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Tube Amp Do's and Don'ts

#81
Blues Cat said:
This is what I do. It drains the caps if I remember correctly. Don't put it in standby then turn it off. Standby on a tube amp is a heater.
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The mains switch is providing the current for the heaters, the standby switch applies the HT to the tubes. If you don't believe me look in the back turn on the main, the valve heaters glow red, turn standby off after about 30 secs (its be nice to tubes week, well if its been damp and cold the heaters will help out with drying the valve bases before you wack about, in my case 720 volts across them so give it a bit longer before turning standby mode off) and see the power valves have a little blue HT plasma in there well you will see it in EL34 But Not so obvious in other valves.
As to how to turn it off, its probably better to put it on standby before you turn the mains off, so it ready for next use.
If you want to work on the amp you will want to check the voltage of the caps before you handle it (or the innards) if its still dc hot discharge them all with a resistor of a few K in series.
:ninja:
 
#82
kissmybASS01 said:
Along with several others, I am a brand new owner of my first tube head, a Peavey VB-2. ...

Do: Let the amp warm up for a short period of time (?) before flipping the stand-by switch.
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The VB-2 manual recommends 5 minutes

"Tip: Always allow at least 5 minutes of warm-up time before switching the STANDBY switch on. This
will improve performance and reliabilty."

If it were all that important you think they would have built a delayed start into the amp. The MarkBass amp does this automatically, and I think some Ampegs do also.
 
#83
seamonkey said:
If it were all that important you think they would have built a delayed start into the amp. The MarkBass amp does this automatically, and I think some Ampegs do also.
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A time delay relay/circuit can't fail and ruin your gig if you don't have one . . .

I guess they just figured that even the average musician could comprehend with/cope with this task. Besides, the ability to use standby between sets still makes the switch necessary . . . .

- Tim
 
#91
As a confirmed tube-haed, you've received a lot of good info along with some personal bias but what would you expect. Always, always, always have a load (speaker cabinet) hooked-up before powering-up yor amp but you've heard that before. I always turn my amp to standby prior to turning the power off and make sure that the standby switch hasn't been flipped when it was off before turning it on. I may not always turn my amp all the way down before turning it off so in order not to to have a big "thump" or surge into the speakers when I turn my amp on, I make sure that it is on standby. It seems that few have addressed the concern for your speakers with a straight power-surge so there you have it.
All the best. Tubers have a wonderful tim ... uh, tone.
 
#93
TjD said:
This is the information I'm looking for. But I want to be sure: can I turn up the master volume to full (and set gain to taste) without harming my amp?
Because to my ears, that sounds better than cranking the gain full up and set the master to required volume...

Thx!

Tom
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Absolutely, there's really no concern to your amp at all. Your cab might have something else to say about it :P
But it won't hurt your amp at all.
 
#95
Another question for you all regarding ventilation, and heat production.

My Peavey does not have any cooling fans, but seems to be well vented with mesh grating on the front and back. I know that tubes run hot as normal operating procedures, but when is hot, too hot? Should I think about supplementing heat extraction by adding a computer-style fan, or leave it alone? And as a related question, some gigs I've played in the past has me and my rig packed very tightly into a corner, so is ambient circulation an important factor as well?
:bassist:
 
#96
joelb79 said:
Rule number 4:
Cary a solid-state backup to all gigs. Tubes are not the most reliable and require extra care in handling. Even with kid gloves, they are fragile. Don't be stuck without an amp at the gig. Bring the backup!
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I often wonder how I managed to get by from 1970 until 1984 what with going on stage and crisscrossing the country several times with just one tube amp.
 
#98
DO - unplug it when you ain't using it.

Years agoTM​ when a piggyback Fender Bassman (with two twelves no less) was the latest and greatest new toy in the store, we'd get to the gig, bring in the guitars amd amps and set up the PA and the lights while everything else assumed room temperature.

Then I'd set the head on the cab (and bolt it down), plug the cord into the cab (it stayed connected to the head) flipped on the power switch and proceeded to uncase the basses.
Yes I said basses, since 1973 I could count the gigs on one hand where I've only used one bass.
Afer I had my basses ready, but before I plugged one in, I'd flick the standby switch and see if there was any strange noise. If not I'd then plug in and tune up. Then I'd flick standby again and go get sit down.

When we took a 15 or 20 minute break I'd flick standby and go get a drink and see how many women I could repulse before the next set. Unless something was going to be longer than an hour, I'd never even consider turning the amp completely off. That's what standby is for.

After the break I put on my bass flick the standby switch and get back to "work".

At the end of the night I'd flick both off together and pack up my basses first and the amp afterwards. Nothing went outside until everything was packed and ready to be loaded. That way we avoided as many temperature changes as possible.

If the gig was for more than one night I'd unplug my gear from the AC mains.
I can recall one gig where we walked in on Saturday night and the early morning thunderstorm had resulted in a lightning strike on a transformer several blocks away.
My unplugged Traynor YGL-3A was the only thing still operational.
Everything else had power supplies full of fried diodes.

Between this regimen and good/regular maint. I managed to never have a tube amp go down.
 

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