tsp17

Yes- 6v6s. I can see why folks say it is 6L6 adjacent. They are growing on me. They sound great with my Super KB, better than with my H550. Very clean and articulate. My SKB came with HRW pickups and i changed them to Lollar Imperials, but with the JJs i hear something similar to what I recall with the HRWs. Brighter, cleaner, tighter . Really nice. I hear what you hear and refer to as “stiff”. Not as soulful and warm a sound as the stock Mesa tubes, but really good in a different way. I love the effortless sustain they give, and the clarity. Gold Lions are next. I’ll try to do some sound clips in the next week or two.

Could be… I did d communicate with Tube Depot about the fact that these tubes are going in a Mesa Cali tweed. They were helpful and sent tubes in that range. So the JJ and Tung Sol tubes I’ve got should be well suited. the Gold Lion tubes that I ordered came from Stew Mac so we’ll see…

My newish Mesa Boogie California Tweed came with Mesa tubes of course. I’ve always found Mesa tubes to be consistent and good quality for tone and reliability/durability. Playing them for about a month now i decided to try some different 6v6 to see if I could really hear any difference and find the perfect match between amp/tubes and the tone i want to hear. The stock Mesa 6v6 is terrific sounding, so it is just my curiosity and no suggestion that i am not happy with how they sound. Great amp that sounds very very good right off the shelf. Tone seekers are gonna tweak, right? I’ll post impressions here as i try each different tube set. All are matched quads. First up is Mesa 6v6 vs JJ 6v6. Both very musical. Mesa is more of a classic 6v6 sound. Sweet, a little soft around the edges, soulful. JJ’s are (true to reputation) robust sounding, more focused, brighter and later breakup. Mesa’s are mildly warmer, not dark, but warmer/darker than JJs. Breakup on Mesas is far creamier. To me JJ’s are more “distortion” sounding than light overdrive sounding. To my ear, Mesa 6v6 is a very classic, musical breakup. Sustain for miles with the JJs. Mesas are good in this department, but JJs hold on longer. Both are excellent. I’ll be playing around with JJs for a bit and will post updates, as well as new posts when try the next brand set of tubes , either Gold Lion or Tung-Sol sitting on my shelf waiting for their turn in the box. Remember that all this evaluation is highly subjective and your mileage will differ. Also based on a single amp. Contrary opinions are welcome. More to come.

The 6L6 vs 6V6 tone thing is very real to my ear too and i generally prefer 6L6 as well, but the Cali Tweed clean tone feels a lot like 6L6, not quite - but closer than any 6V6 amp I’ve played. I bought some other 6V6 tubes to try out to see how i can get that much closer. I keep reading that the newer JJ 6V6 tubes are similar sounding to 6L6. I’ll report back after i try them (hopefully this weekend if i get the chance.). Funny- i love this amp, have had it only a month and I’m already tweaking. Tone chasing is definitely an illness.

LOL. It was very fun. Here’s a video comparing the Cali Tweed to a Lone Star.

Today I was in a Santana groove and loaded up the Oye Como Va backing track. I set the multi-watt to two then ten then twenty watts and jacked the gain to about 3/4 (3:00 on the dial). man- that felt good at each wattage. Fully focused yet creamy lead and great useable crunch on rhythm when you dig in a bit.

Thanks guys. It is good to land on a sound that we dig, right? The Fillmore is a great amp too. Nice to have two great options that can suit a variety of situations and moods.

This amp is outstanding. I’ve had it for a couple of weeks now and gigged with it once. As usual with MB amps, well built and sounds great right out of the box. Easy to dial in, and unlike many MB’s with 1,000 knobs- this one is old school simple. A couple of ‘nice to have’ features- presence control and variable wattage - but other than that it is a pretty straightforward equation. Set the gain between 9-12 and you get a wonderful clean, warm but sweet 6v6 sound, really nice. Bottom end is tight enough and stays in tact (not flabby or distorted) even with the master volume cranked. Can be nice and twang-snappy with the right settings. Raise the gain and it turns creamy. Not harsh or brittle around the edges, just good old 6v6 soul. Pick attack can also generate very controllable breakup. Very player friendly.Definitely different from my MB Fillmore 50. Stays cleaner longer, sweeter tone. The Fillmore is darker and a more complex sound like a 50’s Deluxe. Truly a lot to love about the Fillmore 50 too. The California Tweed is sweeter and more ‘sing’ and sustain than the Fillmore. Very musical. Kind of like a 60’s Deluxe Reverb with more headroom. I have the 40 watt version, so that makes sense, but I did demo the 20 watt version which is similar just not as loud. The 20 watt version was amazing for its size. So portable and full sounding for that little combo in a box. Way better than a PRRI at the same size (maybe smaller). I was kind of shocked at how good that little guy sounded. I opted for the 40 watt model for more headroom, but the 20 is plenty good and loud, especially for its compact size and weight. Fillmore is Amazing at low-moderate volume, and gorgeous breakup louder, but I play 95% clean, so the California Tweed is getting more play these days. Suits my live gigs better. Cali-Tweed is 6lbs heavier but still only 30lbs (head only) and very portable. The Fillmore transformer is pretty light and minimal so I’m guessing that the iron required to keep the Cali-Tweed 4x 6v6 output clean accounts for the extra weight. The vari-watt function is terrific. Sounds full even at 2 watts. I don’t know how they pulled that off. Way better than other vari-watt functions I’ve played in the past. I’ll try to do some A/B sound clips Cali-tweed vs. Fillmore over the holiday weekend. Happy 4th of July to all. Regardless of your politics, we have a lot to be thankful for in this country.

I had one of your custom creations! ! Custom ‘Duane-burst’ 150. That guitar was really something. I wish I still had it. What a beautiful beast that one was. Glorious to play.

Wonderful! I’ve always wanted one of these. Congratulations

A very special Heritage and a good story to go with it Mark! This thread inspired me (thanks Tim @Gitfiddler) to get my Super KB and plug it into my new MB California Tweed 4:40. They are a wonderful match. I hereby move the Super KB back to the top of my all time favorite Heritage list. Special thanks to Mark @MartyGrass) for selling it to me! Probably the one i will keep until the end.

+1

Nice! Congratulations.

I have owned both HRW and SD Jazz and concur that to my ears they sound similar.

Yep- the Fillmore is kind of its own thing. Very different from a classic MB. having played the Cali Tweed for a few days now - it is also outside the MB norm. Different from the Fillmore too. Sweeter. Easier to dial in. Great sounding. Kind of like a Fender Deluxe Reverb but warmer and richer to my ears. The multi-watt function is a real plus. Amazing how good the 2 watt setting sounds and the volume it can produce at that setting. Kind of weird how that works. It will be hard to decide which one to keep and which one to sell. Hmmm… gigging with the Cali Tweed tonight.

No way to pick one!!! While my H550 is not my fanciest or most expensive, it is so reliable, sounds really good with any amp, very gig-able, moderately feedback resistant and easy to play. It has my favorite neck of any guitar I’ve ever had. Great workhorse guitar. And so handsome to boot! I’d put it up against anything on the market. there are days when I miss my first guitar true love— a 575 MH. That thing was wonderful. The neck profile stopped suiting me over time so I sold it, but you know how that first love stays with you all your days. then there is my Super KB that is truly a wonderful inspiration and instrument. then some days it is my 575 custom…. then other days….

Nice!!! Glad to hear it. Mesa is pretty good that way. Even if it is now a G subsidiary. Seems like they are holding on to their culture. New Cali Tweed is a looker (IMHO).

Uhhh…not sure exactly sure how it happened other than a GAS attack combined with some insomnia. Doh! 🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️ 2d new Mesa amp in a month arrived a couple days ago. A Mesa Boogie California Tweed 4:40 head. Photos and review to come in a future thread. Currently getting to know it now. Super amp. gotta sell some more stuff. @rockabilly69- how’s your Fillmore?

Handsome couple, eh?

Bummer on your Fillmore! Hopefully an easy fix. but amazing new guitar!

Right, with the gain at a moderate spot and the bass and mids set low, it is gorgeous. I wouldn’t say shimmering Blackface clean, but just different enough and truly beautiful. More organic sounding. Wonderful at lower volume. It will stay clean unless i dig in with a pick. I was listening to Kenny Burrell’s God Bless the Child version, and Midnight Blue, and it is a lot like that - also much of Grant Green’s portfolio from the 60’s. Maybe a little darker and less smooth polish than a Blackface clean, more like a mic’d Deluxe. Truly a gorgeous sound when you get it set right. I’ve never heard an amp sound so much like it is mic’d. That intimacy and immediacy…..wow. Very giggable at 26 lbs. My drummer is on the loud side, so now I am at risk to get the MB California Tweed 40 watt head to see if it will give me more headroom for louder gigs. I hear it stays clean longer at higher volume. I played the 2:20 combo version at Guitar Center the other day. Wonderful little amp. Also looking at Suhr Bella. 44 watts/6L6. Also the MB open back cabinet is terrific sounding. More room filling, lush, ….All my other cabs are closed or ported. I forgot how great open back cabs are….i ordered an Eminence 2512 Neo speaker to try in it. I’m on a little amp bender so I need to sell some more stuff….

Well done! I love that top! Inlays…this one is really a beauty. And a great deal.

It is a very good sounding amp. Different from my usual flavor, but I like it a lot. Variety is the spice of life! I once played a ‘58 Deluxe and have never forgotten it. This one has a some of that vibe for sure. I love those old Rudy Van Gelder studio recordings of Kenny, Grant etc. It is a great sound. Cuts through really well live too.

After resolving some noise issues (one power tube not seated properly)…we got down to business. I’ve had it a couple of days now, and I am looking forward to exploring it more. Bought from SoundPure, and they were very good, except the footswitch cable was missing. They are sending one. SoundPure is one of my preferred dealers as they do free shipping (over a certain amount) and no sales tax for California buyers. Makes a meaningful net difference to save that 7.75% on a bigger purchase. Very old school amp. Even has the older “Boogie” badge. Touch sensitive, feels a little more like a tweed deluxe than a blackface amp. Somewhere in between. You can really hear your picking technique (or lack thereof in my case). The kind of pick, angle and attack come through quite audibly. Great low gain sounds. Build quality is solid. It is pretty light for a 50W tube head, so at first lift it feels a little funny, being used to much heavier heads at this wattage, but definitely solid. At 26 lbs this amp may be the best tone per pound tube amps head I’ve ever played. My back is not so good these days, so to know i can gig with something portable, reliable and that can give me a tone that I dig is a big deal. I’ve been looking for something light, with “that sound” but haven’t been able to find it. This one is very very close. The cabinet is nice too. Typical good Mesa Boogie quality. I got the 1x12 23” wide cabinet. Wider cab makes it sit perfectly under the head; i dont know if it makes any tonal difference. Maybe, but hard to know without A/B against the smaller cabinet. Open back. MB Black Shadow speaker is a good match for this amp. Sounds nice and full even before break in. I didn’t get the cab to match the head with tinsel grill cloth, which looks cool, kind of like a mini-stack, so I’ve got a little mismatch ‘cause i liked the all black cabinet better. I might change out the grill cloth on the head so that they match someday. Might also swap for a Neo speaker for weight. Eminence Deltalite 2512 might be a good match. I like that speaker a lot. Clean, clear. More like a monitor speaker. And very light. EQ is simple (Treble, Mid, Bass) and there is a pretty wide sweep for each. All seem sensitive to how much gain you are putting in. More gain requires backing off of bass or it gets indistinct, but at the right levels the bass is tight enough and lets a lot of “wood” through. At certain settings it almost sounds like you are playing an upright bass on the low strings. Lots of thump if you want it. Sound is excellent. Treble and presence used in the right combination produces really sweet top end. I love it. Mid control is effective to either scoop or bring up the mids. Very useable. Reverb sounds just like it should. I keep it around 9:00 and it gives plenty of depth to the sound. The on line chatter about it not being very loud for a 50 watt amp is correct, at least with the gain at 1:00 or lower. With the gain at noon or 1:00 It never gets super loud, even with the Master dimed. Loud enough for my small to medium gigs though. I suppose for a bigger/louder show you could just mic it. I have not pushed it to see how loud it can get and stay clean. Will try later when no one else is home. I play clean 95% of the time, so that’s what I’ve been dialing in. Clean tones are definitely familiar with this amp, but a little different. Not glassy like a blackface, more like a tweed. You can hear a little more guitar wood, a little more midrange, etc. Reminds me a lot of the early Kenny Burrell G175 into a Fender Deluxe recordings or some older Grant Green. Very organic sounding. Lots of good presence. Seems like it will cut through a gig mix very well. At the moment my only quibble is that so far it is a little hard to get the low end sounding exactly like I want it, but it is very good nonetheless. I’m sure I’ll figure that out. More to come…the real test will be when i gig with it in a couple of weeks.