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The Possible Return of Western Electric US-Made Tubes

goldleaf said:
Resurrections are fine but it has to be about more than just nostalgia. Their products need to be unique (in quality or longevity for example) or fill a niche not being served now, not just price. With all the people making 300B's, that is a tall order. Wish them good luck - they are going to need it.

On the other hand, someone could make a pretty business bringing back the 10Y, the 50 and some other thoriated filament tubes. They may attract unwanted attention from the big boys in China and Russia however.
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I think the hardest part of making what we call "Real" vintage tubes is the people that made them are gone. It is said that the particular skills and talents for this work was handed down through generations in the same families.
I think you can re-make tooling, reverse engineer construction, and re-create materials, but the human factor is what's missing.
 
jaymanaa said:
I think you can re-make tooling, reverse engineer construction, and re-create materials, but the human factor is what's missing.
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Hopefully the people assembling the tubes have love and dedication for what they do, instead of looking at it like a plain old "job".
 
Experience can be rebuilt if the people are dedicated.

Statistical QC can also help a lot - it was one of the reasons Mullard became so good. If the demand is there, it can happen pretty quickly.

I hate to be a fan-boy for robots, but this is an area that is ideally suited to their use - repeatable tight tolerances and uniformity.
 
I remember the hoopla when they came out, what, 12-15 years ago? Knew a guy that had 3 pairs, one pair as drivers in 845 SE amps, and two more in an Audio Note 300B PSE amp. They were very, very good, walked all over the Svetlanas he had. BUT, IIRC they had a batch where the filaments broke early, he had one and it took him several months to wait for a warranty replacement while they figured it out.

IIRC, they had old timers making the tubes in KC, then AT&T wouldn't renew the lease, they moved, then the economy tanked. Glad to see what appears to be solid progress.
 
goldleaf said:
Experience can be rebuilt if the people are dedicated.

Statistical QC can also help a lot - it was one of the reasons Mullard became so good. If the demand is there, it can happen pretty quickly.

I hate to be a fan-boy for robots, but this is an area that is ideally suited to their use - repeatable tight tolerances and uniformity.
Click to expand...

In order to get people dedicated to their job you need another working environment,
-one where people are not fired when stockholders see profits sink,
-one where personal skills and initiatives are valuable
-one where employees are a valuable asset and taken care of.

The chances are slim this will happen in our "global western economy".
 
peterh said:
In order to get people dedicated to their job you need another working environment,
-one where people are not fired when stockholders see profits sink,
-one where personal skills and initiatives are valuable
-one where employees are a valuable asset and taken care of.

The chances are slim this will happen in our "global western economy".
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Or to look at it another way, designer boutique may be our future, a chance to find a new niche in the world economy now that China and Co. have taken over mass production of most anything. Cottage industries stand a much better chance of survival than in days gone by if only because of the internet and the tools we can use to get the word out.

Welcome to the fourth world, eh.
 
peterh said:
In order to get people dedicated to their job you need another working environment,
-one where people are not fired when stockholders see profits sink,
-one where personal skills and initiatives are valuable
-one where employees are a valuable asset and taken care of.

The chances are slim this will happen in our "global western economy".
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Probably belongs on http://www.politicalchat.org/. Just sayin'.
 
jazbo8 said:
Never going to happen, no one is willing to make the investment.
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Do you mean as in a specific & specialized, high quality, low profit margin (for competitiveness) long term investment endeavor.

If you can convince enough potential high-rolling investors to jump-in on and throw that chicken switch of a deal, “Please call Me”.

However I just might not be home to return your call.
 
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As hard as it is to find good new production KT88s right now- when I saw this thread, I thought maybe there maybe was light at the end of the tunnel. Shouldn't have gotten my hopes up- for a thread that turned out to be almost three years old... :(

Regards,
Gordon.
 
GordonW said:
As hard as it is to find good new production KT88s right now- when I saw this thread, I thought maybe there maybe was light at the end of the tunnel. Shouldn't have gotten my hopes up- for a thread that turned out to be almost three years old... :(

Regards,
Gordon.
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I have no problems with JJ KT88, i know that this subject has been beaten, but honestly
i can say that todays production works excellent ( and has done for at leaset 2 years)
Of > 100 one has been returned ( glass broken ) , none has been returned by my customers.
 
I'm liking my TAD KT88STR's ... tasty lil quad once they broke in.

Still, the very best current production power tubes IMHO are the TungSol KT120's ...

tungsol-kt120s-002.jpg


... IF your iron can handle them. I drive mine to 60mV each in a Latino ST120 and they develop some serious punch. You won't see the full rated power in a KT88 based amp, but you should see a bonus 10% on output with no circuit mods. Just plug em in and re-bias as needed. I figure they're not working all that hard in my amp, and should last forever ...
 
sKiZo said:
I'm liking my TAD KT88STR's ... tasty lil quad once they broke in.

Still, the very best current production power tubes IMHO are the TungSol KT120's ...

tungsol-kt120s-002.jpg


... IF your iron can handle them. I drive mine to 60mV each in a Latino ST120 and they develop some serious punch. You won't see the full rated power in a KT88 based amp, but you should see a bonus 10% on output with no circuit mods. Just plug em in and re-bias as needed. I figure they're not working all that hard in my amp, and should last forever ...
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With Kt120 you should go to 90-100mA that will make a lot of difference.
 
Wigwam Jones said:
I've done a bit of Googling, and it appears that at one time, he bought a controlling interest in several Russian and other tube factories overseas, as well as being HQ'd in Kansas City, where he had a bunch of vintage original W-E tube-making machinery (but not all of it, apparently). There are some photos of him making vacuum tubes there with some guys who used to work at the factory showing him how to do it.

I am no expert; just read about this story this morning. Perhaps other AK'ers know more about the owner and the story than I do.
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See, this would be the way to go about it. I've seen the same sort of thing with the old PAF-type guitar pickups from the mid to late '50's (These were the original humbucker-type pickups found in the early Gibson Les Pauls of the late '50's... VERY-coveted). A boutique effects builder bought and restored the actual machines that were used to wind them, and then he introduced a line of real-deal PAF reissues.
 
What with licencing and at least 3-4 moves of factory facilities, one wonders if this will ever make sufficient black ink before it implodes after running out of working capital.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
 
for_p1 said:
With Kt120 you should go to 90-100mA that will make a lot of difference.
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Maybe with an amp that's actually designed for the tubes. With the Latino ST120, 60mV seems to be the sweet spot ... any more really doesn't make a discernible difference. As with any tube swap, best bet is to experiment a bit and see what works best with your setup.

Still a right tasty tube. Excellent dynamics all across the board, and the bottom end punch really brings it home. Also a real bargain ... once again ... IF your amp can handle them.
 
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