Need a quick lesson on tube amp care :)

[YJM_Rocks]

Well my Classic 30 is gonna be here in the next day or two, yeah I finally ordered it. I'm just wondering about the basic stuff like how long to let it warm up, how to let it warm up, caring for the tubes, etc...
This is going to be my first tube amp and I'm going to really baby it. :laugh2: Just want to know how to take care of this beast of an amp when it gets here. Thanks for the help! :dance:

 

[Rich_S]

Re: Need a quick lesson on tube amp care

Warm it up for a couple of minutes before playing. If it has a standby switch, USE IT, especially if the amp has a SS rectifier. Tube rectifiers tend to "soft start" the amp since they have to warm up themselves. SS rectos slam the tubes unless you use the standby switch.

On breaks, leave the amp on, but flip it to standby.

At the end of the night, shut it off and let it cool down a bit before you take it out into the cold air.

 

[Guitarist]

Re: Need a quick lesson on tube amp care

When the amps fired up, don't touch those tubes. Ouch!!! Hot!!

 

[Guitarist]

Re: Need a quick lesson on tube amp care

Some people also flip the standby switch again for a few minutes before turning it off, supposed be a little less harsh on the tubes.

Don't let an excess of dust form on/around your tubes.

Make sure there is ventilation to the tubes.

And just FYI, I try to change my PWR tubes once a year and my PA tubes every 2-4.

 

[greendy123]

Re: Need a quick lesson on tube amp care

On breaks, leave the amp on, but flip it to standby.

When Rich says flip onto standby it means flip the standby switch to the off position. When the amp is on standby, the mains switch is on and the standby switch is off. I just wanted to clarify this for just because when I started using my first tube amp I was confused by this saying.

Okay I read into your amp and found a manual, it said your amp doesn't have a standby switch. So to use your amp you should just plug your guitar into your amp before you turn it on. Make sure you turn the normal, pre, and post knobs to zero. On the guitar I would turn the volume to zero to be safe. Once these steps are done you need to warm up your amp by turning it on. Wait a few minutes like about 2 minutes minimum, but I would wait longer as it sounds and treats your tubes better maybe. Once that is done you can mess with the amp all you want. If you want to take a break, just turn all the normal, pre, post, and guitar volume to zero again. On turning it off I like to turn all the gain and volume knobs to zero to avoid hear the loud pop noise from the speaker when turning off a amp.

With warming up tubes I think the couple minutes is good idea, but I think the best tone coming after like probably 15 mins of warming. You could also play using the couple minutes idea, this actually makes the tubes get even warmer to result usually in a better tone.

Oh one thing with speakers is make sure its always connected on the speaker output on the amp. If there is no speaker connected to the output your amp is going to fry. Also make sure the impedence of your amp matches your speakers you use.

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: Need a quick lesson on tube amp care

Correct, the Classic 30 does not have a standby switch. Will the absence of a standby switch reduce tube life and is there anything extra i need to do? Turning all the knobs to zero seems while waiting seems to make sense. Thanks for all the help guys. I'll let ya know how it sounds.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Need a quick lesson on tube amp care

Though it might help protect the speaker(s), I don't think turning the knobs to zero does anything besides forcing you to dial in the amp every time you turn it on.

The purpose of a standby switch is to protect the tubes from being damaged by being hit by high voltage before they warm up. Once that voltage is present, I don't think that running signal through the tubes is gonna hurt.

Since the purpose of standby is to protect the tubes when cold, there's nothing to gain (but no harm done) by holding the amp on standby for a while before shutting down. The only reason I put my amps on standby prior to shutdown is so I don't have to worry about flipping the switch the next time I fire it up.