How do I know when my tubes need replacing?

A: These are the most common signs that tubes need replacement:

1. Excessive noise (hiss, hum) including squealing or microphonic tubes.
2. Loss of high end.
3. A muddy bottom end; Sounds like there is too much bass and note clarity is lost.
4. Erratic changes in the overall volume.
5. The amp doesn’t work!

How often do guitar amp tubes need to be replaced?

On average, tubes can last from 500 to 1,000 hours, so if you play with your amp two to three hours every day, you can safely expect to get around a year or less from your vacuum tubes.

What happens when vacuum tubes get old?

Using Old Tubes Tubes that have “set up” for a while often collect gas. This gas either comes from slow leakage through tube seals or outgassing of tube elements. This is the number one problem with old vacuum tubes. Another cause of leakage currents are deposits on the insulation inside the tube envelope.

How long do amp tubes last?

You can expect a conventional amplifier tube to have a service life ranging up to 10,000 hours. Tubes with military specifications are built to last up to 100,000 hours.

What happens if I don’t bias my tube amp?

If you changed to tubes with a lower resistance without biasing the amp you would quickly burn through those tubes and potentially damage the amp and yourself in the process. This is because the amp is still pushing out current at a higher level than the valves are able to take.

Do amp tubes wear out?

The effect the tubes have on your amp is much like the effect that strings have on your guitar. The more often you play and the more aggressive you play, the faster the tubes/strings will wear out. Playing loud and hard will cause your tubes to lose power and tone long before they finally die.

Do tubes go bad if not used?

The usable life of any tube will depend on how hard it’s actually used in the circuit. Some circuits will use tubes harder than others and we all know that some players play harder than others. Power tubes can last years in a light-playing situation while lasting only 6 months in heavy playing conditions.