I purchased my Mesa Boogie Lone Star Special 1×12 combo amp back in 2005. Wonderful sounding tube amp. A few weeks ago, one or more of the tubes became microphonic. I was able to trace the noise back to one set of power tubes — they operate in pairs — although it looks like I need to retube the whole amp. It has been four years after all.

Although I do pay some attention to the tone wars on tubes, I’m not sure that I have the time or money to audition dozens of them. I ordered a full set of tubes from thetubestore.com, a Canadian source for such products. I purchased 4 JJ EL84s, 5 JAN-Philips 12AX7s and 1 Sovtek 5Y3GT.

I still used the amp over the past two week-ends and it held up fairly well although I did have to put it to standby when I was not playing.

Some players believe that retubing opens up the sound of an amp. That even after six months or so, the tubes can become “tired” with frequent play and the sound does not bloom as it should.

Not sure I believe that but I do know that when tubes start to go microphonic, it is time to replace them. Funny, the tubes on my 1984 Fender Super Champ were replaced only once after 20 years. I replaced the tubes with some highly recommended NOS tubes. I did not notice a major change in sound. Did the amp sound different or better than before? I guess spending a couple of hundred dollars on tubes might influence the answer to that question.