The best tube/valves

Hey all, I am hoping to buy my first tubey style amp soon (A laney vc15 combo), however I am not well versed in the whole tube/valve business. What's considered a good tube, or a bad tube, how often should I change them, is there any maintenance I would need to perform on them, and is there an affordable (I don't really know the prices of decent tubes) upgrade from the stock tubes, because I can't imagine they're high quality?

Hey all, I am hoping to buy my first tubey style amp soon (A laney vc15 combo), however I am not well versed in the whole tube/valve business. What's considered a good tube, or a bad tube, how often should I change them

For durability in current production output tubes buy JJ. Especially for el84 and 34 types like laney uses. EL84s don't last long in vox style cathode biased circuits because they run full tilt all the time. In fixed bias amp an 84 will get some more life, but british amps are el84 torture chambers. Expect 6mos liffe if you gig and rehearse regularly. When your amp sounds dull its time to replace the output tubes before one blows.

The best sounding current production 12ax7 for rock music is definitely the russian made tung sol ri. They have a high failure rate so only buy from a reputable dealer that tests and sorts. For a more all around good tone try jj's 12ax7es. They are very well made. They have a few variants with different plate assemblies. One is a bit dark to my ear in most guitar amps though its nice if you need to tame a twin or plexi. I forget which is which though as i have a stash of old stuff and mix it with current tungsols until my amps make sweet live to my ear.

I'll talk about vintage tubes if you want, but good NOS is pricey and the tone differences can yield diminishing returns in the preamp beyond the V1 slot. Believe it or jot my ac30hw1 has stock tubes still and sounds great. No reason to mess with success. So ymmv