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Tubes Asylum Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ |
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Tubes Asylum Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ |
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In Reply to: Guitar amp tube wear posted by duffman on August 9, 2014 at 00:18:49:
Ahoy hoy!I can say for certain, yes, it does wear out the tube quicker. However, there are a few things to consider:
- If I understand what I've been reading, there are two ways you can "overdrive" a triode: grid current limiting, and plate cut-off as a function of the plate resistor. I haven't discovered the exact difference in the wear, but if I had to poke a guess, the first has more to do with the tube's cathode and grid, and the latter has more to do with the plate resistor fatiguing, creating noise, or failing outright.
- The DC-Coupled cathode follower design, in its raw form, is hard on tubes when HT is initially applied. Bonus: it's extremely common to find it in guitar amps! It can damage a tube fairly easily, as I have learned both by textbook example (site provided below) and real-life practice. (I usually get sputtering and crap performance). Many of the amps I've worked with use this design, and I've replaced a fair share of 12AX7's because of it (thank you, Ampeg V5). If you're interested, the site provides a nifty work-around to save tubes, I'd suggest looking into it.
- Mechanical wear from the on/off transitions and high-volume rumbles-and-jumbles. Microphonics are really your ultimate killer.My solution to this exact problem was this: seek out recording tones with NOS/hard-to-find tubes, and gig with personal favourite new production tubes.
EDIT: Forgot about power tubes. I noticed power tubes are a little more "forgiving" in the sense they are more "predictable" as far as their replacement schedule. They generally follow the same rules as above save the DC-coupled thing... And with a transformer rather than a plate load... Ya... lol
Tubes...
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May your tubes be lively, warm, and long-lasting. Holy be thy heater.
Edits: 08/09/14 08/09/14
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Follow Ups
- RE: Guitar amp tube wear - TubeAcolyte 00:53:56 08/09/14 (0)
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