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Post subject: Everythings Good, But Need advise on tube amp care.
Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 7:09 pm
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Hello, everyone. Everything is going good all my amps and guitars are in good working order. However I was talking with some buds and I was told that if a tube fails in your amp while your playing it, IE. A tube shorts outs in your amp it could mess things up and dump loads of I voltage lethal current onto the guitar and amp and if your touching either one it could KILL you. Was he just blowing smoke? How could you prevent a tube from shorting out even if it was defective or something isnt that what the fuse is for, Protection? I've heard that if a tube fails in the amp you could blow the amp or damage the amp but KILL you?


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Post subject: Re: Everythings Good, But Need advise on tube amp care.
Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 9:51 pm
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With an amp or other equipment using the old two prong electrical plugs, shock and death are possibilities, and shocks actually occurring often because of the lack of a common ground (the good old days?). But shocks are extremely unlikely, to near-impossible when using an amp and other equipment that has a three prong plug used on a properly grounded electrical outlet. There is actually much more danger using equipment that is improperly grounded, whether amp or PA or whatever is used, than there could be from a tube failure on properly grounded amp. Remove a ground from any equipment and all bets are off. :!:

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Post subject: Re: Everythings Good, But Need advise on tube amp care.
Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 10:36 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
With an amp or other equipment using the old two prong electrical plugs, shock and death are possibilities, and shocks actually occurring often because of the lack of a common ground (the good old days?). But shocks are extremely unlikely, to near-impossible when using an amp and other equipment that has a three prong plug used on a properly grounded electrical outlet. There is actually much more danger using equipment that is improperly grounded, whether amp or PA or whatever is used, than there could be from a tube failure on properly grounded amp. Remove a ground from any equipment and all bets are off. :!:


Translation: Morbe's friend is blowing smoke. :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Everythings Good, But Need advise on tube amp care.
Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 8:02 am
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So is there away to tell if a power tube is going to fail? Ive had preamp tubes chime and go microphonic but i never heard what a power tube sound like when it starts to go bad.


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Post subject: Re: Everythings Good, But Need advise on tube amp care.
Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:04 am
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Only Carnac can predict that, and he's retired. :lol:

But, you mentioned it, the sound is a good indicator when a tube might be failing. The same things happen to output tubes and preamp tubes, noise, microphonics, rattling, etc. But, many times when an output tubes fails, it can be dramatic, fuse blown, resistors fried, sparks, smoke, because of higher voltage and current on the output section.

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Post subject: Re: Everythings Good, But Need advise on tube amp care.
Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 6:27 am
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Hoo boy, your friend is really blowing smoke. Although it's unlikely for a power tube to short out, it's not going to electrocute you. Might fry some resistors and make some smoke, but that's it. Shimmilou is correct, maybe in the old days when amps didn't have grounded line cords the amp body could be live, but very unlikely nowadays. Also very unlikely that the guitar could become electrified. Even if the preamp tube grid shorted to the plate, the grid and plate resistors are large, so it would be hard for it to really nail you.

Been restoring antique radios and tube guitar amps for 20 years and I can't say I've had a tube failure take something out. The 6V6 in my Vibro Champ had a plate-to-grid short that made some really unpleasant noises on the way out, but didn't do much. A tip though, if your amp starts making really unpleasant noises, turn it off, don't wait to see if it goes away :wink: .

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Post subject: Re: Everythings Good, But Need advise on tube amp care.
Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 9:04 am
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Hmm i think where my friend was gettin at was that if it messes up the power transfomer. It just seems odd to me that they have been making amps since the 40's and no one has designed a full proof method of safety. Lol


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Post subject: Re: Everythings Good, But Need advise on tube amp care.
Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 9:50 am
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In all that time, have you ever seen a coroners report that has listed the cause of death as a faulty guitar amplifier tube? :lol: I can't remember ever even hearing of someone dying from a tube failure in an amp, although it could have happened before grounding was used. Nothing is fool-proof, but proper grounding is as close as we can get. The ground wasn't used in the '40's, not even really standard til at least the '70's. The whole purpose of the ground is safety, to prevent shocks and injury from electrical faults such as transformers and tubes shorting. Of course, if your amp is struck by lightning while you are playing, not much to protect you. :shock:

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