Which Power Tubes For Mark III Simul-Class Black-Dot?

Hey guys,

I want to replace the power tubes of my Mark III Black Dot with matched pairs of Mesa El-34's for the outside, and 6L6's for the inside pair. I was thinking of just ordering the replacements from the Mesa online store in matched pairs. Curious though...

Does the color grading matter, and should both pairs be of the same color as each other (ie, both pairs Grey or Green)?

Also, this has the big 105 transformers, would choice of color make a difference as far as reliability (I think this amp may have originally came with USA Sylvania STR's)?

Thanks a million.

The pairs should match, but the EL-34 colors don't need to match the 6L6s. The color only serves to match one tube to another in a pair. IOW, any green will work with any other green.
Even if they are all the same color, you still can't put the El-34s in the inner sockets.
Never heard of any transformer/tube color compatibility or recommendation, but that's an interesting question.

If you have pairs of different colors, you usually put the grays or the blues inside, and the reds or the yellows outside.
But, please, don't ask me why.

igfraso said:

If you have pairs of different colors, you usually put the grays or the blues inside, and the reds or the yellows outside.
But, please, don't ask me why.

Click to expand...

Because, that way, they look FAB-U-LOUS!!! : :roll:

MrMarkIII said:

Because, that way, they look FAB-U-LOUS!!! : :roll:

Click to expand...

QFT!