Is there a guitar amplifier that will never break down?

[Cunamara]

Rob Robinette's site, which includes an essay on how the 5E3 works that might have been useful to you, is down. I am devising a conspiracy theory.

That is a great website, I've had a link to that for a long time. It's down huh?* That is a fantastic resource.

Well, I'm not saying that the universe is out to get me… my father-in-law had surgery last Monday, my wife had surgery last Thursday, I hurt my back on Saturday, also on Saturday the coil spring broke on my garage door opener and I couldn't get the cars out of the garage until this morning when the repairman came out. Turns out that the spring is unusual and is going to cost twice as much to replace as normal. And then the amp acting up this morning. At least the surgeries had positive outcomes and my back will get better. I can replace money. I'm annoyed by the amp, however.

*Yup, still down. And a few hours later, back up. The troubleshooting section gives me a couple of things to check before hauling it in to the amp hospital.

[Cunamara]

And these days people only want the small Fender amps for some mysterious reason..

Well, not THAT mysterious but when one considers the average age of forum members.

[Litterick]

this helped me understand the functional reason behind a standby switch and why some amps don’t need them. All come down to rectifier method and the component ratings after the rectification stage. To me it sounded quite logical.

In the video It touches on what to do for short breaks vs long breaks.
ultimately it came down to voltage ratings of filter caps and the cost of caps rated for the maximum potential exposed voltages before power tube filaments heat up enough to conduct and stabilise the power supply.

I was actually looking for a different video where a tech had an oscilloscope on the standby switch and measuring inrush currents and voltage spikes. In that video he demonstrated the different responses with diode vs valve rectified supplies. He also demonstrated how some (cheap component) standby switch integrations on diode rectified supplies can actually double the chance of a failure through their switching function and the arcing generated inside the switch.

In both outcomes (switch vs no switch, diode vs valve rectifier) it kinda sucks that the consumer is depending on the amp manufacturer to actually give enough of a damn to prolong the life of these Power supply Components and to disclose how they designed the system.


cheers
M

Thanks. I found his manner unpleasant and his presentation skills wanting, so I only watched as far as 03.54. Unless he reveals something later, he seems to be relying on the Sweetwater article to which I linked, which says, "It's all about the capacitors." Sweetwater concludes with three points:
"Only use the standby switch when warming-up of the amp", "The standby switch was only necessary when Leo Fender was designing less expensive amplifiers", and "Don’t worry if your tube amp doesn’t have a standby switch, it doesn’t need it".

[Alter]

Well, not THAT mysterious but when one considers the average age of forum members.

Haha, my story exactly, sold all the heavy amps when i realized i wasn't going to carry them to gigs anymore. But now i'm moving from an apartment to a house so looking to buy something Fender, big and vintage again!

[diamondjazzy]

My Peavey classic 50. 17 years, nothing replaced. Covering in cig burns, tweed peeling from getting soaking wet, an all around tank. Has paid for itself thousands of times over.

[supersoul]

+1 on Peavey Bandit, that thing will outlive you.

plus another one, the Peavey Bandit (and most Peavey's) are unkillable.

A friend of mine had a Peavey PA head sitting on his outdoor porch for several years, thru winters and summers. It just sat there, unused under other crap, until one day I came over and it was out front, ready for the trash. I rescued it. The knobs on two of the channels were broken off, and there may well have been a spider living inside. But the damn thing worked, it was loud and it sounded great, especially as a bass amp. It even had a spring reverb!

One thing I like about Peaveys is how clean they are. I just wish my Bandit was lighter.

Peavey's are hilarious, because there is a fairly rabid fanbase (of which I'm one), but I sincerely doubt they'll ever become collectible. There have been so many Peaveys made, and they never die so the supply isn't dwindling. They're also not sexy and they have no mystique. I don't think they really benefit from modding, either. My Bandit was €100, in perfect shape. I bet if I looked at the used ads I could get another one today.

[jim777]

I've had my Mesa/Boogie Studio 22+ for 35 years , it's always been rock solid , fresh tubes as needed.

I just had my '91 Mark IVa combo serviced, it had started hissing a bit for the first time in my 20+ years of ownership. The bill for the full maintenance was $770 for tubes, caps, etc. So absolutely they go decades without issues (or both of ours certainly did) tube amps will eventually need that cash infusion. On the other hand, that maintenance sets them up for another few decades, usually.

[rpjazzguitar]

The problem with my Boogie Mark III (red stripe) was its density.

It was okay as-is, but if I put a drink on it, it would become heavy enough to bend light around itself. At that point, I could hear it but I couldn't see it. And who would drink something that's floating by itself? Also, it was complicated enough to dial in without the black-hole thing. While invisible it was a real pain to adjust.

In contrast, somebody can sit on my Little Jazz and it's fine.

[RJVB]

it would become heavy enough to bend light around itself. At that point, I could hear it but I couldn't see it.

Aren't you forgetting a detail (or 2)?

[Cavalier]

plus another one, the Peavey Bandit (and most Peavey's) are unkillable.

A friend of mine had a Peavey PA head sitting on his outdoor porch for several years, thru winters and summers. It just sat there, unused under other crap, until one day I came over and it was out front, ready for the trash. I rescued it. The knobs on two of the channels were broken off, and there may well have been a spider living inside. But the damn thing worked, it was loud and it sounded great, especially as a bass amp. It even had a spring reverb!

One thing I like about Peaveys is how clean they are. I just wish my Bandit was lighter.

Peavey's are hilarious, because there is a fairly rabid fanbase (of which I'm one), but I sincerely doubt they'll ever become collectible. There have been so many Peaveys made, and they never die so the supply isn't dwindling. They're also not sexy and they have no mystique. I don't think they really benefit from modding, either. My Bandit was €100, in perfect shape. I bet if I looked at the used ads I could get another one today.

The school amp for my highschool was a Peavey Deuce II. Easily the worst sounding amp I've used, not good clean, not good distorted, a early solidstate/tube hybrid.
But...
Immortal. Un-killable by determined students. It was the weight and size of a Twin. One day it slipped while we carried it and it cartwheeled down 2 stories of concrete steps to the parking lot. It was still in one scuffed piece and fired right up when plugged in for the test. Amazing.
No difference in the bad sound.