Help about Tube amps

I Just recently got a Marshall tube amplifier, and i dont know much about tube amps, so i want to get some infomation about different types of tubes and how/when to change them so i know what im doing.

Any help will be much appreciated :)

when to chance?
its the easy one, when they blow up, its time to change them...
tubes r generally pain in the a**. they cant stand even for a year. also they have great harmonics in their nature. and u need enough volume for good drive. some of tube amp r not suitable for " low volume neighbourhood playin".

theyr brilliant in general. its tube amp man... eheh...
i wish i had one. yeah constantly changing tubes means trouble, but its worth the grizlin tone...

im not an xperienced tube guy btw... :o

[font=trebuchet ms]Changing power tubes is like changing guitar strings. If you play a lot, and play hard, they'll wear out quicker, and you'll be able to hear the loss of tone.

Some amps are harder on tubes than others. My 1977 Ampeg VT-40 still has most of the original tubes in it, and it still sounds great. My 1976 Ampeg VT-22 had a dying set of Sovtek 5881 power tubes in it when I bought it 4 years ago, which I replaced with a new set of GT7027's that died violently within 6 months. (I think GT really stands for Garbage Tubes). It now has a set of JJ KT88's in it that seem destined to outlive me!

Marshalls seem to show the same kind of variability.

Note that the preamp tubes should last for many, many years. You're more likely to change them out as an experiment to see what different makes sound like, than because of tube failure. It's the power tubes that have to be watched carefully, and the amp should be set up (bias adjustment) whenever the power tubes are changed.[/font]

Everything LATS said !!

Groove tube suck and JJs rock !!!

Always worth saying hello to Bob at www.Eurotubes.com. He is a great guy !

OK thanks a lot ;)

one more question....do different power tubes change the sound of the amp at all?

Originally Posted by: AximAOK thanks a lot ;)

one more question....do different power tubes change the sound of the amp at all?

[font=trebuchet ms]Definitely![/font]

If you really want to go crazy with experimenting with tube tones... get a THD!!! But if you really want to get the most tone out of your tubes it's worth looking at an attentuator. This will allow you to saturate your tubes all the way even when you're playing at level 1. Most people Have tube amps that they never even get to hear the true tone of because they never crank them past 2. To get the tone you have to supply the tubes with all the power. The attentuator allows you to do that without having the volume way up. I know you're wanting to know more about tubes themselves... and this is something you should know.