OMG! I Have So Many Tubes.

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by etzeppy, Jun 5, 2018.

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  1. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Congratulations? :shrug:
     
  2. stereoguy

    stereoguy Its Gotta Be True Stereo!

    Location:
    NYC

    Hi Blues! I'm a Ham operator also, but just have a couple of portable 70/2 meter handhelds.
     
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  3. etzeppy

    etzeppy Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Texas, US
    Thanks for all of the suggestions. They have been noted.
     
  4. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    :righton:

    No Telefunken tubes ...
     
  5. Larry I

    Larry I Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    I know it might be a lot of work, but, if you could do a list of all of the tube types that you find and not just the list of types you are looking for, someone might spot something they want. There are simply too many desirable types to list in a wish list. It would be horrible if no one lists a particular type, because they did not think about it or did not realistically expect it to be in the collection, and it is discarded even though it would be a treasure. For example, I would not expect you to find things like 310, 311, 348, 349, 350 or 252, but, what if it is in the collection but were never on the search list? Also, there are some television sweep tubes that can be used for audio, but, only a few people actually use them. If they end up on a list of tube types available, someone might google and find them.
     
  6. etzeppy

    etzeppy Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Texas, US
    I might get there eventually. Trying to get my mind around the logistics of how to inventory and store in a way that makes it possible to know what I have.
     
  7. Larry I

    Larry I Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    If you find a pair of meshplate Western Electric 252 tubes, I know someone who will give you $30,000 for the pair. Good Luck!
     
  8. BIGGER Dave

    BIGGER Dave Forum Resident

    And not to mention the Fender Princeton, Princeton Reverb, Deluxe, Deluxe Reverb, etc...
     
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  9. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    Great motivational talk!!!
     
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  10. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Many Russian tubes are also much sought after, but not the Chinese tubes ...
     
  11. JohnO

    JohnO Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    What I would do: physically sort them out, one by one, alphabetically. First just by first digit, 1 to 9 and A to Z. Then with all the 1's, sort those out by the second digit. And so on.
    This will take days - but it is going to be worth it!
    Then you can make a list of what you have and the quantities of each, by brand and date or production code.
     
  12. Larry I

    Larry I Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    Finding 252s would be like finding Honus Wagner in a shoebox full of baseball cards. Further motivation: I will buy whatever Western Electric 348s and 349s you find for $1,000 each.
     
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  13. etzeppy

    etzeppy Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Texas, US
    I found a couple of 6386 tubes today. They seem to be rare and somewhat expensive. From what I have read, they are used in the Fairchild 670 compressor and other compressors. Hopefully that means there are more in the pile somewhere.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    These vintage American tubes should be worth some money ... :righton:
     
  15. etzeppy

    etzeppy Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Texas, US
    After finding a 5-pack of 6386's, I was motivated to do a full inventory.

    [​IMG]


    With all of the small box tubes pulled from the group, I've started alphabetizing. Here are the ones that start with "1" in order. Hopefully I'll have a count by model and manufacturer soon.

    [​IMG]
     
    tmtomh, RDriftwood, juno6000 and 5 others like this.
  16. 56GoldTop

    56GoldTop Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nowhere, Ok
    Wow!

    You know, depending on how many you have of a particular odd-ball rarely used tube, I'm willing to bet there are some nuts out there that will design an amp circuit around a certain tube. They probably hang out on DIYTube dot com or other such forums.
     
  17. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Vintage American and European tubes are very much sought after, as are most Russian tubes. The Chinese tubes, not so much ...
     
  18. BIGGER Dave

    BIGGER Dave Forum Resident

    Russian tubes? Sought after? None I’m familiar with...
     
  19. TeleCaster

    TeleCaster Forum Resident

    Location:
    Québec, Canada
    I'm looking for 12AX7s and 6N1Ps.
     
  20. nm_west

    nm_west Forum Resident

    Location:
    Abq. NM. USA
    Original..... Svetlana Electron Devices.
    Their kt88's, 6550's and 6L6GC's are sought after by me.
     
  21. Just a partial list, but here's what I'd like:
    6973
    12AX7
    12AU7
    7025
    6L6
    5U4
     
  22. levimax

    levimax Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    I did not see 7199 on your list.... These are sought after and fairly expensive.... I could use a pair
     
  23. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Indeed, I have heard of the Svetlana tubes a while back ... :righton:
     
  24. harby

    harby Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR, USA
    Revisiting another thread reminded that Conrad-Johnsons also eat up old stock M8080 tubes.

    Fun fact about the numbering, for most tubes starting with 12, like 12ax7, the 12 is because they have a 12 volt heater (actually two series 6 volt heaters), whereas ones starting with a 6, like 6L6GC, have a single 6 volt heater. You will likely have even more "6"s when you sort them. There's also different manufacturer numbers and European equivalents for most tubes that don't use the convention though, such as 5881 as an equivalent to 6L6GB.

    You can also make a Danelectro, Silvertone, Harmony or other budget guitar amp out of 12au6 + 50c5, but the former needs a small 7 pin socket (I discovered after picking up some of these $1 tubes) and the latter, like its number indicates, needs 50 volts for the heater.
     
    Last edited: Jun 10, 2018
    MonkeyLizard likes this.
  25. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Can you even find Svetlana tubes in the US?
     
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