Mesa/Boogie 6L6 STR 440 Power Tubes - Matched Duet Reviews

I got these tubes to replace my old 6l6 groove tubes on my tweed. I wanted more gain and less screeching highs so I decided to get these after reading lots of reviews.
I'm definitely impressed with the sound these get very glassy and warm. The distortion is great !! Thanks Mesa

These tubes work great.

I tried to save cash by just getting a set of these wonderful power tubes & also bought 2 preamp tubes. They absolutely helped with the noise I was getting as tubes begin to fail and being that I still heard slight noises still, it made me realize that I haven't replaced my tubes in a very long time. Considering I play almost every single day, I pulled the trigger and replaced all of my tubes aside from my rectifier tubes to just give the guitar head a fresh revamped reawakening. I could tell how full and pure the sound was just from what I've just replaced, so that why I felt the full fresh tube sets were the way to go. Thanks Sweetwater for sending them out to me at lightning speed and always follows up with the best customer service to make sure that I don't have any issues or questions

Mesa-branded tubes are reliably consistent and sound amazing. Thank you Sweetwater for another fast delivery and the delicious candy packets.

It was a great experience to buy in Sweetwater. I live in Brazil and all the process was made online (of course the item was delivered into an American address). It was perfect! All the tubes were delivered in perfect condition, the schedule time was precise and worked very well. After installation, all the tubes are working fine, exactly as expected and no technician is needed to replace because all the mesa tubes are tested at mesa's hq and certified to allow the amps to do his job as it was built for.

Nothing like Mesa tubes for one's Boogie amp! Sweetwater gets them to you quick too!

So far, so good. Waiting for the other 2 of 4. Put these in a Peavey XXX head.

Mesa does a great job ensuring you get well match, quality tubes.

In my Mesa Boogie Lone Star. Turned it on and turned it up. I have not seen a squirrel or deer in my neighborhood since then. And now all the housewives on the block smile at me seductively.

Great service and great products as akways.

I tried some other suggested tubes in my Mesa Single Rectifier Solo 50 and they were ok. But when it was time to replace them I went back to OEM Mesa Tubes and I’m sticking with them from now on. They sound great.

These tubes are better than the groove tubes I had in my Mesa before I put these in. Won"t buy anything else in the future.

Extremely consistent sound. Mesa goes out of its way to make sure they select very well made tubes. Nothing but happy with this product.

There is nothing like a fresh set of Mesa matched power tubes to freshen up the amp!

I own a few tube amps, and 2 Boogies; a MKIIa & a MKIIb.

For Christmas, my wife bought me tubes to retube both. You really don't realize sometimes the added gain and tone you get from retubing your amp. I guess when tubes wear down, it's a slow rate.

In the past, she has gone to local music stores and asked the kids that work there for tubes, and they sell her what they stock, usually Groove Tubes.

I gave my amps a test drive to get what they can do, then after letting the tubes cool, I put in the new tubes and fired up the amp. Immediately, you could tell how much more responsive the Mesa 6L6's are over Groove Tubes.

I hate telling my wife NOT to buy locally, but to get the real deal, I told her, "please call Bart and order Mesa Boogie tubes this year". It may be the first time she has listened to me. lol

If you read the reviews, you'll see I'm not the only one that highly endorses Mesa Boogie tubes. You really can hear a difference.

Also, I know if you have used other brand tubes, they like to rate them by a number. Mesa Boogie only codes them by matching sets. All 8 tubes I got are "yellow". I think I read once there are red, blue, etc. but this is not a power match like you think. Call your Sweetwater rep and they will get you set up. I don't think Sweetwater sells quad sets, so if you need 4, they can probably set you up with the same color if that is important to you. If you get different ones, just match tubes 1 & 4 and 2 & 3 and you'll have the corresponding matches in your 100 watt amp.

I have had higher (and paid more) numbers of Groove Tubes, and the yellows are still more responsive and have a great tone.

Needed replacement tubes for my Boogie 5:50 Express amp. Sweetwater had the right tubes and they arrived fast. Had my amp up and running in minutes. Special thanks to Keith Owens, my sales guru.

Finally replaced the 6L6 tubes in my Mesa Triple Rectifier and the new tubes brought it back to life. I still loved the sound of the amp before I replaced the tubes but I didn't realize how much better it sounds with new tubes. Very satisfied with using the Mesa tubes over another manufacturer because to me it's the way the amp is supposed to sound!

I ordered two sets of Mesa Boogie STR440 tubes for my Mark IV. Not only did Sweetwater ship my order from Indiana to California in about 42 hours, but they did it for FREE!!! Amazing Sweetwater! I truly was not expecting it to arrive so fast! I love Mesa Boogie, but they wanted to charge me for shipping ($14) the same order from Petaluma, California to my doorstep which is a three hour drive away. The tubes themselves are great and sound as killer as I expected, but what made the difference was the shipping cost. I will buy from Sweetwater again and again!

its all I run, mesa makes no compromises
david hafer

Great sounding tubes

So I just swapped out all tubes in this boogie mk iv and dam this amplifier screams. These power tubes brought her to life. Definitely recommend.

these tubes brought a peavey 5150 combo back to life. I bought it locally and it had plenty of high gain but no low end. Changed the power tubes and the thing is a beast now. The amp is fixed bias like my boogie so I just switched them without checking current. You may want to check with an amp tech before you do. I had great results!

awesome....:)

I did not realize the difference new tubes could make. Sweetwater got them to me quickly,as usual, and my Mark IV sounds better than ever! Hats off to Kurt Martin.

I recently purchased a used Peavey Valve KIng 2x12 100 watt combo amp and it needed an upgrade from the tired Ruby 6L6 power tubes. I read and viewed many videos on the best tubes for my amp and the best tube was the Mesa/Boogie 6L6 Glc STR 440 tubes. All of the companies I looked at only sold them in Duets. I called the guys here at Sweetwater and I told them that I need 4 tubes and they told me that they would put 4 together that where made in the same batch and really appreciated that they would do that. Anyway I received them and they where packed very well. I put them in and WOW!!!!! what a difference. Very quiet and clear sound. My amp never sounded that good new.

Excelent product and Service!!!!

These tubes are what should be in every musicians arsenal! I use a Mesa/Boogie Single Rectifier Solo 50 Series 2 head (sad to say they don't make these heads anymore because they are fantastic!) and I its like ice cream cake! Who doesn't like ice cream cake?! You're insane if you don't! I like to think that said amp I use is like the last one on the planet and it keeps up with every high-gain amp out there. With these tubes its all possible!!!

Thank you Sweetwater for keeping these in stock! Im a frequent buyer!

I replaced a set of six JJ EL34s with these Mesa 6L6s in my '99 Triple Rec.. I couldn't be happier. They performed as expected of a Mesa product.

These are the only power tubes that I use in my Mesa/Boogie Amps! Excellent performance!

Sweetwater is where I buy them!!

Clean and clear tubes just what I needed for my evh

Great tubes, easy swap with fixed bias, thanks TJ

Great tube performance with the Mesa's. Awesome service from Sweetwater! The only online distributor I care to order from. Thanks guy's!

Replaced the old tubes in my Mark 4 Boogie with 4 new Mesa/Boogie 6L6 STR 440 and the amp completely came back to life….The amp took off like a rocket & is singing again!!!! I'd recommend these tubes to anyone, absolutely worth every penny!!!

One of the output tubes that I had in my 100 watt MB Mark III for years developed a short (causing a crackling sound from the speaker), so I decided to replace the whole set of four. With the new set, I'm getting better sustain, even with clean tones, than I got before the old tube went bad. I recommend Sweetwater as your go-to source for tubes, and Mesa-Boogie tubes for use in MB amps.

WOW!WHAT A DIFFERENCE IN MY LONESTAR,REPLACING MY OLD WORN OUT TUBES WITH THESE BABIES.GETTING BETTER YET AS THEY'RE BEING BROKEN IN.GREAT TONE TRULY DOES INSPIRE YOU TO PLAY MUCH BETTER.THANKS,SEAN,FOR YOUR FOLLOWUP AND TRUE CONCERN FOR MY NEEDS! CLAIR

So far so good. love the boogie tubes. I want to keep the stock boogie tone as close as possible. The tubes did not fail just replaced the power tubes every year or 2
Mesa Boogie Mark V

I bought a little Pignose G40V and the tubes needed to be replaced. I figured, you can't go wrong with Mesa Boogie gear. I put these 6L6's in along with some new 12AX7's and WOW!! I love the crunch this little Pignose puts out. The really cool this is that I can leave my 4 X 12" cab at our practice space and just carry the Pignose combo home with me--its so nice and light but still has killer tone. Then, when I'm with the whole band it has no problem pushing the 4 12's. It's the best of both worlds in my opinion.

Despertly needed this 1 day before benefit gig. Placed order. It was delivered next day before gig. Sweetwater never lets me down, I got it for fraction of price that a I would have paid here in Flint. Thanks, Sweetwater!

Id like to know how the person claiming that these tubes arent matched tested their tubes to prove that they werent. If you have that kind of equipment you dont buy all ready matched tubes. I smell some BS brewing in that persons coffee pot. Thes tubes are great. They are rich and full of detail. They actually have a lot more chime and presence than JJ 6l6's in my opinion. And for mesa to use them knowing they are chinese I think speaks volumes about them. Mesa isnt a fan of china. They wont even use the chinese V30 speakers. To me that says alot.

received my new tubes for my mesa recto-verb from sweetwater... got great service and a good price.. the amp roars with the new tubes

A ++++

Just change the tubes. More sounds. Wow. The only amp to own.

Great tubes but even better is the service I always get at Sweetwater !!

Just what the Dr. Boogie ordered for my Roadster Head. No place better to order from than Sweetwater!

I've used these tubes in my Mesa Boogie Simul Class 2:90 amp for about 20 years. Just put 8 new ones in and they sounded awesome at rehearsal. Sticking with a good thing.

Sweetwater is the only company that carries Mesa brand tubes.
I've only tried GT tubes in my Mesa amp and they did not seem to last as long as the tubes I purchased direct from Mesa (in Ca.)
I am now a Sweetwater customer due to their customer service.
They had both the power tubes and the preamp tubes in stock (Mesa brand) and the price was same as Mesa.

My "Son of Boogie" amplifier sounds great! Its really a relief to have a source of quality products to keep my equipment running and sounding awesome.

New Mesa Boogie power & pre-amp tubes in my Mark 1V opened my sound bigly!!

I sooo wanted to meet Steve Vai and Eric Johnson at Gearfest. I would really like to meet and play guitars with Jeff Beck...Yeah... I would of course improvise ...lol.

My equipt. ...2- fender original American made stratocasters 1- 1959 and 1- 2016 ,1'-fender deluxe hand wired, a1979 marshall 50w plexi hand wired and now a mesa boogie mark 5.

Proco rat -deuce, b-k butler, - 2- boss dd-7, split L-R into 2 100w Iso-boxes...output into Mackie mix. w/ direct out into pro-tools 12.. Also using a Korg pa 700 for backing. ( very complicated ) ...and like all other music lifers ...more units and tools too numerous to mention here.

A fair share of the equipt. was purchased through Sweetwater : Joe James.

Thank you all,
William

I have always used Mesa matched tubes. Always great sounding and very reliable. This was the first time I"ve had an issue. One of the rectifier tubes plastic guide pins broke while installing. May have been my fault, but I"ve changed hundreds of tubes and have never had an issue. Paid for a replacement and it was sent out immediately. Sweetwater rep. Is the best. Thanks Dontae.

I have tried several tubes in my JP-2C and i went back these factory tubes.
Good balanced tube with 6L6 thump and chime.

Installed into a Silvertone 1484 , these tubes sound very nice ; the amp uses 2 (both of the originals were shot) and it was nice to find a reasonably priced matched pair sold together.

Usual excellent service from Sweetwater meant quick delivery and no "B-stock" .

I replaced these tubes in a Peavey classic VTX for a guitar player friend of mine. He needed the tubes replaced because they were both busted out (I'm sure there's a story behind that, but he admitted nothing). Anyway, these matched tubes are a perfect drop-in replacement for the original tubes that were in there. He was BLOWN AWAY by how much better the amp sounds now than it did before the tube replacement.

these are for a mark V combo that i got that had EL34 tubes installed
this 6L6 tube definately adds another dimention to your overall tone.. warm crisp clean channel,,good sound overall in ch.2 and 3
sweetwaters service and shipping was perfect..can"t be beat!!
keep rockin!!!!

They're the only one's I'll trust in my Nomad Head, Combo, and F50 Combo.

Same price and Free ship make this a no-brainer!

Ordered all new tubes for Mesa. Swapped them all in then started immediately having problems. Turns out to be one of the new tibes junk straight out of the box. Fast shipping, but I recommend buying tubes locally vs online due to problems like this!

I used these in a Crate BV-120H and although they sound better than the stock Groove Tubes, in my amp, JJ tubes are just better. They where somewhat matched but I had to swap them around a few times to get an ALMOST balanced output stage. They had nice breakup but obviously these tubes aren't biased so high in a Mesa amp since the Mesa sound is 100% preamp driven... If you own a Marshall, EVH or any high gain amp that isn't a Mesa, GET JJ's!!! I've also tried Mesa 12AX7's for the drive and they sound a little weak compared to JJ's and even the Groove Tubes. I also found out these are the same Chinese tubes as Ruby and Ruby's suck bigtime!!!

These tubes are okay...but that is the best they've ever been for me, just okay. I've owned a Mesa Express 5:50 for roughly 6 months and it blew one of these on the 2nd gig. I know it happens...sometimes, ya just get the bad one out of the batch. So I decided to give them another try, although I used them in my twin reverb. I blew 3 of them over an 8 month period. That's when I learned that these tubes are completely unpredictable. You never know what you're going to get when you buy a pack of these. My Mesa has not blown a tube since the first one, but my twin blew 3. These tubes don't even come close to JJ's as far as reliability. JJ's are cheaper too. I think Mesa sacrificed the quality and reliability for the convenience of not having to bias the amp after changing output tubes. I probably shouldn't have used them in a fender amp anyway, seeing as Mesa output tubes are generally not designed to work as hard. Tone comes more from the preamp. In the end though, a tube is a tube and it should be able to hold up in any situation. Mesa: GREAT amps, not so great tubes.

These "matched" 6L6 tubes were not even close to being matched. Very poor quality.