Shuguang tube factory "supposedly temporary" closure.

ivan H

ivan H

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So, apparently the Shuguang factory in China has been closed for a while, which they say is temporary. Production is supposedly resuming late '21 or '22 once the factory has relocated to another location. What I've heard is that the factory was in an increasingly residential area & so they had been ordered to relocate. A fire in a neighbouring building apparently forced the closure (smoke damage etc), but really, it's only hearsay & there are a lot of rumours floating around. Anyone else heard anything on this subject??? Cheers
 
Yes this is something I have heard too.

So no EL34B-STR tubes from Tube Amp Doctor, Ruby, Mesa, etc ... same with the preamp tubes etc. I run Ruby and TAD tubes in my Peavey 6534+ so I am kind of glad that I have not been putting a lot of hours on them since I got the JSX, which has Tung Sol, JJ, and Sovtek, all of which are not affected. There was a fire or something before covid hit and then covid made relocation very difficult.
 
Apparently they have been suppling vendors with tube stocks that they had on hand, but those are now depleted, so no more until they've relocated & get producing again. Cheers
Edit:
I have heard that they already had premises in the new location before the forced closure, but again, it's only hearsay. Cheers
 
So I went digging... In August of 2019 there was a fire in a warehouse in the old Shuguang factory area in Renmin Middle Road, Changsha:

曙光电子厂发生火灾！32辆消防车出动 大火已被扑灭（视频）-现场-长沙晚报网

起火原因正在调查中
translate.google.com translate.google.com

I get the impression that there wasn't much of an operation going on there anymore? The area does look very packed and non-industrial.

Here's a Google maps link if you want to go check it out: 467 Renmin Middle Rd · 467 Renmin Middle Rd, Yuan Jia Ling Shang Quan, Furong Qu, Changsha Shi, Hunan Sheng, China, 410126

That address is also on the Shuguang website, however it looks like it hasn't been updated in years... 联系我们 - 曙光电子集团有限公司

I think the new factory is (will be?) at 568 Dongfanghong Middle Rd:

【曙光电子集团有限公司】-看准网

看准网为您免费提供曙光电子集团有限公司的信息，找曙光电子集团有限公司的工商信息、投资关系、企业变更、招聘，以及公司法人、办公地址、产品、CEO是谁、经营状况等，就来看准网曙光电子集团有限公司主页。
translate.google.com

Here's a Google maps link for the new location: 568 Dongfanghong Middle Rd · 568 Dongfanghong Middle Rd, Yuelu Qu, Changsha Shi, Hunan Sheng, China, 410217

And a nice history article I found: Google Translate

No idea to what extent they're up and running at the new location. Can't find any articles on the grand opening of the new glorious electron tube factory. Just a "concept" photo of the main gate I guess.
 
Does anyone ever fear the disappearance of tube factories due to economic feasibility? Are there other strong markets beyond tube amps?
 
I reckon there will always be a boutique niche .... but prices are getting high for tubes and I see that getting even worse as supply / demand changes...

I mean they still MAKE these but I cant see them selling that many
 
Kinda reminds me of the early 90s shortage: Marshall had to move to 5881s because of EL34s were depleted globally. I know Svetlana was a direct supplier to Marshall in the aftermath once the el34s began to reappear, largely due to them building them
 
Personally I think the Shuguang EL34B-STR variants sold by Ruby, TAD, etc were the best EL34 tubes out there, at least for metal amps, so I would be very sad to see them go out of production. The Ruby 12AX7 AC5 HG+ was also a great reliable tube in high-gain amps. Hopefully the plant is relocated.
 
Dave Sloven said:
Personally I think the Shuguang EL34B-STR variants sold by Ruby, TAD, etc were the best EL34 tubes out there, at least for metal amps, so I would be very sad to see them go out of production. The Ruby 12AX7 AC5 HG+ was also a great reliable tube in high-gain amps. Hopefully the plant is relocated.
Click to expand...
the chinese tubes had gotten much better over the years.
imo, all of the new production tubes sound pretty much the same to me, except for jj preamp tubes. to my ears, they seem to kinda darken the amp a little.
i had shuguangs in my ac4, then put in mullards, and finally tung sols. there was really no change.
 
Tubes are very old technology. I expect shortages to increase. I expect prices to increase. The writing is on the wall. The new Fender Tonemaster series, Vox Nutube, etc. is the future. The manufacturers wouldn’t be going in this direction if they thought the future of vacuum tubes was secure. I made the switch to Quilter for live use and a computer for recording. I have no regrets.
 
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