Help! Mesa power tube ma rating?

[azzzy]

Does anyone know the actual power tube rating for the Mesa amps? I want to use some of my NOS 6L6's and EL34's in my Tremoverb but need to select the correct set to fall within Mesa's sweet spot. Is it just the ma rating or are there other measurements that must be made? Thanks.

 

[psychodave]

Does anyone know the actual power tube rating for the Mesa amps? I want to use some of my NOS 6L6's and EL34's in my Tremoverb but need to select the correct set to fall within Mesa's sweet spot. Is it just the ma rating or are there other measurements that must be made? Thanks.

I use Sylvania 6L6's in my Mark 2C+'s... For non simul sockets I use 415's rated around 30mA at 400 volts. For simul sockets I use 415's rated at 20-25 mA at 400 volts. For Sylvania 6CA7/EL 34's for simul sockets (416's) I use 40-45 mA at 400 volts.

I use maxi-matcher digital tube testers.

 

[azzzy]

I use Sylvania 6L6's in my Mark 2C+'s... For non simul sockets I use 415's rated around 30mA at 400 volts. For simul sockets I use 415's rated at 20-25 mA at 400 volts. For Sylvania 6CA7/EL 34's for simul sockets (416's) I use 40-45 mA at 400 volts.

Thanks for the info.

So, for 6L6's it's 30 mA at 400 volts? Pretty sure Tremvorb is not a simul socket but anybody care to confirm? What's the range on the 6L6's? I mean how much up or down (more likely up - I like my tubes hot) can I deviate from 30 mA?

Just out of curiosity, how did you find this number? Got tubes from Mesa and measured their plate current? Or did somebody actually tell you the value? 'Cause I've been trying to look it up and it's nowhere to be found.

I am planning on using 6L6's in my Tremoverb (or possibly KT66's) but if I were to use EL34's (I have a huge cache of Mullard Xf1's and Xf2's as well as Amperex Xf3's and Xf4's), any idea what plate current needs to be for non-simul socket?

I use maxi-matcher digital tube testers.

Any idea what is the cheapest tube tester that can provide those measurements? Don't think I can afford a Maxi-matcher (although those are nice ).

 

[GJgo]

You need this

http://www.amp-head.com/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=31

...and this.

http://www.ax84.com/biascalc.html

Plug them in & test to see if they are in range.

That said, all my Boogies bias on the cold side I tried some hot tubes in one at one point & it didn't like it.

 

[psychodave]

I use Sylvania 6L6's in my Mark 2C+'s... For non simul sockets I use 415's rated around 30mA at 400 volts. For simul sockets I use 415's rated at 20-25 mA at 400 volts. For Sylvania 6CA7/EL 34's for simul sockets (416's) I use 40-45 mA at 400 volts.

Thanks for the info.

So, for 6L6's it's 30 mA at 400 volts? Pretty sure Tremvorb is not a simul socket but anybody care to confirm? What's the range on the 6L6's? I mean how much up or down (more likely up - I like my tubes hot) can I deviate from 30 mA?

Just out of curiosity, how did you find this number? Got tubes from Mesa and measured their plate current? Or did somebody actually tell you the value? 'Cause I've been trying to look it up and it's nowhere to be found.

I am planning on using 6L6's in my Tremoverb (or possibly KT66's) but if I were to use EL34's (I have a huge cache of Mullard Xf1's and Xf2's as well as Amperex Xf3's and Xf4's), any idea what plate current needs to be for non-simul socket?

I use maxi-matcher digital tube testers.

Any idea what is the cheapest tube tester that can provide those measurements? Don't think I can afford a Maxi-matcher (although those are nice ).

I know their rating system because I have multiple sets of tubes in their color codes. I have Reds, Yellows, greens, blues. Of course I use the maxi matcher to provide me data so I can correlate into milliamps.

 

[azzzy]

I know their rating system because I have multiple sets of tubes in their color codes. I have Reds, Yellows, greens, blues. Of course I use the maxi matcher to provide me data so I can correlate into milliamps.

Cool. So for 6L6 (non-simul socket) what's the coolest rating and what's the hottest? In other words can you please post what Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue correspond to in terms of current draw? Thanks.

P.S. Just bought a Hickok TV-7. I wanted to get a curve tracer but those are expensive and require more things besides the actual curve tracer, which I don't even know what they are. So hopefully a military tester is accurate enough for tube matching...

 

[thiswaythatway]

Here you go.

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4875

 

[psychodave]

Here you go.

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4875

That's it.

Using the maxi-matcher, at 400 volts, reds are around 15-22mA, yellows are 20-27mA, greens are 27-33mA, etc. the difference between each color is like 7 mA. Of course there will be some drift here and there and my numbers are approximate.

 

[Racerxrated]

All my Sylvania 6L6s bias up between 30-36ma on my bias tool in my C+. When I see Mesa labeled Sylvanias 6L6 for sale they are too pricey so I just look for Sylvania or Peavey, Fender labeled Sylvania 6L6s. They all seem to bias up within range. Sounds killer much better than any other modern 6l6 I've tried.

 

[psychodave]

All my Sylvania 6L6s bias up between 30-36ma on my bias tool in my C+. When I see Mesa labeled Sylvanias 6L6 for sale they are too pricey so I just look for Sylvania or Peavey, Fender labeled Sylvania 6L6s. They all seem to bias up within range. Sounds killer much better than any other modern 6l6 I've tried.

Those are hotter than I like to use. They are fine though. I have around 10 new quads of 415's and most tubes are at 30mA each at 400 volts. I have like 2 quads in the low 20mA's that are exclusively for simul sockets. You have to know what to look for though when on eBay and act fast to back door the good stuff before people see them.

 

[azzzy]

Thank you so much for the help, guys! So... Please help me understand this (and pardon my ignorance) - do used tubes draw less current than new ones? And if that's the case and Mesa requires "cooler" tubes, would it make sense to buy older, more used tubes? Because from what I'm reading newer RCA 6L6GC's measure over 50 ma.

And another question: is there a way to measure the current draw of a power tube on a Hickok TV-7 tester? Or how do YOU measure it (if you don't have a MaxiMatcher)?