[jeffm725]

Hey,
A finally bit the bullet and satisfied a long standing attack of G.A.S and Picked up Mesa Boogie Mark 2,with the 60/100 Power switch. Anyway, it currently has a set of Groove Tubes 6L6B's that say Fender on them. They are a bit grindy for me, I am looking for something with a lot more clean headroom to them.
Should I just go with a set of Boogie 6L6 STR's or is there something else out there that may fit the bill better in my Boogie.

As a related Power Tube aside, an amp tech just put a set of Sovtek 5881 WXT's in my 68 Twin and I hate them!


ps...ANYONE have a single K120 they want to part with?

[strumminsix]

IMO, the tubes Mesa rebrands are more durable than musical. Just my opinion...

I really like JJs and love the customer service from EuroTubes. Here is what he says about 6L6 types:
http://www.eurotubes.com/euro-h.htm#3.

My advice is to get on the horn with Bob and get the right grade 6L6 from him.

[jeffm725]

thanks for the info, especially on the mesas....I used to use JJ's and I still use JJ preamp tubes in certian key positions in my Twin and in my Plush P1000 head, however I have seen some bad reviews of the recent run of JJ 6L6's and I am a little wary there.

[RiverRat]

.

[jonarobb]

Best sounding and performing current production power tube available. To my ears and tastes at least...

Handles plate dissapation like a true 6L6GC. Push em' right up to 70%. Top end detail on these are beautiful. Reminiscent of the old GE short bottles from the 70's...

http://www.tubedepot.com/ts-6l6str.html

[tigerstrat]

You don't have the luxury of re-biasing though, I believe that the Mark 2 is fixed bias.

"Fixed" and "Cathode" are the two basic types of bias circuits.

"Fixed" doesn't mean the bias cannot be adjusted. Usually there IS a bias adjustment pot on fixed-bias amps. However, Mesas are fixed-bias AND use a resistor instead of an adjusting pot, meaning to retube the amp you can either: replace the output tubes w/ matched specific value tube set sold by Mesa, OR adjust the bias (by either installing a pot or replacing with the correct fixed-value resistor).

[jonarobb]

You don't have the luxury of re-biasing though, I believe that the Mark 2 is fixed bias.

"Fixed" and "Cathode" are the two basic types of bias circuits.

"Fixed" doesn't mean the bias cannot be adjusted. Usually there IS a bias adjustment pot on fixed-bias amps. However, Mesas are fixed-bias AND use a resistor instead of an adjusting pot, meaning to retube the amp you can either: replace the output tubes w/ matched specific value tube set sold by Mesa, OR adjust the bias (by either installing a pot or replacing with the correct fixed-value resistor).

Well put TS.

Ironically there is one very short lived iteration of the Mark II that had a trimmer on the fixed bias circuit. Most of the Mark II-a's had em' and few early II-b's.

[KCJones]

I have to agree with a couple of the above posts. Mesa Boogie re-branded tubes are inconsistant, unreliable, and thier in-house QA testing is overhyped. I stopped buying from Mesa a long time ago. After nearly 20 years of trying all different tube in my Boogie Mark IV, I am sold on the Tung-Sol line of tubes. Although I prefer buying them from The Tube Store - http://thetubestore.com/. There is a serries of tube rewiews on their site too that seem to be fair/honest and most importantly right on IMHO. Read the reviews to see what might be most suited to your sound tastes. Oh and the Tung Sol 12AX7 are awsome, low-noise, harmoniocally rich, best 12ax7 I've used. I run the gold one in my stage 1 pre-amp position while the regular ones go in all the rest; the gold may be a waste of money though, hard to say.

[jeffm725]

Im a little confused on the Tung Sol's at Tube Store vs. Tube depot Tung Sols.........

The Tube depot Tung_sols from the jonarobb link are 29.95 for a matched pair...
these are listed as 6l6 STR's "New Production"

The Tung Sol 6l6's from the Tube store are 43.95 for a matched pair and are listed as
6L6GC STR's

These cant be the same tube can they? That is a pretty large price difference if they are.

If they are not the same tube, what are the diffrences?

[KCJones]

The Tung Sol 6l6's from the Tube store are 43.95 for a matched pair and are listed as
6L6GC STR's
These cant be the same tube can they? That is a pretty large price difference if they are

Hmmmmmm. Good catch. You know I'm not sure. Yer right, ya can't tell if there the same or not. Ya might send a note to Tube depot asking if there's is the "GC"STR. Sorry I can't be of more help, no one wants to spend more than they should.

[jeffm725]

Im a little confused on the Tung Sol's at Tube Store vs. Tube depot Tung Sols.........

The Tube depot Tung_sols from the jonarobb link are 29.95 for a matched pair...
these are listed as 6l6 STR's "New Production"

The Tung Sol 6l6's from the Tube store are 43.95 for a matched pair and are listed as
6L6GC STR's

These cant be the same tube can they? That is a pretty large price difference if they are.

If they are not the same tube, what are the diffrences?

replying to my own thread and questions here. I took jonarobs advice and ordered a set of tungsols as recommended.
Above you see my question about the difference between the tube depot tung sols for 29.95 a duet and tube store tung sold for 43.95 a duet

Here is the deal:

They ARE the same tube! so that is quite a price savings...the cavaet being that usually the tube depot has them for 34.95 instead of 29.95 (they are on special)but that is still quite a difference. 7 bucks a tube on a quad is BIG savings!

[jonarobb]

Yeah they are the same tube. New Sensor is simply calling it 6L6-STR. It is a 6L6GC. The Tube Store tends to charge more because I believe he's in Canada. I only order new production stuff from Tube Depot in Tennessee. Their customer service is excellent and they've been in the tube game for quite some time.

The Tube Store on the other hand is on my permanent shit list because of some TADS that he shipped me that were quite obviously defective. He gave me a hard time about returning them and tried to make me feel it was my fault. Then when backed into a corner he blamed it on TAD. I asked him if he inspected his tubes before shipping them to customers and he said no. Frankly, the guy is an amateur and after arguing with him on the phone about how TAD should or shouldn't be packing their tubes, he quickly went onto the dick list. Sorry for the rant....