Vacuum tube shortage

[ramonesfreak]

Won’t matter unless your into hi-Fi tube gear or a guitar player. If you are, this is bad news. I didn’t buy Russian tubes anyway but getting some JJ tubes or NOS is going to be tough for a while

https://www.guitarworld.com/news/electro-harmonix-russia-tube-exports-ban

[908/930]

Retailers re evaluating the inventory price. I think there is only one tube manufacturer left in USA, Western electric or a division still produces a 300B for $700 a tube.

[nota]

the smoke and vacuum are both on back order due to shipping delays
both are very hard to find these days in special electric flavors

[Superman]

Congress has an abundance of vacuum to share.

Western Electric is now making its famed 300B tube. Not cheap, but thought to be the best 300B ever made. Certainly the longest-lasting. Average life expectancy is difficult to believe but true: 40,000 hours.

Otherwise, Russia and China are the nations making vacuum tubes. Both make some good tubes. Overall, I am more impressed with the Russian ones. I wish Svetlana would make the Winged C 6550 again.

In any case, I got an order in just under the wire and took delivery of a quad of EL34s and a quad of EL84s about a week ago. FWIW, the best place to get tubes is from Jim McShane. But right now, none of the retailers are able to stock Russian tubes.

[Rick Lee]

I've been hoarding for a few weeks now. I'm all set for preamp tubes, would feel better with some more EL34s and 6L6s, though I'm good for a while. Sure was painful to break a NOS Brimar last week and an Amperex Bugle Boy two mos. ago.

[Superman]

The aforementioned quads were both made in Russia. The quite robust Tung-Sol EL34s and the legendary 6p14p Russian EL84Ms now branded as Sovtek.

[Superman]

Aw man! Bugle Boy 12AX7s are my overall favorite.

[ramonesfreak]

Originally Posted by Superman

Congress has an abundance of vacuum to share.

Western Electric is now making its famed 300B tube. Not cheap, but thought to be the best 300B ever made. Certainly the longest-lasting. Average life expectancy is difficult to believe but true: 40,000 hours.

Otherwise, Russia and China are the nations making vacuum tubes. Both make some good tubes. Overall, I am more impressed with the Russian ones. I wish Svetlana would make the Winged C 6550 again.

In any case, I got an order in just under the wire and took delivery of a quad of EL34s and a quad of EL84s about a week ago. FWIW, the best place to get tubes is from Jim McShane. But right now, none of the retailers are able to stock Russian tubes.

FYI, the chinese factory had a fire and never got back to production

JJ are made in slovakia - use these mostly by default. Ive had 1 failure that took out a screen resistor or something 10 years ago. Otherwise, a decent strong tube without much character but worth using if you dont have NOS tubes

[Superman]

My sextet of Winged C 6550s is still going strong, but I dread the day they will need replacing. Many say they are the best 6550s ever made. Other tubes from that factory in St. Petersburg are also well-regarded. We all wish they would tool up again.

[Rick Lee]

I sprung for a matched quad of old Winged Cs a few yrs ago. One blew, taking out the socket with it, just after the 90 day warranty expired. I was able to buy a matched spare. Another died a few months later. Replacing that one put me at about $500 into that quad. Eff that. Chinese ValveArts are fine for power tubes. I'll spend my real tube money on preamp tubes.

[Superman]

Were they 6550s, or something else?

Preamp tubes are pretty darned important, particularly in V1. But lately, I have also come to understand the importance of the power section on tone and fidelity. I'd say it is more important than the pre, but I would also say that tubes are just a portion of that formula. A Fender amp is just going to sound different from a Marshall or Ampeg. Much of their tone is just baked in.

And again, when I roll 12AX7 tubes the Bugle Boy usually comes out on top. RCA is right up there as well. I find Telefunkens to be unremarkable. Smooth but unremarkable.

[IROC]

I have a THD Univalve amp (that I don't play much anymore and lean on my Marshall and Orange amps), but...I had a lot of fun collecting rare and exotic tubes for the Univalve. For me, some of the best were 6K6s...like NOS stuff from a long time ago from Visseaux and MWT (Marconi Wireless Telegraph, IIRC). I also have a Tung Sol 5881 that sounds awesome.

Most of my finds were power tubes, but I searched long and wide and spent big bucks (probably less than $75 ) on an NOS Mullard ECC83 preamp tube. I probably have 40-50 tubes and most are NOS stuff from a long time ago. Fun hobby...

[Racerbvd]

There is a guy in the industrial park I'm in that is in the Vintage tube business.

[908/930]

I hope one of the larger audio co's possibly ARC (Audio Research) will team up with somebody and build a small manufacturing plant in USA, they probably have stock for a year or two but after that? The larger ARC amps take about 36pc of 6550 and a couple 6H30's. Hard to sell your product when people are not sure about future tube supply.

[ramonesfreak]

I think environmental concerns will prevent that, but maybe it can be done?

[Superman]

There is a substantial capital investment to get tooled up. But the process is not especially dirty. Tubes are made of metal and glass, and sometimes a plastic or fiber base.

I'd like to think there will always be a market for tubes. Some of us think computers just cannot make an amp do what a tube can. Musicians will love them until they die, and further generations will do the same. Some musicians just insist that tubes bring a truly unique dimension. This musician sees it that way. There is no substitute. All of my professional music gear, and all of my hifi gear, is 100% tube (preamp and power section) with one exception. I have a bass head that has two vacuum tubes in the preamp and a toroidal transformer in the rear. Class D.

But I think in the long long run, tube gear will continue to dwindle. It sees a resurgence from time to time, but tubes were mostly replaced by transistors many decades ago.

[greglepore]

Eh were sorta middle level tubes anyway, but yeah, there will be a squeeze.

[dad911]

The EE in me would think that digital processing should be able to recreate the sound 'coloring' of a tube. But what do I know, not being able to hear the difference between a $30 cable and a $30,000 cable.....

I tossed at least 100 tubes in the 80's. Mostly ham radio related, but there were some high powered transmitting tubes in the bunch.

Who knew?

[Rick Lee]

Oh man, I've made my own cables from Mogami cable and Switchcraft plugs for $8, then bought a real Lava or Mogami cable for $70 and cannot hear the difference at all. Ditto for the George L stuff. I only use those for the jumpers in my NMV Marshalls now. I did replace the rectifier tubes in my Friedman DS 40 and Marshall Astoria combos with solid state plug ins, but can't do that with power tubes (yet).

[ramonesfreak]

Originally Posted by dad911

The EE in me would think that digital processing should be able to recreate the sound 'coloring' of a tube. But what do I know, not being able to hear the difference between a $30 cable and a $30,000 cable.....

I tossed at least 100 tubes in the 80's. Mostly ham radio related, but there were some high powered transmitting tubes in the bunch.

Who knew?

This is being done now. Fender is making digital versions of their classic black face line up, like the deluxe reverb (called Tone Master ). People like them. I don’t. Not yet anyway.

https://youtu.be/WeDr7u_hwGA. Cant imbed with iPad. The comments would suggest people preferred digital

Also, not only is it about sound, but it has a lot to do with feel. You can feel the sag in a tube amp and the dynamics are better with tube. But, I know some people who have gone digital and are not going back