Author Topic: Best tubes for bass amps? (Read 265 times)

essencetimestwo · « **on:** March 19, 2006, 12:44:01 AM »

I am awaiting the arrival of a Mesa Boogie Buster bass head. It has 3 12AX7 preamp tubes and 6 6L6 power tubes. I am wondering what the club's opinion on what the best new production, can't afford NOS, tubes are for this amp? Most of the reviews I have read are geared for guitar players. One review for bass said that the Sevetlana 6L6GC are pretty good but I haven't found anything on preamp tubes for bass amps. Any opinions here?

2400wattman · « **Reply #1 on:** March 19, 2006, 01:29:03 AM »

Groove Tubes my man! Actually, all of the tubes made come from China & the Soviet Republic. I know Greg Germino from Germino amps pretty well & he had informed me that Groove Tubes does more stringent testing on the tubes that they get in from their suppliers. As far as any newer companies I don't know. Good luck

kmh364 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 19, 2006, 05:01:15 AM »

Do a search...this is a popular topic.

Personally, JJ/Tesla tubes are very good, fairly consistent and not very expensive.

Cheers,

Kevin

(Message edited by kmh364 on March 20, 2006)

bigredbass · « **Reply #3 on:** March 19, 2006, 11:02:39 AM »

Surprisingly, I've NEVER owned a tube amp until now. My METRO is tube front, SS power. In the Eden post, they advise that using tubes other than theirs may change the tone. As a newbie to this tube bidness, how true? And WHY? Also, do you worry about bias for preamp tubes? I'm looking to buy a couple of the recommended 7025/12AX7s to stick back for when the time comes to change them.

J o e y

bassdr · « **Reply #4 on:** March 19, 2006, 11:46:17 AM »

Joey, in general preamp tubes are not as sensitive to bias voltage and the circitry is set as it comes. Power tubes are a different matter. The bias voltage is important and adjustable on the properly built power amps. I, however prefer a hybrid type setup with tube pre and ss power. Again this is personal preference (vis-a-vie) our previous discussion about basses. If you really like the sound of that tube by all means buy more, but you might find that another brand of tube will sound better to you, this is kind of like which strings do you like best? Michael

jacko · « **Reply #5 on:** March 20, 2006, 03:28:05 AM »

I've recently replaced the old tube in my eden navigator with an Electro Harmonix 12ax7. (I belive like most current tubes they're rebranded SOVTEK). The tone is very warm and sweet and when blended in more with the solid state give a nice growl for more 'agressive' music.

Graeme

gare · « **Reply #6 on:** March 20, 2006, 10:41:47 AM »

You may want to check out: http://www.eurotubes.com/index.htm
And theres another place in Memphis which I can't remember name of right now that handles alot of NOS tubes, will post it when the focus factor kicks in. You just need to experiment til you find whats good to your ear.
I've put JJ's in my M-2000 and 400+ heads with good results.

Gary

gare · « **Reply #7 on:** March 20, 2006, 11:06:12 AM »

http://www.tubedepot.com/

Geez that stuff kicks in fast

bigredbass · « **Reply #8 on:** March 20, 2006, 06:44:40 PM »

bassdr, I danced all around a 400+ or an SVT, but found I just could not justify to myself buying that basket of tubes when the time came (especially for the 400+). So I too came to appreciate a tube front/SS back end. I'm sure it would have been wonderful, but not sorry I didn't.

J o e y

gbarchus · « **Reply #9 on:** March 21, 2006, 03:44:53 AM »

EssenceX2,

WOW you got a Buster! I've been trying to find one. Although I now have GAS for the new all tube Sadowsky amp. I am a BIG fan of tube driven amplifiers, especially 6L6s. I have owned a Fender Showman, Music Man 150HD and a Mesa Boogie M180 (6X6L6) that I use with an Alembic F2B. My main amp is an Eden VT300 but it has 6550 tubes. Sometimes I use a Marshall EL34 100/100 with the Alembic preamp. http://alembic.com/club/messages/411/1941.html?1033976607 I have also owned SVTs and a Sunn 300T and Model T (all 6550s).

Some of the online tube stores have a lot of information about the different brands, usually for guitar players though. Others here have given you some of the stores' URLs. I might add http://www.thetubestore.com/ Those places will also usually help you from their experience with a lot of customer feedback. Some amps work better with certain tubes. In general, Electro Harmonix is a high quality inexpensive way to start with preamp tubes. JJ/Tesla makes a good 6L6, although my preference is SED C logo or Svetlana which are similar to old RCA tubes.

Also, I almost forgot! You should get power tubes that are matched to the (hardness) code on the Mesa Boogie tubes or you will need to get the amp re-biased which may not be a bad idea anyway if the amp is used. Mesa Boogie and Groove Tubes match tubes with similar characteristics so that some tubes don't run hotter than others. But, these tube stores can do the same for less money.

Have fun with your Buster!

Gale

(Message edited by gbarchus on March 21, 2006)

(Message edited by gbarchus on March 21, 2006)

gbarchus · « **Reply #10 on:** March 21, 2006, 04:22:49 AM »

Michael,

It IS a lot like which string sounds best. Guitar players spend a lot of time trying to figure out which tube best gets their sound. Many OEM preamp tubes are about $8 now for the consumer. If spending $30 on three preamp tubes ($10 each, you can get NOS preamp tubes for $20) can improve your sound, it's no different than changing strings for a bass player. Not a bad investment.

Joey,

Also being an Eden owner and concerned about keeping that tone, it is true that preamp tubes WILL change the tone. How much is a matter of opinion and how much money you want to spend. But, in general, I think that manufacturers need to be concerned about cost effectiveness. Doubling, tripling or quadrupling the cost of preamp tubes may not be their best spent money. It's like so many other things. Can spending ten times the money even get you twice the quality? But, some people can hear the difference. Me? I still have an expensive stereo from the '70s (Sansui, Marrantz, NS1000s), but spend more time listening to my iPod.

I'd also like to add that tube amps get a bad rap for being high maintenance but I have never had to replace one power tube in any of the tube amps I used. I used one '69 SVT three and four nights a week for two years with no problems. My opinion is that people (guitar players, not all of them, drummers and roadies;-) bounce them around (being 70 lbs) and that's what causes the problems.

Gale

(Message edited by gbarchus on March 21, 2006)

(Message edited by gbarchus on March 21, 2006)

(Message edited by gbarchus on March 21, 2006)

bassdr · « **Reply #11 on:** March 21, 2006, 06:59:59 AM »

In general tube amplifiers do tend to weigh more, alot of the extra weight in the output transformer. My Mackie solid state however weighs about 50#, so no weight savings there-lol- Michael

keith_h · « **Reply #12 on:** March 21, 2006, 08:02:28 AM »

Joey,
From what I remember the 7025 was just a low noise version of the 12ax7 back in the 60's. I would guess that some of the newer 12ax7's are probably just as quiet. I own an Eden Navigator and from what I have read most folks prefer the Eden 7025 or a Ruby 12ax7. The opinion appears to be they sound identical. I have also heard that David Nordschow claims you can hear the difference between their tubes and others.

I'm not sure what I am going to do at the moment. I inherited some old radio's from my grandfather along with many new and old tubes (50's to 60's). There are a few RCA and GE 12ax7's. I might try these or just get an extra tube from Eden to ensure the sound stays consistant (I like the Eden sound).

Keith

gare · « **Reply #13 on:** March 21, 2006, 03:12:18 PM »

Good points Gale, at the current cost of pre-amp tubes it isn't very expensive to experiment. And you can always go back to whatever was in there to start. And you can go to the NOS Telefunken ECC803's if you have a spare 699.99.
Since 1980 I've had a Mesa 400 and 2 400+'s and have only had to replace 1 power tube, and that was only due to someones guitar falling into back of the amp and taking one out. Although like Joey said, I'm not looking forward to replacing 12 power tubes.
I usually use my Basis head to save my back.
Even though most of the tube sites favor guitar amps, I found them knowledgeable and helpful via email.
Gale, I believe the KT88 is a direct replacement for the 6550, not exactly a 6L6 but may be different enough.
Well, everyones ideal sound and budget are different, at least we have choices.
Gary

gbarchus · « **Reply #14 on:** March 21, 2006, 04:48:40 PM »

Gary,

I'd like to try some KT88s but I think they are too fat for my Eden which has two rows of four tubes rather close to each other.

Michael,

Weight is what got me interested in the Eden VT300. Although it's all tube, it weighs only 40 lbs. It uses toroidal transformers for the weight savings. But, I'm beginning to think that the old iron core transformers with their saturation qualities (a kind of compression) has something to do with the old school sound.

Gale

(Message edited by gbarchus on March 21, 2006)