Mark v 35 tube replacement time??

I bought a brand new mark v 35 about two years ago and have been playing twice a month on it (average) sometimes more, sometimes less. It might be in my head but something doesn't feel/sound the same as when I first bought it. Still sounds great but not like it did at first, might be in my head but could this be because tubes need changing? We play casinos and I mic it at club gigs but still keep the gain and volume at about 10 o'clock on clean channel ( I run pedals for all drive sounds) is it time? Any help appreciated and also any advice on settings for pedals only setup on clean channel ! Thanks , new member!

P.s. Always on 35 watt mode

I've gotta ask, why only use pedals when you have an incredible drive channel right there in the amp? As for new tubes, get a set and try them, if tone improves great, if it doesn't you've got a spare set incase one goes down. Hard to say if it is old tubes being your issue, but the easiest way to find out is get some new ones.

Thanks and as far your comment, sorry but I have a lot invested in my pedals and modded tube screamer and wampler pinnacle sound better than the mesa drive without me needing to add a huge foot switch to my board and worry about levels for different channels, etc. I play in a cover band and the tonal palette I get from those pedals is much more versatile than the drive on the amp, I love the clean so it works perfect for what I need, that's why.

Chrisgoode12 said:

Thanks and as far your comment, sorry but I have a lot invested in my pedals and modded tube screamer and wampler pinnacle sound better than the mesa drive without me needing to add a huge foot switch to my board and worry about levels for different channels, etc. I play in a cover band and the tonal palette I get from those pedals is much more versatile than the drive on the amp, I love the clean so it works perfect for what I need, that's why.

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That's cool, I didn't mean to come across as criticising you. Purely going on my school of thought the reason I bought my 90w Mark V was because my main desire was the Mark distortion. The great tones from the other channels was an added bonus. No need to apologise, the clean channel is a great platform for pedals. Hope you get the amp back to how you like it, have you tried new tubes yet?

To answer your question about replacement tubes, I finally had to change the power tubes on my TA15, I just ordered them from Mesa - no re-biasing required as they match the replacements to what was shipped in the amp. Many will debate the buy from Mesa thing, but I bought the amp because Mesa delivered a great sounding amp - when I replaced tubes with their stuff, it still sounded like that great amp I bought and I didnt have to pay my tech to re-bias. So, money in the pocket, and the amp sounds as good as it ever did - what's not to like. Also, I have a MarkV:35 and have already ordered and received a replacement set of EL84 from Mesa - for that one day in the future.

No worries and thanks for the input guys, i would like to use the second channel drive eventually as i love the sound but do they even make a small one or two button footswitch? I just replaced the tubes. i haven't tried them at a gig yet though, that will tell the tale as i will be playing through my real rig, thanks