tube amp break in period

[hiwannajam]

I imagine, like a new guitar, it takes a new tube amp some time to get broke in and warm up. Am I right? I got a new Blues Deluxe today and it sounds real nice but maybe a little "brittle". I play mostly new country and use a AmSe Tele with some pedals and I liked the "clean punch" it had. I can tell it's "new" though. Has anybody else noticed this?

 

[mike_levitt]

Speakers, yes....

Your speakers will soften up as you play, but the electronics pretty much stay the same as long as everything is working right. Values may drift a bit, but it is so slow that you will never notice...

You may lose some of the harshness in a few months of playing.

Mike

 

[Joe-Bob]

Re: Speakers, yes....

You may lose some of the harshness in a few months of playing.

...But then again, you may not. The speakers need a few hours to break in, and the sound will get slightly warmer, but the basic voicing of the amp will not change significantly. Your guitar may also be particularly bright. Play a Les Paul through it, and see if it's just a really bright amp. Some people like that, some don't.

 

[Tremo]

Speakers do take some time to break in. Some break in more quickly than others. You have to pound on them hard to get it over with soon. They will sound warmer and smoother once broken in.

Tubes as well, need a little time to burn in and settle down.

 

[hiwannajam]

I gotta tell you, this new Blues Deluxe Reissue, after about 8 hours of playing, has turned from noisey (with pedals) and harsh to the sweetest, punchiest. cleanest, quitest amps I have ever heard or played. 40 watts of beautiful, dripping tone. I can't believe it. I play 2-3 times a week and haven't used it on a gig yet (that's was a good thing). But now i can't wait. You guys have got to check these out!

 

[kp8]

Speakers do take some time to break in. Some break in more quickly than others. You have to pound on them hard to get it over with soon. They will sound warmer and smoother once broken in.

Tubes as well, need a little time to burn in and settle down.

or not

:?:

.

 

[Tremo]

Don't lump musical instrument applications in with audiophool applications.

Ask Ted Weber, he builds the damn things.

Re the Blues Deluxe, I've seen and heard several. I'll pass.

 

[kp8]

Don't lump musical instrument applications in with audiophool applications.

what would be the difference? A speaker is a speaker no?

Ask Ted Weber, he builds the damn things.

I dunno Ted Weber, so i can't ask him.

-kp8--

 

[Cobra8272]

re speakers

Speakers are Speakers?

No - everything i've read says instrument speakers are designed for musical instruments - whilst audio speakers are designed for audio systems -apparently totally different requirements and responses.
rgds
Cobra

 

[Joe-Bob]

Yes, instrument speakers are designed differently than audio speakers. For example, I doubt that any audio drivers are using all-paper cones. They at least have the foam cone suspension edges, and may aslo not have any paper in the cones at all. My unscientific opinion is that an all-paper cone construction will need some time for the pleats to loosen up.

 

[ScottPro2]

First Post.......Tube amps

I now own (2) Fender Bass heads and the 810pro cabinet. the TB-1200 is a hybrid and works great. Yesterday i took the big plunge and added the Bassman 300 the all tube head. I am being careful with it by turning it on in standby , warming it up and leaving it on in standby . So far so good, the all tube sound is great. For now this is not going anywhere so I won't have any transportation issues ( 85 lbs !) . I also have a fender guitar amp solid state Frontman 212R. I am studying electric guitar and who knows a guitar amp (all tubes could be in my future). Tube amps are a different animal. I am very impressed with Fender quality when it comes to these bass heads. Comparing them to my Ampegs (speaker cabs as well) I could tell the difference right away. Back to the Bassman 300, I have read that some have had some burning smell issues. I have not had this and I am leaving it on (in standby) for half hour or longer. My cab is already broken in with the other bass head but I am glad that I have matched Fender amp with Fender head. I have the 810E ampeg cab but I wanted to go all Fender with this rig. This is my first post, kind of wordy, thanks for reading it. Any tube tips would be appreciated...

 

[ThermionicScott]

Hey Scott, welcome to the forum! You ought to start a new thread for this, rather than bumping an old unrelated one.

- Scott

 

[muchxs]

Speakers are Speakers?

No - everything i've read says instrument speakers are designed for musical instruments - whilst audio speakers are designed for audio systems -apparently totally different requirements and responses.

Yeah. Hi-fi speakers are supposed to do what they do and not vary. The majority of our hi-fi rigs use foam surround woofers. Foam surrounds are as compliant as they'll get when they're brand new unless we're talking about '70s Advents or similar. Old foam surrounds get brittle. Newer surrounds should age more gracefully than the old stuff.

Guitar speakers are '50s technology. They use paper cones. A lot of the cone movement is at the outer edge. Flex paper and it becomes more pliable.

All the major speaker manufacturers starting with Western-Electric and progressing through Altec, JBL and Electro-Voice (among many others) found that if they treated the edges of their cones (with "dope") the speakers were less susceptible to tearing in that area. Look at old Jensens with their plain paper cones. If they've been used hard they start to get little tears around the edges. Time for some toilet paper and glue!



Tube amps can benefit from a break-in or burn-in period. The best place for this to happen is at the manufacturer. A 12 hour burn-in at full volume in a test cell is advisable. Some of the very few manufacturers who perform a burn-in do it into a dummy load. The amp runs at full power, if anything bad happens the tech will (hopefully) see it on a 'scope. Anyone can burn their amp in by connecting it to an audio source at the correct input level. If it's done through a speaker rather than a dummy load the speaker breaks in and you can hear it if anything fails.

That's most of the point of a burn-in. The vast majority of tube failures fall into two failure modes: 1) DOA which means the tube is junk right out of the box, no doubt about those or 2) "infant mortality" which means that the tube fails within the first couple hours of use. There's a pretty good chance that tubes that survive a 12 hour full blast burn-in will survive your first year or tow of gigs.

Otherwise, pull it out of the box, take it to the gig and hope the manufacturer has a decent warrantee.