OT: Care and feeding of vacuum tube electronics?

From: Will Emerson <wpe101_at_banet.net>
Date: Sun Feb 7 19:12:43 1999

My $0.02 worth, You'll have to give it a little time to "warm up" (won't
work until
it does). As far as "cool down", it won't, until you shut the power off.
Vacuum tubes
use a filament (similar to that in a light bulb) to heat them up so that
they will
operate (so DON'T block any of the ventilation holes, or you risk
disaster). Two suggestions. 1: Check the back of the unit, and see if it
has a tube listing, or check each tube for it's type (will usually be an
alphanumeric, example:
12BE6). 2. See if you can locate a supply of replacement tubes. At last
check
(couple of years ago), Radio Shack would special order 'em, allow
<mumble> weeks for delivery, so, I suggest checking Ham Radio swapmeets
and flea markets. Optional:
See if you can get your hands on a "Tube Tester". They used to be in
drug stores
everywhere, now they're kind of tough to find. Be advised that tubes
tend to have
(or did tend to have) a higher tendancy to fail, than solid state
devices. I think
I've got a tube substitution guide around here somewhere for RCA tubes..
Hope this helps...

                                                       Will
 

Mark Gregory wrote:
>
> Hi. I recently acquired a 1950's vintage Gibson GA-30 guitar amp. Never
> having owned a tube-based amp before, I'm clueless about the proper way to
> use this amp without abusing it (and it sounds great, so I want it to last
> a long time! :v) .
>
> For example, should I allow the tubes to warm up for a few minutes before
> playing, and are there any special precautions I should follow after
> playing (i.e. do I need a cool-down period before powering down?). Any
> advice would be much appreciated. A quick Web-
> search didn't reveal much except prices on used equipment.
>
> Thanks!
> Mark.
Received on Sun Feb 07 1999 - 19:12:43 GMT