Swapping tubes with a hot soldering iron is not the sort of pastime most of us envision for ourselves. Guys and gals who earn their living with a soldering iron will tell you that hardwiring tubes into the circuit would be a much better option if technical concerns alone mattered. That explains all those sockets in the chassis. The tubes in an amp live shorter lives than semiconductors. On the other hand, aging tubes are not the tone-sucking demons that some people in many forums make them out to be. Most of us don’t cling to those for sentimental reasons we change them when the sparks start flying. The facts aren’t easy for some of us to face, but in the sober light of day our beloved tubes are just wearing parts like the brake pads of a car. Good tubes may get your mojo working, but swapping them when they’re on the brink of zombification – the lights are on, but nobody’s home – won’t mess with your juju. The consensus among connoisseurs of tone is that a creeping deterioration of the amp’s sound sets in as soon as tubes are past their prime.įirst let’s debunk some of the myths. Any component that takes that kind of battering is not going to last forever. If you’ve ever touched a working tube with your bare hands, you’ve felt the truth in that. As discussed in the VTI blog post, tubes – and those big power tubes especially – are exposed to heavy electrical, mechanical and thermal loads. A little healthy curiosity goes a long way: It behooves guitarists to learn more about tubes so they can do a better job of looking after them. Tubes are not as fragile as eggs, but like hatchlings, they do need some tender loving care. Many tube amp owners, unaware of the facts, are overly cautious, guarding the heart of the amp – the power tubes – like a mother hawk watching over her eggs. So let’s talk about how many operating hours of rocking good fun you can expect to enjoy and when it’s high time to retire your old tubes. But the clock is ticking, and sooner or later some will begin to ponder how much life is left in those tubes.
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This all adds up to countless hours of bliss for guitarists. And if they’re equipped with a power soak, a circuit like the TSC to protect tubes, and a DI out such as the Red Box, they offer reliability, utility and outright convenience few would have thought possible just a few years ago. Some modern-day tube amps deliver stunning sound at low wattages. Now, though, thanks to innovative technology we can do this even at low volumes in the comfort of our cribs. It’s always been a treat to revel in the sonic glory of bona fide tube-flavored tone. Playing guitar at home has never been as convenient, rewarding and motivating as it is today.
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We’d like to shed a little light on the topic to banish the darkness from the great tube-swap controversy. The two camps don’t exactly see eye to eye, and their preconceptions and differences of opinion are fuel to the flames of debate raging in many forums. Some guitarists religiously replace the tubes in their amps every two years others never do so, or not until the amp takes a vow of silence.