How long are your power tubes lasting?

[leadfootdriver]

I was playing the Express a bit, and thought it was a lacking a bit of crunch and punch. So, I pulled out a used but good pair of power tubes, and Boom! Everything I thought was missing was back again.

You really lose bottom end, and top end clarity with worn power tubes in this amp.

So, how long could I expect a pair to last with all of this overdrive distortion?

[ampgeek]

Wish I could provide a good data point but I don't play it often enough. Too loud to be in the sweet spot for the majority of the venues I play.

But...I rotate the power tubes everytime I do play it. One side gets driven much more than the other.

I have maybe 60 hours on it's virgin tube set (NOS Siemens EL34) with no noticable change in performance as of yet.

Cheers,
Dave O.

[leadfootdriver]

Wish I could provide a good data point but I don't play it often enough. Too loud to be in the sweet spot for the majority of the venues I play.

But...I rotate the power tubes everytime I do play it. One side gets driven much more than the other.

I have maybe 60 hours on it's virgin tube set (NOS Siemens EL34) with no noticable change in performance as of yet.

Cheers,
Dave O.

Those are pricey! I don't have the scratch for a set of those. Furthermore, I haven't tried a new set of power tubes in this amp yet. I've been scavenging, and matching my old used tubes.

I wonder how much better it would sound. Hmm..