SteveFord Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 Last night I decided to retube my old VTL 300 monoblock amps, the Winged C 6550s in there are pretty old and crusty. I had 15 new Sovteks in the basement so ordered one new Sovtek and popped in the 15 new Sovteks. Out of the 15, one failed instantly, two wouldn't bias. I now have 3 new Sovteks on order, we'll see how they go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 That's why I was hoarding nos American and British tubes, way back in the 80's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 I picked up a bunch of stuff several weeks back. In the lot was a mid 70s Ampeg V-4, missing its 7027s. I found a place online that sells cheap. I think I got the four for $113 shipped. They were in boxes that said "Amperex, made in England", but the tubes themselves said Amperex and then Made in Russia in fine print. Tubes were fine, but the amp had cap problems so it got sold as is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 Acoustics don't need tubes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitefang Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 Not being familiar with this side of electronic tech, I'd have to mention that there have been and still are many audio component companies that still and now make those audio amps with tube technology. And I wonder if possibly any of the tubes they use can also be used in some guitar amps. After all, many of those audio amps are rated as pretty powerful. Pick up a copy of STEREOPHILE magazine to see what you can find. Whitefang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 (edited) 15 minutes ago, Whitefang said: Not being familiar with this side of electronic tech, I'd have to mention that there have been and still are many audio component companies that still and now make those audio amps with tube technology. And I wonder if possibly any of the tubes they use can also be used in some guitar amps. After all, many of those audio amps are rated as pretty powerful. Pick up a copy of STEREOPHILE magazine to see what you can find. Whitefang There are lots of different tubes out there for lots of different uses. In the Coast Guard a Gyrocompass I maintained and worked on was tube technology. Almost every amp I owned, when I had electric guitars had tubes. I know the power tubes are bigger and the preamp ones are smaller. Being an electrician, very early on in my short 4 year Navy career before the CG, I had long electrical and electronics school, and there was a section on tubes. We had to learn about grid voltage, plate voltage, cathodes, electrodes and lots of stuff I can't remember, and I only worked on that piece of gear for a short time in my CG career on one CG ship (cutter) I was stationed on. I changed tubes in every amp as soon as I got them no matter what, unless bought brand new. Which I think only one amp was bought new. Edited June 6, 2022 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted June 6, 2022 Author Share Posted June 6, 2022 Supposedly the Chinese Psvane power tubes have higher quality control, the Russians just slam it out the door no matter what. You look at photos of the old American tube manufacturers and they had mountains of rejects to be destroyed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 (edited) My SR15's came. with JJ tubes that are still burning clean, I started rotating my amps when the Russians started making a fuss so I could get the run hours closer. No bad arching or harmonic hum so far. It be my luck if all go out at once.. Edited June 6, 2022 by mihcmac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 (edited) 8 hours ago, ghost_of_fl said: Choosing to stay with a tube amp is going to become an uphill battle. You may be right in the long run. 7 hours ago, Whitefang said: Not being familiar with this side of electronic tech, I'd have to mention that there have been and still are many audio component companies that still and now make those audio amps with tube technology. And I wonder if possibly any of the tubes they use can also be used in some guitar amps. After all, many of those audio amps are rated as pretty powerful. Pick up a copy of STEREOPHILE magazine to see what you can find. Whitefang The fact is; we still like tubes/valves as they have a lovely smooth waveform / electrical signal /whatchamacallit and present audio in a way that is unique and can be very pleasing to the ear. On the face of it, it seems ludicrous to take time and spend money creating a digital algorithm to reproduce analog 'warmth' (essentially mild distortion, yes?) but....they've done it, more or less. It is incredible to me that in my lifetime, tracking and conversion of a guitar signal to digital then to sound with all its parameters has become very near instantaneous...that alone was inconceivable until the 80s. I was at a big hi-fi sale last weekend. Held twice a year with over 100 stalls. Lots of vintage and retro hi-fi, beautiful valve gear and much more but - hardly any YOUNG people. Hi-fi as I knew it and always thought about it, is middle-aged. You built a circuit with valves then transistors came along and now the whole thing is on a chip. Very few people now know or care to hear / listen for the difference as long as the message or music is there. OTOH I still have five valve guitar amps - with old valves - they work fine - and I just like them. 15 Sovteks.....quite a lot. Edited June 6, 2022 by jdgm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 https://www.ehx.com/tubes/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted June 7, 2022 Author Share Posted June 7, 2022 One American owns all of those tube brands, all made at the same place in Russia. His hair must be falling out in clumps. The various audio amps here take 36 power tubes, the little signal tubes I can usually get old American ones but not the big power tubes. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 22 minutes ago, SteveFord said: One American owns all of those tube brands, all made at the same place in Russia. His hair must be falling out in clumps. The various audio amps here take 36 power tubes, the little signal tubes I can usually get old American ones but not the big power tubes. Tube-tastic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted June 7, 2022 Author Share Posted June 7, 2022 Hell yeah. Most vendors are sold out as there was panic buying o'plenty. Rumor has it things will return to normal in 2024 as far as tubes but nobody really knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitefang Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 15 hours ago, jdgm said: You may be right in the long run. The fact is; we still like tubes/valves as they have a lovely smooth waveform / electrical signal /whatchamacallit and present audio in a way that is unique and can be very pleasing to the ear. On the face of it, it seems ludicrous to take time and spend money creating a digital algorithm to reproduce analog 'warmth' (essentially mild distortion, yes?) but....they've done it, more or less. It is incredible to me that in my lifetime, tracking and conversion of a guitar signal to digital then to sound with all its parameters has become very near instantaneous...that alone was inconceivable until the 80s. I was at a big hi-fi sale last weekend. Held twice a year with over 100 stalls. Lots of vintage and retro hi-fi, beautiful valve gear and much more but - hardly any YOUNG people. Hi-fi as I knew it and always thought about it, is middle-aged. You built a circuit with valves then transistors came along and now the whole thing is on a chip. Very few people now know or care to hear / listen for the difference as long as the message or music is there. OTOH I still have five valve guitar amps - with old valves - they work fine - and I just like them. 15 Sovteks.....quite a lot. You're right, and it's not surprising few young people were at a hi-fi sale (or even show). Too many are sadly content to listen to whatever it is that passes for music lately through earbuds plugged into their phones! 😧 But it wasn't until I finally could afford high end audio components and too the advent of the compact disc that I was able to hear things on many of my LPs and later, those that were reissued on CD that I never knew existed heard through a substandard sound reproduction component. Whitefang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 (edited) Western Electric gearing up for domestic production of guitar amp tubes to fulfil demand By Matt Parker published March 25, 2022 “People are ready for higher quality, American-made tubes. We’re ready to meet that demand” (Image credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus) US-based vacuum tube manufacturer Western Electric has said it is “in the throes of tooling up” to produce popular types of guitar amp tubes, including the 12AX7. Vacuum tubes have been in increasingly short supply in recent months. Electro-Harmonix founder Mike Matthews warned of supply issues last year but was recently forced to temporarily halt orders from its Russian factories due to sanctions. EHX has since been able to resume taking tube orders, but players and gear producers have continued debating the viability of domestic production of vacuum tubes. Enter US-based manufacturer Western Electric – which already makes tubes for high-end hi-fi equipment – and recently sought feedback from customers regarding its entry into the guitar amp tube market. Unsurprisingly, the firm received a warm reception and is now proceeding with plans to produce guitar amp tubes in the US. “After the overwhelming response from our little announcement, we know for a fact that the guitar amp crowd is massive,” a spokesperson told Guitar.com(opens in new tab). “People are ready for higher quality, American-made tubes. We’re ready to meet that demand and increase production capacity accordingly. We have the infrastructure in place to do so.” In addition to just helping to meet demand, the Western Electric spokesperson was clear that the company sees an opportunity to improve on current components. “There is a need for better quality,” they say. “People have grown accustomed to cherry-picking from any given batch of tubes to get the best sound. Along with better reliability, we hope to offer a super low-noise, low-distortion, and consistent product people can trust.” While Western Electrics hi-fi tubes are very expensive, the firm thinks the costs associated with the production of guitar amp tubes would be much lower, citing the example of a 12AX7 tube as “significantly easier and less labour-intensive” than its current hi-fi offering, the 300B. “There’s a long list of things we’ve been able to modernise across our current 300B operation,” says Western Electric. “Robotics, automation, and laser-welding, to name a few. We also take advantage of higher purity materials previously unavailable in the heyday of tube manufacturing. “We’re equipped to do the same with other tubes, all while honouring the old, practised art of Western Electric manufacturing. Our customers will enjoy longer life and higher performance as a result.” There’s no word on the specific types of tubes that Western Electric will be making, or the price points, but the spokesperson implies we won’t have long to wait. “We are in the throes of tooling up for various tubes,” they confirm. “Starting with the most urgently-needed, popular types.” Keep an eye on Western Electric’s site(opens in new tab) for more information. https://www.guitarworld.com/news/western-electric-american-guitar-amp-tubes Edited June 7, 2022 by mihcmac 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 5 hours ago, SteveFord said: Hell yeah. Most vendors are sold out as there was panic buying o'plenty. Rumor has it things will return to normal in 2024 as far as tubes but nobody really knows. This is our new normal. Put-bag will incorporate Ukraine, and find another country he would like to make his. I'm sick of saying and hearing the word Covid 100 times a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 19 minutes ago, ghost_of_fl said: "People are ready for higher quality, American-made tubes. We’re ready to meet that demand” Sounds expensive. I sincerely hope that is not the case but I think this company smells gold in them thar hills. To answer your question in line 2 of your post, yes it does and yes they will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted June 8, 2022 Author Share Posted June 8, 2022 (edited) Their 300B is $700 https://www.westernelectric.com/300b Granted, that's for a specialty market so we'll see. 12AX7s were in the low to mid $20 range before Putler lost his marbles. I sure hope they can pull it off and we can buy decent tubes made in the USA again. Edited June 8, 2022 by SteveFord Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHenry Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 18 hours ago, Whitefang said: You're right, and it's not surprising few young people were at a hi-fi sale (or even show). Too many are sadly content to listen to whatever it is that passes for music lately through earbuds plugged into their phones! 😧 But it wasn't until I finally could afford high end audio components and too the advent of the compact disc that I was able to hear things on many of my LPs and later, those that were reissued on CD that I never knew existed heard through a substandard sound reproduction component. Whitefang It's funny that you should say about yong people and HiFi. Vinyl sale's have gone absolutly crazy with yong people (at least here in the U.K), but they play them on the cheapest crappy Record players and they thinf they're getting the true vinyl experiance. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 3 hours ago, IanHenry said: It's funny that you should say about yong people and HiFi. Vinyl sale's have gone absolutly crazy with yong people (at least here in the U.K), but they play them on the cheapest crappy Record players and they thinf they're getting the true vinyl experiance. Yes vinyl is crazy, but I read and it may or may not be true that there are only 6 big places left the make vinyl records. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 23 minutes ago, ghost_of_fl said: Well the cool thing about vinyl is ... It's made out of vinyl. Like my siding? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitefang Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 1 hour ago, ghost_of_fl said: Well the cool thing about vinyl is ... It's made out of vinyl. That stuff is really durable. If a record hasn't been abused, it can have a very long life. Yep. And I still have some old vinyl 45s and LPs that sound good. But more that haven't held up to the "ages". Now I have to find an old but in good condition receiver to hook my 30 year old turntable into so I can play them occasionally. I was using a brother in law's old Marantz but after 10 years he wanted it back, so....... And I can't move the turntable upstairs (it and the vinyl are in the basement) to plug it into the main Nakamichi system because there's no shelf space to set it in. I mentioned getting hold of a copy of STEREOPHILE magazine. In it you can find suggested turntables to buy that can cost as little as $5,000.00. That you can hook up to an amp that costs only $15,000.00 with a $12,000.00 pre-amp and shoot it all through a $150,000.00 pair of loudspeakers! Seems it's not only vinyl that's gone crazy. Whitefang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 58 minutes ago, Whitefang said: Yep. And I still have some old vinyl 45s and LPs that sound good. But more that haven't held up to the "ages". Now I have to find an old but in good condition receiver to hook my 30 year old turntable into so I can play them occasionally. I was using a brother in law's old Marantz but after 10 years he wanted it back, so....... And I can't move the turntable upstairs (it and the vinyl are in the basement) to plug it into the main Nakamichi system because there's no shelf space to set it in. I mentioned getting hold of a copy of STEREOPHILE magazine. In it you can find suggested turntables to buy that can cost as little as $5,000.00. That you can hook up to an amp that costs only $15,000.00 with a $12,000.00 pre-amp and shoot it all through a $150,000.00 pair of loudspeakers! Seems it's not only vinyl that's gone crazy. Whitefang People pay huge money for guitars, new and old, and do you think high quality audio equipment is gonna be any different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 There are plenty of JJ tubes around. They're the only big manufacturer who isn't messed up these days. They were mostly out of stock for a month or two but most places have most of their tubes now. Their prices are up about 40% in the last year. The Western Electric guys don't seem like they're going anywhere with guitar amp tubes. I don't see them putting any money into making $20 12AX7's when they're used to making oddball audiophile tubes for hundreds per tube. I have a few of the psvane 12ax7's but I haven't used them yet. They're not made exactly the same as the regular Chinese 12ax7's... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 (edited) For some reason, the prices of vintage amps has kind of gone thru the roof lately. I bought a 1966 Deluxe Reverb in excellent + condition about a year ago for $1800 - it needed a few hundred dollars of work and was probably worth $2500 after I did the work. It looks like it's worth a good $5000 right now. There aren't any on ebay and there's five on reverb - https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=1966 fender deluxe reverb Most Blackface vintage Fenders seem like they've been snapped up by some rich guys. Edited June 9, 2022 by badbluesplayer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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