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Post by pcns on Mar 14, 2022 17:26:46 GMT -7
I checked back with my distributor a little while ago a lot of tubes are showing out of stock now, what a difference an afternoon makes.
I'm okay for a while, I have a small stash plus the tubes I got from Doc last year
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Post by steiner on Mar 16, 2022 14:57:19 GMT -7
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Post by mule43 on Mar 18, 2022 16:45:15 GMT -7
Last year I stocked up on tubes since I had some extra cash. I also got a batch from Doc so I have a large stash for my amps. My wife thought I was crazy, "what do you need with so many tubes?" I told her you just never know when you will need some tubes.......
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Post by loucardguitar (Johnathan) on Mar 18, 2022 17:25:10 GMT -7
Last year I stocked up on tubes since I had some extra cash. I also got a batch from Doc so I have a large stash for my amps. My wife thought I was crazy, "what do you need with so many tubes?" I told her you just never know when you will need some tubes....... Always gotta be prepared....always gotta be prepared!!!
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rudeboy
Full Member
Rudecaster into a Z...heaven.
Posts: 124
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Post by rudeboy on Mar 19, 2022 5:28:58 GMT -7
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Post by nicholas on Mar 19, 2022 6:15:06 GMT -7
Cool. I took the survey. I mentioned that we need better quality tubes particularly for guitar combo amps. I said I'd be willing to pay 3-4X current production tube prices. I'm aware of Western Electric. They make 300B audio tubes. They are however over 3 grand for a quad. So I don't know if they going to be able to make tubes most of us would be willing to pay for. If you take the survey it probably would be worthwhile to tell them what you would pay in the comment box. I think 60 bucks for a really high quality, long lasting, rattle free, USA made power tube would be reasonable. I probably would pay even more. But definitely not $700 for a single which is what they charge now.
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Post by ME on Mar 19, 2022 7:33:27 GMT -7
Outside of failure of a tube or related component taking out a tube, I should be good for the foreseeable future. New tubes in the amps. I purposefully avoided class-a amplifiers which are harder on tubes. I also avoid amps with tube rectifiers and EL84’s as these tubes seem to be more prone to failure. Luckily I prefer the amps that meet these criteria. Not suggesting the other amps don’t sound good or anything, perhaps I’m too practical for my own good! ME
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Post by driventone on Mar 19, 2022 8:24:08 GMT -7
Thanks for posting this! Hopefully this will get their attention: “Millions of vintage and new production amps need tubes. Not to mention, 16 million people in the US bought their first guitar during the pandemic. That’s 7% of the US population. The natural progression for any beginner who stays serious, is to improve their tone along with their skills, and this almost always leads to tube amplifiers. The potential is huge.” Where there’s money to be made…
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Mar 19, 2022 9:43:27 GMT -7
Yes, thanks for posting. Where there’s a will there’s a way. In a capitalist society, some innovator will always find a way to fill the market. The first few may fail, but eventually it gets filled. Then many may follow, prompting competition for the best, most affordable.
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Post by LT on Mar 19, 2022 10:26:32 GMT -7
I took the survey and said Quality was most important to me. Thanks for posting this!
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rudeboy
Full Member
Rudecaster into a Z...heaven.
Posts: 124
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Post by rudeboy on Mar 24, 2022 17:51:46 GMT -7
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Mar 24, 2022 18:33:49 GMT -7
Good news!
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Post by nicholas on Mar 24, 2022 19:00:29 GMT -7
This is good news!
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Mar 25, 2022 5:56:34 GMT -7
That is terrific news. Leaning on what I was taught back in the '60s, it was my understanding that vacuum tube production involved some pretty nasty chemicals and materials. Like barium in the getter and maybe cadmium or other heavy metals. I've never had reason to disbelieve that until reading this article.
Western Electric says they are EPA 'green'. I love this topic, and want to see if I've had the wrong understanding all these years. I've always been really careful around a broken tube and I'd really like to hear Doc's understanding of this.
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Post by driventone on Mar 25, 2022 23:08:52 GMT -7
That is terrific news. Leaning on what I was taught back in the '60s, it was my understanding that vacuum tube production involved some pretty nasty chemicals and materials. Like barium in the getter and maybe cadmium or other heavy metals. I've never had reason to disbelieve that until reading this article. Western Electric says they are EPA 'green'. I love this topic, and want to see if I've had the wrong understanding all these years. I've always been really careful around a broken tube and I'd really like to hear Doc's understanding of this. A week or two ago, I would have also thought it would be harmful to the environment to manufacture tubes today. But then two things happened: 1) I saw that WE states they are EPA green! 2) I saw a documentary from the 1940’s on vacuum tubes and the telephone industry and in it they said the industry made a major leap forward when they started coating the components inside the tube (cathode, anode, plate, etc.), and it increased the amount of electrons that could be transferred. Of course, these coatings are probably some of the heavy metals and chemicals we were thinking of. This makes me wonder if in today’s world, where it’s possible to have a much higher degree of accuracy, consistency, and tighter tolerances, if they can achieve this level of transconductance just by having a consistent alloy, or higher quality metals in the components, etc. If so, maybe the coatings aren’t necessary, and then during manufacturing, the main by product is carbon/soot (from heating silicon/glass and steel). And, when it’s time to be disposed of, it’s chiefly glass and metal (except for the plastic base). I will say this - I have seen and touched the components inside old tubes. The way the metals look and feel makes me think twice about throwing them away in the trash, or even recycling.
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