Little old tube amp

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I bought a tiny but gorgeous sounding tube amp for $125 CDN the other day. Unfortunately, it has no standby switch. I try to turn it down and wait for a while before switching it off but even so there is often a crackle from the speaker when I turn it off. Does this represent a serious strain on the tubes?

― unnamedroffler (xave), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:29 (eighteen years ago)

I'd be more worried about the speaker if anything...is this an old amp, or current manufacture?

― John Justen says Toonces was one of the most talented cats on televison (johnjus, Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:33 (eighteen years ago)

no, it's a small crackle, much quieter than the kind caused by cables being plugged in and unplugged... I'm just worried some stressd is being pt on the tubes by being turned off without a standby switch. And yeah this amp is really, really old - it seems to work perfectly though.

― unnamedroffler (xave), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:35 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, I see what you're saying...well, it's not the best of conditions for the tubes, but it's not the end of the world either. Had it been used recently, or was it mothballed and immediately turned on?

Normally with an old amp that hasn't been in use for a while, you want to Variac it up to power slowly to give the caps time to reform.

― John Justen says Toonces was one of the most talented cats on televison (johnjus, Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:39 (eighteen years ago)

well I guess it's too late for that now! I *think* it hadn't been used for a long time.... but I wasn't really the one who opened it up again cause the guys at the guitar store I bought it from were definitely cranking it there... they seemed somewhat knowledgeable though, so they may have taken care in getting it ready to play again.

― unnamedroffler (xave), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:47 (eighteen years ago)

Well, if not, you probably got lucky from the sound of it. What brand/model is it?

― John Justen says Toonces was one of the most talented cats on televison (johnjus, Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:49 (eighteen years ago)

I haven't found any brand or model info on the actual amp, which is the funny thing! All there is is "Made In Canada" alongside some tube specifications.

― unnamedroffler (xave), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:51 (eighteen years ago)

Huh. I'll see what I can find out about Canadian tube amp manufacturers (I don't think there were very many).

― John Justen says Toonces was one of the most talented cats on televison (johnjus, Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:52 (eighteen years ago)

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