Tube Amp Warm Up

[markb]

The power voltages settle down and the tube components get to operating temperatures. No black magic or zen secrets involved, sorry

[tot_Ou_tard]

What Mark said.

It is certainly true that tube amps sound better after warming up.

[just strum]

No black magic or zen secrets involved, sorry

I find this very disappointing.

[Plank_Spanker]

The power voltages settle down and the tube components get to operating temperatures. No black magic or zen secrets involved, sorry

Everything stabilizes and settles into the groove......................

[mrmudcat]

Also to add, is to turn tube amps on let the tubes get warm(few minutes) and then hit the stanby switch(if you have one ) if your not ready to play.Alot of cats these days turn their amps on then immediately hit the standby switch My humble opinion is this is the wrong way or technique.I would like to hear other opinions on how they get their amps warmed up.......hopefully not sidetracking this thread but adding to the discussion at hand!

[oldguy]

I always flip 'em on and leave 'em on for 10-15 minutes. I only used the standby switch during breaks back in the day when we played as weekend warriors. When the tubes were hot they just sounded better. The old Fender Super got hotter and better as the night went on................ I also cranked it to 8 or 9 on the volume and used the guitar volume to adjust the level to where I wanted it. It seemed to be more touch sensitive that way.

[markb]

I always flip 'em on and leave 'em on for 10-15 minutes. I only used the standby switch during breaks back in the day when we played as weekend warriors. When the tubes were hot they just sounded better. The old Fender Super got hotter and better as the night went on................ I also cranked it to 8 or 9 on the volume and used the guitar volume to adjust the level to where I wanted it. It seemed to be more touch sensitive that way.

Just the way I used to use my Fender/Rivera Concert. I could never get on with its distortion channel. All those gain controls and pull switches, far too confusing

[just strum]

...hopefully not sidetracking this thread but adding to the discussion at hand!

Not at all, this is the sort of stuff I'm looking for.

[Mick]

A quote from my Fender ProTube Twin-Amp User Manual...

POWER - Switches power ON and OFF to the
amplifier. (Reduce the “shock” to amplifier tubes at
power-up, extending their life span, by turning the
POWER switch ON with the STAND BY switch
DOWN for the first minute, then UP for normal use.

STAND BY - In the DOWN position, this switch puts
the amp on stand by. Audio is muted and power is
supplied only to the tube filaments. Use STAND BY
in place of switching POWER OFF during short
breaks (one hour max.). This eliminates the normal
warm-up time when STAND BY is switched OFF (UP)
when returning to play the amplifier and also extends
the life span of your amplifier’s tubes.

[mrmudcat]

A quote from my Fender ProTube Twin-Amp User Manual...

Mick I know it is black and white in the manual you grabbed this from but again in my humble opinion it is wrong/misleading or at best another way other than what ive learned.You turn the amp on without the standby switch on. The tubes warm up nice and you go about playing after warmup.(10-15 minutes) If your not ready then engage the standby switch.My fender manuals like yours say the opposite but after many years and many opinions from techs ,and other musicians etc. etc.
this way makes the most sense to me.Having the standby switch engaged on intial power up does not allow the tubes to fully get warm and ive seen a few times where powering up that way ,then hitting the standby off after a minute or two cause fuses and or tubes to blow!:

Just my humble opinion ......nothing more

[oldguy]

Ditto......... plus my old Fenders always sounded better when the tubes got hot and stayed hot, IMHO.

[tot_Ou_tard]

Mick I know it is black and white in the manual you grabbed this from but again in my humble opinion it is wrong/misleading or at best another way other than what ive learned.You turn the amp on without the standby switch on.

Muddy,

I thought that one of the benefits of the standby switch is that it allows easy start-up for the tubes thus reducing wear & tear--extending their lives. (As Rx sez above.)

It would seem that the way to go would be to turn on the amp with the standby switch on, wait a couple of minutes and then turn the standby switch off to let the amp warm up.

You can later put the standy switch back on if you are going to take a break from playing.

[Rx Tone]

Also to add, is to turn tube amps on let the tubes get warm(few minutes) and then hit the stanby switch(if you have one ) if your not ready to play.Alot of cats these days turn their amps on then immediately hit the standby switch My humble opinion is this is the wrong way or technique.

That's exactly right.It slams the power tubes before they've warmed up and shortens tube life.

[duhvoodooman***]

Everything stabilizes and settles into the groove....

Precisely. :