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Revalving a Mesa Bass 400+


Steff
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I recently bought a Bass 400+ which needs a revalving. The budget is really limited, so I found the cheapest offers, but the thing is, there's two options.

1. Set of 12 matched 5881's Harma valves from Watford Valves - £144.00 + p&p

2. Set of 12 matched 5881WXT Sovtek valves from Mike Hill Services - £144.00 + p&p

What would you old valvers recommend?

Cheers,
Steff.

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Thanks Jon,

I was really hoping someone could say the difference between the two types of valves...

I've purchased a pair of Mike Hill's sovteks, because I am gigging this weekend and I can't afford to buy the complete 12 set before Monday, and they have already sent them to me, so I am pleased with Mike's services so far... Probably will keep that pair as a spare from next week on.

Edited by Steff
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I had Harma's in my 400+ and it sounded great when I retubed after 6+ years of use and heavy use at that to Groove Tubes I didn't notice a tonal difference.

I swapped one of my Strategy 400's from Sovtek's to Groove Tubes recently and there was a huge change in output and clarity and just overall sounded better.

So I would say go with the Harma's I never had an issue with them and even when worn they still sound awesome.

Sovtek's meh :)

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Hmm... as I have noticed, after reading reviews on the net for a few hours, there are some various types of Harma 5881's... Wondering which ones exactly are yours, because if they are the cheapest ones, the guys from Watford Valves recommend using the Sovteks instead...

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As far as I know - yes, if you pull out the bad tube and its opposite. As you see, there are two rows of six valves, so just pull out the opposite one as well and I guess it should be fine for a while. I wouldn't guarantee that though. As for revalving - I will be doing it myself, as for you - up to you :). It's not really a big deal, just pull out the old ones and replace them with the new, unless I'm missing something.

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[quote name='Steff' post='928587' date='Aug 18 2010, 01:14 PM']As far as I know - yes, if you pull out the bad tube and its opposite. As you see, there are two rows of six valves, so just pull out the opposite one as well and I guess it should be fine for a while. I wouldn't guarantee that though. As for revalving - I will be doing it myself, as for you - up to you :). It's not really a big deal, just pull out the old ones and replace them with the new, unless I'm missing something.[/quote]

Biasing but if you are buying a valve kit for a 400+ it shouldn't be too much of a problem as they should be within their requirements

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Well if you are doing a full revalve, you should buy a set of 12 matched valves for Mesa/Boogie Bass 400+ - Watford Valves sell a set like that. In that case it won't need biasing. If you are buying only one or a pair of valves, that should be a temporary solution, because they won't match the old ones and that might shorten the life of some of the valves, and there might be some other faults in time (not sure about that).

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