Gigging Amps - Combos

[budda]

A good rock amp can generally be made into a decent metal amp, depending on what kind of metal you want to achieve.

Now I'm all kinds of curious about trying one out. Not to buy, every tone I need right now is covered - i jes' want to know!

and yeah, a band is always nice *sigh*

[satchownz]

Well, I just organized the funds and have the green light to make the investment. I'm getting one.

I just need to decide if I want to get one new or used.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by satchownz

Well, I just organized the funds and have the green light to make the investment. I'm getting one.

I just need to decide if I want to get one new or used.

Know a good tech? I know the fella I go to, I'll sooner buy used, since I know that I can get a steal on something, and have him check under the hood, fix 'er up, and get a 90-day warranty from him.

[Josh]

Leon, I might want to have your tech look at my Eden. I'm getting a fair bit of noise from it, enough where we couldn't record through mic'ing or DI tonight so I had to use the Line 6. Does he do walk-ins, and can he work quickly, lol?

[Leon]

Oh, he'll do walk-in's, but you won't see it for 2~3 weeks

But if you want, you can bring it down, and I'll get it to him, and can ship it back.

[Josh]

Well, I'm taking it to a local tech tonight for a quick once-over, but since I'm gigging tonight and next Friday, I'm not sure I'll be able to leave it with him to get it fixed (if the local guy can even do it), so I may be able to leave it there. I'll double-check my gig schedule, and I may do just that.

[satchownz]

Originally Posted by Josh

but since I'm gigging tonight and next Friday, I'm not sure I'll be able to leave it with him to get it fixed

You bring up a good point. I'm a little bit of a tube-novice, but do these amps need a lot of attention and maintenance? My solid state has been a workhorse, and I'm a little concerned that the tube amp has a bigger chance of breaking on stage.

[7stringofablick]

Originally Posted by satchownz

You bring up a good point. I'm a little bit of a tube-novice, but do these amps need a lot of attention and maintenance? My solid state has been a workhorse, and I'm a little concerned that the tube amp has a bigger chance of breaking on stage.

as long as you don't throw the amp around you'll be fine.

Tubes wear eventually with use, so you'll want/need to replace them. Usually runs about $100, and lasts a year or more for most players. Most longer if they don't play a lot; but a year and a half is about good even for those who play quite often.

Generally speaking, tube amps are produced by more professional, quality-driven manufacturers, so chances are THEY will be more of a workhorse than your current SS.

[Leon]

Tube amps will fail just like SS amps, just at higher voltages

But, so long as you take care of it, and don't get shoddy bargain tubes (you wouldn't get bargain pickups or strings, right?), then you'll be golden.

[Josh]

Just pack a spare fuse, and if you can grab a spare preamp and power tube (or keep the old ones around if you replace them) so that if something goes wrong you can replace it on the fly and have it set to go.

Generally, they're fairly simple circuits and thus pretty reliable, only breaking at a select few points (unless you really blow one up...) My Budda has survived being hauled everywhere, tossed about, had stuff spilled on it, and all that other stuff, and I haven't even blown a fuse yet *knock on wood*

Searching Google for "Tube Amp Care" will give you a good idea of what's involved. It's less intensive than guitar care, needs to happen less often, and a lot of it is just common sense.