Tagged As: Mesa Boogie Tubes
Question:
I`ve bought an used Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Head. My Question is if I can change the Tubes (especially Poweramp Tubes) by myself by simply replacing them, or if it is necessary to open the amp for checking and calibrating the bias??
Answer:
I may get yelled at by some of the more technically savvy on the NG, but in the 12 years I have had my Boogie Mark III, I replaced the power tubes with all sorts of different tubes, never messed with the bias, and never had a problem. I used Boogie tubes, Groove tubes (of different ratings), Sovtek, whatever was available at the time. Some sounded better than others, none sounded bad. I have heard that the Dual Recto goes through tubes pretty fast. If you are really worried about bias, just buy your tubes from Mesa - they are supposed to be within specs for Mesa amps.
Mesa Boogie Tubes
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Comment #1 (Posted by Paul)
Mesa Boogie amps always have a fixed bias. You can use any kind of 6L6 power tubes and any brand you like, just because that fixed bias runs the tubes very cold (they will never be at their max warmth). You can ask your shop to sell you "Hot Matched" tubes, they will fit better than Mesa Boogie's. The first reason to buy Mesa's will preserve you from changing the sound just a little, and the second reason is: their tubes are generally well matched (more or less 5% difference between the tubes). There is no third reason because Mesa tubes are very poor sounding to me. These are mainly Russian tubes and I mostly prefer Chinese ones or some Svetlana's but I think they unfortunately do not select those brands.