Warming up the tubes

G

Guitard

New member
I just recently became the proud owner of a Soldano Super Lead 60. :D

I've been playing this amp for hours at a time since I got it. This is my first tube amp, and tube is good.

I usually warm up the amp for 15 or 20 minutes. A couple of times I noticed something while playing. After about an hour and a half to 2 hours into jamming I heard something odd, not a pop or crackle or anything electrical sounding almost like it's not coming from the amp. It's just enough of a sound to make me stop and make sure that no one is at my door or ringing my phone. When I go back to jamming I notice that my tone is much fatter and sluggish sounding kinda like being stoned and listening to, wicked, heavily, overdriven Black Sabbath on a tube stereo, and it sounds the fucking balls!

Is that because the tubes may have just not been fully warmed up before? I'm playing at low volumes and it still sounds pisser. Could it just be warming up slowly because I'am forced to play at low volume late at night?

Which one, Power Brake, or THD Hotplate?

Anybody have any links to sites relevent to the care and feeding of tube amps?
 
Vacuum tubes heat up to operating range within 3-5 minutes.Changes in the sound as the unit continues to heat up are not standard.It could be the tubes getting old.Tap on them and see if that produces a loud click noise.Microphonic tubes should be replaced.
It is also possible some circuit in the amp is heating up and changing your sound.This would be much harder to trace,involving taking a VU meter and taking circuit readings both from the hot and cold states and comparing for variations.
Have you had your amp biased?Tubes need to be closely matched in value to get the best sound.I have watched my tech do this and there is a voltage range (something like 38-42 volts) matched pairs of tubes operate best in.This calls for a bit of technical expertise,so it will be worth your while to seek out and cultivate a friendly relationship with a knowlegeable tech.
Most guitarists agree that good tube amps provide the most pleasing tone,but this dinosaur technology requires you to keep on the maintanance.

Tom
 
I wish I could help you out with the noise issue, but I don't know the answer. I'd recommend taking it in to someone you can trust.
As a side note, you don't really need to warm up for as long as you are. It certainly won't hurt anything, but it isn't necessary. The minimum is usually 30-60 seconds.
Good luck.
 
I'am real new to the "tube scene", and I'm just noticing all these little sounds that get picked up by my guitar that I have never noticed through my solid state amps, and my digital toys which I plug directly into my PC. I noticed just recently that when I type on the keyboard I can hear it through my amp, I could never hear that before.

As for the odd sound and fattening of the tone I thought I was hearing, I'am now thinking it was a combination of sloppy picking and the allergy medication I had taken one and a half to 2 hours earlier, thats about when I would start feeling the side effects.:p I hadn't noticed any odd sounds when I wasn't taking allergy medication, except for the usual interferences from my PC when I face the guitar that way, or when I get too close to the amp and get that buzzing sound from the transformers.

I'm pretty sure that nothing funny is happening with my gear, it's the operator that is the problem. When I'am playing late night I'am also half listening for someone coming to yell at me to turn the damn thing down.
 
I have noticed something similar with my Boogie Mark IV.

I'll be playing a gig and 2 hours into it the amp is just "on". It is a subtlety that probably only I notice but it is "good". Now at gigs I set my amp up first and get it on standby while I take care of everything else so that "on" part comes earlier in my show.
 
All the tube amps I've had over the past 40 years have taken about a half hour to reach the 'magic bubble' phase.
 
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