WILL they cease to exist?

are tubes going to be obsolete?

  • yes

    Votes: 3 10.0%

  • no

    Votes: 17 56.7%

  • why dont you find a real hobby

    Votes: 2 6.7%

  • pizza for 300 Alex

    Votes: 5 16.7%

  • Norm really works for Godin in the Marketing Dept. ;)

    Votes: 3 10.0%
  • Total voters
    30
ivan H said:
The new Brimar are still gearing up to produce their own valves (small batches), they are still in the process of overhauling tooling & machines, along with wiring everything up etc, etc. As you could imagine, it would be no small project. And then this damn COVID-19 :poo: thing has slowed work with only a skeleton crew working on the project now. I know we all hope they succeed.
I think it's entirely possible that the USA could produce valves/tubes that would surpasses the current offerings, most definitely. As good as in the heyday without breaching EPA laws, kinda hard to say (y'all could farm "those" processes out to Mexican subsidiary plants). The thing is, no current manufacturers use the "old" cathode coatings, plate coatings etc etc, but that's not what's making the tubes "lesser quality". These guys now are cutting corners all over, use lower quality components all over & quality control is, well, low quality. I mean, just visually compare an old tube to its same new production counterpart. Thinner grid support posts, thinner Mica supports/spacers, poor crimping etc etc. Destructive testing shows thinner glass, plate materials etc etc. Without going on a big (or "bigger") rant, I'm sure y'all get the picture. If they let all these things slide there's a good chance they're letting everything slide, all the while telling us it's a reproduction of your favourite "old production" type. Tubes that previously would not made it through quality control & been discarded are now being shipped. If your supplier doesn't test properly to weed out the :poo: we end up copping them. The last "decent" tubes were the (Saint Petersburg) SED Winged C's. Could the good ol' US of A produce tubes to rival the SED Winged C's??? Damn straight they could. Cheers
Click to expand...
I like your positive attitude... "Make Vacuum Tubes In America Again"... :cheers:
 
gball said:
The original question didn't address the timeframe. Will they be gone in 5 years? 10 years? 20? Long term, yes, I think they will go away completely. But my feeling is that before then the quality of the available tubes, regardless of current initiatives, will decline to the point that no-one is going to want to use them, in large part because the demand will continue to go down as modeling amps keep getting better. Yes, I think tubes' days are numbered and It will happen in our lifetimes.
Click to expand...
---- you expected ME to post a POLL that made sense-----???

as stated previously I was mostly just wanting to "out" Session 5 as a Godin Informant :)

but--------------I actually AGREE WITH YOU -----the modeling amps ARE improving--- the SPARK thing seems QUITE intuitive-- sounds good and takes the "play along" witha video to the 10th power----

Completely ---- however I dont agree with --- I think there will always be a pocket of old -- vitnage stuff---now you may pay 125.00 for a 12 AX7 tube in 2025 -- but I think SOME enterprising Ferengi will keep the glow alive
 
eSGEe said:
---- you expected ME to post a POLL that made sense-----???

as stated previously I was mostly just wanting to "out" Session 5 as a Godin Informant :)

but--------------I actually AGREE WITH YOU -----the modeling amps ARE improving--- the SPARK thing seems QUITE intuitive-- sounds good and takes the "play along" witha video to the 10th power----

Completely ---- however I dont agree with --- I think there will always be a pocket of old -- vitnage stuff---now you may pay 125.00 for a 12 AX7 tube in 2025 -- but I think SOME enterprising Ferengi will keep the glow alive
Click to expand...

There will be lots of used ones kicking around , for a good price too , Your local pawn shops will have more of those amps to sell and your local craiglists. SS is the new wave, they will only get better and better. :)
 
eSGEe said:
will the ENTIRE WORLD go SOLIDSTATE (digital) ---
Click to expand...

Just to be clear...solid state doesn't necessarily mean "digital". Most solid state amps are entirely analog, not digital. It's only when you get into some flavor of modeling that you start to deal with digital. If all you want is amplification, it's actually a needless contrivance to add digital technology. A good power transistor or MOSFET will do the trick.

Will tubes go away? I certainly hope not. However, a guitar player's hope does not a bottom line make!

As you well know....decisions at the corporate level are not made by what a relatively small group of people known as "electric guitar players" want.

Nevertheless, I do not think tubes will entirely die out....soon. After all, buggy whips are still made, just not in the numbers as they were made in the 1800s.

Tubes will be made for some years to come, but the variety will shrink to the point where some of us may no longer be able to get our favorite valve. Many of us will just have to settle for what the market provides.

I rather imagine that eventually guitar players will be advising other players to download and run some algorithm, just like we talk about different makes of tubes.

Then again....to this day there persist those people who find a pleasure in reliving primitive society. They learn to make fire and cook and live life as it was a couple hundred years ago, or so. And, there is a niche market that makes items that cater to that customer base.

So....who knows!
 
You are being goofy.
Tubes are not going anywhere.
Every attempt since the 1960s to switch people to transistors has been a complete failure.
Fender + Marshall + Ampeg all tried to switch musicians over to transistor amps, and nobody wanted to buy them.
That almost put Fender out of business, dumb decision. Starting with the Zodiac guitar amps, which failed miserably.
They even stopped making high voltage parts in the beginning of the 70s they thought everyone would switch to transistors. They thought tubes were dead.
But then everybody just stopped buying amps instead of switching.
True
Fender and Marshall have built some pretty impressive sounding solid state amps.
But just try to sell one to a guitar player...
 
OK
for one thing, it takes 6 "Nu-tubes" to equal the performance of One 12AX7.
For another, "Nu Tubes" are microphonic as hell.
Good luck with that goofy thing.

americas.rsdelivers.com
 
Amp Mad Scientist said:
Fender and Marshall have built some pretty impressive sounding solid state amps.
But just try to sell one to a guitar player...
Click to expand...
good point I have several and have owned more--- but Im a bass player-- ;)

which my bass amp--- is --- uhm.......YUP--solid state---Hartke--
actually never owned a TUBE bass amp Ive tried but---they arent practical, over weight (WAY OVERPRICED) and under powered..... $ to boom factor ....
but you twiddlie twiddledee high screechy guitars guys-- ya'll have fun there ya hear.... ;)

-- I also own several tube guitar amps and a couple hybrids -- to be fair-- they all have different vibes-- tones-- feels-- etc but I cant say any of them suck..
Orange Micro terro-- hybrid
Vox Ac4 10" --all tube (I think)
Custom made Owegitone Lil Sexy all tube 5 watt boutique hand made local produced YUMMINESS
Marshall Lead 15 head --SS
Peavey 112 Bandit -- SS
Fender Super Champ head--hybrid
Mesa Subway blues--all tube

reminds me I havent fired up the ol Mesa in a while -- been using it as a Cab for the Fender......
I run the Marshall and the ORange heads through the speaker of the Hartke Bass amp -- talk about some floor pounding metal CHUG ! buwhahahahahahah

oh and HEY AMP MAD -- lovein the update avatars--- RIOT!!!!
 
eSGEe said:
I was reading how fewer and fewer companies (outside China) still make vacuum tubes at all......this made me wonder...........

WILL VACUUM TUBES EVENTUALLY GO AWAY ???

will the ENTIRE WORLD go SOLIDSTATE (digital) --- or Nuclear Jello based amplification ---(whatever the Hell the Norwegian Free Jazz guys are using is AMAZING) =---or will there always and forever be a niche market of tube glowing -- room warming tone junkies who keep the market alive

I mean the PLETHORA (I got a new Funk N Wagnels) of new tech like Fenders Fuse -- Voxs.....er whatever its called-- and the new SPARK amp thing -- make me wonder--- how long can wonky old finicky need tubes swapped-- get too hot -- require SOLDERING! :facepalm: KILL YOU IF YOU TOUCH THE WRONG THING WHEN RUBBING YOUR JUNK ON THE AMP---things LAST?!?!?!
Click to expand...
Did you just buy a huge stock of tubes? Are you trying to drive up the prices?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top