I have had one since 1998. Mine was modified by Mesa to be a tri tube version with WIMA caps. The speakers are Soundlab Dynastat. Tubes are JJ E34L all matched to 1ma, drivers and splitters are Mazda silver plate or (sometimes) Mullard m8137.
This combo is outstanding. I have had musicians and singers that have appeared at the Kennedy Center and the Metropolitan and 9 of 10 said it sounded as if there were at a live performance.
Since you are in California, Mesa might be the best idea...they are expensive however. The reason I had mine done by them was when I bought it from a California dealer they had already made the arrangements for the work ( otherwise I would have done it). I have been restoring vintage gear and nome new products for over 30 years (and have done work for Joe at Tempo Electric), and intend to rework the amp very soon.
What I will do to it includes, hexfred diodes for the 10 cent 1N4007 line up, Muse electrolytic bypassed with small oil caps and some ATOM caps (if I can't fit film caps in), dump the WIMA and Sprague 715 (which are NOT audio caps)and replace with Obbligato or Ampohm, and resistors in the signal path get replaced with bulk metal type. The output tubes a RCA 12 matched Blackplate 6L6GC.
I could modify yours, but as others have said here, you need to listen to yours first...it may just be what and how your want your amp to sound. Then try a Mullard 12ax7 or a Raytheon/RCA blackplate 12ax7 (very similar to a Mazda in sound) and see what that does. It is very important that your outputs be matched to within/no more than 2ma total spread per set of six.
This combo is outstanding. I have had musicians and singers that have appeared at the Kennedy Center and the Metropolitan and 9 of 10 said it sounded as if there were at a live performance.
Since you are in California, Mesa might be the best idea...they are expensive however. The reason I had mine done by them was when I bought it from a California dealer they had already made the arrangements for the work ( otherwise I would have done it). I have been restoring vintage gear and nome new products for over 30 years (and have done work for Joe at Tempo Electric), and intend to rework the amp very soon.
What I will do to it includes, hexfred diodes for the 10 cent 1N4007 line up, Muse electrolytic bypassed with small oil caps and some ATOM caps (if I can't fit film caps in), dump the WIMA and Sprague 715 (which are NOT audio caps)and replace with Obbligato or Ampohm, and resistors in the signal path get replaced with bulk metal type. The output tubes a RCA 12 matched Blackplate 6L6GC.
I could modify yours, but as others have said here, you need to listen to yours first...it may just be what and how your want your amp to sound. Then try a Mullard 12ax7 or a Raytheon/RCA blackplate 12ax7 (very similar to a Mazda in sound) and see what that does. It is very important that your outputs be matched to within/no more than 2ma total spread per set of six.