Warming Up Tubes

[Korladis]

I mean as it is cooling. If you play through it, it distorts the same as playing through it right when you turn it on, but obviously fading out rather than coming up to full sound.

I'm not sure that's really harmful. It just doesn't sound all that great.

At rehearsal, I do generally put it into standby before turning it off, but that's because my amp is up so high I have to use a broken drum stick to flip the power switches, and so can only flip one switch at a time.

 

[Sneakypete]

In my first five years of bass-playing I used a valve/tube amp (Selmer Treble'n'Bass 50) because in the 60's s/hand ones were cheaper than those new-fangled SS types!
I just treated the standby switch as though it were a Mute switch (which in fact it is) and never had any problems. You worry too much - as my old granny used to say.

 

[lem8r]

You wait with SS amps too. This is to make sure the circuit has stabilized from an ambient start. All electronic parts (including transistors) drift with temperature change. Once power flows in any circuit, it will warm itself up since any energy loss is converted to heat.

That is what I mean. Yes, amp will play right after standby off with no harm for tubes but better to "cook" it a little before playing.

 

[BassmanPaul]

In my first five years of bass-playing I used a valve/tube amp (Selmer Treble'n'Bass 50) because in the 60's s/hand ones were cheaper than those new-fangled SS types!
I just treated the standby switch as though it were a Mute switch (which in fact it is) and never had any problems. You worry too much - as my old granny used to say.

This I find interesting as I have no memory of the TB50 having a standby switch. Very few, if any, UK made amps of that era had them. I know that VOX amps did not. That's how I remember those days. I do remember that the US imports like Fender and my Epiphone Constellation did have them. Well the Epi had a rotary switch with Off, Standby, On and On with the grounding cap to phase and neutral.

 

[okcrum]

That is what I mean. Yes, amp will play right after standby off with no harm for tubes but better to "cook" it a little before playing.

Well, actually, waiting before adjusting bias was the point of your statement, not waiting before playing. Two different things, don't you know. Bias will be close immediately, close enough to start playing right away. Close enough not to notice any difference in sound. Close enough not to matter to component life. Unless an amp is broken, it won't move any electronic parameters more than about 10% from cold to 30 min. warmup, including the bias.

You don't wait 20 min. for the bias to stabilize on your SS amp, do you?

So, no, it's not better to "cook" your amp for awhile, it just runs up the hours on the components.

 

[Mr. Foxen]

This I find interesting as I have no memory of the TB50 having a standby switch. Very few, if any, UK made amps of that era had them. I know that VOX amps did not. That's how I remember those days. I do remember that the US imports like Fender and my Epiphone Constellation did have them. Well the Epi had a rotary switch with Off, Standby, On and On with the grounding cap to phase and neutral.

Same, my Carlsbros, Burman and Matamp don't have standbys. My recent Ashdown does, but it is just a mute rather than shutting off the HT, makes them a nutpain on which to work. Plus you can't do the hit much to silence after massive feedback ending, it tails off instead.

 

[Sneakypete]

This I find interesting as I have no memory of the TB50 having a standby switch. Very few, if any, UK made amps of that era had them. I know that VOX amps did not. That's how I remember those days. I do remember that the US imports like Fender and my Epiphone Constellation did have them. Well the Epi had a rotary switch with Off, Standby, On and On with the grounding cap to phase and neutral.

Could be my memory is playing tricks after 40 years! I could have sworn there were two switches though - mains and standby. It had a lot of owners before me so possibly someone retro-fitted it. You know what they say about the 60's - if you can remember them you weren't really there. Our lead guitarist at the time had a monstrous 200W all valve head and a pair of 4x12's by a (British) company called Axis - since those days I've never met a single person who's even heard of them. Does anyone remember Simms-Watt? Got me thinking now - we also used an endless tape-echo unit that was very common at the time - but the name completely escapes me. Old age don't come by itself.

 

[BassmanPaul]

Can't say I know the name Axis but it does somehow seem familiar. Echo was the Watkins Copycat. Simms-Watt I know of, Bassmec has some of those.