1969912 0
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Cool! I sold a 1957 dot neck Les Paul Custom that eventually sold at Gruehns in Nashville for about 50K. It went thru several transactions before it got there, but it was fun to handle while I had it.
The better sensation tho, was the Mackensie Strad I got to repair one day. I felt like Bond, James Bond, while it was in my shop.
The better sensation tho, was the Mackensie Strad I got to repair one day. I felt like Bond, James Bond, while it was in my shop.
skydiveTaylorville.org
freefallbeth@yahoo.com
freefallbeth@yahoo.com
1969912 0
Yeah, the amp I worked on is a Fender reissue of an older Fender amp from the 50's. There were no transistors or IC's, even in the preamp and tone control sections. Probably the same design but using PC boards and better caps.
Actually, tubes are still made, mostly in Eastern Europe using really old manufacturing equipment. There may be pics of the equipment on http://www.eurotubes.com/
"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG
Actually, tubes are still made, mostly in Eastern Europe using really old manufacturing equipment. There may be pics of the equipment on http://www.eurotubes.com/
"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG
NickDG 23
Back in the late 50s when our b&w Zenith TV went on the fritz Dad, who once took a mail order TV repair course, would pull out the oscilloscope he built for lesson number eight, and set to work.
First he would remove the back from the set, turn the living room lights out, and then turn on the TV. "See," he'd say me, "you can see which tube is bad because it doesn't light up like the rest." And I'd sit there mesmerized my nose an inch or two from a bazillion volts. Mom would be standing near the kitchen, all of 22 and looking worried. "Keep Nicky's fingers out of there," she'd warn Dad, and even so long ago I still remember how very pretty she was.
The next step was the "jiggle" and when that didn’t make the tube glow Dad used the last trick in his mail order quiver, pull the tube out, blow on the pins, and stick it back in. When that didn't work I'd anxiously wait to see Dad use the oscilloscope but he never did. But there it always sat, just in case.
It was now time for a trip around the corner to the drug store because they had a tube tester. Dad always let me carry the tube my mother had wrapped neatly in a tissue. The tube tester was a grand machine with a million holes to fit any kind of tube along with a thousand switches and Dad would always boost me up so I could see better. You were supposed to match the number on the tube to the number on the hole, but Dad would just try each hole until he found one where the tube would fit. "Nope," he mutter, and I'd repeat, "nope," and on we went until the tube slide neatly into one of the holes and Dad would exclaim, "Bingo!" And I'd repeat, "Bingo!"
"Just as I thought," he'd pronounce, "tubes' bad," and "tubes' bad," I'd echo back.
Underneath the tube tester was a cabinet holding all the new tubes, and only then would Dad look at the number to get the right one. With change back from the 50 cents he handed the druggist I'd always get a candy and we'd head back where Mom always had coffee for Dad and hot chocolate for me. Only thing was I never got to carry the new tube home . . .
Thanks 1969912, your mention of vacuum tubes made me think of all that . . .
NickD
BASE 194
First he would remove the back from the set, turn the living room lights out, and then turn on the TV. "See," he'd say me, "you can see which tube is bad because it doesn't light up like the rest." And I'd sit there mesmerized my nose an inch or two from a bazillion volts. Mom would be standing near the kitchen, all of 22 and looking worried. "Keep Nicky's fingers out of there," she'd warn Dad, and even so long ago I still remember how very pretty she was.
The next step was the "jiggle" and when that didn’t make the tube glow Dad used the last trick in his mail order quiver, pull the tube out, blow on the pins, and stick it back in. When that didn't work I'd anxiously wait to see Dad use the oscilloscope but he never did. But there it always sat, just in case.
It was now time for a trip around the corner to the drug store because they had a tube tester. Dad always let me carry the tube my mother had wrapped neatly in a tissue. The tube tester was a grand machine with a million holes to fit any kind of tube along with a thousand switches and Dad would always boost me up so I could see better. You were supposed to match the number on the tube to the number on the hole, but Dad would just try each hole until he found one where the tube would fit. "Nope," he mutter, and I'd repeat, "nope," and on we went until the tube slide neatly into one of the holes and Dad would exclaim, "Bingo!" And I'd repeat, "Bingo!"
"Just as I thought," he'd pronounce, "tubes' bad," and "tubes' bad," I'd echo back.
Underneath the tube tester was a cabinet holding all the new tubes, and only then would Dad look at the number to get the right one. With change back from the 50 cents he handed the druggist I'd always get a candy and we'd head back where Mom always had coffee for Dad and hot chocolate for me. Only thing was I never got to carry the new tube home . . .
Thanks 1969912, your mention of vacuum tubes made me think of all that . . .
NickD
BASE 194
1969912 0
Yeah, I remember going to the Thrify drug store in Sacramento, and having my dad lift me up to see all the cool tube sockets on top of the tester! I also loved looking in the lower cabinet area for the new tube. Of course, my dad would let me take apart the bad tube. It was fun to unwind the heater filaments - like 20 feet of RCH-fine wire.
"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG
"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG
QuoteNever thought I'd have the opportunity. A friend wanted to adjust the output tube bias on his Fender Bassman LTD. Guitar amp. No big deal, just like a solid state amp. "Slightly" higher voltages to watch out for though.
I leaned on my tube bench supply once, with the palm of my hand on the B+ rectifier diodes and grounded chasis at the same time.
450 VDC hurts and leaves blisters.
Quote
Try a few hundred handfuls. Tube amps are still being made, but what's wierd is the fact that no new tubes have been made in several decades.
Sovtek, Svetlana, and others still make brand new vacuum tubes for the audio market. Sovtek's 12AX7LPS doesn't even date back to last century (maybe just barely)
AFAIK, it's also only been a few decades since high power RF guys made the switch to solid state power...
1969912 0
I think the cyclotron at UC Davis has a big huge vacuum tube. Radio/TV stations may still use them too.
"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG
"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG
murrays 0
Nick,
You brought back a lot of memories for me....I still remember getting used tubes from my friend's Dad, who repaired TVs, to play with...they looked so cool...we used to pretend they were rockets and spaceships.
Later, in about 1970 I worked at a TV repair place for a little while pulling tubes out of TVs, putting them in a tester, turning dials, looking up things in a book, etc, etc. But, the most fun was clipping an alligator clip to a screwdriver and the other end to the chassis and then sticking the screwdriver under the insulated plug that connected to the picture tube in order to get rid of the charge in the picture tube so that you could work on it....ZZZZAAAPPP!!
Then, along came transistors and those incredible integrated circuit thingies...no repairing them, just through the whole board out. Has life ever changed
You brought back a lot of memories for me....I still remember getting used tubes from my friend's Dad, who repaired TVs, to play with...they looked so cool...we used to pretend they were rockets and spaceships.
Later, in about 1970 I worked at a TV repair place for a little while pulling tubes out of TVs, putting them in a tester, turning dials, looking up things in a book, etc, etc. But, the most fun was clipping an alligator clip to a screwdriver and the other end to the chassis and then sticking the screwdriver under the insulated plug that connected to the picture tube in order to get rid of the charge in the picture tube so that you could work on it....ZZZZAAAPPP!!
Then, along came transistors and those incredible integrated circuit thingies...no repairing them, just through the whole board out. Has life ever changed
--
Murray
"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey
Murray
"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey
mnealtx 0
QuoteQuoteNever thought I'd have the opportunity. A friend wanted to adjust the output tube bias on his Fender Bassman LTD. Guitar amp. No big deal, just like a solid state amp. "Slightly" higher voltages to watch out for though.
I leaned on my tube bench supply once, with the palm of my hand on the B+ rectifier diodes and grounded chasis at the same time.
450 VDC hurts and leaves blisters.
Bet you didn't do THAT again, did you?
Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706
I miss my old Marshalls.
Beatles got Vox popular for a time, but you couldn't beat the sound of Marshalls.
My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239
JackC 0
Quote
I miss my old Marshalls.
Beatles got Vox popular for a time, but you couldn't beat the sound of Marshalls.
I dunno, a Vox AC30 is a cracking amp but there aren't that many Marshall's I'd like to own. I'm really not struck on 60's and 70's JTM's and plexis, JCM's are OK though.
I built a tube amp not so long back. I left it unplugged for about a week once when I was bug fixing it and there was still 400V floating around on the B+. Bleed off resistors are definately your friend if you don't want to get zapped.
QuoteBack in the early '80's I had a Peavy Roadmaster amp. All tube, took a while to warm up but it sounded great!
Rumor has it that there are still a handfull floating around....
I'm not really sure...cause I am a drummer...but one of my old buddies used to have a Moss-Valve tubeworks amp. Are they still around or are they obsolete, too?
I don't want to make all the decisions because if I screw up, then I can't blame it on you...
"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG
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