I'm considering the benefits of using different brands of 12ax7 preamp tubes in mesa boogie preamps.  Would any mesa boogie owners like to share their experiences regarding different tubes, especially those regarding changes in tone?  Especially when in use with an Alembic.  I'm looking in particular at the stock at thetubestore.
 
I've got a m-pulse 600, but i suspect this applies to any mesa boogie with a tube preamp.
 
Oh yes, and any experience with NOS tubes would be particularly interesting I think.
 
And finally, what about other types of tubes in the preamp?
 
(Message edited by juggernaught on June 15, 2008)

Devon:
 
In the past 6 months I've had my amp tech go through two Boogies: an original Mark I combo and a Mark IIC+ head.  He used Mesa tubes for the preamp and amp sections on both.  They both sound great.  IMHO most of the Holy Grail NOS hype is just that - hype to get you to spend big bucks.  Especially if you've got Alembic electronics you already have a great amount of variability in the tone you can coax out of an amp.  Once you're playing in a full band situation, I doubt anyone but the player can hear the difference among different brands of quality tubes, and I'm not so sure the player really can, either.
 
Bill, tgo

JJ's are great. They work fine in a Mesa.
Dave