Idling Amps?

[Hugo Da Rosa]

I play for a church group here in Davis and for those who aren't too familiar, there is usually an opening worship set (where we play about 3-4 songs), a message, and then a closing worship set. For our messages, the messages are usually about 45 minutes to an hour long and throughout that whole time, I'm not touching my guitar at all.

What I'd like to know (both from church players and nonchurch players) is do you idle your amp(s) during this time? Do you turn them off and then rewarm them up a few minutes before the message is over? I've just left my amp on because I know leaving them on standby for that long might poison my tubes...but at the same time I feel like the constant use of the tubes really depreciate their lifespan. I also don't want to turn them off because I love the sound of amp when the tubes are cooking..and that takes time to heat up.

What is the most optimal and efficient way of doing this? Any opinion is appreciated .

[m@2]

i'd leave it on standby or idle if it's 45-60 min no problemo. I've actually left amps on overnight on accident without any "issues" (not that i recommend it!)

[Hugo Da Rosa]

Wow that was fast. Thank you!

I should also note that my amp is constantly running for a total of 3.5 - 4 hours on Thursday nights. Given that, is there a better route to leave it on standby or idle it? I know concerts usually have amps running for much longer but I am not sure how they maintain their amps.

[Squatch]

I leave mine on 45 minutes between open and close and really don't think twice about it... it's a bigger distraction to have to worry about turning it on, warming it up, etc. I leave everything on and just use a tuner/mute. For as long/hard as i play sometimes, i think 45 minutes of idle is the least of my worries!

Plus... if you play on a cold Sunday morning and your guitar is cold on stage... it's nice to warm your hands up on your amp for a few seconds! I do that all of the time!

[twangbanger]

what amp do you use? I've heard that w/ cathode bias amps it is not a good idea to leave the amp on w/ the tubes idle . I just put my amps on standby and maybe 5 min before go time I flip them on.

[Hugo Da Rosa]

I use a Vox AC15cc1x - the China made versions. Not sure what kind of bias are in those amps.

[barryoneal]

... it's a bigger distraction to have to worry about turning it on, warming it up, etc. I leave everything on and just use a tuner/mute. ...

I agree with this completely. Any minimal wear and tear would be worth not walking out and it being off. It would be the one day when the worship leader says, 'dude, we need you today... extended guitar intro at closing. READY!!! ....BREAK!' We just leave them running the whole service... in isolation boxes no less!

All the best,
-barry.

[Reeltarded]

I have several Marshalls that I toured with all through the eighties that not only traveled every day for years, but remained on for 6 to 12 hours per day, most every day with only normal upkeep. They still work perfectly.

[Wheeler004]

I would not personally leave me amp on for that long if it's not being played. I put mine on standby- that seems to keep the tubes nice and warm and it won't drastically affect the lifespan of the tubes. I accidently left my amp on standby for two days when I went out of town, and everything was fine when I came home (this is obviously not recommended). I have not heard anything about tubes suffering from "standby poisoning." If anyone else has heard of this, I'd really like to know.

[mobis8]

FWIW, I too use a Vox (AC30) and I NEVER use the standby on that amp after reading an article Lyle Caldwell wrote over on Plexi Palace. He compared it to a lightbulb... You never see a light bulb blow if it is on constantly. You will see them blow when you initially flip the switch from the rush of current supplied to them. From what he says (and he is in my opinion an authority on Vox amps) this translates to tubes.

I would roll the master volume back or just use a tuner/mute rather than using the standby on that amp.

[Hugo Da Rosa]

Thanks everyone for your input . If anyone else would like to contribute, please feel free.

[Austinrocks]

generally the longer an amp is on the better it sounds, turning it on and off is what wears out the tubes, I had audio tube amps that were left on constantly the tubes lasted for ever. only time the amps would be turned off was when the power was turned off, sold them to a guy 10 years ago, as far as I know he is still running my original tubes.

[Jay Mitchell]

Originally Posted by mobis8

FWIW, I too use a Vox (AC30) and I NEVER use the standby on that amp after reading an article Lyle Caldwell wrote over on Plexi Palace. He compared it to a lightbulb... You never see a light bulb blow if it is on constantly. You will see them blow when you initially flip the switch from the rush of current supplied to them.

Keeping an amp on standby takes care of that. The part of a tube that is analagous to a light bulb is the filament. When the amp is in standby mode (power on and standby switch in standby position), the tube filaments are supplied with power, but the B+ (high voltage) supply is off. This keeps the tubes warmed up, but with no plate current flowing and no voltage across the electrolytic caps in the power supply. When you flip the standby switch to the "On" position, there is no current surge in the tubes.

Leaving a Class A amp powered on is no different than playing it at full output for the same amount of time, because the output tubes are biased to their maximum plate dissipation level with zero signal. It is always better to turn your amp to standby when you won't be playing for awhile.

[mattthefiddler]

I leave my Egnater on standby when i leave stage, in between services and during the non music parts.

I also try to let it warm up and play it 15-25 minutes before i sound-check it.....

better to go into standby several times than off and on.

when circuitry heats up and turns off there is heat damage that is possible, especially to the circuit boards and more fragile components. if always on.. you don't get that constant expanding and shrinking.

A studio I used to work at left 2 NEVES on 24/7, and only turned them off for maintenance

[mobis8]

Here is the link showing the discussion from Lyle explaining why the standby is a BAD thing for an AC30. I am not sure if it is the same for an AC15 but I would imagine so.

http://www.vintageamps.com/plexiboar...hp?f=2&t=75667