Retubing my DC-5

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Sixstringpsycho

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looking to retube my amp, any suggestions on what tubes to use. I play metal and progressive rock. Important to keep a decent clean and smooth distortion.
 
I just got my DC-5 used and wanted to get as close to factory as possible so I bought a fresh set of tubes from Mesa. It is at my tech's shop now getting the once over before I put it on the road. I have done GT's and JJ's and Sovteks over the years and have read many posts in this forum about NOS and other brands. To me, Its alot of money to experiment and there are ALOT of choices. Mesa tests all tubes through the same machine many others companies do, from what I've read, and really, I don't think my ears will be able to tell the difference. Longevity is a bit more important to me in tubes.
just my .02. Bob at eurotubes. com is a great guy and very informative if you are interested in JJ stuff.
good luck!
Shaun
 
I have all JJs in my DC-3 and they sound great. I have read that they are the recommended tubes for the DC series (by many people). I had an F series once that sounded MUCH better with JJs as well. I would venture to guess that the same is true with the Express series amps as well. I say all JJs. FYI - the brand new Mesa tubes that do not say 'russian' or 'chinese' on them are actually Mesa tested and relabeled JJs!
 
I've got a NOS Jan GE 5751 in V1 and JJ's in most of the rest with a NOS Jan GE 12AT7 in V6 (PI) and it sounds great. I actually pulled the chassis and swapped various tubes into V1 till I found what sounded the best.
 
JJ's are the way to go. I have a set of JJ's from Bob at euro tubes. Great guy to deal with, he will help with any questions you may have. I did try his hi gain set first but found it a bit much for me so now I have a gold pin standard in V1 and a Bal 12AT7 V6 and the rest are standard 12AX7's I Find this works for me but each to their own. I'm thinking of trying a set of KT 66's in the power section. Dose anyone know if they will fit next to each other? Has anyone tried KT 66's in their DC's? Would like to get your opinionS
 
Bear in mind that you're not going to get any more gain from "high gain" tubes in an amp like this. You will get different tones tho by swapping different tubes into primarily V1 and to a lesser extent V2. If it were me I'd deal with someone other than Eurotubes because of my past dealings with them, as well as the fact that they only sell JJ tubes. Call up Dougs tubes and have him send you a variety of tubes.

I can't put enough emphasis on this... You're not going to hear any difference in different tubes once you're past V1 and V2 with the possibly exception of your V6 which is the Phase Inverter. I'd run a 12AT7 in the phase inverter. Some 9th gen chinese or similar robust reliable tubes in V3-V5 and have an assortment of 3 or 4 to try in V1 and V2.

V1 is going to have the most influence over your sound. It's your money, spend it well.
 
madryan said:
Bear in mind that you're not going to get any more gain from "high gain" tubes in an amp like this. You will get different tones tho by swapping different tubes into primarily V1 and to a lesser extent V2. If it were me I'd deal with someone other than Eurotubes because of my past dealings with them, as well as the fact that they only sell JJ tubes. Call up Dougs tubes and have him send you a variety of tubes.

I can't put enough emphasis on this... You're not going to hear any difference in different tubes once you're past V1 and V2 with the possibly exception of your V6 which is the Phase Inverter. I'd run a 12AT7 in the phase inverter. Some 9th gen chinese or similar robust reliable tubes in V3-V5 and have an assortment of 3 or 4 to try in V1 and V2.

V1 is going to have the most influence over your sound. It's your money, spend it well.
Click to expand...

I disagree with one point, V4 is basically "V2" for the clean channel, so changing this tube has a noticable impact on Ch1. I run a 5751 in V4 and it does makes a difference.
 
lockbody said:
madryan said:
Bear in mind that you're not going to get any more gain from "high gain" tubes in an amp like this. You will get different tones tho by swapping different tubes into primarily V1 and to a lesser extent V2. If it were me I'd deal with someone other than Eurotubes because of my past dealings with them, as well as the fact that they only sell JJ tubes. Call up Dougs tubes and have him send you a variety of tubes.

I can't put enough emphasis on this... You're not going to hear any difference in different tubes once you're past V1 and V2 with the possibly exception of your V6 which is the Phase Inverter. I'd run a 12AT7 in the phase inverter. Some 9th gen chinese or similar robust reliable tubes in V3-V5 and have an assortment of 3 or 4 to try in V1 and V2.

V1 is going to have the most influence over your sound. It's your money, spend it well.
Click to expand...

I disagree with one point, V4 is basically "V2" for the clean channel, so changing this tube has a noticable impact on Ch1. I run a 5751 in V4 and it does makes a difference.
Click to expand...

I see what you're saying here but remember, a 5751 is much more like a nice fat full sounding 12AT7 rather than a low gain 12AX7. If you try different 12AX7's in V4 I seriously doubt you'd find a difference. Either way, you're absolutely correct in your approach which is to use the tube you like in that particular position. That's why I pull the chassis and hot swap them till I find the one I like in a given spot. It's also why I won't buy from Eurotubes because I like variety as well as the conversations I've had with them (They're just up the freeway from me so it'd be one day to get stuff) so I say buy a bunch of tubes from Tube Depot or Dougs tubes and play with them.
 
Good advise from madryan. V1 is where the money is at - followed by the PI tube (V6 in this case). A lower gain tube will certainly change things (12AT7) as well. I've been down the NOS tube road and I couldn't justify the small difference in tone for the price. The difference wasn't really 'better' - it was just 'different'. I decided to stop while I was ahead, install the stock tubes, and get rid of the NOS tubes.

With the DC though I've been more than happy with the JJs in all slots. Doug at DougsTubes will give you the same mix he gives anyone regardless of what you tell him you want your tone to sound like or the amp you play. That just doesn't seem right. Conversely - Bob at EuroTubes sells only JJs. If you know you want JJs then he's your man - or go with the new Mesa relabeled JJs - they have been 'tested' (hit with a hammer - seriously!) so they meet Mesa's specs.

Long story short - if I was going to do any tube swapping it would only be for V1, but I'm happy with my tone with the JJs so i'll save my time and money for something else!
 
MusicManJP6 said:
Good advise from madryan. V1 is where the money is at - followed by the PI tube (V6 in this case). A lower gain tube will certainly change things (12AT7) as well. I've been down the NOS tube road and I couldn't justify the small difference in tone for the price. The difference wasn't really 'better' - it was just 'different'. I decided to stop while I was ahead, install the stock tubes, and get rid of the NOS tubes.

With the DC though I've been more than happy with the JJs in all slots. Doug at DougsTubes will give you the same mix he gives anyone regardless of what you tell him you want your tone to sound like or the amp you play. That just doesn't seem right. Conversely - Bob at EuroTubes sells only JJs. If you know you want JJs then he's your man - or go with the new Mesa relabeled JJs - they have been 'tested' (hit with a hammer - seriously!) so they meet Mesa's specs.

Long story short - if I was going to do any tube swapping it would only be for V1, but I'm happy with my tone with the JJs so i'll save my time and money for something else!
Click to expand...

IMO, buying the Dougs tubes kit gets you a bunch of different tubes to try in V1 so that's undoubtedly the better way to go. I've had some Eurotubes JJ's go all microphonic on me really fast. I'm running JJ's in various spots in both my amps and have not had any problems from them. The JJ's that were originally from Eurotubes seemed to be the issue. They were new in box and came with an amp I bought. I ended up keeping them around and using them in my Lonestar and they lasted a couple of months before first one, then the other went Microphonic. I've called Eurotubes a couple of times and the dude on the phone sounded like Krusty the Clown and rather than give me good info seemed to want to bash all the other tube vendors instead. There's been speculation that Bob gets JJ rejects but I've only heard that around the interwebs and we know how that goes. I've bought lots of tubes from Dougs Tubes and have been very happy.
 
madryan said:
IMO, buying the Dougs tubes kit gets you a bunch of different tubes to try in V1 so that's undoubtedly the better way to go.
Click to expand...

Agreed. If you want a mix of modern production tubes to swap out in V1 that's a good way to do it. If you want a full retube kit from Doug then my initial response still stands. The mix of tubes may sound good in one amp but not the other and is in no way tailored to the tone you are after. All his kits are the same.
 
MusicManJP6 said:
madryan said:
IMO, buying the Dougs tubes kit gets you a bunch of different tubes to try in V1 so that's undoubtedly the better way to go.
Click to expand...

Agreed. If you want a mix of modern production tubes to swap out in V1 that's a good way to do it. If you want a full retube kit from Doug then my initial response still stands. The mix of tubes may sound good in one amp but not the other and is in no way tailored to the tone you are after. All his kits are the same.
Click to expand...

Not when you consider you have 6 tubes to choose from in V1, 5 tubes to choose from in V2 etc. When I find what I want in an amp I generally leave whatever's driving the reverb and effects loop alone and concentrate on a good NOS 12AT7 in the PI and running nice sounding tubes were they actually matter, IE, V1, V2, possibly V4 and leave it at that.
 
I just had my DC-10 re-tubed. After much trial and pondering, hmmm-ing and haw-ing I went all JJ's. It's been two weeks and everything is absolutly sweet! Luckily I had the opportunity to sit at the shop and just try different things...in the end cost wise and tone wise all JJ's just won out. ALso now that I have been through the process next go around will be simple.
 
Thank all of you guys for the great advice, I am very used to swapping tubes for different sounds but was looking for some guidance and am very happy that all of you guys repied to my post. I will be retubed soon when i make a decision. Thanks all of you guys.
 

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