How often do you replace your valves??

population

Am reasonably new to the valve amp ownership end of things (tiny terror btw) and just wondering how often people here would recommend to replace the valves?

Mataguri

population wrote: »

Am reasonably new to the valve amp ownership end of things (tiny terror btw) and just wondering how often people here would recommend to replace the valves?

The only two times I change tubes are:

(1) When the amp is brand new and I feel it will sound better if I replace the stock tubes with better premium tubes.

or

(2) When the tubes start acting up (volume drops, distortion lacking gain etc).

Depending on a lot of factors tubes can last a long time. My Triaxis still has its original tubes and thats around 7 years old now.

Eoin Madsen

Changing valves every year or two is normal practice. After a while of use there is a gradual loss of frequency response, transient response, and amplification.

Valves are not lightbulbs - it's not advisable to wait till they fail or show symptoms of damage. As often as not, valve failures result in the destruction of other components in the amp.

It's a good idea to change out the stock valves for something nicer, since they're usually not great.

dermo909

If you take care of the amp there's no reason why the valves wont last a long time. If you warm up the amp properly in standby and turn it off using standby the valves should last ages. If you play it at full blast all the time though you'll wear out the output valves a bit faster than if you just played it at home on the 7w setting with low master volume.
I dont think the valves in the TT are too bad, I've had mine for 6 months and it has'nt even crossed my mand to change them out. I think your choice of cab will affect your tone more than a valve change.
Oh yeah, back to topic! Valves need changing when the amp starts sounding different or pops and hisses. The TT is a very quiet amp so if it starts acting up change out the valves.

Paolo_M

Couple of things with valves:

• Rectifier and power valves do the work, preamp valves have relatively easy life. Because of this rectifier and power valves are quite like light bulbs in that they have a limited working life. Preamp valves do not have this restriction.
  There's no rectifier valve in a TT so you don't need to worry about it.
• All valves, like any electronic device, can fail at random for no reason.
• Any knock or bang the amp takes is likely to damage a valve in some way. It may not cause an immediate failure but will reduce the working life of the valve.

With "regular playing" (gigging/rehearsing 2/3 a week) I'd be changing power valves and rectifier valve(s) (if present) every 18 months. This prevents them from reaching their expected life. Because they handle relatively large amounts of power bad stuff happens when they fail and , as Eoin says, it's best not to let it go that far. It's not quite as serious as not changing the timing belt in your car, but think along those lines.


There's no reason why a preamp valve wouldn't last a life time, other that a knock or a random failure. For that reason I only change them when they either a. fail or b. I want a different tone.

Dord

Well, in my current amp I've changed them once since I got it. The valves that were in there were fairly old though (Westinghouse) from the 70's I think?

In fairness I did put some NOS RCA's in there... sounds better though.

Organeer

If valves are allowed to warm up for at least 2 minutes before playing, this will make a big difference to their useful lifespan. Also, it depends on the amount & type of playing you do. If you are constantly "redlining" the valves they will naturally have a shorter working life. Making sure they are properly biased is important. Some amps are fixed bias & some are adjustable. Another point to note is to let the amp cool down before moving it at the end of a session, because hot components are much more fragile than cold ones.

-=al=-

every eyar or two maybe, depends how much use or if theres any sound issues are there

population

Interesting stufff. Basically I am finding the amp is lacking bite lately and I do not know if this is related but the volume diff between the 7w and 15w settings is practically non existant for some reason where as previously the difference would blow you away?

I like how the tiny terror sounds but I am listening to a lot of Doug Aldrich lately so if I were to change out the valves what would you recommend for a cutting rock sound??? Also should I switch out both preamp and pweramp valves?

Eoin Madsen

I'd fire in a set of JJs and see how that sounds. Replace them both to begin with.