- Thread starter Supreeth
- Start date
SteveB
Well-known member
Supreeth,
Welcome to tube world!
I have two Peavey tube amps (Classic 120/120 rackmount power amp, and a Triple XXX head), plus an old Fender Vibroluxe Reverb which is all tube.
I love them all.
Wait until that sucka gets nice and hot after it's been on for a few hours! I love an amp you can cook an egg on!
As mentioned above, be sure to utilize the standby. To do this, turn the power on and leave the standby on (i.e. where you can't hear anything). Let the tubes warm up for a few minutes (5 or so?) and then turn the standby off so that you can hear the amp.
When you're done playing, turn the standby on again for a few minutes before turning the power off. This will help preserve the usable life of your tubes.
Welcome to tube world!
I have two Peavey tube amps (Classic 120/120 rackmount power amp, and a Triple XXX head), plus an old Fender Vibroluxe Reverb which is all tube.
I love them all.
Wait until that sucka gets nice and hot after it's been on for a few hours! I love an amp you can cook an egg on!
As mentioned above, be sure to utilize the standby. To do this, turn the power on and leave the standby on (i.e. where you can't hear anything). Let the tubes warm up for a few minutes (5 or so?) and then turn the standby off so that you can hear the amp.
When you're done playing, turn the standby on again for a few minutes before turning the power off. This will help preserve the usable life of your tubes.
mhorse
Well-known member
SteveB said:
SteveB, C30 is a class A amp, it doesn't have a standby (I'm not sure if these 2 facts are connected, but it seems that way). I was always wondering what's the correct way to warm them up? Just let them sit there with guitar pluged-in at 0 volume?
SteveB
Well-known member
mhorse said:
mhorse,
Hmm. I didn't realize that the Peavey Classic tube combos had no standby. Ya learn something new every day! In that case, I would warm it up by turning it on with nothing plugged into the inputs for a few minutes. That way there's no chance of signal to be processed through the tubes.
I had a Peavey Heritage combo amp for years, which had a standby switch. (Actually, the switch was 100% power when up, standby in the middle, and 25% power when down.)
Also, my Peavey Classic 120/120 has one standby switch for each channel. I just can't figure why they'd have none on the C30.
Supreeth
Well-known member
Thanks guys. I absolutely love the dynamic response of the tube amp. It really makes me want to play more (unlike the earlier solid state amp I had).
mhorse, I still haven't slammed any pedals into the C30. I'm still enjoying playing straight through the amp with no effects!
Steve, thanks for the tip on warming up the amp. The C30 has no stand by switch which I found quite weird to be honest. I have noticed that the amp generates a lot of heat. Is this normal or should I get a fan and point it at the tubes?
mhorse, I still haven't slammed any pedals into the C30. I'm still enjoying playing straight through the amp with no effects!
Steve, thanks for the tip on warming up the amp. The C30 has no stand by switch which I found quite weird to be honest. I have noticed that the amp generates a lot of heat. Is this normal or should I get a fan and point it at the tubes?
mhorse
Well-known member
tvanveen said:
You're probably right. However most small EL-84/6V6 based class A amps that I've seen don't have a standby switch. Perhaps someone with electrical engineering background could elaborate more on that. I now nothing about electronics, I've just noticed the pattern.
What exactly happens when you put an amp into standby mode?
mhorse
Well-known member
Supreeth said:
I think the heat is normal. My Mesa generates some heat too, but yours probably generates more. If you go to Mesa's website there is a article there about different tube amp configurations and such, and from that article I picked up that EL84s (which are inside your C30) are usually used in class A push-pull configuration, class A meaning that the idle current through the tubes is half the full current, while in class AB it's more like 10%. So your amp should run relativlely hot.
Here's the link to the article http://www.mesaboogie.com/US/Smith/founder_s_articles.htm
vexed73
Well-known member
I have a modified Carvin Bel Air. I feel it is about the best sounding vintage amp. With the mods it will do just about anything. Just my worthless input.
SteveB
Well-known member
Don't worry about the heat unless something bursts into flame. And even then, only if major property damage seems likely. 
Seriously though, don't sweat the heat. That's what tubes do.. they get hot and throw the heat. Did you think I was joking about cooking an egg on a tube amp?
You can point a fan in the direction of your tubes if you want, I don't think it could hurt... anything to help dissipate heat is generally good. But beware introducing 60-cycle hum into your amp when the fan is on if you run it on the same circuit.
Seriously though, don't sweat the heat. That's what tubes do.. they get hot and throw the heat. Did you think I was joking about cooking an egg on a tube amp?
You can point a fan in the direction of your tubes if you want, I don't think it could hurt... anything to help dissipate heat is generally good. But beware introducing 60-cycle hum into your amp when the fan is on if you run it on the same circuit.
mhorse said:
As I understand it, standby switches are more of a function of the size of the amp. The standby switch allows the tubes to warm up before high voltage is applied, allowing longer tube life. Without the standby switch, the tubes would get too much of a starting jolt, if that makes sense.
The difference between Class A and AB is a bit over my head.
Pundix
Well-known member
Supreeth said:
Supreeth,
The clean channel on both of those amps is very good. Not too sure about the crunch channel of either. Is it just price that is keeping you in the range of those particular amps? I happen to have a VHT Pitbull 50/12 that's looking for a new home. Email me if you have any interest.
Ron
Pundix
Well-known member
John C said:
John,
Do the C(lh)ubster series Rivera's sound pretty much like their R series amps? I've had an R-30, R-55, and the 100watter and liked them all very much. They're a bit pricey though...
John C
Well-known member
Pundix said:
Pundix - the Clubster/Pubster are really different from the other Rivera series in design; they are supposed to be more like the Fender SuperChamp than anything (granted, I haven't played a Rivera-designed Fender in about 20 years).
The Chubster amps are pretty much R-Series with wider cabinets to add bass response - I've actually never played an R-series, only a couple of Chubster 40s, which are great amps but a bit more than I need right now. I would assume the Chubster 40 is a boosted-output R30 with the wider cabinet and the Chubster 55 is an R-50 with the wider cabinet.
The dealer I'm getting the Clubster from only had the 2 sizes of Clubster, 2 sizes of Pubster, and a Fandango 100 watt, so I didn't get to do a comparison between the Clubster and the Chubster.
