Picked up some new old advertising junk today!

[Amp360]

I'm not sure if anyone here collects old advertising but I've been into old things for years. It's gotten kind of trendy over the last ten years because of television shows and now things are a lot more expensive than they used to be. Truth be told, one of my favorite pieces is an RCA sign/clock from a Boston radio service place I took out of a dumpster way back when!

Anyway, my grandfather worked for General Electric for over fifty years so this piece is cool for me to have. I have some other GE pieces, but this one was only $50 and it's going to be useful to keep my pedals organized.

Is anyone else into this type of stuff?

 

[renderit]

I would be.

But the Missus would just choot my ass.

In the new house I have been promised my own guitar room.

But I have been promised many things before...

 

[Strings Jr.]

I love the tube tester. I remember vividly going with my Dad to check his amp tubes, and occasionally TV tubes.
There was one very close to our house at (of all places) the local drug store. Does it still work?

 

[corpse]

I has a customer in Atl who’s uncle retired as a GE or RCA service tech. On holidays he has a BB gun and they would spend hours in his back yard shooting tubes. Dang...

 

[goldtop0]

I has a customer in Atl who’s uncle retired as a GE or RCA service tech. On holidays he has a BB gun and they would spend hours in his back yard shooting tubes. Dang...

We used to shoot at old 78 bakelite records with my neighbours air rifle, that's the ' 60s for ya

 

[Amp360]

I love the tube tester. I remember vividly going with my Dad to check his amp tubes, and occasionally TV tubes.
There was one very close to our house at (of all places) the local drug store. Does it still work?

Yes, it does. There's actually a crazy story behind it. A friend of mine's father bought a building and it was in the basement. She knows I like old things so she asked her father if I could have it. I go pick it up at her house, about 100 miles from where it came from, and the bottom ends up being full of NOS tubes!

Then I found out my uncle used to own the drug store this came out of. It was a real coincidence because the person I got the tube tester from is in Quincy, MA and it came out of a building in Northampton, MA - which is not really close together. I haven't seen my uncle in about 30 years, but it's still strange.

Forgive the mess but here's a better shot of it:

 

[SpencerD]

I had a tube tester too. It was in a building that used to be a Western Auto hardware store.

I was working in the construction trades at the time and was told that I could have it. Free! We were working on the building.

Had it for years until some hooligans stole it right out of my house.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Full of NoS tubes? Any good 12A--- or power tubes??
Sweet!!

 

[Amp360]

Full of NoS tubes? Any good 12A--- or power tubes??
Sweet!!

Yes, some but I have a lifetime x10 supply of old tubes anyway. I've probably told this story before, but my grandfather worked for General Electric for fifty years. He was the head electrition for one of their largest plants. In the late 1980s when I started getting into playing he bought me every tube the company store had left for $1 and knowing him they never got the dollar.

I have cases of just about every tube you can think of and have probably bought less than ten tubes in my thirty-five-ish years of guitar playing.

I can also tell you that I've done a few tests with a friend of mine and NOS tubes make zero difference in sound. Record a sound directly into ProTools and then re-amp it using new and old tubes. The signals will be null. Sometimes they last a little longer, but group-think makes a lot of money for the folks selling used tubes as new.

 

[goldtop0]

I can also tell you that I've done a few tests with a friend of mine and NOS tubes make zero difference in sound. Record a sound directly into ProTools and then re-amp it using new and old tubes. The signals will be null. Sometimes they last a little longer, but group-think makes a lot of money for the folks selling used tubes as new.

That's how I feel about vintage guitars and PAFs ..........there are plenty of great ones made today.
Although I do wax lyrical about a set of '52 P90s I've got in my R6

 

[Amp360]

That's how I feel about vintage guitars and PAFs ..........there are plenty of great ones made today.
Although I do wax lyrical about a set of '52 P90s I've got in my R6

Yeah, there are a lot of great guitar makers right now. I like nice guitars, but that can mean old or new.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

I can also tell you that I've done a few tests with a friend of mine and NOS tubes make zero difference in sound. Record a sound directly into ProTools and then re-amp it using new and old tubes. The signals will be null. Sometimes they last a little longer, but group-think makes a lot of money for the folks selling used tubes as new.

Some amps seem to "like" some tubes more than others, old tubes made a difference in harshness with my Marshall TSL. I was contemplating beam blockers till I changed out to NOS tubes. 🙅‍♀️ They also seem to be more robustly made.
Subtle, yes, but I found a difference in that case. I think circuits play a part too.

In that case I should be able to buy a bunch off you for really cheap!! 😁

 

[Amp360]

Some amps seem to "like" some tubes more than others, old tubes made a difference in harshness with my Marshall TSL. I was contemplating beam blockers till I changed out to NOS tubes. 🙅‍♀️ They also seem to be more robustly made.
Subtle, yes, but I found a difference in that case. I think circuits play a part too.

In that case I should be able to buy a bunch off you for really cheap!! 😁

Try a null test. I guarantee you that unless something was wrong with a tube there is zero difference.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Try a null test. I guarantee you that unless something was wrong with a tube there is zero difference.

Tonally I mean. Zero difference between brands etc? Even a gain difference?
I always use my ears rather than instrumentation but it can be subtle to no difference depending on which tubes for sure.
I have ABd power tubes back and forth and absolutley there was a difference.

 

[Amp360]

Tonally I mean. Zero difference between brands etc? Even a gain difference?
I always use my ears rather than instrumentation but it can be subtle to no difference depending on which tubes for sure.
I have ABd power tubes back and forth and absolutley there was a difference.

The mind is a powerful thing. Unless you do a scientific test there's no real way to know.
Record a guitar direct into ProTools
Reamp it through your amp with one set of tubes
Change the tubes (don't move the amp!)
Reamp it again
Flip the phase on one of the recordings.

I did it with a couple of amps - a Matchless and Tweed Twin. Both nulled 100% with GEs and whatever was in there.

If it makes you feel better assuming you're hearing a difference (maybe you are but who knows) all the power to you. If you want to potentially save some money try this test out.

Older tubes (in my experience) seem to last a while longer. With the prices they're getting for old ones I'm not sure if this is a value or not anymore.

 

[Amp360]

This sign I pulled out of a dumpster years ago. The clock actually works in it. I've been doing some moving of rooms and I need to find a new place for it. I've never been able to get the 4' florescent light to work. I've tried starters, checked the wiring, etc.... I'm going to put new tombstones in it and just go LED 4' with it.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

The mind is a powerful thing. Unless you do a scientific test there's no real way to know.
Record a guitar direct into ProTools
Reamp it through your amp with one set of tubes
Change the tubes (don't move the amp!)
Reamp it again
Flip the phase on one of the recordings.

I did it with a couple of amps - a Matchless and Tweed Twin. Both nulled 100% with GEs and whatever was in there.

If it makes you feel better assuming you're hearing a difference (maybe you are but who knows) all the power to you. If you want to potentially save some money try this test out.

Older tubes (in my experience) seem to last a while longer. With the prices they're getting for old ones I'm not sure if this is a value or not anymore.

Yeah I have no set up for all that. The power tubes were very definite, one set was brighter for sure. This was going in with no preconceived notions and pushing a smaller amp some.
Whatever old ones I put in the TSL killed that harshness, that's all I can say that way. Gainwise, some AX7s have more than others as per spec sheets. How much of that one hears in V1 is anyone's guess.
I have found many old tubes outlast new. Tubes still work from late 50s...
Sorry for the derail.
Fun finds, that tester is awesome!!

 

[Amp360]

I'm not saying you're wrong. I've thought the same thing with speakers, microphones, tubes, etc.... Unless you do a real test there's no way of knowing if it's the sound or the mind. As long as you end up happy that's all that counts.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

I'm not saying you're wrong. I've thought the same thing with speakers, microphones, tubes, etc.... Unless you do a real test there's no way of knowing if it's the sound or the mind. As long as you end up happy that's all that counts.

Speakers are the biggest difference maker. You must have found that?

 

[renderit]

I'll disagree on tubes.

I have noticed many differences between makers on NOS and new.

I will tip my hat and respect your opinion but I can notice a difference that is sometimes huge.

And I will add that processing an amp through software will make the difference maybe non-noticible.

I would trust your ears and the processor in your head as nobody has made a processor that complex (or test equipment either)...