How long do tubes last

If you spot discolorations or see that the entire top of the tube is stained with a milky coating, than air has entered the tube. It is defective and must be replaced. This EL34 tube sucked some air. The vacuum is history; the getter is white and milky, a sure sign that the tube has come to a sad end. Defective tubes should be disposed of properly like all other electrical components. The second case that would make a tube swap at least worth considering has to do with dirt and residue sealed inside the tube when it was made.

They can be time bombs that upend gigs with their nasty surprises. If foreign matter is burned in, the tube will be reliable and you will on the safe side.

If not, the worst case is that it will short-circuit and silence the amp. Incidentally, this explains the oddity of all-tube amps failing either very early or not at all. Wear, oxidation inside and aging are the logical consequences of operation. They can be detected, but their effects are not nearly as audible as is commonly believed.

The degradation is gradual and very slow, so the sonic consequences are going to be difficult if not impossible to discern, at least in the early stages. So if concerns about the life of a tube have been keeping you awake at night you can rest easy now. They do tend to last longer and operate more reliably than some would have us believe. Defects occur either very early if any residue inside is not burned in, or when they can be expected to occur because the tube is approaching the end of its service life.

Problems with the vacuum inside the tube are extremely rare. If it lacks such a device, you should leave the task of swapping power tubes to professionals who can also match them and bias the amp properly.

All-tube tone is not some luxury for a select few to enjoy. This might be a stupid question but what is the blue cover on just one of the preamp tubes for? Hi Mike, the blue cover is just a shield to protect the tube from radiation. Hi folks, I changed the valves of my fairly new GM 40 Dl for a full set of Watford and the improvement in clarity just blew me away. However, after switching it on the other day, no whatsoever sound came out; the 2 middle red lights at the back on.

What do you think may have happened? Hi there. I have an Access preamp purchased in , the two tubes are marked CM1 Can I replace them with brand-new 12AX7? Hi Andrea! Can anybody suggest any reasons why there is no distortion from my lead channel? I hardly use this amp and I always put it on standby before use and knock the amp off the correct way.

Are you getting clean volume, exactly as on the clean channel? My deluxe 20 just died after 3 months. The blue lights all went out and I get zero sound or lights. Is this a tube issues? Are there fuses in the amps? Very bummed. This could be a tube thing, of course, but to us it sounds like a fuse has gone and yes, the amps has fuses!

What could it be? Hi David. Funny you should say that, John, but we also sometimes feel older tubes can be more long-life. Hello, After searching on the internet, I finally found your address. I wanted to ask you a question, please. Is it normal for the Tubemaster deluxe 40 amp head to go off automatically after a few hours? Hi Harry! Yes: there is a feature on our Meister amps called AES.

To save power, AES turns off the amp after 90 minutes of inactivity. To turn the amp on again, you just need to turn the Power and Standby knobs off and on again! Hi guys! I just purchased a used Access Tube pre-amp used of course.

I asked the original owner if he had ever re-tubed. His answer was no. I do have a few questions about setting up the midi operation and if the unit I have can be upgraded to V 2. Can some one help me with that or is this no longer available? Hey there Johnny, great score! The Access was and still is! I run an electronics repair shop here in Maine, and have come across a combo that fits into this discussion.

I even removed all the preamp tubes, and the noise continues. So, indeed, when the guitar plays a certain note that is the resonant frequency of these tubes, they vibrate, being exposed to the sound waves from the back of the speakers. Further, the tubes are mounted on a suspended circuit board, which also vibrates along with the tubes!

A poor design, in my opinion. Had I been the designer, I would have mounted the tube sockets on a secure metal chassis. Also, tubes in combo amps will get slammed with the sound waves that fly out of the speaker…. I never thought of that…. I would think that would also extend the life of the tubes.

Interesting points Mark. Hi Hughes and Kettner blog! I was thinking about changing the stock tubes in my Tubemeister What preamp 12ax7 tubes would fit best in my amp? I am a versatile player but i usually lean to the clean side. Im looking for more headroom to help me with my live gigs when I perform in smaller venues and when I dont have the luck of having a PA system. Hi Dominik. After all, tone is purely personal. Really has not been that long but I am using different power tubes this last time and I've been running on 50watt 2 tube mode.

I know this causes the tubes to become unbalanced from use but I often rotate them for more consistent wear. Of course the amp is biased trim adjusted for whatever power tube is used. I tend to run 12AX7s in my preamp or sometimes I use JAN s in the high gains to take off some of the fizzy gain structure. Lastly, does anyone feel you can get a decent sound out of the newer solid state amps these days?

I've had power tubes go in 10 hours and some lasting 40 years. Running half power mode will wear out tubes much faster.

I've stopped using half power mode in my Hot Cat R New production power tubes are so cheap, if there's any question try changing them. Pre amp tubes generally last decades, this is where I try to put the best tube money. I have discovered that with heavy use and touring alike an amp can be retubed every two years for optimum upkeep and tonality and perfromance.

Other than that tubes last years my friends! I have atube tester to see how much life is left in a tube before splurging hundreds of benjamins on some new tubes. In the Bad Cats, running half power mode pushes the tubes at over 30 watts when they are designed for max recommended operation at 25 watts each. My tech said to leave the amp in watt mode and I haven't had a problem since then.

In a cathode biased amp, it also doesn't help when the wall current is running volts. This may interest you. Dean Roddey. I have a Vibrochamp with the original tubes in it AFAIK, so that's not far from forty years, and it sounds great. Some of that great sound may be in the age of the tubes, I dunno, at least for what I consider a great sound. All these factors have implications on the life time of tubes. In my opinion there is yet no solid state or simulation based amp whose sound has the warmth and richness of an all tube amp.

I have a brownface fender princeton that has all it's original tubes It seems particular to the set for me. I have a very very simple test for tubes. If I hate the sound I'm getting, and I've changed the strings on my axe, then I'll consider the tubes.

Tubes seem to be like snowflakes: No two sets are identical. On a slightly unrelated note, I love the new Tung Sol brand tubes. By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies. Forums New posts Search forums. Articles New articles New comments Search articles. Classifieds New listings New comments Search listings. Log in Register. Search only containers.

Search titles only. Search Advanced search…. New posts. Search forums. Log in. Install the app. JavaScript is disabled.

For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You are using an out of date browser.

It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. How long is the life span of tube amp? Thread starter diablo9 Start date Oct 6, Tags david-yee-6djas7-headphone-amp. Joined Apr 4, Posts Likes I know that SS amp probably can last for decades or longer. But tube amps are depending on the life of tubes, if those are discontinued, it's very impossible to fix it.

And tubes are basically like light bulbs, so how long can they last??? Jahn Headphoneus Supremus Prolificus. Joined Jul 2, Posts 21, Likes Tube amps - forever.