SPAX7 just plain marketing, or any better?

[cdgraves]

now for the love of god, will someone answer my fucking question about that specific tube?????

SPAX7 ?????

I think someone would have if they knew! I certainly don't know, but it doesn't sound like it's going to solve whatever problem you're experiencing with noise. If you swapped out all the preamps and no change, then it's probably coming from somewhere after, which means removing the chassis and poking around, or sending it someplace. I can recommend a guy in a garage up in Lafayette who fixed two amps for me at a reasonable price. His business is building speakers and customizing amps - fluxtone.com

But Mesa, soulless?? Hellll no! Soul's in the hands, though I do admit that Mesa probably attracts more soulless players than most brands. I use an old DC-5 combo, 50 watt 1x12 and I LOVE it. Hasn't needed new tubes in the six years I've owned it, and has required service only once, last year. I don't use the overdrive, though, just pedals through the clean channel.

Those soulless Mesa players are probably also jacking up the bass knob for "rich" tone, which in a Mesa, will flatten the tone by choking the treble.

[keny]

"Well, I was going to avoid the whole "Oh, wow! A Triple Rectifier sounds buzzy!?!" conversation, but it looks like Todd took the liberty of opening THAT can of worms :)"

yes yes, i knew id get mocked.. but ANYWAY... of course a 160 watt tube amp has buzz! the point is its getting more than it used to..

all paradigms about mesa aside, i use it very conservatively.. in fact, the tone chain says straight up, that once you have the gain volume OR the treble up past 1 oclock, it almost completely removes the signal from the rest of the chain..mid and bass get it last..

i keep the master volumes for each channel at around 12, presence between 8 and 10, bass at about 7 or 8 (especially out of a 4x12, deep enough), same with mid, treble at around 11, and rarely run the gain past 12, though it of course goes to 5 or 6.

i guess we'll see when they get here.
also, i have no mismatched pairs of tubes.. not sure where youre getting that.. theres three sets of 6L6's, and i replaced one PAIR of them a few years ago..
perhaps i need to replace the other two pairs, which i'll do next if this doesnt help.. as you said, its definitely time..

the hum isnt on the clean channel, so im assuming its one of the rectifiers fucking up, or maybe one of the preamps is gettin wiley...
in any event, the internet sucks.. its about 50/50 people saying the spax7 helped quiet the amp and others saying it did nothing.. and of course lots of marketing! :)


the nice part is it has me in the back of the amp cleaning the dust!
you can knock boogie all ya like, but the truth is this amp has been a fuckin workhorse for me for a decade and ive never had to do anything to it besides replace a pair of tubes.. thats pretty reliable.. and so, its time for some love.
my other tube amp has of course been pulled apart 15 times and resoldered, tubed, capped.. and on and on.. and now that i put it in its own head maybe i'll start using it more!

[kahnzo]

I read that the SPAX7's are $4 more per tube. Is that right? If so, go for it. I think that the idea is that they go through a test that basically indicates they're a good match for a Mesa/Boogie, which, seems to me, is worth $4.

[keny]

oh yeah, i agree.. i already ordered it anyhow.. at the very worst i have some new tubes so.. at the best it actually does help the noise floor lower.. i was just curious of anybody here had ever tried one.. the shit you find on the internet.. you know.. it may be written by the guy who came up with the marketing slogan, or the dude who got fired.

most of what i could find on it looked like an ad or they said it "didnt do anything different". shielding is always good.. mesa basically just takes other tubes and puts their name on them, like many other "manufacturers" who dont actually make anything..

the tubes were 20 and 21 respectively so.. no big deal...

[keny]

well i got the spax7 and a new 5U4G and they sound fuckin great.
the SPAX7 definitely is quiet! with the distortion channel on, and gain set to 12 o clock, it makes hardly a noise.
i dialed the gain almost all the way up and cranked the master and it STILL was only a light hum, so it definitely works well.

i also found an unshielded cable (somehow..stupidity?) in my pedal board which was contributing to the extra noise and now that thats gone its sounding better than ever..
now i gots it all re-arranged on my board.. loud, punchy, and quiet as can be!

[Jamie]

Bitchin!

[keny]

and haha, jamie, you'll love this.. i bought a flying V last weekend too! never owned, always wanted one.

sure, its an indian cheapo jackson.. but after i filed the sharp frets and set it up and pin-striped it, it looks and plays fuckin awesome!
if i can ever figure out how to make photobucket work again, ill post a pic. its a Rhoads!!

and oddly enough, the pickup cavity is shielded, star grounded, and surprisingly quiet!

[keny]

there it is! thanks pete.
yes, thats my sock foot.