Tube Costs

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glpg80

glpg80

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Holy fuck are these things expensive now. Given the majority are manufactured in Russia or China, preamp tubes in current production are at NOS prices from 20 years ago when I was gigging.

I literally just spent $270 on preamp tubes alone and I’m not even done replenishing for what I know I need soon. My Laney went down during a recent recording video and I’ve been putting buying preamp tubes off. The only amp I know that has a good full set of tubes is my 74 Marshall, that’s it.

Anyone else try to buy tubes lately and either they’re not in stock or priced to the moon?
 
Yeah it is crazy. My Wizard seems to only like chinese, none of my suppliers have any. Gonna have to start searching harder.
 
JJ KT77 are $29 a piece at TubeDepot. They were about $22, so yeah, that's significant but you can still rock n' roll.

Just get your power tubes with as low current draw as possible so they're tough and last a good while. :)
 
glpg80 said:
Holy fuck are these things expensive now. Given the majority are manufactured in Russia or China, preamp tubes in current production are at NOS prices from 20 years ago when I was gigging.

I literally just spent $270 on preamp tubes alone and I’m not even done replenishing for what I know I need soon. My Laney went down during a recent recording video and I’ve been putting buying preamp tubes off. The only amp I know that has a good full set of tubes is my 74 Marshall, that’s it.

Anyone else try to buy tubes lately and either they’re not in stock or priced to the moon?
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I just picked up 2 - matched quads of EH El34s. 2 different vendors.
1 quad was 65 delivered.(nos) The other quad was 88 bucks delivered. They were ordered Feb 20.
I've got a few sovtek LPS 12ax7 on backorder from tubedepot (or tubestore). Forgot which. That's been about a month.

Haven't looked since Russia acted up.
 
EL34's are still cheap-ish but that's about it. I was planning on getting 6550's but $200 for a quad is just stupid for new production stuff. Think I paid $87 on eBay for a quad of EH El-34's two days ago. As for preamp tubes, pulls and test as new are my jam.
 
I just bought a couple sets. One from Tube Depot and then one from Eurotubes. Prices are definitely up and probably going to get worst. Hopefully I won't have to get more for a while, and when I do I won't be getting them from Tube Depot again.
 
I'm optimistically holding out for the new China facility to replace the one that burned down. They will need to sell a TON of tubes to get that investment back.

Right now I probably have enough to last my lifetime and I have enough amps that I could rob one if it came to that.

But I'd like to have more EL34s considering the way I run my Marshalls now (cranked thru a PS2).

And to think we got EH EL34 quads for about $45 shipped from Nesstone not that long ago.
 
I ordered some Mullard reissue EL34s last Fri. along with some other stuff from Antique Electronics. Got a message that they'd be shipped at different times. The ValveArts I usually get were out of stock.
 
Luckily I have a great supply of Winged C, Siemens, Mullard(vintage), and GT LS 34s along with 4 NOS Sylvania 6CA7s built up..100+ preamp tubes(all vintage) and lots of 6L6s as well. Some 6550s, KT88, and a pair of KT90s.
I’m good for the rest of my days.
 
I just grabbed two more quads of JJ EL34s. There are still plenty out there at reasonable prices. No point in waiting. It's not like the US going to build a tube factory anytime soon. And of the three remaining factories in the world, two are in places that will likely have trade embargoes (again) at some point in most of our lifetimes.
 
HarryCooter said:
I just bought a couple sets. One from Tube Depot and then one from Eurotubes. Prices are definitely up and probably going to get worst. Hopefully I won't have to get more for a while, and when I do I won't be getting them from Tube Depot again.
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What happened with Tube Depot?
 
Nigel said:
What happened with Tube Depot?
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Their prices and shipping. Shipping delays are understandable, but when I spend hundreds of dollars on tubes, the least they could do is ensure its origin scanned so if it gets lost in the mail I don't have to spend months fighting with USPS about a package they claim they never got. When I ship gear to people, I make whoever I hand the packages to scan them right then and there for this very reason. Nothing like someone else throwing your money into the wind.
 
SpiderWars said:
I'm optimistically holding out for the new China facility to replace the one that burned down. They will need to sell a TON of tubes to get that investment back.

Right now I probably have enough to last my lifetime and I have enough amps that I could rob one if it came to that.

But I'd like to have more EL34s considering the way I run my Marshalls now (cranked thru a PS2).

And to think we got EH EL34 quads for about $45 shipped from Nesstone not that long ago.
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They’re out of stock now
 
Nesstone is out of stock and prices went up on EHX el34. From $10.xx to $16.xx per tube.

I'm about to order probably $500 worth of pre tubes today. Need to stock up so I have them for builds. Prices on all parts is sky rocketing. Makes me question the future of building amps. The final costs are just going to be way more. No way around it.
 
Isn't tube depot Canadian? There was one that was Canadian and if you receive a bad tube it's a total PITA. Never again for me.
 
SpiderWars said:
Isn't tube depot Canadian? There was one that was Canadian and if you receive a bad tube it's a total PITA. Never again for me.
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Antique electronics supply is Canadian. And yes they used to just send you another back in the day but if you have to ship them back then I agree - not worth the hassle.
 
HarryCooter said:
Their prices and shipping. Shipping delays are understandable, but when I spend hundreds of dollars on tubes, the least they could do is ensure its origin scanned so if it gets lost in the mail I don't have to spend months fighting with USPS about a package they claim they never got. When I ship gear to people, I make whoever I hand the packages to scan them right then and there for this very reason. Nothing like someone else throwing your money into the wind.
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I shipped an 8 channel snake to a dude in NOLA with UPS Ground on Monday and he got it Tuesday afternoon. Freakishly fast!
 
Not sure about Antique Electronic Supply, but 'The Tube Store' is Canadian.

And yeah ... these are all good reminders to stock up.
 
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