Has anyone bought tubes from The Tube Store?

http://thetubestore.com/

If so, how did it work out for you? Did you get good service, good merchandise, etc...

Yes, I've bought tubes from them on two separate occasions, just using the website. The tubes always showed up promptly, within a a few days of the order, well packaged and I've had no problems with the tubes. They seem to be reliable and efficient. Also, the prices weren't bad.

I haven't bought from the Tube Store, but I use their prices (and those of other online stores) as a rough guide when I'm buying tubes. In recent months I've purchased NOS tubes from three separate sellers in all parts of Australia, and so far all of my experiences have been very good. Tube fiends seem to be an honourable breed — they will substitute or throw in extra tubes if they re-test the ones you bid on and find any to be deficient.

I think a place like the Tube Store is probably a good option if you need a set number of matched tubes. My amp uses one 12ax7, one 6v6 and a 5y3, so I can buy a mixed bag of each type and swap them around to find the best. I'm waiting on four Radiotron/Brimar 6v6s, some of which may be less than optimal — but considering I paid the price of one new 6v6 for all four, I'm sure I'll find something I like. I also have a Mesa/Boogie V-Twin pedal that uses two tubes, and I've been buying up cheap 12at7 and 12au7 tubes to see how they go in there. I found half a dozen '80s JAN (Joint Army-Navy military issue) GE 12at7s for twenty bucks... new in boxes, rated at 10,000 hrs continous use... they'll outlast me, I'm sure!

Anyway... enough of my carrying-on. I'd give the Tube Store a go — why not? Prices seem reasonable, and they're well organised. If matching's not an issue, or you just want some tubes to muck around with, put in a low bid or two on some eBay tubes. Some great finds there if you stay away from the cult brands.

I bought from them before. They are good, but I found tubedepot to be just as good and with better prices. http://www.tubedepot.com/

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Tubemonger FTW!! Outside of ebay, this is where I would do my serious buying. The tube store used to fleece people with their prices. Now all of the sudden when the economy isn't so great, they wanna drop prices. Tubemonger was ALWAYS fair with their prices. I would always cringe when someone told me the price they paid for a tube at The Tube Store.

True tube aficionados don't so easily forget who was fair and who fleeced. Do yourself a favor and buy from some true honest people.

This would be my #1 recommended place for NOS tubes or any tubes on-line. The prices are fair, and they know exactly what they have, they even have a library for you to see if you think someone else is trying to fake you out with a misrepresented tube. Study the codes, guts, and characteristics, and you'll know exactly what you're buying even if it's from someone else.

http://www.tubemonger.com/Pre_Tubes_s/1.htm

By the way, in case there's any other tube freaks on here, I just saw that they have a Tesla e83cc for $50. Only 1 left.

For those who may not know what that is, it's my personal favorite 12ax7 ever, and considered within the top 3 of best 12ax7s ever produced in the history of mankind by many. It's not a JJ. It's the real deal NOS kind.

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I don't buy NOS tubes, because IMO it's just another 'vintage' dodge. In my tweed Princeton I replaced a NOS Sylvania 6L6 (that's not a typo, the amp had been modded to run that tube) with a new Winged "C" 6L6 and the amp sounded even better, so... I'm not buying any "NOS" mythology.

That said, I bought a pair of NOS (because they were the only type available) 5751's for my Egnater Rebel (I wanted to reduce the overall gain staging, and it worked a treat) from the Tube Depot. They were priced right ($20), shipped quick and arrived nicely packaged. I'd buy from them again anytime.

I think NOS makes sense if you're buying military-issue tubes from a period when there was still a bit of R&D going on and vacuum tubes were in more widespread use. They're cheap, plentiful and reliable. I don't think the "vintage" tag is such a great selling point for electrical components, myself, but if I came across one of the sought-after brands in decent shape I'd whack it in my amp to satisfy curiosity. I wouldn't pay more than new prices for NOS.

Rat own.

Hi BigJay, I'm definitely not an expert — but it's not necessary to know much with my gear! Everything I have that requires tubes has them sitting in plain view, and it's just a matter of pulling them out of their sockets and sticking another one in. It only takes a minute to swap them around and see if I like one over the other.

As far as diagnosing problems go, the simplest check is to take a look and see if there's any white residue on the inside of the glass. Before each tube is sealed and the vacuum created, it's "flashed" with a substance that will turn white in the presence of oxygen. That's the dark smoky grey stuff coating the interior of the glass. If it has changed colour, you've lost your vacuum and your tube is likely to be on its last legs.

Just typing the above makes me realise how inadequate my grasp of the subject is, so I should probably wait for someone else to chime in.

This is quite interesting — I know you're not afraid of a detailed read:

Class A Exposed and Explained

For myself, I've just experimented with different 12a(*)7 tubes, mainly in my V-Twin preamp pedal because it's easy. 12ax7s break up the most readily in that situation, but I find the gain control loses its utility past about one o'clock. They're a bit hot. 12at7 tubes tame it a bit; they limit the current throughput and return the spectrum of useful settings on that gain knob. 12au7 tubes clean things up even more, perhaps too much for that particular pedal. Usually, the 12at- and au7 tubes would be found powering a reverb or tremolo section of an amp as they're less prone to distortion.

But as far as chin-stroking, cork-sniffing debating the relative merits of Brand A over Brand B goes, I've not much to offer! I've said it before, but it's worth a peek at a forum for audiophiles to witness some truly epic struggles... they put questions such as maple vs rosewood or whither relics? to shame..

OK. This might be long.

Slap Chop, the reason you didn't hear much of a difference is because you're talking about power tubes, not preamp tubes. NOS power tubes are known to last much longer than modern tubes. But the biggest misconception when it comes to tubes is that the power tubes will shape your tone. They will not to any real significance. It's not their job to. As many NOS tubes as I've owned, I agree with you on modern tubes sounding the same in the power section. They will however change the response and feel within your picking attack. Bold, tight, mushy, drag, those are things you'll notice with different power tubes.

It's important to know that tubes produced in the 50s-60s-and 70's are much higher in quality than the tubes being produced today. It's most evident in 12ax7s, 12at7's, etc.. Tubes were used in everything from tv's to radios, amplifiers, and in most military operations. The amount being sold warranted making high quality tubes. Competition was fierce and demand was high. Nowadays, the only use for tubes is for amplifiers to my knowledge. So it's not economically feasible to make them in detail as they were made in the 50's and 60's. Along with the demand went the quality.

The differences in sound and purity between NOS 12ax7's and modern 12ax7's is absolutely night and day. However, in an amp like my Hot Rod DeVille, it's not necessary to buy high dollar NOS tubes to stock it with. Lower level Fender amps aren't as transparent as say my old Mesa Dual Rec. As someone once put it, "it would be like throwing pearls to the swine". There's only so far the amp will respond to the tube changes. My Mesa was highly transparent to tube changes in the preamp. By understanding the prominent features of the many different NOS brands I encountered, and understanding where to place them in the V-Chain, I could literally make my DR sound any way I wanted it to sound. I could clean up the mud, add or take away treble, mid, bass tones etc.. Add or take away the amount of gain properties.

For my Fender amp, I generally stick with RCA, Sylvania, Tung Sol, GE, and an occaisional Matsushita or Amperex.

My HRDV is really high-strung in the highs, so with the RCA, Sylvania, Tung Sol, GE, tubes, I'm using tubes known to have a generous amount of bass tones in them to balance out my amps eq to a more usable fashion. If it turns out that I lost some mid-tones as a result, I'll use a Matsushita or an Amperex in V2. Two tubes that are known to be prominent with mid-tones.

One thing to note about that is Sylvania, Tung Sol and GE tubes are generally clean and clear sounding tubes. RCA tubes are basically in another class. They're powerful and have a distinctive gainey tone spike. It would be my choice for V1 or V3 if I wanted to beef up the gain property of the distortion channel. Although I wouldn't recommend a long-plate RCA in V1. A long Plate in V2 and/or V3 would be a definite gain spike. They break up earlier than most preamp tubes. The only other tube I know that breaks up earlier is an RFT, which would be too expensive of a tube for me to want to put in my HRDV.

With these particular American made tubes, the longer the plate the bassier the tone. So you have to be careful about how you use them in any amp. You don't want to drown out your highs. The result will be on the muddy side. Also, I don't recommend using Long-Plate tubes ahead of short-plate tubes in the V-Chain unless you want to use a short-plate tube in the PI. The PI or last tube in the chain will shape the preamp's tone as a whole. You can also put a 12at7 in the PI to tame the amp a little and clarify individual notation. Sometimes in my Mesa notes would tend to smear together when playing rhythm chords with certain tube configurations. That's when I would put a Mullard CV4024 in the PI to clear the smear (so to speak) and give more headroom to the individual notes.

I'm going to give a slightly vague generalization to go by for anyone new to NOS preamp tubes. To start out, start with the American Made tubes first. (Of course this advice is for Fender amps, since this is a Fender forum).

If you feel like you've lost some midrange, try one of the over-seas brands (anywhere in the mix acccording to your taste). Amperex, Mullard, Brimar, Seimens, Matsushita, Valvo, to name a few, should bring those midranges back. Amperex, Valvo, and Matsushita being the easiest on your wallet. Stay far away from EI tubes. They are in a class of their own as well. Not worth having within 50 ft of your amp. They're horrible shrilly buggers that will only piss you off.

In my experiences with NOS, I have no problems in saying that NOS preamp tubes are miles above what modern tubes will ever be. It's not hype, it's a reality. There's no comparison and it's not even arguable.

That's not to say that modern tubes don't have their uses. For practicing, or gigging 3-5 times a week, modern tubes are just fine. The average person can't tell the difference anyway. In those cases I use Sovtek LPS 12ax7's myself. Save the big guns for recording.

Lastly, anyone who buys NOS tubes in excess just to have is a freak. It's not healthy. Something I'm admittedly guilty of in the past. Now I'm a rehabbed tube freak. My stock is down to about 30. It's ok to dabble, just don't be a freak about it. In the end it isn't worth it. You'll have enough tubes to supply your great grandchildren who won't care about them anyway. And a huge dent in your wallet that you could have used for more useful purposes. If you have to change your eating habits because you're buying too many NOS tubes, you're a freak. Stop.

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No, I'm not a tube rep. Hahaha..

I'll make this a little brief. I was kicked out of a very promising band once because a Sony A&R rep had determined that "My Mesa sounded like complete crap." In turn, the band eventually considered me to be a novice guitar player, and kicked me out. Later I found out that my Rec tubes were broken and moving around like bobble-heads. I was so sick and depressed about the whole situation, that I vowed to research how to make my Mesa the Pimpest Mesa anyone has ever heard in their whole life. I actually kind of became obsessed with it.

I spent a lot of time, money, effort, researching, buying and personally experimenting with hundreds of preamp tubes to research their effects on my Mesa. With a lot of rewards I might say. So it didn't go in vain.

Sadly, when the economy took a turn for the worse, I had to sell my Mesa before being able to upgrade and mod it to where I really wanted it to be. To make a mortgage payment. With some of that money, I was able to buy a Hot Rod DeVille for $300. But I learned a LOT about tubes in the process.

So yes, that's all by retained memory. And although I did sell tubes, it was mainly on a personal level. Mainly to other musicians, and aspiring recording engineers here in town. Occaisionally I sold Mesa designed packages from my research online as well. But I was never a full fledged tube dealer. Just a person with a vengeance to learn about it and educate about it so that kind of thing would never happen to me again, or anyone else if I can help it.

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Shredd6 I have like 50 tubes here in my Home office now I sold 40 the other day to a supplier. I buy buy buy when I find them I will have 20 or so most times on hand. If I come accross lots of NOS tubes I will try to turn them to make a buck. Most times I will find them at auctions the last batch came from a estate of a dude who own a electronics repairshop way back when. There was another estate sale a few weeks ago where there must have been 100 tubes for sale and even a Seco drug store tube tester for sale. They were tag sold I would have loved to have gotten the tester. It was one of the ones you would find in the old drug store that did tubes fuses even lamps

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