Preamp Tube Suggestion

[atk1]

Picked up a Mesa Studio Preamp recently. The seller suggested I swap tubes (though he said it still sounds great now). Any recommendations on tubes and where to get them?

[Buffered]

Picked up a Mesa Studio Preamp recently. The seller suggested I swap tubes (though he said it still sounds great now). Any recommendations on tubes and where to get them?

Hey man, welcome. Do you happen to have the amp in your possession now? While I agree it's always good to have preamp backups on hand, I think you have to decide what parts of the Mesa's sound you don't like and take it from there. If it's too dark, I like the ruby's in my Mesa Express 5:50+ from Doug's Tubes. If price is no matter, there's really nice NOS options.

[Heady Jam Fan]

I also filled my Mesa up with Ruby's from Doug's tubes. Sounds great to me. I have bunch of NOS tubes I used with my Deluxe Reverb and havnen't thus far bothered putting them in the Mesa - I guess I just don't want to go down that rabbit hole!

[seriesnuns]

I've been a sucker now for RCA NOS 12ax7 in the V1 position.

The rest I use Eurotube basic grade 12ax7 then his graded 6L6 for power section. He also sells  balanced tube for the PI slot, which in my mark iii if its not working right my reverb won't sound right.

[Heady Jam Fan]

I've been a sucker now for RCA NOS 12ax7 in the V1 position.

The rest I use Eurotube basic grade 12ax7 then his graded 6L6 for power section. He also sells  balanced tube for the PI slot, which in my mark iii if its not working right my reverb won't sound right.

whats wrong with the reverb is the PI is off?