Recommendations for Tubes

I have verified that I need to replace the tubes in my Mark III. I currently have all Boogie tubes in the amp. I have seen a lot of 12AX7 tubes for sale. Are the recommendations from members as to the warmest sounding 12AX7s or should I just call Mesa and order from them?

Power tube also need to be replaced. Currently I have 2 6l6s and two 5881s. I was thinking of getting from Mesa there $60 6l6 and $60EL34. Any thoughts on these tubes.

i hear JJs are some of the best and you can get them from eurotubes

general opinion is that mesa tubes are a waste of money. they charge ALOT more than thetubestore.com or eurotubes.com, and they're just graded svets or sylvanias or wahtever.

there is also the argument that the amp was designed with mesaboogie tubes in mind, and who knows whats works better for your amp, some chump, or randall smith?

in return, i pose this argument. if randall smith knows all, why would anyone bother changing out the black shadow speaker for a vintage 30, or putting a celestion Blue inplace of the stock speaker in their blueangel? tone is subjective, and no one knows what sounds best for your fingers and style but YOU. if the boogie tubes that were in there were PERFECT for you, and you can't imagine finding a better tone, then why change? you'll only find your disapointed when the tone changes. if a change is what you want, then go for it!

check around the internet at differnt sites for reviews and writeups on the different tubes available. each brand will provide a differnt feel. personally, i've found the JJ/testla's to be a little more crunchy than the boogie tubes that were in there previously. although slightly darker, the response from all frequency's was alot more consistant. the boogies were alot more smooth and compressed in there breakups, maybe better for the modern preamp distortion of a recto. but in a lowgain amp it may end up sounding thin. alternativly, the jj in a recto may sound buzzy as its not as smooth, but in a lowgain amp itll provide the crunch and body your looking for.

if you DO choose to go with a tube that isn't matched by mesaboogie for your amplifier, please go through a company like eurotubes or the tubestore that can match and grade the tube for you amp.

an excelelnt resource is www.vacuumtubevalley.com

eurotubes.com has the very best prices on JJ's.(hes the north american distributor and only carries jj.)

check thetubestore.com for reviews on tubes and the best prices on everything else

I have a modest collection of new and NOS Tubes. I also have a MKIII. With a reccommendation from Lord Valve, I tried some early '80's chinese gray plate 12AX7's. I am pleasantly surprised by how good they sound in my MKIII. I have them in V1, V2 and V3. I have no intension of replacing them any time soon! They were $15 each.

Willie Whitaker, aka "Lord Valve"
NBS Electronics
303-778-1156

I have JJ's in my Mark IV and they sound amazing.

jnapo said:

I have verified that I need to replace the tubes in my Mark III. I currently have all Boogie tubes in the amp. I have seen a lot of 12AX7 tubes for sale. Are the recommendations from members as to the warmest sounding 12AX7s or should I just call Mesa and order from them?

Power tube also need to be replaced. Currently I have 2 6l6s and two 5881s. I was thinking of getting from Mesa there $60 6l6 and $60EL34. Any thoughts on these tubes.

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I'm in the process of ordering tubes now. I'm going for GT 12AX7Ms and GT 6L6GEs. Might buy a NOS 5751 and 12AY7 too. First amps to get the new tubes will be a IIC+ downstairs and the Formula Pre upstairs. Mark IV and DC3 will have to wait.....

jnapo said:

I have verified that I need to replace the tubes in my Mark III. I currently have all Boogie tubes in the amp. I have seen a lot of 12AX7 tubes for sale. Are the recommendations from members as to the warmest sounding 12AX7s or should I just call Mesa and order from them?

Power tube also need to be replaced. Currently I have 2 6l6s and two 5881s. I was thinking of getting from Mesa there $60 6l6 and $60EL34. Any thoughts on these tubes.

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Ordered a sack of tubes from KCA NOS, including a pair of Philips NOS 7581As (6L6 replacement) for $90.

Musicians Friend carries the GT 6L6GE (American made!) for $72 a pair. They have to be a better deal than Chinese Boogie tubes for $60.

After a lot of different try with my MarkIV head, (GT, JJ, Sovtek, EH, Phillips...) includind preamp and poweramp tubes, i have found that the labeled Mesa tubes are the best for my amp, so for me, mr. Randall Smith know what tubes to put in his amp !
And you all know that Mesa Boogie test a lot of tubes, and keep only the best, all the others are rejected because they don't have the characteristics Mesa want, so when you have to retube your Mesa Boogie amp, you can't go wrong with the Mesa tubes because you give to the amp the tubes with which his tone was designed !
If you go for another brand, it's only a matter of chance, as an example, if you choose Sovtek (or EH, or JJ, or GT...), maybe the tubes will have the same characteristics as theMesa ones (wich are also Sovtek, JJ, EH...)
or maybe they will not, so the tone of your amp will not be advantaged !

It's my point of view according to my own experience after several try with several tubes !!!

I have a Mark III blue stripe, simulclass, EQ, reverb. I replaced the str415 power tubes with 2-str454(6L6) , and 2 str442(EL34). Excellent....
I also moved the fairly new spax7 to #4 and #5 sockets, and in V1, V2 and V3 put in GT12AX7M's. This sounds great to my ears and I've had NO issues with the GT's.... It has a rounder tone, and fuller mids. Very complex tone. Certainly not a "Mullard" but really nice none the less.
I LOVE what it's done for the tone of my amp.
ax. :twisted:

axwielding1 said:

I have a Mark III blue stripe, simulclass, EQ, reverb. I replaced the str415 power tubes with 2-str454(6L6) , and 2 str442(EL34). Excellent....
I also moved the fairly new spax7 to #4 and #5 sockets, and in V1, V2 and V3 put in GT12AX7M's. This sounds great to my ears and I've had NO issues with the GT's.... It has a rounder tone, and fuller mids. Very complex tone. Certainly not a "Mullard" but really nice none the less.
I LOVE what it's done for the tone of my amp.
ax. :twisted:

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In my Mark IIC+, I put a GE NOS 12AY7 in the V1, an NOS GE JAN 5751 in the V3 (first lead gain stage) and GT 12AX7Ms for the rest, including a balanced triode version for the phase inverter. Best of all, I put in a pair of Philips NOS 7591As instead of the crappy, Chinese made Boogie 6L6s.

Those Philips just kick ***! Super clean, won't break up, don't even think of trying without a attenuator. Just a super nice tube for master volume Boogies.


PS Retubed the Boogie Formula Preamp with a GE 12AY7 (V1) and GT 12AX7Ms for the rest. Very very nice indeed.

Mike at KCA NOS Tubes knows what works in Boogies.

I changed tubes in my Mk I. I found Telefunken preamp tubes and two GE gray plates and two GE black plates that ran at 20 ma. I tried some other power tubes but they didn't bais evenly for all 4 so they had some runnaway problems. :?