How long should I let my tube amp warm up?

[maceo357]

15W?

 

[Milspec]

Not really a hard rule on this one, I just fire them up while I get situated....maybe 5 minutes.

 

[SixStringSlinger]

I always keep my amp on standby for a bit before playing, but I'm sure I've done so for longer and shorter periods of time and never really noticed a difference.

I remember reading something like the standby switch being a holdover that is no longer necessary, but guitarists (notoriously, oddly conservative bunch that we are) expect them, so manufacturers keep them. Can't speak more to that point, though.

 

[JDB2]

I start playing as soon as the tubes are warm enough to produce sound (maybe about 30 seconds) but I notice tone improves during the first couple minutes, and then improves more once the amp gets really thoroughly hot.

I don't use the standby switch unless I'm changing cabs or redoing cables or something. Based on what I've read I think standby is unnecessary for warm up (particularly with a tube rectifier) but there are lots of credible opinions out there either way.

 

[Cazualwhiteguy]

Until it makes noise when you hit a note. Anything more is totally unnecessary, not that tone can’t change slightly with more time but there is absolutely no harm in playing it as soon as it makes sound.

 

[King Fan]

You can start playing even before you turn on the amp though you won't hear much until a few seconds after you do. Standby ain't no thang:

http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/standby.html

 

[8barlouie]

I remember reading somewhere that it’s a bad idea to start playing while an amp warms up. Has that been disproved? Did I miss the memo?

 

[jimgchord]

When she's able to make noise....she's ready.

 

[Telecastoff1]

Very old school here...I let the tubes warm up on their own for a couple of minutes and then I take off standby and play gently and mildly for a couple more minutes until the tubes and speaker(s) have had a chance to warm up reasonably before ripping into them full bore. To me, it all sounds better when tubes and speaker(s) have had a chance to warm up and flex their muscles a little bit. Just the way I've been doing it all of my years of playing. It may be totally unnecessary, but it gives me peace of mind.

 

[Brokenpick]

and what words should you speak to the amp as it warms up?
and how important is the first note or notes you play??
and....

 

[PCollen]

15W?

After being outside or inside, and in Summer or Winter.

 

[blues bondsman]

If you have ever done a bias job on a tube amp you likely already know that it can take three to five minutes for a power tube to level out and stabilize.
From the time you flip the standby to play you have three to five minutes before its stable so...

Take that for what its worth, I personally turn on the mains (power) and wait at least 45 seconds to a minute before I flip the standby to play.

Once the amps current draw is stable it will sound its best.

 

[Axean naexA]

`
I wait about 30 seconds, figuring it takes about that long for the electrons to fill the tubes up, but that's just me...


`

 

[Random1643]

1. A minimum of 24 hours adding one hour for each watt over 11 watts.

2. Unless you use Standby, which literally means to "stand by" or "stand next to" the amp for at least 3 hours before starting the process described above in step 1. (Remember the old tube amps with Stand-Next-To Switches!? Ah, the good old days.) Standing on one foot, continuously eating >many< saltines, and whistling Yankee Doodle during step 2. improves the overall quality of the eventual amp warm up.

Your basically building enough sustained heat to boil the water in your amp; this in turn generates the steam pressure you need to spin the tubes and push sound-flavored air out of the speakers. Simple really.

_____________
All silliness aside, this is a good question. I flick the standby switch while I'm getting the rest of my rig set up, and then turn the amp on a few minutes before playing/sound check.

 

[tery]

If you can hear it - let her rip !

 

[luckett]

I take off standby and play gently and mildly for a couple more minutes until the tubes and speaker(s) have had a chance to warm up reasonably before ripping into them full bore. To me, it all sounds better when tubes and speaker(s) have had a chance to warm up and flex their muscles a little bit.

How warm should the speakers be before they sound the best?

 

[bender66]

1 watt = 1 day.

15 days.

 

[rich815]

How warm should the speakers be before they sound the best?

Warm enough.

 

[john_cribbin]

When people had valve radios, they turned it on, when the sound came through, they listened.

When people had valve TV's, they turned it on, when the picture came through, they watched.

Why would it be any different with a valve amp?

 

[luckett]

Warm enough.

If I get the speakers as warm as the resistors is that warm enough?