Tung-Sol.com:: FAQs I am a gigging musician who regularly brings my guitar amp to gigs. Should I bring an extra set of tubes to the gig, just in case?

FAQs

Question:
I am a gigging musician who regularly brings my guitar amp to gigs. Should I bring an extra set of tubes to the gig, just in case?
Answer:
If you know how to change tubes and your amplifier is constructed in a way that gives easy access to the tubes (open back vintage Fender), it may not be a bad idea to carry a spare set of power tubes and a couple of preamp tubes to the gig in your roadie bag as cheap insurance. In other cases it is better to have a backup amplifier.

Many modern tube amplifiers require disassembly and removal of covers to gain access to the tubes. This can be time consuming, parts can get lost and further damage to the amplifier can occur. Also, any disassembly will require you to have a tool kit handy and can expose you or others to dangerous voltages. A club environment is definitely not the place to disassemble a tube amplifier.

Another factor in changing tubes at a gig is the fact that when a tube shorts out or fails, it could cause other parts to fail. Sometimes failure of other parts can cause a tube to fail. In this case when the replacement tube is installed it will meet the same demise as the one it replaced.

The only time it really pays to have spare tubes on hand is when you are on tour. If your amplifier breaks down, you can find a technician between gigs and if he doesn’t happen to have the tubes your amplifier needs in stock, you already have replacements to speed the turn around of the repair.