Amp tone. Takes an hour, gig volume.

[LSchefman]

Interesting discussion.

I find that my amp sounds better when it's warmed up, of course, as most tube amps do. But that happens in around 5 minutes, and then it stays pretty consistent.

What improves noticeably is my "playing the amp" skill and ability to control the amp with my picking, fingers, guitar controls, etc. Evidently I need those abilities to warm up, too.

Also...the whole shmeer seems to change on every session. I have days where things sound absolutely stunning, and days where nothing sounds right. Same rig, same settings, etc. So I'm convinced that mood, environmental conditions like humidity or lack thereof (affects speaker cone, guitar, etc), AC power niceness or hatefulness, etc., make a noticeable difference.

YMMV

[Kitarist]

Yea i also think that amp starts to sound better after 30 mins or so.

[Jef Bardsley]

Anyone ever check the bias settings on their amp, hot and cold?

[somedude]

Originally Posted by Jef Bardsley

Anyone ever check the bias settings on their amp, hot and cold?

Someone once told me that part of the reason that Mesa sets their bias cold is so that the amps can go for hours without suffering the "3rd set syndrome" some people were describing above.

Mesa's being somewhat notorious for not sounding right until they had 15 to 45 minutes worth of heat into them.

[Red_Label]

Originally Posted by madstrat

this is my one issue with the xtc

half hour minimum

Yeah. I spent the past two nights wailing away loud on my Classic and it was definitely at the 1/2-1 hour mark before she was really purrrrrring. Gonna slap my attenuater on there the next time and see what I can do with that (haven't tried it on the XTC yet).

[Red_Label]

Originally Posted by somedude

Someone once told me that part of the reason that Mesa sets their bias cold is so that the amps can go for hours without suffering the "3rd set syndrome" some people were describing above.

Mesa's being somewhat notorious for not sounding right until they had 15 to 45 minutes worth of heat into them.

"Syndrome"? I dig my 3rd set tone/feel.

I dunno man... seems like Mesa would want to set the bias hotter so that they were sounding like the 3rd set earlier-on. There's no question that with most tube amps, cold bias settings just don't have that mojo and life-like quality that many players are looking for -- and indeed why they choose to play a tube amp instead of a SS/modeler. I've been playing with my XTC's bias a LOT during the past week and anytime it's at, or above Boger's factory-set 32 mA setting, it's truly "alive". Below that, it feels very sterile and lifeless.

[somedude]

Originally Posted by Red_Label

"Syndrome"? I dig my 3rd set tone/feel.

I wasn't talking about you...

[rugbymusician]

27 sauce that sounds like your caps might be going

[Red_Label]

Originally Posted by somedude

I wasn't talking about you...

Didn't say you were.

[rugbymusician]

The best thing I have ever done for my tone is use a power conditioner with a very large capacitor in it. My amp(s) sound the same no matter where I gig before I started using the conditioner, I noticed a major tone and feel difference between venues. Bottom end starts tight and stays tight after 4 sets. I check the outlet voltage with a multimeter before I plug in and its all over the place from bar to bar.

[Tone_Terrific]

Couple of thoughts:
Why does warmed up necessarily cause an improvement vs a deterioration of tone?
Louder=better until it doesn't. If you turn up (3rd set?) it might be sounding better unless you get so loud that the room sound starts to fight you, you run out of headroom, or cabs and speakers start to max out in a bad way.

I often play SS amps and they sound better warmed up, too, I think.
So, is it me or the amps? This is tough as context plays a big role, imo.

[shredtrash]

For me, it doesn't make enough of a difference to make or break my playing.

[pfrischmann]

Nah,
Lot's of people can hear this. Marshalls take forever to warm up. You can really hear it when recording.

[Jef Bardsley]

I suspect half an hour is about the time it takes for the whole chassis to reach operating temperature and for everything to stabilize.

I also suspect this effect not may be noticeable (or even present) for those that bias their amps cold.


FWIW, I also warm up my MOSFET hifi amp - some audiophiles never turn their amps off.

[helio]

Recently recorded some stuff in a studio with my band. Went in first day to play dummy tracks with the drummer. That evening, the producer/engineer insisted that I and the other guitarist leave our amps turned on -- on standby, but powered on -- overnight. We recorded the guitar tracks the next day. I was too distracted by other things ( haven't been in a real studio in a looonnggg time) to really think about it at the time, or to listen for tonal differences. But this producer knows his stuff, and I suspect he hears enough of a difference to make this a practice in his studio.