I've owned 15-year-old Peavey 5150 amps that were still running the original tubes I changed the entire tube complement out of habit, and it yielded no improvement in sound. As always, though, there are no hard and fast rules. The more gain you supply it (from higher-output pickups or an aggressive attack) or ask of it (by turning up the gain control), the quicker it will generally wear out. A 12AX7, which sits in one of the early stages of a high gain circuit, will tend to fail quicker. Tubes can be very consistent but arguably are not made as well as they were in their heyday around 50 years ago-and even with the best production techniques in the world, they are simply being asked to do a lot of work. Most will work well for several years, but occasionally one will fail prematurely for no apparent reason. Preamp tubes-in terms of reliability-can be thought of a bit like lightbulbs. Most modern amps are designed around 12AX7 preamp tubes, which have a very high gain factor, and generally the brands that tend to be fitted at the factory (common ones include JJ, Ruby, Sovtek and Shuguang) are robust and will perform well. They are often-but not always-hidden behind metal sheaths that are there primarily to reduce microphonics. These are the smaller tubes that you can see on your amp's chassis. As with most things though, there is a lot that can be achieved with just a basic level of knowledge-and if nothing else you might save yourself a trip to the amp tech!
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