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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 4:21 pm
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Any reason why the swtiches are always located behind the amp?
Am I actually the only one who is a bit annoyed with that thing?
I can't see the reason exept the looks... something i'm missing?

As for the power/standby issue,

Put it this way, standby is like a MUTE switch, but INSIDE the amp...so you use it when you start/shut down the amp so there's no noise and the tubes can warm up, you use it to plug/unplug jacks in inputs and effect loops or between stomps, or when you change guitar, so nothing pops. Putting the amp on standby just before turning it off prevents the amp from making noise when you turn off the power and also spares you little surprises the next time you open it.

I'm the singer of my band and I put the amp on standby when i'm not playing in a song so I can be assured not a single noise will come out of my amp... (volume knobs sometimes play little tricks even when they're completely turned down to 0)

I wonder if anybody ever thought of a standby footswitch... would also be useful in my opinion...if possible at all

My two cents!


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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:20 am
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actually, the switches aren't always on the back. some are on top and on front. It all just varies. I not trying to come off as an a-word, just stating.

as for the standby pedal, the closest thing i've heard of is your run-of-the-mill volume pedal.

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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:27 am
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Yeah, I know there are amps with switches on top and on the front, but my point is why put them in the back at all, it just does not make sense to me, but like I said there must be a reason for this that I'm not aware of...

A volume pedal will work but you still get hum and pops when you unplug your guitar or pedal...

Hey fender people, put that projet forward 8)


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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:29 am
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well, you did use the word "always," just sayin. :) But yes, I think it's a slight hindrance to have the switches on the back when the knobs aren't.

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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:14 am
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Oops, looks like you're right... 8)


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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:28 am
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cvilleira wrote:
atolleter wrote:
I have a small Champ 12 with no stanby and I turn the power to On with the amp cranked, never had any damage done to it since 1987. I let it warm up for some time then plug in a guitar. I guess it might not be the right way :) I do hear the speakers pop Nikininja is talking about though, and some killer hum for a few secs before I plug in.

Thats because what a stand by does is help prolong tube life by bringing heat up on the tubes before putting full voltage across them when cold. If you have a amp that has a tube rectifier it is doing this automaticaly as the rectifier tube heats up. If you have a solid state rectifier full voltage will go to the tubes the moment the switch is on so stand by slows this process by heating the tubes first for a minute or so. When you turn the amp off just flip the power off and that will let the tubes bring the voltage down across the power supply.


Not always. Many older and newer Fender amps have standby switches AND tube rectifiers. My Vibrolux had them and so did my Bandmaster. Tube amps take a couple min. to warm up anyway you look at it.
Your amp will not implode or spontaneously combust if you get a sleight pop through the speaker.


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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:56 pm
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I can't be sure of the exact reason why the Standby and Power switches are on the back on some amps but I think the most likely reason is to make the most efficient use of the available space. If you put everything on the front panel then it would have to be that much wider to accomodate the switches. Since the Power and Standby switches don't have to be accessed as often as the other controls might be, or be as visible, putting them on the back is not all that terrible. Also, with regard to Standby on a foot pedal - since the Standby control switches the full power supply voltage (hundreds of volts), it's probably not a great idea to put it on a footswitch.

When I played in bands, I only put the amp in Standby if I wasn't going to be playing for an extended period of time. Switching it on and off many times probably causes more stress to the amp than leaving it fully powered. I never had a problem just turning my guitar's volume control all the way down when I wasn't playing.


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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:28 pm
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gadabout wrote:
I can't be sure of the exact reason why the Standby and Power switches are on the back on some amps but I think the most likely reason is to make the most efficient use of the available space. If you put everything on the front panel then it would have to be that much wider to accomodate the switches. Since the Power and Standby switches don't have to be accessed as often as the other controls might be, or be as visible, putting them on the back is not all that terrible. Also, with regard to Standby on a foot pedal - since the Standby control switches the full power supply voltage (hundreds of volts), it's probably not a great idea to put it on a footswitch.

When I played in bands, I only put the amp in Standby if I wasn't going to be playing for an extended period of time. Switching it on and off many times probably causes more stress to the amp than leaving it fully powered. I never had a problem just turning my guitar's volume control all the way down when I wasn't playing.



I'm sure they could figure something out so they could put the switches in the front, but it might not be a big issue for most people or else they would've done something about it...Orange amps and Marshalls (and many others) have the switches in the front... but one is overpriced and I'm really not a fan of the other...

The reason I use the standby switch alot is that I change guitars often between songs... I'm not sure about the fact that using the standby causes stress to the amp thought, would be interesting to find something about that.


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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:02 am
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Using standby does not stress the amp. It removes the high voltage from the tubes, which mutes the amp. The filaments stay warm, so the amp can come right back on.

That said, the vast majority of tube amps don't need a standby switch to preserve the life of the tubes. The switch is mostly there for tradition. Even as a mute, it's not all that handy if it's in the back. It's easier to just turn the volume off when switching guitars or use one of the guitar cords with the built-in shorting plug, like the Neutrik or Planet Waves.


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