Tag: vacuum tubes

Tube Amps are in Trouble

Didn’t I write something about this recently?

We’ve been saying that the days of the tube amp were numbered for decades, but now the end might be in sight. Well, if not the end of the tubes then maybe the end of reasonably affordable amps. Reasonably being a subjective term as most good tube amps are already seriously expensive.

There are only two factories on Earth that still manufacture vacuum tubes and one of them, the one in Russia, is no longer shipping to the United States.

Here’s hoping the tubes in my amps last for another 50 years or so. Also, I was thinking of trading in that Fender Bassbreaker 18/30… now? No way in hell.

It’s worth it, politically speaking. It’s also worth it environmentally speaking. It’s also been inevitable for ages and it’s been a long time coming.

So the question is, solid state transistor amps or digital modeling amps? Those Fender Tone Master things are supposed to be pretty good. Maybe we can talk them into making a tweed Bassman version?

Tubes

It’s all about me. World events? The Russian invasion of Ukraine? It’s all about me.

No it isn’t, but this is partly about me but also about guitar gear in general.

Vacuum tubes, right? The best guitar amps are powered by tubes (valves if you’re one of our British friends). The technology dates back to 1904, according to Wikipedia, and the guitar amps many of us like date back to the 50’s and 60’s. Suffice to say it’s not exactly cutting edge stuff.

The only industries that still use tubes are guitar amps and effects and hi-fi stereo systems. That’s it. Tubes used to run everything but now it’s down to those two hold outs. As a result there are only three factories on Earth that still manufacture vacuum tubes. Three.

One factory is in Slovakia (I think… or is it Slovenia? No, pretty sure it’s Slovakia). Another factory is in China. From what I hear, that factory recently had a bad fire and they have been offline for a while. The result of that is that tubes, already in short supply, are in a full blown shortage. Thank goodness for that third factory, huh? Hey, where is that third factory anyway?

Russia.

Shit.

I haven’t heard anything specific but with the sanctions the entire world is leveling at Russia to convince them to stop being evil and get their military out of Ukraine it’s safe to say that we won’t be seeing any tubes out of that Russian factory any time soon. That means that we’re effectively down to one factory. One. Let’s all send as many happy and safe vibes we can to JJ Electronic in the hopes that they keep rolling at peak efficiency with all of their staff being exceptionally happy and healthy and satisfied in their professions.

I own four tube amps. Three Fenders and a Vox. I haven’t been a tube amp guy for long, but in my very teeny tiny experience I have never had to change a tube. Please, guitar gods, let the tubes in my amps last forever. Pretty please.

One other guitar gear thing I want to mention is petty and pointless and exactly the sort of thing that the trump ass cult ranks on people like me ceaselessly for. I can’t help it though.

I really like using fuzz pedals. Of the three classic types of fuzz pedals, Fuzz Face, Tone Bender, and Big Muff Pi, my absolute favorites are Muffs. They are just ferocious and I really love them. In the last two years or so I have used a clone of a Big Muff pedal for probably 80% of the lead guitar parts I have recorded. Most of those tracks were recorded using a pedal by a company called Wren and Cuff that is called the Super Russian. Big Muffs were originally made by the Electro Harmonics company back in 1970 or so. That company fell apart in the late 80’s or early 90’s (not sure exactly when) and a new company was formed from the ashes that was called Sovtek. That company was based in the newly post-Soviet Union Russia. Many of the EHX pedals were redesigned to use Russian components and manufactured and sold by the new company. The Super Russian pedal on my board is based on a Sovtek period Big Muff.

The pedal sounds amazing and I love playing through it. It’s pretty much perfect. Still… when I was posting my RPM stuff to alonetone.com I was adding notes about what gear I used (so that I can know what I used when I listen back years from now). I kept having to type the word Russian into those notes. Even though the pedal and I have nothing to do with the evil spewing out of Moscow right now, I felt kinda dirty every time I wrote one of those notes. It is totally irrational and makes zero sense, but that’s how I felt. Feelings don’t need to be rational, after all. I mean we aren’t Vulcans, right?

So I guess what I am saying is… I might be in the market for a fuzz pedal that isn’t based on a Sovtek circuit. It is entirely possible that this might just be my Gear Acquisition Syndrome trying to trick me into buying a new pedal, but let’s not think about that.

Whatever. I should just send $200 to a Ukrainian charity instead and just get over my irrational self. I should also start hoarding vacuum tubes.

Vacuum Tube Rabbit Hole

I saw a post on a BookFayce group for tube amps today where the poster asked where he could find American made vacuum tubes. The answer is, you can’t. There are only three plants on Earth that make tubes (valves, for our British readers). One is in China, one is in Russia, and one is in… Slovakia. Some one told me earlier… I think that’s the three.

Someone joked that if you want American made tubes you need to make them yourself. HarHar. Some one else shared this video, which explains why you ain’t makin’ homemade tubes any time soon.

Blown glass, eh? Yeah. Not today.

When that video ended there was a link to another video called How A Tube Works (questionable grammar there, the “A” should be lower case). I started watching the video but it’s long and lunch ended. I understand about 3% of it so far. I’m saving it off for later.