Members AunShui Posted February 4, 2007 Members Share Posted February 4, 2007 I've had my f-50 for about a year, and although i don't play it daily or all that loud, i think it's time to have a backup set of power tubes. I've been told tha mesa tubes are nothing special, so i would like something a little nicer. I'm pretty happy with the tone of the amp at the moment, but i think i would prefer to give it a little bit thicker of a midrange and a softer high end, without muddying things up (i play stuff from funk to metal, so versatility is important, but generally speaking i strongly dislike the scooped mids sound). I suppose i could just go to guitar center and have them get me some 6L6's in the color that matches my amp (which i think is green), but i dont know if i like that opition the best. Are there any other good places to go to get new tubes? I really can't afford to spend more than about 50 bucks on the pair; i don't know if that's the typical price for new tubes but any more than that will be a stretch for me at the moment. Finally, i'm not particularly electronically gifted and i've never done this before, so if you have any tips, pointers, or links for changing tubes, feel free to pose them here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AunShui Posted February 5, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 Bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gizzi Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 go through doustubes.com or tubedepot.com . i got some svetlana 6l6's in the power section of my f-100. make sure you mention to them the amp they are going in, so they can give you the correct value for the tubes. the svetlana's seem to sound smoother and sweeter then the stock tubes. i also have a NOS sylvania in v1, RI tungsol in v2, NOS sylvania in v3, and a NOS mullard 12at7 in v4. i like the way this combo sounds, for me anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbobo Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 I love TAD 6L6's . They sound more musical to me that Svets. TungSol 12ax7's, at least in V1 very balanced. If you want it thicker add Ei Elites 12aX7s, but too many and they dull it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guerrilla Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 anyone else? me thinks i'll have to be doing this soon as well to my f50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hal9000 Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 Hi AunShui, I've retubed my F-100 twice now, with the latest just a few months ago. Contrary to what you've heard, I've had good results with Mesa tubes and I think they work great in the F-series. Power tubes from the same family don't affect the overall tone that much IMO. Personally, I think you get a lot more change by swapping preamp tubes, with V1 and V2 being most crucial. Right now, I have this setup: V1: Tung-Sol reissue 12AX7 V2: JJ ECC83S V3: JJ ECC83S V4: Balanced EH 12AX7 for the PI V5-V8: Ruby 6L6GCMSTR rated for Mesa's bias range, which are supposed to be the same as the Mesa STR-430 that comes stock in the F-50/100. I got that entire setup from www.dougstubes.com and it cost around the same as a quad of Mesa's STR 430 6L6s. The Ruby 6L6GCMSTR is actually the same tube as the Mesa STR 430 according to Doug, and I would have to agree based on the way it looks and the sound. If you really want to darken the sound a bit, JJ is known for that in both pre and power tubes, but a drastic change isn't really a tube's job IMO. You'd be a lot better off getting an MXR 10-band EQ and putting that in the FX loop. You'll then have a ton of control over the amp's sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rodimus Prime Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 i have the same tube setup as hal. although i personally didn't notice a huge difference in tone, i know that the quality of the tubes will survive the punishment that i will put them through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hal9000 Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 i have the same tube setup as hal. although i personally didn't notice a huge difference in tone, i know that the quality of the tubes will survive the punishment that i will put them through.Yup, like I said, tubes don't drastically change the sound given you're replacing known-good tubes. Have you thought about swapping V1 and V2? I need to open her up just to see the difference with a JJ in the first slot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AunShui Posted February 5, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 Thanks for all the replies! hal9000: Thanks for the very useful info! I've definateley browsed your F-series thread a few times and it has loads of useful info, but even with the search function I couldn't really find what i wanted in terms of the sound i was going for, etc. As i said in my first post, i'm electronically retarted and this is my first tube change, short of taking the power tubes out of my stiletto before i shipped it on ebay. I can enlist the help of a few people who i know have some experience working with electronics, but if there are any good guides i would definateley appreciate it if someone linked to them. I'll have a look around dougs tubes and i'll probaby replace the preamp tubes someday (or at least buy spares), but right now i'm going to focus on just the power section. Finally, my amp has STR 440's in it (i don't know what that means, but that's what it says on the tube) and i think they sound fine, especially when i bring my Monkey into the mix, but i'll definateley consider trying out some different tube types. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Surfcaster Posted February 5, 2007 Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 I recently tried putting som TAD 6L6s in my F50 and not only did I not notice any difference in tone, but the amp also started behaving strangely...the volume would swell up and down and then would stay down with a very prominent white noise. When I put the stock tubes back in, it worked fine. I went back and forth several times with the same results each time...funky behavior with the TADs and normal with the stock tubes. So at this point I plan on sticking with Mesa power tubes...same tone, no issues...and if I do have issues, it's Mesa's fault, not mine! I also tried the new Tung Sols in V1 and V2, but they are higher gain tubes, and if anything I would actually prefer slightly lower gain tubes in my F50, which I find helps reduce some of the upper fizzies in the F50. But of course, that's MHO. I do have another single-ended tube amp and I DO like both the Tung Sol and the TAD in that amp, so I'm keeping them...one of each in the amp and then a replacement set, so it all worked out okay in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AunShui Posted February 5, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 5, 2007 Alright, i think it's decided, i'm going to order a new pair of mesa power tubes from guitar center and when i come on some more money, i'll try out the setup that hal and a few others reccommended. Thanks for the advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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