a tube's life

dnl88 · 05-23-2004, 10:40 AM

Hi.
I'm wanting to get a marshall jcm2000 dsl401 combo. It's got 8 tubes in it (4 preamp 4 poweramp). I play in average at least 2hours per day (at very low volume for a tube amp, my level is on 1.5 maximum witch a 15watt SS amp

), and I would be taking it to church every 2 weeks for worship...
Is this gonna kill the tubes in no time?
I don't want to be spending all my life's money on new tubes cos if its the case i'm getting a hybrid amp and that would not sound as good.

.

PS: can u get more resistant tubes than others?
PS2: bare in mind that at church I would NEVER crank the amp up, but I'd only do that for gigs from time to time

dnl88 · 05-23-2004, 10:45 AM

oh and yeah:
what going to kill the tubes more? playing loud or having it taken to church (on a cusion probably) in a car.

Visirale · 05-23-2004, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dnl88

Hi.
I'm wanting to get a marshall jcm2000 dsl401 combo. It's got 8 tubes in it (4 preamp 4 poweramp). I play in average at least 2hours per day (at very low volume for a tube amp, my level is on 1.5 maximum witch a 15watt SS amp

), and I would be taking it to church every 2 weeks for worship...
Is this gonna kill the tubes in no time?
I don't want to be spending all my life's money on new tubes cos if its the case i'm getting a hybrid amp and that would not sound as good.

.

PS: can u get more resistant tubes than others?
PS2: bare in mind that at church I would NEVER crank the amp up, but I'd only do that for gigs from time to time

If you're never gonna crank it up, why are you getting it? You are mainly going to get the sound you are most likely purchasing it for when a lot of juice is running through the tubes. if you're playing 1.5 through a 15 watt SS amp... a 40 watt tube amp is going to kill that.

As for tube life, I'm not 100 percent sure about guitar heads, but on 11-12 tube bass heads, the norm is to replace them every 2-3 years or so. And retubing expenses depend on how much quality you want. You can retube with cheap chinese tubes for under 100 or so. But if you want to retube with nice US tubes, it'll be around the 100-300 range.

I still am not quite clear on why you're going to a 40 watt tube amp, from a 15 watt SS amp, if you're not even cranking that.

dnl88 · 05-23-2004, 11:18 AM

I said I wouldn't be cranking it up at home!! or at church for worship cos they have the mixing desk volume at 1/10 maximum for a 300person hall. I just wanted to know if its that expensive.
I can always get a hybrid like the valvestate cos I don't wanna be spending money alot on replacing tubes.

dnl88 · 05-23-2004, 11:35 AM

ok I'll ask this a differant way. Don't jump on the tube amp strait away. I want to play at church. Have some got distortion and equalising. If I want to do lots of gigs I can always change amp. And for regular practising. Which is best? I don't wnat to be spending tons of money on tubes (tons is over 80$ a year)
the JCM2000 dsl401.
or the valvestate vs100r (or even maybe the valvestate head).

Now I don't want anyone making me buy a rectifier or a H&K tri-amp

Visirale · 05-23-2004, 11:36 AM

Yeah, if you're not going to crank it up, there is no use to get tube, unless you get an atteunator.

dnl88 · 05-23-2004, 11:40 AM

If I get the valvestate could it work for small gigs? (crank it up like mad?, I've heard its quite nice and I've already played on one).

Visirale · 05-23-2004, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dnl88

If I get the valvestate could it work for small gigs? (crank it up like mad?, I've heard its quite nice and I've already played on one).

Yeah. If you go SS it'd probably be a good bet to go up to 100 watts. You can play quiter if you need to, without much sacrifice of tone. And if you need to play it loud, you can. Better to have more power and not need it, than to need power and not have it.

ApparentlyNothing · 05-23-2004, 12:15 PM

Ok, first, tubes are not expensive, nor do they need replacement every 10 minutes. From where I get my tubes (JJ Tesla Eurotubes), 12AX7's cost $7.50 a piece and EL34's cost $46 for 4. So to completely retube the DSL would cost only $76. BUT, you dont need to replace preamp tubes every time you replace power amp tubes!!!! Preamp tubes last much longer than power amp tubes. You can have the same preamp tubes in there for much much longer. Generally, you will only have to spend $46 every couple of years. That is not expensive at all. And you're not even skimping out and getting bad quality tubes. JJ's are some of the best tubes you can buy. Ask anyone with a tube amp. I've got all JJ's in my preamp and power amp, and I get killer tone.

dnl88 · 05-23-2004, 12:25 PM

and what about 40watts for a practise/ small gig tube amp?

Maestro_dmc · 05-23-2004, 12:38 PM

If you want a tube amp that sounds good at lower volumes look in the 5-10 watt range.

Pure class A.

ApparentlyNothing · 05-23-2004, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dnl88

and what about 40watts for a practise/ small gig tube amp?

For practice, what does it matter. Getting good tone when practicing in your house probably shouldnt be your number 1 priority. It should be practicing your technique and getting better. For live use, get an attenuator. If you ever plan on playing in a real band, not praise and worship (I dont really see why there should be a difference though... just my opinion, suited for another thread), then you'll want more volume anyways. So why not cover your bases and get the DSL?

dnl88 · 05-23-2004, 12:45 PM

I've got some saving up to do then

Visirale · 05-23-2004, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApparentlyNothing

Ok, first, tubes are not expensive, nor do they need replacement every 10 minutes. From where I get my tubes (JJ Tesla Eurotubes), 12AX7's cost $7.50 a piece and EL34's cost $46 for 4. So to completely retube the DSL would cost only $76. BUT, you dont need to replace preamp tubes every time you replace power amp tubes!!!! Preamp tubes last much longer than power amp tubes. You can have the same preamp tubes in there for much much longer. Generally, you will only have to spend $46 every couple of years. That is not expensive at all. And you're not even skimping out and getting bad quality tubes. JJ's are some of the best tubes you can buy. Ask anyone with a tube amp. I've got all JJ's in my preamp and power amp, and I get killer tone.

Yep, I was totally off. That price isn't bad at all...

Heh, for the ampeg SVT-CL, using tesla's...

6 6550's (k88) = $227
3 12AX7's = 30
2 12AU7's = 20

Those 6550's are killer

ApparentlyNothing · 05-23-2004, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Visirale

Yep, I was totally off. That price isn't bad at all...

Heh, for the ampeg SVT-CL, using tesla's...

6 6550's (k88) = $227
3 12AX7's = 30
2 12AU7's = 20

Those 6550's are killer

Ouch..... yeah, but I bet they sound sweeeeeeeeeeet.... I've heard of people using KT88's in guitar amps and they get really sweet tone. A couple in particular are Billy Corgan and James Iha of The Smashing Pumpkins. Corgan has used KT88's in a Marshall JCM800 head and Iha used them in his Mesa Strategy 500 power amp. They both got sick tone. I hear they give really good bass, which I bet is why they're used in bass tube amps too.