PSA : Western Electric tubes

StrumerJoe said:
Western Electric is gauging interest of musician consumers in popular amplifier tubes.

Western Electric is in the USA.

Pass it on : We make electron tubes — Western Electric - Maker of electron tubes and high fidelity

They have a quick questionnaire that takes less than 10 seconds to fill out. Now go on - get to it!
Click to expand...
Although I agree that tubes should be made in USA, they only manufacture 300B Tubes at this time.
300B wants to be 10 watts per tube. It costs $699 per tube.
Apparently there is future plans to expand production for other types of tubes.
No doubt there is encouragement to manufacture guitar amp tubes and common hi fi tubes.
 
Amp Mad Scientist said:
Although I agree that tubes should be made in USA, they only manufacture 300B Tubes.
Apparently there is future plans to expand production for other types of tubes.
Click to expand...
Go to the site and leave feedback about that. They're literally asking for it! If we show enough demand for the other more commonly used in guitar amplifier types, I bet there's a good shot they'll give them to us. Provided they get enough guitarists screaming at them electronically lol
 
mcblink said:
Go to the site and leave feedback about that. They're literally asking for it! If we show enough demand for the other more commonly used in guitar amplifier types, I bet there's a good shot they'll give them to us. Provided they get enough guitarists screaming at them electronically lol
Click to expand...

There is a tube socket called Millen, and it's like $27 each.
It is made from spacecraft heat shield material.
But that's what we need, all those parts made in USA.
 
Amp Mad Scientist said:
Although I agree that tubes should be made in USA, they only manufacture 300B Tubes at this time.
300B wants to be 10 watts per tube. It costs $699 per tube.
Apparently there is future plans to expand production for other types of tubes.
No doubt there is encouragement to manufacture guitar amp tubes and common hi fi tubes.
Click to expand...
Yes, I know. They are putting out feelers to find out if there is interest.

I know I'd like more options than just JJ.
 
mcblink said:
Go to the site and leave feedback about that. They're literally asking for it! If we show enough demand for the other more commonly used in guitar amplifier types, I bet there's a good shot they'll give them to us. Provided they get enough guitarists screaming at them electronically lol
Click to expand...
I told them
if there was a source in USA that's where we would buy from probably.

But I don't really have much problems with JJ either.
Probably as much problem as any other brand.
Mesa Boogie tubes are JJ.

Then there are telefunken which are selected JJ tubes. These are the world class broadcast standard.
I have not seen a lot of Telefunken tubes go bad either.
 
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Amp Mad Scientist said:
I told them
if there was a source in USA that's where we would buy from probably.

But I don't really have much problems with JJ either.
Probably as much problem as any other brand.
Mesa Boogie tubes are JJ.

Then there are telefunken which are selected JJ tubes. These are the world class broadcast standard.
I have not seen a lot of Telefunken tubes go bad either.
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Oh, I wasn't dogging JJ at all. I just like choices.
 
I wrote them a note about possibly producing !2AT7s and 12AY7s along with the ones they listed.
The question is whether they'll be outrageously audiophile-level expensive.

If they're great-sounding and especially durable, it's worth paying a premium price IMO.
Just not hundreds of dollars per tube.
Maybe twice the cost of imports. Or even three times. But not twenty times as much.
 
mcblink said:
Go to the site and leave feedback about that. They're literally asking for it! If we show enough demand for the other more commonly used in guitar amplifier types, I bet there's a good shot they'll give them to us. Provided they get enough guitarists screaming at them electronically lol
Click to expand...
I've posted the link on a few forums. It surprised me that on one that is a dedicated tube forum, a so called tube enthusiast similarly commented that they only made the 300B, obviously without even bothering to read the linked page.
We really all should make a submission, & share this page as much as possible. The more responses they get, the more chance we have of them going into production. Cheers
 
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mcblink said:
Go to the site and leave feedback about that. They're literally asking for it! If we show enough demand for the other more commonly used in guitar amplifier types, I bet there's a good shot they'll give them to us. Provided they get enough guitarists screaming at them electronically lol
Click to expand...

Exactly!

When I filled out the form on the website, their list did not include 6V6 or EL34 tubes. I left a comment that these tubes were extremely common guitar amplification tubes. A couple hours later I checked the site again and these tubes were added to the list.

Now, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one to point this out, so I’m not saying they added these only because of my comment. But, it does show they are actively monitoring the site and paying attention.

So far, I’m pleased to see this.
 
Pissed Plexi said:
Fux sakes. Their AX7'S? Microfonic. Noisy like my girl when she saddled up. They sound good if you like Squeel?

I'm getting tired of vendors that think they got the next best thing. Maybe...just maybe you Fuking pussies learn to play? No?
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Sometimes it's the amp design which makes the tube microphonic. Any tube stuck into the socket squeals.
Sometimes it's the pick up or guitar which is microphonic.
Sometimes the tube becomes microphonic with aging over it's lifespan. That has been observed many times before.

But it might be unfair to characterize un-used / new Western Electric tubes as being microphonic...

We don't have any new ones to evaluate.
Generally Western Electric has been an upscale hi fi manufacturer with prices to reflect high quality.
But generally not a guitar amp tube.

Selected lab tested tubes would be evaluated for microphonics and do cost a lot more, that's nothing new.
 
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StrumerJoe said:
Western Electric is gauging interest of musician consumers in popular amplifier tubes.

Western Electric is in the USA.

Pass it on : We make electron tubes — Western Electric - Maker of electron tubes and high fidelity

They have a quick questionnaire that takes less than 10 seconds to fill out. Now go on - get to it!
Click to expand...

I would rather buy tubes that support USA manufacturing and USA jobs.
The question is
can a manufacturer produce tubes of sufficient quality (for guitar amps), which is affordable enough to buy?
Or
will the cost of manufacturing price the tubes out of the market - affordable only to the few?

The question will be answered eventually.
 
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