Help a newb pick his tubes!

[oshuwah]

So I've been playing 15+ hours a week through my Mesa 20/20 for the last yeah and a half.

Tonight it crapped out ... almost no volume. If I crank my volume on the amp and preamp I can hear some volume but it is all broken up and sounds like crap. So I think I finally blew some tubes.

I want to replace the power with Mesa OEM or equivalent tubes, and I need two matched pairs. I am not interested in experimenting with different sounds, etc. I love what I have. The question is can I save some money?

Are the sovtek EL84's on tubedepot the same as Mesa's "Russian"? Tubedepot is $15 per matched set and Mesa's are $25...that is a big difference. I'll spend $50 in heartbeat for the four from mesa but not if they are just sovtek's with mesa's logo on them.

Can someone educate me on this one?

 

[Dale B]

So I've been playing 15+ hours a week through my Mesa 20/20 for the last yeah and a half.

Tonight it crapped out ... almost no volume. If I crank my volume on the amp and preamp I can hear some volume but it is all broken up and sounds like crap. So I think I finally blew some tubes.

I want to replace the power with Mesa OEM or equivalent tubes, and I need two matched pairs. I am not interested in experimenting with different sounds, etc. I love what I have. The question is can I save some money?

Are the sovtek EL84's on tubedepot the same as Mesa's "Russian"? Tubedepot is $15 per matched set and Mesa's are $25...that is a big difference. I'll spend $50 in heartbeat for the four from mesa but not if they are just sovtek's with mesa's logo on them.

Can someone educate me on this one?

They're more than likely EH EL84s, and those are made in the same factory in Saratov, Russia as Sovteks. If I had a Mesa 20/20, I would buy JJ EL84s, but that is just me.

 

[oshuwah]

So I've been playing 15+ hours a week through my Mesa 20/20 for the last yeah and a half.

Tonight it crapped out ... almost no volume. If I crank my volume on the amp and preamp I can hear some volume but it is all broken up and sounds like crap. So I think I finally blew some tubes.

I want to replace the power with Mesa OEM or equivalent tubes, and I need two matched pairs. I am not interested in experimenting with different sounds, etc. I love what I have. The question is can I save some money?

Are the sovtek EL84's on tubedepot the same as Mesa's "Russian"? Tubedepot is $15 per matched set and Mesa's are $25...that is a big difference. I'll spend $50 in heartbeat for the four from mesa but not if they are just sovtek's with mesa's logo on them.

Can someone educate me on this one?

They're more than likely EH EL84s, and those are made in the same factory in Saratov, Russia as Sovteks. If I had a Mesa 20/20, I would buy JJ EL84s, but that is just me.

Why the JJ's?

 

[monster265]

Maybe this may help. I went with Mesa stock for the screening and testing value. Duets are color coded, received Blue and Red sets from Mesa.

Eurotubes tests and screens their tubes.

http://thetubestore.com/el34review.html

http://www.eurotubes.com/euro-h.htm


Lower numbers will start to distort at lower volume settings on your amp, and have more dynamic touch and feel.
Medium numbers are the most versatile, will drop into most amps and be very close to most factories bias settings,
and are the best general choice for most players wanting a versatile well rounded amp. The range of 4,5,6 are able to be used in Mesa Boogie fixed bias amps, and on the Mesa scale convert roughly to:

Mesa scale / Groove Tubes scale
Red / 4
Yellow / 4
Green / 5
Gray / 5
Blue / 6
White / 6

High number will have to be driven at higher volume levels to begin to reach output stage distortion. These are liked
by some Jazz players that want a very clean sound. They are also preferred by some heavy metal folks, who want
very clean high headroom. These folks like to get most of their distortion from front end effects, pedals, or by
running their preamp levels very high. These tubes have the least dynamic touch and will give the most clean
headroom. These are the GT 8-10 range.

 

[oshuwah]

Thanks guys for the help!

I replaced all the tubes in the 20/20 and went with 2 pairs of mesa el84's matched (yellow) and three mesa 12ax7's.