Tubes- What’s the best place to buy?

[locoed]

I’m not looking to go broke re-tubing my amps.
I’m looking for 6L6 and preamp tubes for a Mesa
Mark V and Mark IV. I’ve been out of the game
For a little while and lost all my info.

Thanks in advance
Jerry

 

[panhead]

I think im going to stock up, cause the way things are going they may not make them in another 10 years or they`ll be high as hell.

 

[Bash_Man]

My place to go to is Doug's Tubes in New York. Great guy, great prices and never failed his recommendations.

good luck on your search.

 

[psychodave]

I think im going to stock up, cause the way things are going they may not make them in another 10 years or they`ll be high as hell.

I stocked up a decade+ ago. Everything has double or tripled in value.

 

[Snave]

Amplified Parts (Antique Electronic Supply) has been solid.

 

[CEG85]

Been buying from Tubedepot for years, never had a problem.

 

[Nigel]

Mesa’s chief tech loves the Sylvania 6L6.

 

[PDC]

FWIW - I’ve had several ‘matched’ sets bias way, way off at actual operating voltages. I believe Eurotubes is the only supplier that has the equipment to test bias at actual operating voltages and guarantees +/- 1 mA across a matched quad.

https://www.eurotubes.com/store/pc/test ... tching.htm

 

[Racerxrated]

Mesa’s chief tech loves the Sylvania 6L6.

Yep. Luckily I have a dozen apart from the 6 in my Coliseum. But they are very spendy to buy these days.

The TAD 6L6 is a very good substitute for the Mesa/Sylvania 415.

 

[Beyond Black]

FWIW - I’ve had several ‘matched’ sets bias way, way off at actual operating voltages. I believe Eurotubes is the only supplier that has the equipment to bias at actual operating voltages and guarantees +/- 1 mA across a matched quad.

https://www.eurotubes.com/store/pc/test ... tching.htm

I’ve had nothing but great experiences with Eurotubes. And being a huge fan of E34L’s and KT77’s, JJ’s are a great choice.

 

[311boogieman]

+1 to Doug's Tubes. He ships fast and over-communicates and can update you via text message.

Eurotubes is fine and I've bought stuff from Bob before but I find he sells with a bit too much snake oil for me and unless something has changed - he only sells JJ tubes. I didn't realize he had some special equipment though? For the record - you can't bias tubes you can only manufacture them and test them. So the only thing I can think of that Bob might be doing special, is guaranteeing you a -1/+1 match which would be pretty awesome if true. Nothing wrong with JJs either I use them in my Mesa and Peavey.

 

[napalmdeath]

JJ's come from Eurotubes, for me. Eddie's the man. Excellent Customer Service. THE BEST. Been buying from them for 18 years. Well over 100 orders.

Anything other than JJ's, I used to use Tube Depot. But, I recently started buying from Viva Tubes, who has a Reverb store. They're legit. Got some great deals from them, they ship same day, and even hand-picked a perfect grade of power tubes for a Mesa Multi-watt I had. Went through matching/grading a quad. Excellent Customer Service. Last 3 non-JJ orders went to them.

 

[311boogieman]

JJ's come from Eurotubes, for me. Eddie's the man. Excellent Customer Service. THE BEST. Been buying from them for 18 years. Well over 100 orders.

Anything other than JJ's, I used to use Tube Depot. But, I recently started buying from Viva Tubes, who has a Reverb store. They're legit. Got some great deals from them, they ship same day, and even hand-picked a perfect grade of power tubes for a Mesa Multi-watt I had. Went through matching/grading a quad. Excellent Customer Service. Last 3 non-JJ orders went to them.

Good to know man. Never heard of Viva.

As far as Eurotubes, have you found that the JJs they ship are within -1/+1 in mA's?

 

[Beyond Black]

+1 to Doug's Tubes. He ships fast and over-communicates and can update you via text message.

Eurotubes is fine and I've bought stuff from Bob before but I find he sells with a bit too much snake oil for me and unless something has changed - he only sells JJ tubes. I didn't realize he had some special equipment though? For the record - you can't bias tubes you can only manufacture them and test them. So the only thing I can think of that Bob might be doing special, is guaranteeing you a -1/+1 match which would be pretty awesome if true. Nothing wrong with JJs either I use them in my Mesa and Peavey.

My buddy and I tested two sets of JJ’s from Euro and they were matched and spot on to the ratings written on the tubes.

 

[PDC]

+1 to Doug's Tubes. He ships fast and over-communicates and can update you via text message.

Eurotubes is fine and I've bought stuff from Bob before but I find he sells with a bit too much snake oil for me and unless something has changed - he only sells JJ tubes. I didn't realize he had some special equipment though? For the record - you can't bias tubes you can only manufacture them and test them. So the only thing I can think of that Bob might be doing special, is guaranteeing you a -1/+1 match which would be pretty awesome if true. Nothing wrong with JJs either I use them in my Mesa and Peavey.

Correct - I’ve edited my post to be clearer about Eurotubes ‘claimed’ ability to test bias at operating voltages in hopes of avoiding a pair or quad that matches on a Maximatcher but drifts apart after 20-30 minutes of actual playing. I’ve yet to order from Euro or test them in my heads, but I had a ‘matched’ quad from Tube Depot and ‘Matched’ a quad from TAD that were way off after running for an hr in my head. I rolled and rolled and found 4 from both sets that were within 3 mA, but now I’ve got the remaining 4 that are so far off I doubt I could even salvage a pair that was within 5 mA. So - if what Eurotubes says about their testing / matching capabilities is correct - I’d be happy to pay them. I do plan on getting a quad from Euro to run for an afternoon and see how close they really are.

 

[311boogieman]

+1 to Doug's Tubes. He ships fast and over-communicates and can update you via text message.

Eurotubes is fine and I've bought stuff from Bob before but I find he sells with a bit too much snake oil for me and unless something has changed - he only sells JJ tubes. I didn't realize he had some special equipment though? For the record - you can't bias tubes you can only manufacture them and test them. So the only thing I can think of that Bob might be doing special, is guaranteeing you a -1/+1 match which would be pretty awesome if true. Nothing wrong with JJs either I use them in my Mesa and Peavey.

Correct - I’ve edited my post to be clearer about Eurotubes ‘claimed’ ability to test bias at operating voltages in hopes of avoiding a pair or quad that matches on a Maximatcher but drifts apart after 20-30 minutes of actual playing. I’ve yet to order from Euro or test them in my heads, but I had a ‘matched’ quad from Tube Depot and ‘Matched’ a quad from TAD that were way off after running for an hr in my head. I rolled and rolled and found 4 from both sets that were within 3 mA, but now I’ve got the remaining 4 that are so far off I doubt I could even salvage a pair that was within 5 mA. So - if what Eurotubes says about their testing / matching capabilities is correct - I’d be happy to pay them. I do plan on getting a quad from Euro to run for an afternoon and see how close they really are.

Excellent PDC. Did you ever run those in your Splawn?

 

[Ventura]

www.thetubestore.com

Jon & Crew are awesome!! And ZERO issues with any order - and FAST delivery. Let 'em know Mo referred you - I don't get any kickbacks, but I like to let these guys know I'm spreading the word.

Peace

 

[napalmdeath]

JJ's come from Eurotubes, for me. Eddie's the man. Excellent Customer Service. THE BEST. Been buying from them for 18 years. Well over 100 orders.

Anything other than JJ's, I used to use Tube Depot. But, I recently started buying from Viva Tubes, who has a Reverb store. They're legit. Got some great deals from them, they ship same day, and even hand-picked a perfect grade of power tubes for a Mesa Multi-watt I had. Went through matching/grading a quad. Excellent Customer Service. Last 3 non-JJ orders went to them.

Good to know man. Never heard of Viva.

As far as Eurotubes, have you found that the JJs they ship are within -1/+1 in mA's?

Never had an issue with matched tubes with them. Ever.

 

[thenine]

Been to Bobs house many times. He has tons of testing gear. If u buy a matched pair or quad from him they’ll be matched.

 

[RedB4Black]

I’ve bought tubes from various places and have had good experiences...

Viva
Nesstone
Euro tubes
Dougs
Tube Depot
Tube Store

If you don’t have a stock of tubes... start buying. I have a lifetime supply of all the tubes I need.