To Doug Schneider,
I am considering purchasing a tube amp but am wondering about how much hassle they are to maintain versus a solid-state amplifier. Any thoughts?
Carl Jeffreys
Every tube amp that I know of requires more maintenance than any solid-state amp that I know of. With a solid-state amp you simply set it up, plug it in, and it usually works flawlessly for many, many years without tinkering of any sort. With tube amps there are tubes that wear out and, usually, bias levels that have to be checked regularly and adjusted if need be. There might be other things you need to do as well such as clean the tube sockets. How often you have to change tubes and adjust the bias varies based on the design and how often you use the amp, but, obviously, the point made here is that tube designs definitely do require more work than their solid-state counterparts. . . . Doug Schneider
