Community Stories

Watch companies aren't alone in marketing vintage...

Tony C.
Posts
8,162
Likes
28,792
Those into high-end audio will likely be aware of this, but vintage electron (aka vacuum) tubes have long been in demand amongst users of tube amplifiers (I'm a solid-state guy). One of the "grail" vintage tubes is the Western Electric 300B.

WE3b.jpg


Here's one - one - currently bid over 1300€ on eBay:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/300B-WESTER...615448?hash=item263e197e98:g:Nv0AAOSwnKJe60Vb

And here's the brief story of Western Electric manufacturing a new version of the iconic tube:

https://www.westernelectric.com/products/300b.html

For those interested in digging deeper, here's a serious review of the tubes, both old and new:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/we300b/300b.html
 
This website may earn commission from Ebay sales.
Larry S
Posts
13,771
Likes
53,727
They look cool by I just don’t get the appeal. Grew up with em as dad and my uncle had tube gear. Both were happy to give up the heat and unreliability for solid state. My uncle did say that his old tube gear had more “warmth” but he didn’t miss the trips to the shop.
 
JwRosenthal
Posts
16,305
Likes
45,005
Larry S Larry S
They look cool by I just don’t get the appeal. Grew up with em as dad and my uncle had tube gear. Both were happy to give up the heat and unreliability for solid state. My uncle did say that his old tube gear had more “warmth” but he didn’t miss the trips to the shop.
Swing by my house and you will get the appeal. 😎
 
JwRosenthal
Posts
16,305
Likes
45,005
Tony C. Tony C.
Those into high-end audio will likely be aware of this, but vintage electron (aka vacuum) tubes have long been in demand amongst users of tube amplifiers (I'm a solid-state guy). One of the "grail" vintage tubes is the Western Electric 300B.

WE3b.jpg


Here's one - one - currently bid over 1300€ on eBay:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/300B-WESTER...615448?hash=item263e197e98:g:Nv0AAOSwnKJe60Vb

And here's the brief story of Western Electric manufacturing a new version of the iconic tube:

https://www.westernelectric.com/products/300b.html

For those interested in digging deeper, here's a serious review of the tubes, both old and new:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/we300b/300b.html
The new tube (valve for our Brit friends) market has been alive and well for the last 15 years- the Russians have been the kings of it as they were still using tubes in their electronics well into the 90’s when we had long abandoned it.
There is a lot of fairy dust in the vintage tube market. Tubes are conductors- each company used slightly different materials or designs but each tube reference had to still meet industry specs for a given tube reference. Mullards tend to sound warmer than Telefunkens but lack the top end shimmer that Tele’s have. Then you have the Amperex Bugle Boy versus globe logo (50’s vs 60’s-70’s production)....it can get crazy. Fundamentally they all do what they are specified to do- but some can be better than others- and some are not.
The vintage tube market is very similar to watch market. Tubes that have been $5/ea for 30 years get written up by Stereophile or Absolute Sound (Hondinkee and Fratello), and the next week they are the grail tubes by which all are to be measured and they fetch 10x the amount they did before.

I have a very large stash of vintage tubes, I also have a large stash of modern tubes- they do sound different in different applications, but I wouldn’t go so far as to pay a months mortgage for a pair of tubes....nor would I pay for a watch what o did for my house- but some will, and find the personal gratification worth it- more power to them.
 
This website may earn commission from Ebay sales.
Andy K
Posts
1,818
Likes
5,924
I'm relatively new to guitar and amps and thus far have resisted the lure of tube amps. Too many parallels to the vintage watch market that I said "I don't need this in my life"!😁 Solid state quality is more than good enough for me, and my wallet appreciates it.
 
JwRosenthal
Posts
16,305
Likes
45,005
Andy K Andy K
I'm relatively new to guitar and amps and thus far have resisted the lure of tube amps. Too many parallels to the vintage watch market that I said "I don't need this in my life"!😁 Solid state quality is more than good enough for me, and my wallet appreciates it.
Plug into a vintage Fender Twin Reverb and you will sell a Speedmaster to get one.

And not to argue your feelings on SS (there are some spectacular music and audio SS amps) but it’s the same as saying a quartz Casio tells time fine for me. There is a magic with tube sound that SS cannot capture even at the highest levels- even the critics of $$$$ SS equipment will say “it sounds tube-like”.
 
Andy K
Posts
1,818
Likes
5,924
JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
Plug into a vintage Fender Twin Reverb and you will sell a Speedmaster to get one.

And not to argue your feelings on SS (there are some spectacular music and audio SS amps) but it’s the same as saying a quartz Casio tells time fine for me. There is a magic with tube sound that SS cannot capture even at the highest levels- even the critics of $$$$ SS equipment will say “it sounds tube-like”.
As stated, I don't need it in my life! I already have enough of that in my head with watches. Not disputing the magic exists, I'm just choosing not to go down that road.
 
imageWIS
Posts
98
Likes
110
JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
Tubes that have been $5/ea for 30 years get written up by Stereophile or Absolute Sound (Hondinkee and Fratello), and the next week they are the grail tubes by which all are to be measured and they fetch 10x the amount they did before.

The same thing happens in the car world, no one wanted Ferrari Dinos, until one day they did, and prices skyrocketed.
 
Evitzee
Posts
7,724
Likes
14,298
I have two McIntosh solid state amps (250 w/ch and 110 w/ch), McIntosh has long said they can make their SS amps sound like a tube amp. All Mac amps tend to have a similar house sound, a bit warm with a smooth top end, not like the cold, clinical sound of some makers. Tubes are fine if you like them, I just don't think you have to go the tube route to get that kind of sound. McIntosh still makes tube products (pre-amps, power amps and integrated amps) but most of their production is solid state and has been for years.

I remember growing up in the 50's and 60's and going with my dad to the local Walgreens when our B&W tv would go on the fritz, they had one of those console tube checkers in the corner with a vast array of different tube sockets, you'd bring in the suspect tv tubes and you could check their status, then buy a new one from the cabinet below. What a hassle. I have no desire to get into that world at all. Others like the idea of 'tube rolling'....good for them, it keeps them off the streets and out of trouble.
Edited:
 
Deafboy
Posts
2,457
Likes
7,060
Not just for hi-fi...
Canadian made Traynor (circa 1969). El34/6CA7 outputs with heavy Hammond iron.

EFEC11F2-0E34-41B7-8EFD-573B8044A39B.jpeg
 
ConElPueblo
Posts
9,588
Likes
27,697
Evitzee Evitzee
....good for them, it keeps them off the streets and out of trouble.

That's what a lot of our partners are saying about us...
 
sdre
Posts
2,504
Likes
7,579
JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
Plug into a vintage Fender Twin Reverb and you will sell a Speedmaster to get one.

And not to argue your feelings on SS (there are some spectacular music and audio SS amps) but it’s the same as saying a quartz Casio tells time fine for me. There is a magic with tube sound that SS cannot capture even at the highest levels- even the critics of $$$$ SS equipment will say “it sounds tube-like”.
i use to collect pedals / vintage guitars 15 years ago; and a tube amp vs a digital amp is just so different (be it recording/live performance)

a twin reverb was on my grail list for the longest time. hope i don't start looking on ebay for one now....
 
JwRosenthal
Posts
16,305
Likes
45,005
sdre sdre
i use to collect pedals / vintage guitars 15 years ago; and a tube amp vs a digital amp is just so different (be it recording/live performance)

a twin reverb was on my grail list for the longest time. hope i don't start looking on ebay for one now....
My brother is a jazz/blues guitarist (some people can play, some can’t so we nerd out on gear for listening), and he has several high end SS guitar amps- but when he plugs into his twin- the tonality is unmatched- you feel it in your core.

I get chills just thinking about it- talk about Eargasm.
 
SkunkPrince
Posts
5,631
Likes
5,812
Evitzee Evitzee
I have two McIntosh solid state amps (250 w/ch and 110 w/ch), McIntosh has long said they can make their SS amps sound like a tube amp.

Of course they could, they used the same output transformers!
 
pat mull
Posts
52
Likes
32
I have a twin reverb - one downside is it's pretty heavy. But it is a beast.

I bought a Mesa lone star special so I don't go deaf. It has a wattage switch, so you can really drive lower wattages. But even 5 watts is ridiculously loud

The twin can make things fall off the walls with ease
 
krogerfoot
Posts
1,086
Likes
3,769
There was a time when I would have worn a suit made out of the thick silvery fabric that covers the speaker cones of a Fender amp. It's amusing to learn that the gear I used when I was touring and living on a $10 per diem is on anyone's grail list now. Well, as long as I don't think about it too hard.
 
JwRosenthal
Posts
16,305
Likes
45,005
SkunkPrince SkunkPrince
Of course they could, they used the same output transformers!
The operative is in the past tense. They stopped using the Autoformer design in the early 80’s- it was too expensive and they were too heavy. All of their gear post ‘83ish is strait up modern solid state until they started the reissues of the tube gear about 15 years ago. Not to say their SS sounded bad, they just lost that house sound. They were one of the last hold-out’s in using tube iron with solid state- truly a hybrid.

And I don’t know how much if any is still made in Binghamton, NY.
 
sdre
Posts
2,504
Likes
7,579
JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
My brother is a jazz/blues guitarist (some people can play, some can’t so we nerd out on gear for listening), and he has several high end SS guitar amps- but when he plugs into his twin- the tonality is unmatched- you feel it in your core.

I get chills just thinking about it- talk about Eargasm.
you gotta experience it once, and you are hooked! ahha
 
SkunkPrince
Posts
5,631
Likes
5,812
JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
The operative is in the past tense. They stopped using the Autoformer design in the early 80’s- it was too expensive and they were too heavy. All of their gear post ‘83ish is strait up modern solid state until they started the reissues of the tube gear about 15 years ago. Not to say their SS sounded bad, they just lost that house sound. They were one of the last hold-out’s in using tube iron with solid state- truly a hybrid.

And I don’t know how much if any is still made in Binghamton, NY.

I thought you were talking about that specific time....
 
19 More Posts...
Sign up or log in to reply...