This amp was good but almost unmanageable on delivery. Sounded really kind of amazing, but noisy and so LOUD. Very Aggressive tone, even with the 'Pre" less than 11:00. Cool, but I need it to be more palatable at small/medium club level. I can hear why Dr. Z advertised it as having the SRV Mocambo sound. Jeez this thing is an animal. Couldn't quite settle it down at manageable volume. It was not original tubes. Loaded with what looked like a combination of JJ power tubes and a mix of JJ, GrooveTube and NOS preamp tubes.
did some experimental tube swapping ....
Tried TAD 7025 in V1 and V3 in an attempt to quiet the noise and settle things a bit. Nope.
Tried Mesa Boogie 6L6GC and rectifier tubes I had hanging around from another amp...Better ...
Tung-Sol 12ax7 reissue in V1 and V3- YES!!!!! Much quieter, warmer and just really plain soulful. Classic 6L6 bold and clear, lots of guts even super clean, still reflecting the character of this amp. I like it a lot. I'm going to try some other power tubes, and see where the tone journey takes it.