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  1. Originally posted by U2Nick:[..]

    My Uncle told me that something needs to be replaced every six months or so in tube amps. He told me that the player will not notice it unless he / she puts recording from months apart side by side. Anyway, I hope that's not the case.

    Imagine walking through the park then hearing 400 watts of guitar power blasting out of nowhere...


    I have never heard about replacing the speakers. And I imagine that you would need to replace the valves in 6 months time only if you use the thing cranked up all the way every day for some hours.
  2. Originally posted by thechicken:[..]

    I have never heard about replacing the speakers. And I imagine that you would need to replace the valves in 6 months time only if you use the thing cranked up all the way every day for some hours.


    If you use a tube amp "regularly," how often would the valves need to be replaced?

    "Regular" being something like...
    1/4 - 1/2 volume three days a week for about two hours each day, with one day of 3/4 to full power for four hours.
  3. Originally posted by U2Nick:[..]

    If you use a tube amp "regularly," how often would the valves need to be replaced?

    "Regular" being something like...
    1/4 - 1/2 volume three days a week for about two hours each day, with one day of 3/4 to full power for four hours.


    Meh. Like I said, I use mine about a quarter the way up usually, for probably 1-2 hours a day, everyday, and the only thing I've ever had to replace were the tubes because a few of them blew, I guess they were bad from the beginning. Other than that it sounds fine, and when I brought it in for a tube change, which was almost 2 years after I'd had it, they said everything else was hunky dory. I can see maybe someone that gigs regularily to a very large crowd WITHOUT a mic'd amp system needing to do an oil change every so often, but for what you would use it for, you'd be fine.
  4. Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:On another note, I just purchased a new amp (my third one now to be exact). A ZT Lunchbox! Mick from The Unforgettable Fire raves about this thing (as do others) because of its incredible sound and super small size. I was looking for a small amp for my bedroom for practising (AC30 is too big for my room, and the blues jr is at my drummers house for band practising) so this was the ticket. According to him, it's ultra clean and takes effects really well, so now my "mini-gear" conquest begins!


    I.
    Want.
    That.

    NOW.
  5. Originally posted by U2Nick:[..]

    If you use a tube amp "regularly," how often would the valves need to be replaced?

    "Regular" being something like...
    1/4 - 1/2 volume three days a week for about two hours each day, with one day of 3/4 to full power for four hours.


    I honestly don't have experience with velves, but I hear that they usually last about 5 years in moderate use. I have heard about some bass amps that have valves that are 40+ years old, but they were probably not used to get distortion, so they were not pushed to the limit.
    I don't think that it will be an issue. The distortion from valves is much better than the distorion from transistors. The only bad thing that I see about valve amps is that they are heavy.
  6. ...and expensive.
  7. Do tube amps sound "better" or just "different"?
  8. (from my experience and what I've heard)


    Both
  9. I want one so bad but amps are so damn expensive.
  10. Me too. I'd rather stick with my cheap transistor guitar and get another beautiful six-string machine, than "wasting" (I know it's not the right verb, because a good amp is neccesary, etc.) my money in an expensive amp. I know I'm wrong in this, but that's how I feel.


  11. Better is always subjective, but I would say that 99% of the great distortion tones you hear are from valve amps. That being said, you can get away with a decent external unit that emulates the "valve sound".
  12. Let's just say this.

    Edge uses AC30's-tube amps
    John Mayer uses his Two Rock amps-tube amps
    SRV used his dumble-tube amp
    Hendrix used the old Marshall JCM-tube amps (I think, I don't know Hendrix's gear too well)

    Nuff said.
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