Valve amp // Half stack Do's and Donts please!

[zeegler]

As far as I've been told by amp techs, there is no reason to wait between turning to standby and turning of the power. I turn both off at the same time.

Oh, here's a tip for speakers, whether it be for solid state or tube amps. If you can, lay them flat, when you are transporting them in a vehicle. The movement of the coils with be up and down rather than causing them undue stress.

[Fragle]

"Because it's shielded. When you send high power through a shielded cable, it's going to melt and short out. The end result is a fried cable, a fried amp and potentially blown speakers as well."

my lead guitar player has been using guitar cables to connect the speakers for like 2 years or something (using a supposedly "unreliable" marshall tsl100) without any problems whatsoever. to top it off, he even used the 4 ohm out setting into 2 1960 cabs set to 4 ohm each, essentially putting a 2 ohm load on a 4 ohm out.
the head is still running strong without one single problem whatsoever.

of course, i wouldn't do any of this to my amp, nor would i recommend it to anyone. my point is just that disobeying (sp?) any of these rules doesn't automatically mean the head will instantly explode.

[Mr White]

Thats the thing to bear in mind isnt it? Its recommended stuff. I suppose there'll be a 'safety zone' considered with the instructions etc. Like with aspirin. It says something like "dont take more than 8 in 24 hours" or whatever, but its not like if you have 9 you'll die.

And I do transport them on their back too!!!


James

[lerxstcat]

"Because it's shielded. When you send high power through a shielded cable, it's going to melt and short out. The end result is a fried cable, a fried amp and potentially blown speakers as well."

my lead guitar player has been using guitar cables to connect the speakers for like 2 years or something (using a supposedly "unreliable" marshall tsl100) without any problems whatsoever. to top it off, he even used the 4 ohm out setting into 2 1960 cabs set to 4 ohm each, essentially putting a 2 ohm load on a 4 ohm out.
the head is still running strong without one single problem whatsoever.

of course, i wouldn't do any of this to my amp, nor would i recommend it to anyone. my point is just that disobeying (sp?) any of these rules doesn't automatically mean the head will instantly explode.

That is true, but if you told this story to someone and he ran guitar cables to his cab, and HIS amp blew up, wouldn't you feel bad? Even though you said you wouldnt recommend it, you just told a story that encourages people to ignore safe amp treatment rules. Short amp speaker cables are cheap, or you can make them yourselves with 1/4" ends and lamp cord.

I know people who've had old chevys that they managed to drive around town for awhile with engines that had a cracked block. Doesn't mean I'm gonna tell anyone go ahead and trust a Chevy with a cracked block..

I have turned on a tube amp before, sitting on its cab, then realized I hadn't plugged the cable in. The amp didn't blow, but I shut it off, corrected the problem,and thanked God for not nailing me for my stupidity when it still worked. I didn't say, "Ah fuck that rule; it's obviously noot true.

Maybe a TSL just doesn't generate enough power to fry the shielded cable!:ROTF: Or maybe Germans are sold unshielded guitar cables for that extra death metally growly sound! J/K, bro! I say your bandmate is fucking lucky, and must have gotten one of the 5 good TSL heads!

[Fragle]

"I say your bandmate is fucking lucky, and must have gotten one of the 5 good TSL heads!"
yes he's a lucky bastard....he seems to have a certain careless attitude towards his gear anyways. i'm the total opposite, i'm a gear head, constantly swapping heads, guitars, pickups, stomp boxes etc...
btw, his TSL is quite good. i was really surprised...had quite a hard time trying to find a head that sits well in the mix with him AND craps all over his sound the 5150 does just that, and i hope the cobra is gonna take it one step further.

[Shawn Lutz]

power on
connect guitar
dime volume and master volume
take out of stand-by
strike E chord...let ring out and shake house until feedback

time police response