Vigier Guitars

Hi all, I wonder if anyone can offer some help...

  See, I need to replace the valves in my Mesa Boogie F50 - I replaced the valves in my Dual Rectifier with the exact same valves and it sounds good again, but after a chat with the guys from The Oxford Guitar Gallery I am thinking...see on a Mesa they have ?fixed bias?, meaning you have to replace the valves with the same Mesa valves. I am informed you can 'mod' a Boogie so you can adjust the bias and therefore fit different valves....and there is my dilemma. I really like the F50, compact, powerful, great little combo...but...the clean has ALWAYS been this amps downfall (in my opinion), its very dry and brittle, I love the gain, it has TONS of it but the clean has never done it for me. What I want to know if I change the valves can I find some good valves that will help with the tone - any comments, advise or options would really be appreciated!

Yes, I know...Diamond amps, mmmmmmmm, yeah for a head I have been thinking; Bognor, Diezel etc and it has to be for me Diamond, though my Dual Rectifier sounds nice at the mo, well apart from a very 'dry' clean sound. I think I will just replace the valve in my F50 like for like and get an Orange Rocker 30 combo! 

I would put some Groove Tubes and make a new BIAS.

I had the same issue with a fixed bias Mesa 400+. I don't really understand the logic of a fixed bias but it meant buying a matched and fixed set of tubes (12 in total!) and was a bit steep. On my current amp, a Trace Elliot v4, it has an adjustable bias with three LEDs which tell you when you are trimmed correctly, and you can change it with a control on the back. In theory any matched set of KT88 tubes will 'fit' - and at the same time I can slope the bias to stay in tune with older tubes - the current ones have been in for six years and are perfect....Cheersped