Western Electric to the rescue! They’re gonna make more tubes.

smitty_p said:
That's very possible. Tube amps may very well become a niche market. Even physical processors and modellers may become passé. The VST technologies used in the studio may make their way onto the stage more and more. To me, it would be very cool to bypass the concept of physical modellers and processors entirely. Sometimes, I think I'd rather get a powerful laptop, a foot controller, an interface, and just use software. That way, I can change or upgrade an entire "processor" just by changing software; not buying new hardware. This would basically do an end-run around the whole hairball of Fractal vs. Kemper vs. Helix.

In most cases though, I prefer the workflow of an amp and pedal board for stage use.

Either way, I think folks spend too much time hand-wringing one way or the other over tubes vs. SS/processing. The tube crowd tries to validate their choice as being sonically superior; the SS/processor crowd tries to dismiss the tube crowd as antiquated.

Both crowds are wrong in their approaches. Neither crowd needs to justify its preference nor should either crowd try to act superior to the other.

As noted, things are cyclical. Trying to read customer direction has been the rise and downfall of many a marketing department.

For me, I'm very happy to see Western Electric come on board and pick up the gauntlet. This will help ensure there is availability of replacement tubes for the millions of tube amps and for those companies/people who build them. Once they hit the market, I'm definitely gonna pick up a few!
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Seems a vacuum tube laptop might work better. Difficult to fold / carry yes but - much better tone.
I found some 300B drawings, I need to make a 300B 20 watt guitar amp...or 40 watt but this is getting expensive.

Screenshot 2022-03-26 at 02-14-47 300B.pdf.png
Screenshot 2022-03-26 at 02-13-31 300B.pdf.png
 
Interesting all the hysteria over tube supplies.

I gigged with (2) Marshall DSL40C's for 2-1/2 years, 5 nights a week (and some weekends) and never had to replace a tube.

Part of this period was in a Judas Priest tribute and the other a full time bar band. In both cases, I was running a volume pedal in the FX loop with master volume between 7-8, so the amps were running pretty much wide-open all the time.

Additionally, these amps were transported both in my Mustang and the band's equipment trailer, so I believe it fair to say they were exposed to some vibration.

The amps also remained on during breaks and - at times - all day long while at work in commercial studios for hire, 10am to 6pm and beyond.

I cannot imagine too many people, outside a touring musician, using their tube amps this much, and yet the tubes never gave me any trouble.

I switched to the Marshall Origin 50H in September of 2020, at the heigth of Bad Dog's manaical 5 night-a-week performance schedule.

Screenshot_20220326-044105_Gmail.jpg

The Origin 50H has also been hauled around and used quite a bit since I bought it. When @syscokid hot-rodded it last year, we switched to 6CA7 tubes, but there was nothing wrong with the original tubes that came in the amp

I think this situation is similar to the hysteria over toilet paper hoarding...
 
Amp Mad Scientist said:
Seems a vacuum tube laptop might work better. Difficult to fold / carry yes but - much better tone.
I found some 300B drawings, I need to make a 300B 20 watt guitar amp...or 40 watt but this is getting expensive.

View attachment 82069
View attachment 82070
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Thinking about it I do have a transformer set that will work for a pair of 300B. The last quad of 6L6GC pre 1974 NOS
paid $1500.00 they lasted 3 world tours. I can't make that amp sound great with new production 6L6GC
My friend in Germany I get the NOS supply is ghosting me my guess he was cleaned out of stock.
Good news have had a lot of inquires to start up my tool company I shut it down in 2008
 
67plexi said:
Thinking about it I do have a transformer set that will work for a pair of 300B. The last quad of 6L6GC pre 1974 NOS
paid $1500.00 they lasted 3 world tours. I can't make that amp sound great with new production 6L6GC
My friend in Germany I get the NOS supply is ghosting me my guess he was cleaned out of stock.
Good news have had a lot of inquires to start up my tool company I shut it down in 2008
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I never worked on an amp with 4 output tubes that cost 3 Grand.
But it must sound pretty sweet...

Each tube cost 700 and what if there's a user error? kaboom.
 
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Robert Herndon said:
Interesting all the hysteria over tube supplies.

I gigged with (2) Marshall DSL40C's for 2-1/2 years, 5 nights a week (and some weekends) and never had to replace a tube.

Part of this period was in a Judas Priest tribute and the other a full time bar band. In both cases, I was running a volume pedal in the FX loop with master volume between 7-8, so the amps were running pretty much wide-open all the time.

Additionally, these amps were transported both in my Mustang and the band's equipment trailer, so I believe it fair to say they were exposed to some vibration.

The amps also remained on during breaks and - at times - all day long while at work in commercial studios for hire, 10am to 6pm and beyond.

I cannot imagine too many people, outside a touring musician, using their tube amps this much, and yet the tubes never gave me any trouble.

I switched to the Marshall Origin 50H in September of 2020, at the heigth of Bad Dog's manaical 5 night-a-week performance schedule.

View attachment 82071

The Origin 50H has also been hauled around and used quite a bit since I bought it. When @syscokid hot-rodded it last year, we switched to 6CA7 tubes, but there was nothing wrong with the original tubes that came in the amp

I think this situation is similar to the hysteria over toilet paper hoarding...
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I have an amp from 1993 ( the JCM900 SLX) that only had one tube change and it we used it out live a fair bit. Unfortunately that's the one that blew up and thus the tubes were killed with it, so it needs a change for obvious reasons lol.

The other amp is from 1997 that it too was used live a fair bit and I use it all the time today ( the JCM2000) and it's only had 2 changes, one was within the last year after it had to get some servicing done. Finally, a hybrid I have from 2004 ( Mode Four) only just this last year got its 2 ECC83s changed.

At the time of all the changes? Nothing outstanding was wrong with any tube, just a lil weakening in the output but could have went on for a while afterwards. Regular grade Svetlana EL34s were largely what was being used except in the JCM2000 which are JJs. Preamp wise they're all JJs ( not bad, not terrible) with the Mode Four being Genalex Gold Lions.

I'm of the belief if it ain't broke, dont fix it.
 
Don O said:
I was a Holley fan. Had 650 and 850 double pumpers, then came the 3x2s.

View attachment 82084
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We built Q-jets for racing classes were they were limited to a factory carb, but cars were always faster with a Holley.

The Q-jet choke pulloff has to be calibrated because it is the damper for the secondaries.

Additionally, you have to pull the idle tubes to gain access to the idle tube restrictions in order to tune the fuel curve.

If a Qjet is tuned correctly, you never hear or feel the secondaries "kick in."
 
Robert Herndon said:
We built Q-jets for racing classes were they were limited to a factory carb, but cars were always faster with a Holley.

The Q-jet choke pulloff has to be calibrated because it is the damper for the secondaries.

Additionally, you have to pull the idle tubes to gain access to the idle tube restrictions in order to tune the fuel curve.

If a Qjet is tuned correctly, you never hear or feel the secondaries "kick in."
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That's a pretty bold statement based purely on the Bernoullian principles; but what of the weasels in your air filter? Did weasel induced flow restriction ever occur to you? No.
 
Clockworkmike said:
Guy up the street from me had a 454 El Camino bored .30 over with a 1050 Holley Dominator. Was pretty brutal lol

I just had a 72 Nova SS clone with a 327 high output, with a 600 Edelbrock 4 barrel and Performer intake
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The olden days.

429 Ford Super Cobra Jet, bored to 440CID, 11.25:1 compression, custom Iskenderian solid lifter, 300 degrees advertised, 730 factory Ford Holley, custom Motorcraft dual point, stock Ford iron intake and exhaust manifolds, 4 speed Toploader, 4.30 gears in a 4400 pound car, on street tires through the mufflers - 13.80 @ 107mph and it would run the same E.T. at 12 noon at 100 degrees as it would at 7pm at 80 degrees...
 
Clockworkmike said:
That's kind of what I'm seeing here too: at the current rate, amps both valve and SS alike, will be cool old nostalgia items. Record players bizarrely made a reemergence over the last decade and your local Walmart probably carries more vinyl now than CDs ( mine does anyways) and so maybe young hipster kids will rediscover amps one day if and when they ultimately vanish.

I was talking to a 23 year old at work yesterday about this same thing, oddly enough. We got on the topic of music and turns out he is a fellow guitar player as well, but was asking about getting into recording. I told him Im pretty old school and dumb to it but I am slowly learning SOME things. But I joked and said " I just play the damn thing: warts and all. I miss the old school days of raw recording even if there is some sloppiness in there".

Amazingly he was of the same belief and said " Digital stuff is cool if you want to sound ultra polished but it gets to a point it becomes fake and plastic sounding. Led Zeppelin would record :poo: in stairwells and Deep Purple recorded in run down hotels with cables going to trucks. And yet no one today sounds that good"

Almost wept a tear of joy for hope of a brighter future lol


And yeah, about directions? Ask any kid under the age of 25 to orienteer a road atlas on their own if you want another laugh lol
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Its sunday -- typically sunday is "real amp day" here on the farm -- played some VOX hybrid -- then switched to the Fender bassbreaker tube jobbie --both sound great both made me smile for different reasons -- as I was turning on the Fender (to let the tubes warm up....... yawn) -- I remembered how I got that particular amp--
traded a guitar for it to a young (under 30 something) year old who played ---- IN HIS APARTMENT ...and recorded -- and -- the 7 watt fender was TOO LOUD when cranked to get good "saturation" -- so he had gone all digital/daw/ computerized..... (no noise or very little-- no neighbors bitching) but needed a different style guitar for some more variety in tone --
WOIRKED FOR ME --- happy trade -- but there is on example of the "switch": that is happening (Im sure) in apartments and condos across the world....lol ----yawn

well been an hour or so better turn it off dont want to overwork damage or "F" up those very expensive hard to find globally scarce TUBES........
 
67plexi said:
Use Chinese 300B for burn in
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Yup I was thinking the same thing.

Do you think that when the 300 overdrives / screams / begs / pleads for holy mercy, that it will sound killer?
Never tried it but can't wait to find out.
The most expensive set of output tubes which I have tortured were like $400 a quad. Never thought about torturing thousands expensive tubes before.

The 300B, having a gain of 3, will need some sort of beefed up driver (compared to an EL34).
 
I like the EF86 AC-15 amp UK made the Chinese made Vox are disposable when they fry look made from the finest MDF
this is a AC-30 China looks nice on the outside but poor construction on the inside.

VOX AC-30 001.JPG

VOXAC-30 001.JPG
 
Seems like guys will create anything (as far as videos are concerned) to try and garner views.

I'll spend that time practicing....
 
Robert Herndon said:
Seems like guys will create anything (as far as videos are concerned) to try and garner views.

I'll spend that time practicing....
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So Robert,
what "is" Fender going to do with tube amp production?
Have you heard anything?
Just about All the tubes they were using in new amps production were Soviet tubes, under the FMC Groove Tubes label...

Are they just going to start using JJ (like Mesa does)?
Are they switching over to China tubes? (Groove Tubes already has China tubes but did not use them in new Fender amplifiers)
Groove Tubes only sold the China tubes in retail stores.

Or, is Fender putting new tube amp production on hold? Pending a review of substitute suppliers.
 
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