new at all tube

[Jean-Frédéric]

Hi, guess I'm paranoied but I bought a Delta Blues Amps yesterday , and I have to say it's my first tube lamp amp , so I just need some info

how do you know when the lamp is dead

cause this morning at one point the sound cuted , I shut down the amp , and I may have moved knobs so the sound was back when I turned it back on , but I was lookin' at my tubes , and the first ( the one under the tremolo option ) has some smokey white in the bothom , and doesn't light up while the seccond one is verry bright compare to all the others.

is one of my tube already burned ? or how does it show , are all lamp supposed to light ?

thanks

 

[candid_x]

Welcome to the wonderful and awful world of tube amps.

First, make sure you let the amp warm up before playing through it. I don't recall if the Delta Blues has a standby switch.. don't think it does. But let it warm up awhile before playing. Turning a tube amp on and immediately wailing through it is a very bad idea, very hard on tubes.

It depends which tubes are loaded in your amp. Some preamp tubes glow a lot more than others. But it's quite possible one may have fried or broke enroute. That's just part and partial of using tube amps. Tubes are relatively delicate little critters.

Is the amp new/stock or used? If new, I'd pull the tube that looks bad and replace it. If used, it may be a tad more complicated, but it never hurts to replace the tubes. It's also a good idea to carry a couple spares with you when you gig.

 

[Spudmurphy]

It's good advice from Candid - I used tube amps on the road for 10+ years and never broke one.
If your amp has a power switch and a standby switch then the first thing is to turn on the power switch - leave it for about 60 seconds and then turn on the standby.
Leave for another minute.
Switch off following the above instructions in reverse.

Ah laying on top of warm amps in the back of .. ... ... .. .. ... ...

 

[GoKart_MoZart]

<<I used tube amps on the road for 10+ years and never broke one.>> You would've if you hadn't had spares!

 

[58super]

If a tube is white at the bottom it is dead. The silver part (the flashing) will turn white when exposed to air so it looks like the glass is broken.

Tube amps are pretty robust. There's lots of 50 year old F@nd@r's going strong.
Let's see how many solid state amps can make that claim.

 

[Jean-Frédéric]

yeah I just manage to take the tube out of the socket , the one with some white, and it was cracked , so I called the store I have to bring the amp back to the store , hopefully I'll get there on monday , cause my dad's away for the weekend and he'll be pissed , he hates driving downtown ...

and yeah thanks for the tips , it doesn't tell you that stuff in those manual nowadays , it's in 3 languages , but not a single useful clue ,.... it doesn't have a stand by , but I,ll give it a good minute of warming up all every time ,

guess it's not good to play with a dead tube right ?

 

[Jimmyb]

It's good advice from Candid - I used tube amps on the road for 10+ years and never broke one.
If your amp has a power switch and a standby switch then the first thing is to turn on the power switch - leave it for about 60 seconds and then turn on the standby.
Leave for another minute.
Switch off following the above instructions in reverse.

Ah laying on top of warm amps in the back of .. ... ... .. .. ... ...

Good advice from the Spudmeister!

One thing that I did hear, which makes a bit of sense, is that you can kill the main power without switching to standby first. This way it puts a load on the capacitors and discharges quicker....

I do it this way with my Hiwatt and haven't noticed any problems yet....

 

[candid_x]

guess it's not good to play with a dead tube right ?

Nope. And I'd give it more like 10 minutes of warm up before plugging in and/or turning up.

And I'd buy a spare. Or 12. Just kidding; I enjoy tinkering with different tubes.

 

[candid_x]

It's good advice from Candid - I used tube amps on the road for 10+ years and never broke one.

I never started out with a bad tube, but have had a couple die or fizzle during gigs. Was that due to rattling around in the back of a truck, or did it just up and die? Dunno. Better to be prepared with backup, imo.

 

[Dead-Eye]

Nope. And I'd give it more like 10 minutes of warm up before plugging in and/or turning up.

That's a lot I think. My father and I never let the amps warm up for more than 30 seconds, and the Mesa Mk3 he's been using for more than 10 years now hasn't complained yet.

Does the Delta Blues possibly work like the Classic 30, which doesn't have a standby either but simply produces no sound right after being turned on?

 

[candid_x]

Guess I'm conservative.

 

[Larry]

I only let the tubes heat up for like 2 minutes always worked for me.

 

[Jean-Frédéric]

yeah it does have that pseudo "stand by' where no sound is produced for about 30 sec , it is a warming up i guess , but I will wait a lil more before strumming ,

yet I 'm verry bummed tho my parents were out of town for 2 days I was supposed to really mess around the amp for 2 days solid and make it my own and all , and now i have to wait 3 days to take it back to the store for a new tube , good thing it's under waranty still , tho it's a pain .... how the heck did I bust a tube in less than a day ..

 

[Spudmurphy]

blame it on the boogie!!!

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

I retired from this world a few years ago. I love Solid State!

 

[Sweat]

I retired from this world a few years ago. I love Solid State!

Curiuos Tim since you retired from the tube world, I am only getting started as well, what are you using?

 

[Larry]

I believe hes using a Line 6 Vetta. Or my memory might be completely wrong.

 

[glockaxis]

Line 6 is supposed to be coming out w/ something brand new the next couple of months. Speculation is that it's something in conjunction w/ Bogner. Who knows?

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

I believe hes using a Line 6 Vetta. Or my memory might be completely wrong.

Close! Its a Line 6 Duoverb. Just like a Vetta (2x12 combo, two amps at once LOUD) but no effects. I bought it as a spare when I had my Engl rig, but when the Engl went wrong all the time I grew to like it. I now have 3! I bought one as a spare, and got offered a great deal on the 3rd.

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

Line 6 is supposed to be coming out w/ something brand new the next couple of months. Speculation is that it's something in conjunction w/ Bogner. Who knows?

Really? Do you know any more about it?