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How does a Tube Guitar Amp Work?
I have a Solid State amp and am thinking about getting a tube amp and I'm a little confused about how they work. When do you use the standy and on switches and care for the amp properly?
The principle is the same. Signal comes in, and instead of transistors, at each tube this small signal on one side of the tube influences the much larger signal flowing through the other side of the tube, so that the output signal is almost identical to the input signal, just much larger. Repeat three to five times, add some caps and resistors and whatnot for EQ, and that's the basics of a tube amp. Well, the super simple explanation.
To make that transferal of small signal to large signal a vacuum tube needs some juice - some heat. To get 'em hot takes a few seconds. So to get the power flowing you turn on the power, but the full voltage isn't applied to the tubes... don't want to hit 'em with too much juice at once. So that's what the standby switch is all about. Turn on the power, wait a minute, then turn it from standby to on. The manual that came with my Mesa Boogie suggested a turn-on time of about a minute, so that's what I go by with every tube amp that I use.
If you have the amp on but won't be playing it for a while (10+ minutes), flip it to standby for that time period. When you're ready to turn it off, flip it to standby, wait a minute, then turn it all the way off.
I don't think that *not* doing this will break your amp or anything, but tubes aren't built as well these days as they used to be, and you want to maximize their lifespan. Doing this stuff keeps 'em alive a lot longer... and reduces the chance of them blowing during a gig!
Oh yeah, and never turn an amp all the way on unless it's plugged into a speaker cab. It damages the amp. Apparently it's okay with solid state amps, but it is *not* *not* *not* with tube amps.
So don't do it. Always double-check to make sure the amp is plugged into the speaker cabinet before you flip that switch off of standby.
...
Oh yeah, ratings. Amps are rated for how much clean power they can deliver. Transistor amps function by delivering clean power pretty much up until they saturate/overload at which point they sound like crap. Tube amps with the same power rating will saturate sooner, much sooner, long before they overload, and so can deliver less clean power. What that means is that if amp A is solid-state and can deliver 100w, it will be rated at 100w. If amp B is a tube amp and can deliver the same power rating, it may only be able to deliver 40-60 watts of clean power... of even less! After that it starts to distort. It still delivers the power, but the signal isn't clean... it has distortion, or harmonics, added to it. Interestingly enough, these harmonics tend to be musically pleasing to our ears, and we tend to hear them as pleasant, sweet, chimey, etc.
So what I'm trying to say is that the tube amp rated 50 watts is actually going to be just as loud, and probably a lot, lot louder, than that solid-state amp rated at 100 watts. I say this from personal experience.
Tube amps are fun... swapping tubes out can color your amp tone in interesting new ways, and can sometimes add that sparkle you've been looking for.
Ummm... don't swap out power tubes without asking a tech if it needs to be re-biased. You don't have to rebias for preamp tubes (12ax7, etc), and those are a lot of fun to swap out. Try JJ's, I like them a lot.
Don't let your amp get too cold, don't leave it in the car or garage overnight (at least the head), etc. Swap out the tubes every year or two, or if you play it a lot (20+ hours a week), then swap 'em out every year or year and a half.
Power tubes MUST be matched, it's way safer for your amp that way. Preamp tubes don't. Don't put a 12ax7 in where a 12au7 is, if it's for reverb, it'll be too much gain and the reverb will sound like junk.
The Spider III is NOT a tube amp. Sure, it looks like one, and even has nice tubes that glow like christmas ornaments. It sure doesn't sound like one though! Play it, then compare it to a real tube amp... it may have the volume, but it doesn't have that sweet tube warmth!
That's all I can think of for now. Ask lots of questions, google is your friend! And good luck, whichever way you go! (although I think there is no turning back for me now!) =)
Saul
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Guitar tube amp power lesson Marshall Mesa Vox Fender Line 6
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Tags: amp tube replacement, amp tubes guide, diy, amp tube bias, tube, guitar