What happened to the price of tubes?!

  • Thread starter Thread starter saxxamafone
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311splawndude said:
Lisa,

I'm obviously late to this party but when you asked I remembered the same thing. It just took me a minute. I remember some really cool, knowledgeable dude who did a little research and put together a well thought out thread about the topic of interest. :dunno:

Here it is:
https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/thre...ns-due-to-the-current-global-pandemic.239434/
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I do wonder what the true demand would be and whether it would be cost effective enough to get to an end user. Especially ones that are just going to complain about them in the end :ROFLMAO:
 
If tube manufacturing could include lithium refining, Elon Musk might invest in it. :D


I am surprised that wealthy guitarists and big amp makers haven't invested in a tube factory; only EHX who purchased a Russian tube maker under their New Sensor Corporation, and now the export ban makes it impossible.

Mexico seems like a great location for a tube factory IMO. Wonder if any tube amp makers actually did a cost/value analysis on it; I'm sure the upfront costs including bribes to Mexican government officials are cost prohibitive... maybe the drug cartels would be interested, great way for them to launder their money, like the US is doing in Ukraine.
 
rsm said:
If tube manufacturing could include lithium refining, Elon Musk might invest in it. :D


I am surprised that wealthy guitarists and big amp makers haven't invested in a tube factory; only EHX who purchased a Russian tube maker under their New Sensor Corporation, and now the export ban makes it impossible.

Mexico seems like a great location for a tube factory IMO. Wonder if any tube amp makers actually did a cost/value analysis on it; I'm sure the upfront costs including bribes to Mexican government officials are cost prohibitive... maybe the drug cartels would be interested, great way for them to launder their money, like the US is doing in Ukraine.
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Something tells me that the balance of tubes to drug sales aren't going to align enough to make it viable for money laundering :ROFLMAO:
 
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NowYou'rePlayingWithPower said:
Something tells me that the balance of tubes to drug sales aren't going to align enough to make it viable for money laundering :ROFLMAO:
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yes, but we need to explore all options to make more / better tubes.

and you never know, could be tube amp enthusiasts in the cartels too.

besides, if the US can do business with actual nazis in Ukraine, why not drug cartels? after all, our government is keeping the border wide open for the cartels already, somebody is getting paid for that too. :D
 
rsm said:
yes, but we need to explore all options to make more / better tubes.

and you never know, could be tube amp enthusiasts in the cartels too.
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Sadly, I feel we're a dying breed. While it would be awesome, I think it's becoming more and more niche every year. Likely, the only realistic way to get new production facilities going would be to find other more common use cases for tubes. Given everyone's trying to go green, it's a tough sell. It's not impossible, but I feel like tubes would end up being twice the cost or more than they are now for new manufacture to break even on the investment in a reasonable time that makes it worth it. Another possibility might be changing the "format" of the tube to make production costs more viable, but that would require amp builders to be on board with socket changes/possible converters/entirely new, etc... No matter, people are still going to complain and romanticize the good old days.
 
JackBootedThug said:
Man I wish….that one, the Greco and that 7 string carvin are all speaking to me…
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Can vouch for the Carvins! The only thing I have come across as issues were circa Y2K, some had truss rods that would snap at the nut before the life was even close to over. Hazing in the finish was also common showing they didn't let the wood dry long enough as it's caused by moisture under the finish. You'd want to see a good truss for that era, if the one you're looking at is from that time. They can be a little bit of a pain to narrow down years, but often the logo and hardware/pickups are the way to do it if pot dates aren't available in photos.
 
JackBootedThug said:
I have never owned a carvin or a neck thru
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I got a sweet neck through 7 string for ya. I’ve been meaning to list it for months now

Ltd buz 7
IMG_3329.jpeg



Fuckboi discount
 
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JackBootedThug said:
I have never owned a carvin or a neck thru
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This one for $800 shipped?
https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/thre...iful-carvin-7-string-799.287226/#post-3847070

Can't go wrong, but may want to inquire about scale length depending on what tunings you're into before going that route.
They're always a bargain for the most part as you're getting a hand built US custom shop guitar for mass production import money.
All of them that I've ever owned were top notch. Kiesel kind of went off the rails with production, so I know there was a time around the late 2010's of more hit or miss stuff out there.
 



2024 USA Corporate world has no interest in 125 yr old vacuum tube technology.
 
NowYou'rePlayingWithPower said:
This one for $800 shipped?
https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/thre...iful-carvin-7-string-799.287226/#post-3847070

Can't go wrong, but may want to inquire about scale length depending on what tunings you're into before going that route.
They're always a bargain for the most part as you're getting a hand built US custom shop guitar for mass production import money.
All of them that I've ever owned were top notch. Kiesel kind of went off the rails with production, so I know there was a time around the late 2010's of more hit or miss stuff out there.
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That’s it….
 
JackBootedThug said:
That’s it….
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Oh okay, yeah that's a dc727. So 25.5" scale and I think either 14" or 16" radius. Does make me wonder if the pickups cavities were routed to fit those SDs though. Usually only the active models were "standard" size, but not sure off the top of my head when they did away with that. Def would want pics of that and the truss if I were looking to buy.
Edit: also those saddles look aftermarket. Graphtechs? The abalone from this era is amazing, too.
 
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