From
The Electric Guitar Handbook:
- 1. Turn on the main power switch and wait at least 30 seconds (preferably 60) before turning on the standby switch. This will help extend your valves lifespan. It is also a good idea to shut off the standby switch first before turning off the mains power switch.
- 2. Make sure that a speaker is always plugged into the amp. Valve amps need to see speakers plugged in at all times.
- 3. Make sure that the amps impedance switch is set to the same impedance as your speaker cabinet. The wrong impedance can blow the output transformer and more.
- 4. Take a little extra care in transporting them. Have a padded surface to put them on when you transport them.
- 5. Make sure that there is proper ventilation for the valves. Valve amps run hot – especially class A models. Don’t cover the ventilation holes with anything and also don't put the amp right against a wall so that there is no air circulating to the vents. Some players recommend keeping a fan on the amp
- 6. Change the power valves about once year, more often if your amp is very high gain, like a Mesa/Boogie or is used hard or every day. If you only play the amp occasionally and then at low levels, your valves should last two years or more.
- 7. Do not move the amplifier immediately after shutting it off. Let the amp cool down for a few minutes before moving or transporting it. This extends valve life.
- 8.Never play on a wet or damp floor or wet wooden stage! Some valve amps have internal voltages exceeding 600V! Never take your amplifier apart, even when turned off, as there are capacitors which store current for a long while after you have shut it off. Leave all amplifier work up to your trusted technician.
You can connect the GT8 in the loop, just make sure the GT-8 is set to line level and turn off any speaker and amp simulation for best quality sound. There's a detailed connection section in the GT-8 manual.
Many guys working with a multieffect pedal use the "four cable method", which gives the most flexible options, and allows you to have some effects like compression, overdrive/distortion or wah in front of the guitar's preamp while keeping the delays, reverb and other effects between the preamp and poweramp stages of the amp. To do this, plug the guitar into the GT-6's input, the send from the GT's loop into the input of the amp, the send from the amp's loop into the return of the GT and the output from the GT into the amp's return. An added benefit of this is you can then write patches on the GT that bypass the amp's preamp and use an amp sim instead, but still use the TSL's power amp and speakers.
I generally wouldn't recommend using the mixer or the DR into the guitar amp, as the amp colours the sound very heavily and won't sound good. If you really need to do it for practice or something, do it into the amps return so the only colouration is the power amp and speakers.
