I got the NOS 7581A tubes in the mail on friday, and popped them into my bandmaster.....
Let me tell you that the tone difference between these and the mesa tubes that were already in there is HUGE!
The mesas would crap out at around 6 on the dial of the bandmaster, and they didnt break up nicely either.
With the 7581's in, the amp hardly distorts at 8, but 'glazes' and screams 'cleanly' when i dig in with my strat. The high end is especially nice, and when goosed by my TS9, it is the blues tone i've heard in my head for years but could never get. Now the amp could make amazing country tones with my bridge pickup, and the 'feel' is so nice that im almost convinced that it has reverb. It could also take a pounding on the bias, but i settled on 37ma at 450 volts.
These tubes are rumored to last decades, but as far as i know, the tone was well worth my money! Thanks to everyone here for the advice, i can finally sleep well! Oh, and by the way, i rebiased my deluxe reverb very carefully according to Lew's advice to listen first then check the meter so it doesnt go past 70%. The amp sounds 10 times better at higher volumes, and all that crossover distortion fizz on the treble end of my tone disappeared.
Let me tell you that the tone difference between these and the mesa tubes that were already in there is HUGE!
The mesas would crap out at around 6 on the dial of the bandmaster, and they didnt break up nicely either.
With the 7581's in, the amp hardly distorts at 8, but 'glazes' and screams 'cleanly' when i dig in with my strat. The high end is especially nice, and when goosed by my TS9, it is the blues tone i've heard in my head for years but could never get. Now the amp could make amazing country tones with my bridge pickup, and the 'feel' is so nice that im almost convinced that it has reverb. It could also take a pounding on the bias, but i settled on 37ma at 450 volts.
These tubes are rumored to last decades, but as far as i know, the tone was well worth my money! Thanks to everyone here for the advice, i can finally sleep well! Oh, and by the way, i rebiased my deluxe reverb very carefully according to Lew's advice to listen first then check the meter so it doesnt go past 70%. The amp sounds 10 times better at higher volumes, and all that crossover distortion fizz on the treble end of my tone disappeared.
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