strumminsix wrote:I change mine when they sound bad or I have my tech guy test them. I don't personally buy into changing tubes like changing your oil like some people do.
Agreed, if it sounds good to me, I don't change
a thing.
strumminsix wrote:From what I can gather:
poweramp 2 years with moderate usage
Probably so, also depends on how hot they are biased.
strumminsix wrote:preamp 4-5 years with moderate usage
On that I do not agree, unless perhaps we are talking about some pretty low quality 12a#7's! I am a preamp tube tinkerer- I like to try out all kinds of different tubes in the different sockets... and try
those out in combination with different guitars and speakers! I have slowly amassed a small hoard of old 70's or early 80's RCA, GE, Sylvania and Philips preamp tubes, "JAN" or military spec if possible, NOS if cheap, sometimes out of salvage grab bins... some might not be much good but some turn out to be GEMS. The tubes of this era were built to last at LEAST 30 years (possibly up to double that imho). It can be kind of tedious "work" to keep switching out tubes and playtesting in a (pre)amp to find the right combination, but when you starting getting close, it becomes hard to give up the quest!