[sdiy] Tube amplifier question

[Roy J. Tellason]

On Wednesday 11 August 2004 11:26 pm, WeAreAs1 at aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 8/11/04 8:05:52 PM, rtellason at blazenet.net writes:
>
> << Yet in doing organ work I've seen tubes that were 30 years old or more,
> and
>
> were either only slightly weak or just fine,  which always amazed me. >>
>
> Yes, the older tubes do seem to be a bit more solid and reliable, but part
> of the reason for the thing you just mentioned is because people tend to
> buy their big, fancy organ and play it for a year or two, then they lose
> interest and it just sits in the corner until their kids finally sell it in
> the posthumous estate sale or garage sale!
>
> Michael Bacich

Two issues with that:  One is that most of my customers were older,  retired 
folks who really were into their organs and played them a lot -- for some of 
these folks that was a big part of their life.  Others were in churches,  
where they got played regularly,  not only on sundays but also for choir 
practices and other events,  though given this isn't exactly industrial 
usage.

The other is the fact that tubes are no longer made in the US and haven't been 
for a very long time.  And the quality of what's out there just isn't that 
terrific...