Tips for breaking in new tubes (or amps)

[Mikelamury]

I was just curious as to what you guys usually do to Break in new tubes in an amp? I'm curious because the gain in my super sonic is right below were I I want it and I think it might get that little push once the tubes get broken in. So I was wondering what everyone else does to their new tubes upon installation? I don't play through my amps everyday so I'm really not trying to just wait for it to happen. I'm curious if I just turned on the amp and had the volume down and left it on for a day or two would that get the job done sufficiently and would that be dangerous to the amp? Any feedback here would be greatly appreciated.

[devastone]

I don't have tube amps ATM, but plug them in, play them. That's about all you can do, if they don't have enough gain for you new, it's not going to change.

[Mikelamury]

After playing a couple more hours today it's actually sounding really good, it was just a hair off yesterday but it's starting to sound a little better which is a perfect fit for my sound with both gains cranked. Also I was afraid this amp might be to loud- not the case in a good way. It has volume if I want to turn it up but I can turn it up to about 3 and still get great usable sounds where as my MT15 Is louder on 7 watts than this 22 watt amp. I can turn this up to 3 whereas the MT15 can barely reach 1 on low power mode. But back to the point & I'm very satisfied with this amp the more I play it!

[Securb]

Yep, just play it, and it will get there and settle in. Congrats on the new amp that is a beauty

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

Play it loudly.

repeat.

[beaubrummels]

I've never heard of tubes breaking in or having additional gain after a certain period of time. If anything, toward the end of their life, you'll lose some gain maybe. But by and large, either they work, or they don't. If it sounds weak right off the bat, the amp likely needs servicing or tweaking to operate more optimally. Turning an amp on and leaving it on with no signal does nothing but reduce the lifespan of the components slightly. Tubes are not speakers.

[FuseG4]

If you ever crank the amp up to five or higher you'll get some power tube crunch It makes a world of difference.

As I turned up the master volume, gain settings that were good in the bedroom became too much

it is a loud amp by the time it gets truly cooking in my opinion

[Mincer]

I perform with them. Long sets in the Florida heat usually do the job. If you are not gigging, just play the thing. Usually with a new amp, it isn't so much that the tubes need to be broken in as much as you have to get used to the sound that this new amp makes.

[Mikelamury]

I perform with them. Long sets in the Florida heat usually do the job. If you are not gigging, just play the thing. Usually with a new amp, it isn't so much that the tubes need to be broken in as much as you have to get used to the sound that this new amp makes.

I didn't really play it that long the first day it's sounding better now but I was going to ask you what kind of music you play with them and how much gain do you use? At what volume does the clean channel sound best in your opinion?

[Mincer]

My tube amp is a Mesa Blue Angel, which has both 6v6s and EL84s. I play a sort of jazzy rock thing, and I get the gain from pedals rather than the amp. On the 6v6 setting, it is a very loud 18 watts, and I don't like a crazy loud stage volume, so its on no higher than 4 onstage. About 50% of the show is dead clean, the other half is tube screamer-levels of overdrive.

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Raise the bias voltage beyond manufacturer's recommendation.

[Demanic]

Raise the bias voltage beyond manufacturer's recommendation.

Troll much?

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[Mikelamury]

My tube amp is a Mesa Blue Angel, which has both 6v6s and EL84s. I play a sort of jazzy rock thing, and I get the gain from pedals rather than the amp. On the 6v6 setting, it is a very loud 18 watts, and I don't like a crazy loud stage volume, so its on no higher than 4 onstage. About 50% of the show is dead clean, the other half is tube screamer-levels of overdrive.

Ok I misunderstood you I thought you were saying that you perform with the super sonic. That's pretty cool being able to switch from el84 to 6v6 inside the amp.

[Mikelamury]

I've never heard of tubes breaking in or having additional gain after a certain period of time. If anything, toward the end of their life, you'll lose some gain maybe. But by and large, either they work, or they don't. If it sounds weak right off the bat, the amp likely needs servicing or tweaking to operate more optimally. Turning an amp on and leaving it on with no signal does nothing but reduce the lifespan of the components slightly. Tubes are not speakers.

Thank you for informing me of that. I may have misunderstood I heard that after (preamp) tubes get broken in at first the character of the gain changes slightly is this not so? That's more what I meant rather than getting 'more' gain.

[NegativeEase]

I used to break in speakers by playing a doom/sludge metal playlist from my stereo through them on loop -usually Sleep Dopesomker.

the same could be done with your tubes I guess if you want to mature the tube faster than you can just playing them.

but dont you want an excuse to just play them more?