Got My Tube Amp!!!!

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marshall409

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WOW. So i walk in to pangettis up here in hamilton and try out a few solidstates. some were okay...in my price range. then my friends dad (an amazing guitar player) points out this steal on a peavey valveking 112. first he plays through the 212 and im blown away. first time ive every really sat down and listened to a tube and the first chord i knew, i was leaving here with a tube amp or no amp. the 212 was out of my price range, so itried out the 112and actually found it more suited to me. the guy was really pushing the 212 hard, which got annoying to the point where i simply said "im not getting that one". 30 pounds and 115$ difference. i dont need that. so iwalked out with the 112. you guys are so right. i walked in trying to find a good solidstate to power my effects, and walked out with an amp that is amazing on its own. 460 CAD with tax, on sale from like 575 with tax. im so happy.

Adam
 
Tube amps are so much better, I don't care what type of music you play. The only problem is when they break downs (especially the new ones) there such a pain in the ass.
 
Tube amps rock. Wait till you get to play a REAL tuber, like a Marshall, or Mesa, or Vox.

Behringer makes some nice....... -nevermind ;) :cool:
 
congrats man.

killmachine said:
Tube amps are so much better, I don't care what type of music you play. The only problem is when they break downs (especially the new ones) there such a pain in the ass.
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you could always learn how a tube amp ticks and at least keep up the simple maintenance your self.
 
jaykeMURD said:
Tube amps rock. Wait till you get to play a REAL tuber, like a Marshall, or Mesa, or Vox.

Behringer makes some nice....... -nevermind ;) :cool:
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Man I'll tell you, I tried all the jcm2000 series marshalls and was extremely disappointed. However there hasn't been a single Mesa that I've tried that I haven' liked. Amazing amps and incredible build quality. I liked the way the Vox's sound but I witnessed one(brand new) blow up within 10 minutes of playing it.
 
jonnyc said:
Man I'll tell you, I tried all the jcm2000 series marshalls and was extremely disappointed. However there hasn't been a single Mesa that I've tried that I haven' liked. Amazing amps and incredible build quality. I liked the way the Vox's sound but I witnessed one(brand new) blow up within 10 minutes of playing it.
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When I say Tube Marshalls, I mean the older 50w amps....the classic stuff. The lower powered jcm's seem to sound better to me also.
 
uhhhhhh im retarded

ok soo uhh. ive used it quite a bit by now. but how exactly am i SUPPOSED to turn it on? i have googled, and it seems its like the worlds most confusing thing to these people out here in the internet. what ive been doing is turning standby on (switch up), waiting for about 30 seconds-a minute, then turning power on. when i turn it off, i do the reverse, power off, then standby off after a minute. is this right? man i feel dumb. and i rtfm already.

Adam
 
marshall409 said:
what ive been doing is turning standby on (switch up), waiting for about 30 seconds-a minute, then turning power on. when i turn it off, i do the reverse, power off, then standby off after a minute. is this right?
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thats the way i have always done it
 
Other way round! With the Standby switch set to OFF, turn on the Power switch. This will power up the tube heaters (which takes about 15 seconds, let's say), THEN turn on the Standby switch, which turns on the high voltage to the plates of the tubes. In the Standby OFF position, no sound will be heard through the amp.

This serves two purposes:

Firstly, it prevents 'cathode stripping' of the tubes, (particularly in those big output tubes), which occurs when a 'cold' tube' has full power applied to both its heater and plate(s).

It also allows the tubes to 'idle' between sets by setting Standby to OFF: at the beginning of your next set, by flipping Standby to ON, the amp is ready to go again (no warmup/stabilizing time necessary since the heaters are already up and running).
 
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thanks....i think.....????

thanks guys. would anyone else care to help clear this up as i have gotten two opposite replies? thanks .alot
Adam
 
marshall409 said:
thanks guys. would anyone else care to help clear this up as i have gotten two opposite replies? thanks .alot
Adam
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The Power should be off...
StandBy should be on...which means the amp isn't making any noise because its standing by...hence, Stand By.

Both switches will be the same direction at this point and the amp completely off.

Now flip the Power to ON and let it warm up a while. A minute should be fine.
Now flip the Stand By switch OFF (which will be the same position as the Power switch).

Now you can play your amp.
 
i'm not sure if I agree with that....I could be wrong, but if the power is off, there is no power going to the amp which means having standby on is doing nothing for you right? You need the power on and standby on...no sound will be going through the amp, the tubes will just be warming up. Then after a while you turn standby off and the sound will come through. I could just be confused because of reading this thread, but I'm 85% sure that's right (I need to go look at my amp I guess)...
 
astoebe said:
i'm not sure if I agree with that....I could be wrong, but if the power is off, there is no power going to the amp which means having standby on is doing nothing for you right? You need the power on and standby on...no sound will be going through the amp, the tubes will just be warming up. Then after a while you turn standby off and the sound will come through. I could just be confused because of reading this thread, but I'm 85% sure that's right (I need to go look at my amp I guess)...
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Correct - Power must be on for anything to occur at all. So Power ON (to warm up the tubes), THEN Standby ON (to get sound).

I think the confusion arises when referring to the status of the Standby switch. On a Marshall, at least, the Power and Standby switch share the same position at which they are on and off. By this alone, there should be no confusion as to switch ststus and what they are doing respectively.
 
robin watson said:
Correct - Power must be on for anything to occur at all. So Power ON (to warm up the tubes), THEN Standby ON (to get sound).

I think the confusion arises when referring to the status of the Standby switch. On a Marshall, at least, the Power and Standby switch share the same position at which they are on and off. By this alone, there should be no confusion as to switch ststus and what they are doing respectively.
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When the amp is making noise standby is OFF...even on a Marshall. Both switches will be UP. Standby would then be consider OFF because its not standing by.

Edit:....due to the English doing things wrong, standby is considered OFF when the amp is playing....I guess thats using the same logic as driving on the left side of the road. :D

But for some reason that photo is confusing me because I remember my JCK900 having the switches flip upwards to turn on the power...and in this one they are both down. :confused:


Either way....both switches need to be in the same direction and then the Power goes first, and the Standby second if you are powering up the amp from it being off.

Edit again:
I get it....Mashall considers it IN Standby and Amp ON. But that still doesn't change why they are flipped downwards lol.
 
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Outlaws said:
The Power should be off...
StandBy should be on...which means the amp isn't making any noise because its standing by...hence, Stand By.

Both switches will be the same direction at this point and the amp completely off.

Now flip the Power to ON and let it warm up a while. A minute should be fine.
Now flip the Stand By switch OFF (which will be the same position as the Power switch).

Now you can play your amp.
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This is the way to do it. Standby ON means that the amp is on standby and will not put out any sound. Come on guys! It's common sense.

BTW, I've been on a quest for a good tube amp lately and I played a couple of the Fender blackface re-isuues, a twin and a deluxe. I would strongly sugguest to anyone that's looking for this type of amp to stay away from the newer stuff. These things sound pretty lifeless compared to the original blackfaces or even an old modded silverface. I know the sales guy at the store that I tried the amps out at and he let me crank em up and to see what they could do. I was'nt impressed at all and the twin died after about 5 minutes of moderate volume playing.

As a matter of fact, I've tried out alot of new tube amps lately and was'nt really impressed with any of them. I think a guy would either have to buy an old amp, self build, or get something boutique to get a good tube amp these days. I'm not preaching to you hi gain metal heads. I'm talking about rock n roll tone.
 
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Outlaws said:
When the amp is making noise standby is OFF...even on a Marshall. Both switches will be UP. Standby would then be consider OFF because its not standing by.

Edit:....due to the English doing things wrong, standby is considered OFF when the amp is playing....I guess thats using the same logic as driving on the left side of the road. :D

But for some reason that photo is confusing me because I remember my JCK900 having the switches flip upwards to turn on the power...and in this one they are both down. :confused:


Either way....both switches need to be in the same direction and then the Power goes first, and the Standby second if you are powering up the amp from it being off.

Edit again:
I get it....Mashall considers it IN Standby and Amp ON. But that still doesn't change why they are flipped downwards lol.
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Jeezuz, that was pretty facile. Up, down, who bloody cares, set the switch to ON, in the order prescribed. And yes, when you power something up, it is usually from off, correct, well done.
 
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