The end of tubes??? Thoughts?

[teleharmonium]

Even if I did use tube amps, I wouldn't be boycotting Russian-made tubes. It's not some massive business. The people making them have jobs and need to make a living(...)

Any Russian product that is sold, domestically or in export, results in tax revenue which funds the military. Buying a Russian tube is functionally the same as buying ammunition to be used against civilians in their own homes in their own sovereign nation.

I don't necessarily blame caviar merchants for what a nation does, but on the other hand, taking a hit in sales is a lot better than being shot at.

 

[LBS-bass]

I still shop at my usual Russian supermarket for my frozen vareniki, salmon caviar, black bread and beetroot lox, because Alexei and Svetlana the owners aren't the ones who started a senseless war. Boycotting things like that

Things that come from Russian people living in Cyprus aren't the same as things that are coming from Russia.

I agree with you that Russian people have no blame here. Beyond that I don't want to get too far into this territory as it's what has shut down the twelve other threads on this that have disappeared.

Just wanted to point out that your argument discusses Russian immigrants while we are talking about products that are being made by people still living in Russia, which is a little different.

 

[COYS]

26258389[/URL], member: 36977"]Any Russian product that is sold, domestically or in export, results in tax revenue which funds the military. Buying a Russian tube is functionally the same as buying ammunition to be used against civilians in their own homes in their own sovereign nation.

I don't necessarily blame caviar merchants for what a nation does, but on the other hand, taking a hit in sales is a lot better than being shot at.

Correct. I won’t be buying anything coming from or made in Russia again, unless it stops being a rogue state and stops threatening the peace and security of the rest of the world. Better sources for those products can be found which don’t give the state aid and comfort.

 

[Grinderman]

I found this was worth listening to. YMMV

 

[gln1955]

Any Russian product that is sold, domestically or in export, results in tax revenue which funds the military. Buying a Russian tube is functionally the same as buying ammunition to be used against civilians in their own homes in their own sovereign nation.

I don't necessarily blame caviar merchants for what a nation does, but on the other hand, taking a hit in sales is a lot better than being shot at.

Things that come from Russian people living in Cyprus aren't the same as things that are coming from Russia.

I agree with you that Russian people have no blame here. Beyond that I don't want to get too far into this territory as it's what has shut down the twelve other threads on this that have disappeared.

Just wanted to point out that your argument discusses Russian immigrants while we are talking about products that are being made by people still living in Russia, which is a little different.

Correct. I won’t be buying anything coming from or made in Russia again, unless it stops being a rogue state and stops threatening the peace and security of the rest of the world. Better sources for those products can be found which don’t give the state aid and comfort.

It's unfortunate that the Russian workers will suffer for this, but they can blame their Big Dog at the top for the mess.

 

[coy garcia]

If Satan himself was the only one selling tubes...Id still buy them. That's just me though you do you

 

[LBS-bass]

If Satan himself was the only one selling tubes...Id still buy them. That's just me though you do you

This is a case in which many of us are probably glad to be ourselves, and to not be you

 

[metron]

It’s not the end. Prices will skyrocket and people will stop “rolling” tubes so often for sound experimentation. Tube stock will be around for a long time. Unless guitarists treat them like the general population did with toilet paper in 2020.

New manufactured tube amps are less common than ever before for a variety of reasons not necessarily related to this most recent news. It’s a bummer. I like tube amps but whatever. Carrying them sucks.

 

[COYS]

It’s not the end. Prices will skyrocket and people will stop “rolling” tubes so often for sound experimentation. Tube stock will be around for a long time. Unless guitarists treat them like the general population did with toilet paper in 2020.

They already are, if popular guitar forums are to be believed.

 

[retslock]

Has the vacuum tube/valve itself reached its’ pinnacle of development? Can the design be improved? Just wondering.

 

[Patrice B]

Has the vacuum tube/valve itself reached its’ pinnacle of development? Can the design be improved? Just wondering.

I would think, several years ago, if I’m not mistaken…

 

[LiquidMidnight]

This tread makes me think of Radio Shack.

They sucked to.

Anecdote time. Back in grad school, I stopped by a RadioShack to get a 3.5mm cable for some silent practicing. It was a cheap, $9.00 cable, yet the associate tried SO HARD to sell me the warranty. I politely declined, and he said in a snooty tone, "I wish I just had $9.00 to throw away." I was so taken aback that I couldn't respond or tell him that in the music equipment world, most respectable cable companies come with a lifetime warranty without an upsale. Then as I was leaving, he was trying to sell me a cellphone plan.

BTW, the cable lasted for years, and the only reason I'm not currently using it is because I lost in during a move.

 

[JimmyM]

Has the vacuum tube/valve itself reached its’ pinnacle of development? Can the design be improved? Just wondering.

Tweaked? Sure. Improved? Matter of opinion.

 

[JimmyM]

Anecdote time. Back in grad school, I stopped by a RadioShack to get a 3.5mm cable for some silent practicing. It was a cheap, $9.00 cable, yet the associate tried SO HARD to sell me the warranty. I politely declined, and he said in a snooty tone, "I wish I just had $9.00 to throw away." I was so taken aback that I couldn't respond or tell him that in the music equipment world, most respectable cable companies come with a lifetime warranty without an upsale. Then as I was leaving, he was trying to sell me a cellphone plan.

BTW, the cable lasted for years, and the only reason I'm not currently using it is because I lost in during a move.

I love stories like this. Know how many times I've lost a gig over buying cheapo cables? 0. Know how much tone I've lost from buying them? 0.

 

[teleharmonium]

Anecdote time. Back in grad school, I stopped by a RadioShack to get a 3.5mm cable for some silent practicing. It was a cheap, $9.00 cable, yet the associate tried SO HARD to sell me the warranty. I politely declined, and he said in a snooty tone, "I wish I just had $9.00 to throw away." I was so taken aback that I couldn't respond or tell him that in the music equipment world, most respectable cable companies come with a lifetime warranty without an upsale. Then as I was leaving, he was trying to sell me a cellphone plan.

BTW, the cable lasted for years, and the only reason I'm not currently using it is because I lost in during a move.

That sounds like their sad later years. Back in my day (clears throat) Radio Shack was like a gateway from the shopping mall into all of the self driven possibilities of technology. As well as cheesy stereo gear and remote control cars.

They really had almost anything you would need for a homebrew electronics project, unless it was some serious high voltage thing. Circuit boards, small parts, soldering irons, transformers, power supplies, lights, chassis, even digital components well before the home computer revolution. Reasonably good computers and analog synths were there for the well heeled. If you were just starting you could get one of the kits where you built 100 projects by sticking wire into little springs with the components already wired on the other side. If you got lucky with the staff of your local store, you could even take what you were working on to the store and the guy would troubleshoot it for you (!).

We lost something when that kind of cheapskate can-do attitude was replaced by more passive consumption. I know you can still find the kinds of supplies they had, but there's a big difference between it being available on the internet with a credit card, and being able to browse around and handle the stuff in person (with nobody giving you the evil eye even if you were only 10) where you probably already were with some time to kill anyway.

 

[teleharmonium]

Has the vacuum tube/valve itself reached its’ pinnacle of development? Can the design be improved? Just wondering.

I'm not sure there is much of a market for new tech in consumer audio tubes. It wouldn't bother me if somebody tried.

In the last few years that tubes were dominant there were some cool newer designs that just arrived too late to be widely adopted, like the Brimar ECC807.

 

[teleharmonium]

Page 117. Miniature butane torch with refill, heats to 2500 degrees, $7.95. I love this country !

1980 Radio Shack Catalog

 

[JimmyM]

Page 117. Miniature butane torch with refill, heats to 2500 degrees, $7.95. I love this country !

1980 Radio Shack Catalog

I had one of them. Way too hot to do anything much.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

I'm not sure there is much of a market for new tech in consumer audio tubes.

A friend and I were just talking about this a few nights ago. Aside from guitar amps, some high-end audiophile equipment, and maybe vintage ham radios, is there anything in the world that still uses vacuum tubes?

 

[teleharmonium]

A friend and I were just talking about this a few nights ago. Aside from guitar amps, some high-end audiophile equipment, and maybe vintage ham radios, is there anything in the world that still uses vacuum tubes?

Actually, yes... here's a couple of interesting links

The 11 Greatest Vacuum Tubes You’ve Never Heard Of

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