mesa 5U4GB rectifier tube question

[interrogate]

hey there i`ve owned my dual rectifier for bout one and a half years now and thought it was time to change the tubes, so i got 5 groove tubes for the preamp, 4 mesa el34`s for the power amp. popped them in and could`nt believe how better the tone was, at the min i`m waiting for the rectifier tubes to arrive in the post but i was wondering how often do u have to change them, as in have they roughly the same life span as a power tube? and whats the signs that there are starting to go? thanks for any help on this

 

[Platypus]

hey there i`ve owned my dual rectifier for bout one and a half years now and thought it was time to change the tubes, so i got 5 groove tubes for the preamp, 4 mesa el34`s for the power amp. popped them in and could`nt believe how better the tone was, at the min i`m waiting for the rectifier tubes to arrive in the post but i was wondering how often do u have to change them, as in have they roughly the same life span as a power tube? and whats the signs that there are starting to go? thanks for any help on this

Rectifier tubes are utilitarian such that they don't really go bad.. they do their job until they stop working. They don't need to be changed like power tubes do.. I'd say change them on the same schedule as the preamp tubes which is quite a long time.

 

[interrogate]

thanks for the advice!!