Antique Electronic Supply is a good source for tubes, substitution books,
troubleshooting guides, speaker cloth, and even the little rubber feet on
the bottom of old amps.
Here's the web address:
<
http://www.tubesandmore.com >
If you (or anyone on this list) is interested in a tube tester, I have a
spare one that I'd be willing to sell (or trade sometihing for). Email me
privately if interested.
-Jason
-----Original Message-----
From: Will Emerson <wpe101_at_banet.net>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu>
Date: Sunday, February 07, 1999 5:14 PM
Subject: Re: OT: Care and feeding of vacuum tube electronics?
>My $0.02 worth, You'll have to give it a little time to "warm up" (won't
>work until
>it does). As far as "cool down", it won't, until you shut the power off.
>Vacuum tubes
>use a filament (similar to that in a light bulb) to heat them up so that
>they will
>operate (so DON'T block any of the ventilation holes, or you risk
>disaster). Two suggestions. 1: Check the back of the unit, and see if it
>has a tube listing, or check each tube for it's type (will usually be an
>alphanumeric, example:
>12BE6). 2. See if you can locate a supply of replacement tubes. At last
>check
>(couple of years ago), Radio Shack would special order 'em, allow
><mumble> weeks for delivery, so, I suggest checking Ham Radio swapmeets
>and flea markets. Optional:
>See if you can get your hands on a "Tube Tester". They used to be in
>drug stores
>everywhere, now they're kind of tough to find. Be advised that tubes
>tend to have
>(or did tend to have) a higher tendancy to fail, than solid state
>devices. I think
>I've got a tube substitution guide around here somewhere for RCA tubes..
>Hope this helps...
>
> Will
>
>
>Mark Gregory wrote:
>>
>> Hi. I recently acquired a 1950's vintage Gibson GA-30 guitar amp. Never
>> having owned a tube-based amp before, I'm clueless about the proper way
to
>> use this amp without abusing it (and it sounds great, so I want it to
last
>> a long time! :v) .
>>
>> For example, should I allow the tubes to warm up for a few minutes before
>> playing, and are there any special precautions I should follow after
>> playing (i.e. do I need a cool-down period before powering down?). Any
>> advice would be much appreciated. A quick Web-
>> search didn't reveal much except prices on used equipment.
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Mark.
>
Received on Sun Feb 07 1999 - 22:55:48 GMT