Best tubes for Bassman 300 Pro?

[silvertripper]

So I checked here on TB in the search and I didnt find an exact post like this so... here it is. I did find this topic on SVT's, but not the Bassman 300 Pro.

I play every style of music... Bassman 300 Pro, cab is a SVT810e, playing Jazz basses.

2 Questions:

1. Im replacing my power tubes with a sextet matched set of 6550's. I was looking at the Tung Sol 6550's from thetubestore.com. Any suggestions on another brand? Why?

2. Should I replace the PreAmp tubes in the Bassman 300 Pro? Any suggestions on brands? Why?

I have $300.00 to spend on tubes.

Please talk from experience, not from word of mouth. If you have/had a Bassman 300 Pro, and you've changed the tubes, tell me about what you did and the result.

This is not a thread about another head type. Its not a thread about biasing. Its not a thread about your opinion on Fender and how Mesa 400+, or Ampeg CL is better. Its not a thread about the reliability of the Bassman 300 Pro compared to other tubed heads. This is ONLY a thread about specific tubes options for a Bassman 300 Pro and their results.

Thanks!

[silvertripper]

anyone?

[AwkwardLoudness]

There isn't much appreciable difference in sound among current production 6550 tubes. What's most important is that you buy from a reputable tube distributor who screens out the bad/microphonic tubes because the factories don't do this themselves like they did in the good ole' days when tube quality control was far more important (since hospitals and militaries depended on vacuum tubes).

Your options basically limited to Winged C =C=, Tung-sol, Electro-Harmonix, Shuguang...or re-branded Shuguang tube (like Groove Tube), J/J, Sovtek 6550WE.

The E-H, Sovtek, and Tung-sol 6550s are all made at the same factory and are nearly the exact same tube.

=C= tend to be the most reliable but any current brand can have a bad batch.

The greatest 6550 tube is vintage GE 6550A, but they are beyond your budget.

Pre-amp tubes will have a far greatest effect on the amp's tone.

[silvertripper]

Originally Posted by AwkwardLoudness

There isn't much appreciable difference in sound among current production 6550 tubes. What's most important is that you buy from a reputable tube distributor who screens out the bad/microphonic tubes because the factories don't do this themselves like they did in the good ole' days when tube quality control was far more important (since hospitals and militaries depended on vacuum tubes).

Your options basically limited to Winged C =C=, Tung-sol, Electro-Harmonix, Shuguang...or re-branded Shuguang tube (like Groove Tube), J/J, Sovtek 6550WE.

The E-H, Sovtek, and Tung-sol 6550s are all made at the same factory and are nearly the exact same tube.

=C= tend to be the most reliable but any current brand can have a bad batch.

The greatest 6550 tube is vintage GE 6550A, but they are beyond your budget.

Pre-amp tubes will have a far greatest effect on the amp's tone.

Thank you

[eyeballkid]

go with Winged Cs.. they brought my 300Pro to life and have been dead on reliable for 3 years.

[jastacey]

I have a 300 pro, and I too have installed the Winged"C" ..... makes the amp sound a little different .... but be aware that there was a huge price jump for those tubes ... the Sovtek 6550WE is not a bad tube, it has a nice mid range bump. one tube you might want to look at is the new JJ 6550 .... the only other tube I changed out on my amp, was the V1, I switched it to a NOS Sylvania 5751, V2 leave alone as it is for the dirty channel and the stock tube has a nice crunch to it, V3 is the inverter tube, that tube should be OK, new one should be tested for balance, the 12AT7 is the driver tube, I tried some tube rolling and the went back to the stock inverter tube and the stock driver tube, as those gave the best performance ..... the tubes in the amp are silver Fender Branded GT tubes ,,,, Fender Branded replacement tubes, are somewhat hit or miss, they just get noisy kinda quickly

[raybone]

I also replaced with Winged C's. Did this 2 years ago and still sound the same as when I put them in, which is nice and warm, and made the amp a bit louder. I haven't changed any pre-amps yet as they seem fine for now.