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***Just found a huge collection of vintage tubes, some dated 1944! Pics***

post #1 of 11
4/27/11 at 3:59pm
Thread Starter 

Hey guys, so as some of you may have read in my K701 amp thread, I work as a work-study undergrad at the physics department of my college, and found a number of tubes while perusing around work the other day. That got me interested in tube amps, and led to some research for a decent cheap amp for the K701. 

Today I decided to do some more looking, hoping to find one or two tubes that would fit one of the cheap amps I was looking at. Well, I'm not sure any of these will actually fit my forecasted little indeed g2 or possible did-it-myself starving student amp. I don't really know much about tubes at all right now except that they look cool and can sound nice. But my goodness, I found A LOT of them.

 

My very cool boss was willing to help me out with my DIY amp and lending me materials, so maybe if someone really wants some of these tubes, he'd be ok with me sharing some of these. No guarantees though, they are property of the department. Heck, I don't even know if these are compatible with modern amps or am sure if they work(though I think most do, since some are labelled not working) In any case, I thought I should share what I found since I feel like I just traveled a bit back in time, with many of these tubes being older than my parents, and some of the boxes literally falling apart just from me holding them. I saw at least one of them labelled "Order placed 1944"

I will constantly be updating the thread with pictures and then with a list of all the different tube numbers. For now enjoy these pics!

 

IMG_20110427_182213.jpg

 

IMG_20110427_183431.jpg

 

IMG_20110427_183532.jpg

 

IMG_20110427_183602.jpg

 

To be continued with more pics and model numbers!

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post #2 of 11
4/27/11 at 4:09pm

Talk about tube porn goodness.

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post #3 of 11
4/27/11 at 4:13pm

Nice find, I don't see any that would fit in the Indeed, maybe a few 6SN7s in there I think. Possibly a smoked glass RCA I think in the last pic.

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post #4 of 11
4/27/11 at 4:23pm

A lot of rectifier and regulator tubes, which would be understandable. Looks like fun. 

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post #5 of 11
4/27/11 at 4:27pm
Thread Starter 

Yea there's a 6SN7. I think some might fit a Millet Starving Student, or at least a modified circuit one. I really just wanted to share mostly because they all look so cool in an antique way lol, especially in those yellow faded boxes. Most don't seem like the typical ones you see in headphone amps, though I wouldn't doubt there being more of those lying around. Might ask to keep one or 2 of the bigger ones for a higher end amp down the road.

Edit: There are a few more boxes and individual unpackaged tubes I haven't photographed also. And forgive me for my lack of knowledge on tubes and their types =P


Edited by Napilopez - 4/27/11 at 4:33pm
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post #6 of 11
4/28/11 at 3:25am

They don't look like preamp tubes as far as I know.

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post #7 of 11
4/28/11 at 9:10am
Thread Starter 

Haha yea I got a bit over-excited in terms of that I think. There is a box of 6SN7s and i believe at least one other that can work as such. 

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post #8 of 11
4/28/11 at 9:53pm

You never know what will turn up. I used to go through tube caddies. This is what the TV repairman took with him or her to repair tube equipment. There often were few if any tubes used for audio. An odd 12AX7 might pop up and one time a nice Mullar GZ34 but you just never knew. I once looked through 6 and found a 12SN7 worth a couple of dollars and something else. I asked the guy what he wanted. He said, oh 25 for the 12SN7 and I don't remember what he wanted for the other tube. I said that was way too much. I am not sure what he thought he had. He told me to just go ahead and take them then. After all the work I did. 

 

It is fun to find tubes though, just like chocolates. :^) 

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post #9 of 11
4/28/11 at 10:45pm
If you find any pair of RCA 845s let me know.
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post #10 of 11
4/29/11 at 1:36am

So you ripped him off? Am I following this right? lol..
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by jamato8 View Post

You never know what will turn up. I used to go through tube caddies. This is what the TV repairman took with him or her to repair tube equipment. There often were few if any tubes used for audio. An odd 12AX7 might pop up and one time a nice Mullar GZ34 but you just never knew. I once looked through 6 and found a 12SN7 worth a couple of dollars and something else. I asked the guy what he wanted. He said, oh 25 for the 12SN7 and I don't remember what he wanted for the other tube. I said that was way too much. I am not sure what he thought he had. He told me to just go ahead and take them then. After all the work I did. 

 

It is fun to find tubes though, just like chocolates. :^) 



 

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post #11 of 11
4/29/11 at 1:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lawrywild View Post

So you ripped him off? Am I following this right? lol..

Yes, big time. I spent maybe 1.5 to 2 hours going through the caddies. He said they would be cheap then when I finally found two tubes that were worth maybe 5 dollars total at the time he wanted something like 35 or so and I said, no thanks and started to leave. 
 

 

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