrange them, as seen from the back, in red green blue blue green red
but actually it makes no difference at all if you instead were to choose to arrange them as red green blue red green blue
or red green blue green red blue
since all three output tubes on EITHER side of the output transformer are wired in true parallel.
Now, if I am ordering tubes from Mesa, I do specifically request that multiple pairs be in the same color range. When I retubed a D180 I refurbished recently, I put in six green range tubes.
You just want to be sure that you have matching number of tube colors on each side. You would be advised against, for example, a layout of red red red blue blue blue as that would dramatically unbalance the current levels in the output transformer.
If you choose to run less than six power tubes (yes, you can do that) then you can run two, four, or six. And as long as you have the same number (and color range) of tubes on each side of the transformer, again, specific tube sockets don't matter.
I run only two power tubes. Why would a bedroom commando need 150 watts? As long as one is in socket 1,2, or 3, and the other is in socket 4, 5, or 6, it's fine.
Excess current draw is what kills transformers. With fewer power tubes installed, current draw must be less than with a full complement of tubes installed. Yes, it's safe to run less than 6 power tubes.
woodbutcher65 said:There is absolutely nothing that differentiates the tube sockets on one side of the transformer from each other in any electrical parameter.
Thus it makes no difference whatsoever WHICH sockets you put the tubes in as long as one goes into one of the left three power tubes sockets and one goes into the right three power tube sockets.
They're COMPLETELY in parallel. There's NO difference between sockets 1, 2, and 3. There's no difference between sockets 4, 5, and 6.
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