Standby Switch Missing

[barbarianbrute]

one thing about my laney tt50 is that it doesn't have a standby switch. there's a mute button, but it doesn't put the amp on standby. the manual just says to wait a few minutes before playing.

according to the manual, tubes should last years (hmmm...), but without a standby it would seem that time would be cut pretty short. i'm a little confused about that, but i guess it's not an absolute must

 

[Smilemon]

Re: Standby Switch Missing

bah... tubes... as long as you don't crank it all day long they should last for a good while. Me... I'm hard on tubes, I'm hard on amps in general. My amp spent a whole day on and off intermittently over a 12 hour jam, warming up to 12, then cooling... I had to get new tubes the next weekend. If your going to play like that a standby is nice... but if not... who cares.

 

[barbarianbrute]

Re: Standby Switch Missing

i read that turning the mv all the way down before you turn it on and leaving it there for a few minutes is as effective as standby. i don't know if that's true, what do you guys think?

 

[Smilemon]

Re: Standby Switch Missing

I doubt it would help that much... Letting it warm up is a good idea. but the tubes are going to cool at a constant rate when you turn it off anyway...

 

[missionamps]

Re: Standby Switch Missing

i read that turning the mv all the way down before you turn it on and leaving it there for a few minutes is as effective as standby. i don't know if that's true, what do you guys think?

NO!
That is completely silly.
What makes a standby switch increase tube life is when it is wired so it will disconnect the high voltage from the tube while it is hot.
Vacuum tubes are thermionic devices and when hot, conduct current... that is, if there is high voltage applied to the plates with respect to the cathodes.
Cut the high voltage with a standby switch and the only thing the tube is doing is staying hot because the filament (heaters) are still on.
It draws no plate or cathode current so the tube is essentially "resting".
When you hear people talk about biasing a power tube, that means how much current is being drawn with zero signal input or output while the high volatge is applied to the plate... but that idle current it is still cathode or plate current so it wears down on the tube anyhow.
Use a standby to shut the high voltage off and there will be zero idle current.
However, I think if you are going to stop using the amp for a half hour or so, just shut the whole thing off.