Is it necessary to change the tubes in a brand new Diezel ?

[Joeytpg]

If you get a brand new amp, do you think it's necessary or at least a good idea to change the tubes? even if it sounds good? (this is a normal/recommended thing when you ge a used amp...even if the amp sounds good, I tend to change the tubes just to get the amp on a fresh start).


I got my Einstein brand new a few months back from musicstore dot de and the amp sounds AMAZING...but I've always had a little doubt I can't get out of my head. Everyone always rave about how much gain this amp has....but I don't feel it has as much gain as ppl say (I'm not a gain freak by any means). For example, in ch. 1 mode 3 with my EMGS (high output pups) I have to set the gain knob to 3:30 (o clock) to get a "metallica - Master of puppets" type of tone (gain wise) in ch. 2 the amp has more gain than in ch.1 m3, but still I have to set the gain to to 2:00 to get that tone, when I've read here that most of you guys set the gain to 12:00 - 1:00 for that Metal agressive gainy tone. (With Single coils and P90s I have to set the gain knob to 4:00 - 5:00 in ch.2 for metal playing! )

So, all this has got my attention..... I notice no lack of tone... the thing sounds beautiful! but maybe the amp was in the store for while and the tubes need replacing.

What do you guys think? can the gain structure be described as "normal" the way it is in my Einstein, or should my Einnie have more gain??

Maybe is a bias thing?

 

[Anonymous]

Joey,
I have had my Einstein combo since Christmas, 2005, and I have never re-tubed it yet. It sounds perfect.

I don't understand why so many people feel that they need to re-tube so often?
Maybe it's just me.

 

[duesentrieb]

No Stephen, same here with my Herbert (although I've tried a bunch - but I'm always back to the first set).

 

[VH4_BigRig]

If you get a brand new amp, do you think it's necessary or at least a good idea to change the tubes? even if it sounds good? (this is a normal/recommended thing when you ge a used amp...even if the amp sounds good, I tend to change the tubes just to get the amp on a fresh start).

got my Einstein brand new a few months back from musicstore dot de and the amp sounds AMAZING...but I've always had a little doubt I can't get out of my head. Everyone always rave about how much gain this amp has....but I don't feel it has as much gain as ppl say (I'm not a gain freak by any means). For example, in ch. 1 mode 3 with my EMGS (high output pups) I have to set the gain knob to 3:30 (o clock) to get a "metallica - Master of puppets" type of tone (gain wise) in ch. 2 the amp has more gain than in ch.1 m3, but still I have to set the gain to to 2:00 to get that tone, when I've read here that most of you guys set the gain to 12:00 - 1:00 for that Metal agressive gainy tone. (With Single coils and P90s I have to set the gain knob to 4:00 - 5:00 in ch.2 for metal playing! )

So, all this has got my attention..... I notice no lack of tone... the thing sounds beautiful! but maybe the amp was in the store for while and the tubes need replacing.

What do you guys think? can the gain structure be described as "normal" the way it is in my Einstein, or should my Einnie have more gain??

Maybe is a bias thing?

Hey Joey, I don't think it's necesssary to change the tubes unless you feel something is not working properly, you want to test out new sounds, or you have a particular brand that you really favour over others.

I know a lot of the people on this board don't seem to like Tom Morello, but I remember in one of his magazine interviews he said that his old Marshall 2205 has never had its tubes changed and he doesn't know what's going on inside of it. He likes the way it sounds, so he doesn't want to mess with it and just leaves it as is! This was a couple of years ago mind you, so he may have changed them since, but even so the fact that it was likely 10-15 years since the tubes were changed in the '80s goes to show that it's often more a matter of taste than necessity.

I've become a bit of an SED tube fanboy after my local amp guru and other people on this board raved about them, because you can bias them a bit hotter yet they are still reliable...however I like them so much that I haven't tried a whole lot of other tube types to compare with them, so take my opinion with a grain of salt