How Long Do Tubes Last

From gt5457–(at)–rism.gatech.edu Fri Jan 10 21:24:34 CST 1997
From: Bart Youngblood
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar
Subject: Re: How long do tubes last?
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1997 22:22:18 -0500
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Greg Jones wrote:
>
> I bought my first tube amp about 4 months ago. What is the average
> length of time that I can go before I will have to replace my tubes?
>
> Will the amount of time that I play and effect tube life expectancy? How
> about volume levels and the amount of distortion used?
>
> How much are tubes? Are they easy to change? What about rebiasing?
>
> Greg

The amount of time you use them will have a definite effect on them.
What kind of amp do you have? Some amps that have tons of gain just eat
tubes. If you drive them hard all the time, they certainlly will last
less. I’ve head reccomendations that you change them yearly, but I say
replace them when you feel they need to be changed.

Typically, preamp tubes will outlast power amp tubes, because typically,
power amp tubes operate at higher voltages and amperages.

Tubes are easy to change, but depending on where you live, may be
difficult to obtain. You might have to resort to mail order, and in some
cases, you can get them cheaper this way. Tubes range in price from
anywhere from about $2 to $200 each. Because of the recent interst in
tube amps, tube prices have fell slighlty, as you can get pretty decent
power tubes for under $10 each.

Rebiasing is essential if you change tube types or manufactuers, or if
the amp starts acting up after changing tubes. It’s good to have it
rebiased anyway about every 2 years (or less, depeneding on usage)
becuase the componets gradually lose their tolerances.

Bart