Power Up/Down Sequence?

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Author Message   Bobzilla Username: Bobzilla Registered: 2-2005 Posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 10:36 am:    OK... I admit, I am the least technically oriented guy on this board and... here comes a silly question but... I've wondered about the following... any input is appreciated and yes... you can goof on me for asking... Does it make any difference to your equipment.... in how you power up and power down. Like... If you have a pedal and an amp. The amp has a stanby and power on/off. The pedal has power on/off. When you go to play your axe... shoukld you turn anything on in a particular sequence? Should you turn the pedal power on first... then the power on the amp or visa versa? And... when you're done playing and want to turn everything off... is there a proper sequence to use? I ask because I wonder if it matters to the equipment itself. can you harm the amp or the pedal by using an improper sequence of powering on and off? I usually put the amp on keep it on standby, then power up the pedal and once it's up, then I'll take the standby on the amp off and go ahead and play. So, I was just wondering if any sequence is more beneficial to preserving the equpiment when powering up and down.   Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 3-2004 Posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 4:08 pm:    Bob your method sound good to me.   Peterdryan Username: Peterdryan Registered: 6-2007 Posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 4:20 pm:    BobZ - Since no one has taken up the gauntlet, I'll give you my 2 cents worth. When you cable up your guitar and effects to your amp, you're building an electrical circuit for an electron flow (current) that runs from your wall outlet to your guitar and back again. You would always want to have the complete circuit in place before turning on the power. Likewise, you wouldn't want to exchange components in that circuit while the circuit is hot because you may inadvertently cause the electrons to flow someplace where they're not supposed to flow (a short circuit). Effects pedals generally don't have any surge protection. They do, however, have these spiffy little 1/4 watt resistors that make great fuses when an overload is pumped into them. You'll be left with two lead wires going nowhere and a black carbon spot on the circuit board where the resistor used to be. Most modern amps have well designed power supplies with breakers or fuses. The thing to watch out for is that you don't fry a speaker or pop a tube. Vintage equipment, on the other hand, is not that well designed. I have heard urban legends of vintage amps burning up just because someone left them on with no load (open) on a hot circuit. I'm not quite sure how that could happen because without a complete circuit no current will flow. It could be an overheating issue with the power supply I suppose. So: 1) cable everything up 2) power on any active guitar circuitry 3) power on effects pedals 4) power on amp (or standby -> ON) The world according to Pete. - Pete   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 4:57 pm:    I have my setup (amp, multi-effects box) on a power strip. I leave everything "on", and just hit the switch on the strip to power up. Then I plug in the guitar. I've never had any problem other than the loud "crack" I hear when I jack in the guitar. I'm no longer a playing professional, but I can't remember a time in the past when I ever worried about the order of power on, and I never blew out a box or an amp.   Talajuha Username: Talajuha Registered: 11-2006 Posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 6:02 pm:    "When you cable up your guitar and effects to your amp, you're building an electrical circuit for an electron flow (current) that runs from your wall outlet to your guitar and back again." No, there are two different kind of electric circuits. Power circuits from wall outlets (or batteries) to amp and effects (and from battery to guitar's active electronics) and signal circuit from guitar's pickup(s) to effects and amp. If these are not properly insulated eguitar would be hazardous. I guess Pete's list is OK, but I would add: 1) Turn all volume controls (guitar, amp, ...) to zero/off position Actually this should be done always before turning power off of guitar's electronics, effects and amp. And before changin guitar, or better turn powers off and then on after pluging guitar on. Juha   Peterdryan Username: Peterdryan Registered: 6-2007 Posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 6:19 pm:    Juha - You're right, of course. Thanks for straightening me out. - Pete   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 8:46 pm:    What also works very safely, is to wait with the jack that goes into your amp until the last. So if you plug that in last, it doesn't matter if the pots are open or not, when you put your amp on, because the cable's not plugged in yet. Now, if you want to change guitars, leaver everything on and open, plug out the jack from your amp, then switch guitars, then plug the jack back into your amp (learned that from Dutch Fender guru Arie de Vocht). It works fast, and you never forget to put you pots open and play "the sound of silence". Ginger   Guitarwhisperer Username: Guitarwhisperer Registered: 6-2007 Posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 10:18 pm:    Tubes need to be cared for properly. The cathode, the part that emits electrons, is heated by the filament in a vacuum. As the cathode heats up, the electrons orbiting the molecules orbit wider, until a cloud of electrons builds up around it. When the high voltage is applied (when it's taken off standby) the electrons flow from the cathode to the anode through the vacuum of the tube. As they are drawn of, more are produced, and as long as the tube is biased properly, the supply of electrons will equal the demand. Now, the cathode is coated with a material that is self replenishing, as far as the electrons go, as long as the cathode is heated enough for a good supply of electrons to be around it. If the high voltage is applied too soon, and the electrons are drawn off too soon, something called "cathode stripping" occurs, in which the electrons are drawn off and not replenished, and the material degrades, over time degrading the tube. That's one of the many reasons it's a good idea to let your amp warm up before taking it off of standby, to prolong tube life.   Bluesmeister Username: Bluesmeister Registered: 5-2004 Posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 11:06 pm:    Further to Ginger's guitar-changing technique (which is quite valid), I stomp on my Boss TU-2 to mute the signal when changing guitars. There are two output jacks on the left of the pedal, one which by-passes the footswitch (so you can hear yourself tuning up) and one that mutes the signal if you prefer tuning silently. I use the STANDBY switch on my amp to allow the tubes to warm up prior to playing. It takes me maybe a minute or so to connect up the leads and check my tuning, then I switch to the ON position. Likewise at the end of a session, I switch the amp back to STANDBY and tidy away my leads and pedals before switching off the amp. The tubes really don't like thermal shock.   Flatbag Username: Flatbag Registered: 9-2004 Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 3:20 am:    Blues, it won't make a difference to your tubes whether you power down in standby or not - they cannot cool down any quicker than physics allow, therefore causing no thermal shock. In fact it is actually advisable to power straight down (no standby), as this will discharge the high voltage capacitors - powering down in standby leaves them fully charged for weeks, which doesn't do them any good (kind of like rechargeable batteries - their life is prolonged if they fully discharge between charges).   Bluesmeister Username: Bluesmeister Registered: 5-2004 Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - 11:54 pm:    This is taken from my amp's operator's manual: POWER UP: Connect your favorite guitar to the instrument input jack. Turn the power switch “On” while leaving the standby switch set to “Standby”. It’s always a good idea to practice this start up procedure as at least 30 seconds of warm-up time lessens the shock on cold power tubes, thus prolonging their life substantially. ON/STANDBY: Perfect for set breaks… this toggle switch also serves an even more important purpose. In the Standby positon the tubes are at idle so that during power up they may warm up before being put use. Before Power is switched on make sure the Standby switch is in the Standby position. Wait at least 30 seconds and then switch the Standby to the “On” position. This prevents tube problems and increases thei toneful life substantially. Interestingly, the manual doesn't cover powering down, Flatbag, but I certainly take your point. I was simply doing the reverse of power-up procedure, now I'll have to reconsider that.

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