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Post by aremos on Mar 15, 2023 16:28:45 GMT -6
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Post by aremos on Mar 15, 2023 16:33:41 GMT -6
Came across this & noticed people actually owned this as all radios, TV's, & other things had tubes before the solid state revolution in the early 60's?
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Post by jmoose on Mar 15, 2023 16:54:37 GMT -6
Oh yeah. Tube testers apparently were everywhere in the 40s - 60s. My grandma & even my dad have said they remember going down the 7-11 to test & buy new tubes for the radio or TV. Even car stereos from the 1940's/50s had tubes. Couple of my guitar player friends have old tube testers. They're kinda worthless unless you have the charts for that particular machine... magic decoder ring. There are some new modern testers out there. I've thought about picking up this orange a few times but there always seem like better ways to spend $500. Its hard partly because I can call a buddy if I need to, and aside from the occasional death I've already tested & sorted my stash. Maybe one day. orangeamps.com/products/accessories/amplifier-management/valve-tester/ |
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,919 
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Post by ericn on Mar 15, 2023 16:54:53 GMT -6
About 10-20 years ago tube testers were all over EBay, every TV repairman had one, almost bought one about 35 years ago when a repair shop that was literally a 100 yards from my moms house went out of business.
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Post by srb on Mar 15, 2023 22:21:36 GMT -6
I have had a Triplett 3444A for several years. Recently had it serviced to bring it up to spec. Qualified folks who really know how to do that are increasingly rare. It appears my particular model hails from ~1968. Like other complex electronic equipment, these require periodic maintenance.
It's one of the finest old school tube testers ever made.
I've accumulated lots of tubes over the years, occasionally selling some. Having a dependable tester that measures microhmos and current draw under higher (real world) voltages comes in handy for that and tube amplification equipment maintenance, mostly guitar amps here; but other studio equipment, too.
There are some nice modern, digital measuring devices out there: Amplitrex and Maxi Matcher come to mind.
I remain fascinated with tubes!
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Post by keymod on Mar 16, 2023 3:54:38 GMT -6
Just about every drug store used to sell tubes and had a tester on site
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Post by mcirish on Mar 16, 2023 5:56:40 GMT -6
I think I still have one in storage somewhere. I too remember going to the local hardware store to test tubes before I got this one. Man, that makes me really old...
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Post by mics on Mar 16, 2023 6:36:05 GMT -6
I have been using an old Hickok tube tester for many years now. It is such a handy little sucker!!!!! 1950’s the heyday of toobiness…
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Post by chessparov on Mar 17, 2023 8:15:11 GMT -6
Legend had it, the son of Wild Bill was the actual inventor.
Influenced by his notorious father, he learned how to prep for shootouts.
To avoid Calamity.*
Chris
*Wild Bill and Jane were originally buried next to each other.
As a practical joke!
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Post by gosart on Mar 17, 2023 9:17:00 GMT -6
I remember the day in the early 80s when I walked into my local Radio Shack and found that the tube tester wasn't in it's usual spot. I asked the guy where it went and he laughed and said nobody uses tubes anymore. I pointed out the pile of tubes they still had on a shelf which he admitted they still sold regularly, mostly for guitar amps. Stupid me didn't just buy them all, they had Mullard EL34s for 6 or 7 bucks.
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Post by chessparov on Mar 17, 2023 17:00:15 GMT -6
Some avoid hassle by just getting their tubes tied. No little surprises that way.
Let alone Triplett's!
Chris
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Post by paulcheeba on Mar 20, 2023 20:44:34 GMT -6
I recently bought an AVO tube tester on eBay as I have so many. It’s useful and It’ll cut the time down but ultimately I’ll still have to use my ears to match pairs.
Apart from some Neumann mic’s most of my tube gear is new though as I’m more comfortable than fiddling with that high old voltage sh*t.
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Post by Ward on Mar 21, 2023 6:24:53 GMT -6
SNIP most of my tube gear is new though as I’m more comfortable than fiddling with that high old voltage sh*t. I have a tech for that. |
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Post by rob61 on Mar 21, 2023 7:40:24 GMT -6
Yes my corner Rexall drug store had one with replacement tubes on the lower shelves (the start of self service). I wish it was still there, I could use it to test my VF-14, EF-14 and 6072 tubes.
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Post by chessparov on Mar 21, 2023 8:48:33 GMT -6
Good point. Gotta keep my MXL V69 in shape.
Chris
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Post by johneppstein on Mar 21, 2023 9:41:18 GMT -6
Came across this & noticed people actually owned this as all radios, TV's, & other things had tubes before the solid state revolution in the early 60's? No, but they didn't need them. There were tube testers at every major supermarket and hardware store. Not very good testers, but the average customer wouldn't know what to do with a mutual conductance tester.
And the tester shown in the ad is of the crappy variety. Most of the bulk of it is storage for replacement tubes.(Often, if not usually second rate tubes from discount resellers - "American Servicemaster", etc.)
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Post by johneppstein on Mar 21, 2023 9:48:42 GMT -6
Oh yeah. Tube testers apparently were everywhere in the 40s - 60s. My grandma & even my dad have said they remember going down the 7-11 to test & buy new tubes for the radio or TV. Even car stereos from the 1940's/50s had tubes. Couple of my guitar player friends have old tube testers. They're kinda worthless unless you have the charts for that particular machine... magic decoder ring. There are some new modern testers out there. I've thought about picking up this orange a few times but there always seem like better ways to spend $500. Its hard partly because I can call a buddy if I need to, and aside from the occasional death I've already tested & sorted my stash. Maybe one day. orangeamps.com/products/accessories/amplifier-management/valve-tester/That Orange "tube tester" is a ripoff - don't buy it. What you need is a Hikok mutual conductance tester. With an up to date tube chart (Should not be that big a problem, given that new designs for tubes are nearly nonexistant these days.) This is a professional service tech's machine and will give you more than the "Go-NO Go" of the cheap machines - and also will test a wide spectrum of tube types, which the Orange toy will not do. It won't even test all the tubes found in guitar amps. with the Hikok you can even match tubes. |
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Post by johneppstein on Mar 21, 2023 9:58:07 GMT -6
I recently bought an AVO tube tester on eBay as I have so many. It’s useful and It’ll cut the time down but ultimately I’ll still have to use my ears to match pairs. Apart from some Neumann mic’s most of my tube gear is new though as I’m more comfortable than fiddling with that high old voltage sh*t. You can't do a proper electrical match by ear. And an electrical match may not always be the best sounding, depending on personal taste. |
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Post by johneppstein on Mar 21, 2023 10:02:32 GMT -6
Yes my corner Rexall drug store had one with replacement tubes on the lower shelves (the start of self service). I wish it was still there, I could use it to test my VF-14, EF-14 and 6072 tubes. Not with any accuracy, you couldn't. Those things were dogs, basically told you if emissions were present and whether you had a short. And you couldn't use them to test solder-in tube types. |
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Post by srb on Mar 21, 2023 11:11:38 GMT -6
Triplett and Hickok are your best vintage tester bets. The 539 and TV7 series are among the better ones from Hickok. The 3444 and 3444A from Triplett even better. Yeah, those old in-store machines were junk. A marketing ploy to sell tubes, mostly.
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Post by paulcheeba on Mar 22, 2023 18:21:44 GMT -6
I recently bought an AVO tube tester on eBay as I have so many. It’s useful and It’ll cut the time down but ultimately I’ll still have to use my ears to match pairs. Apart from some Neumann mic’s most of my tube gear is new though as I’m more comfortable than fiddling with that high old voltage sh*t. You can't do a proper electrical match by ear. And an electrical match may not always be the best sounding, depending on personal taste. Whatever, I trust my ears and they haven’t failed me yet. Anyway isn’t that what I said? Jeez. |
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Post by johneppstein on Mar 26, 2023 11:04:18 GMT -6
You can't do a proper electrical match by ear. And an electrical match may not always be the best sounding, depending on personal taste. Whatever, I trust my ears and they haven’t failed me yet. Anyway isn’t that what I said? Jeez. Well, no - you appear to treat the words "Match", and "Tune"as being interchangeable (when applied to tubes) but in fact they are not. "Matched" refers to a specific technical process where tubes are measured to have exactly identical operating characteristics. "Tuned" refers to tweaking various parameters (but mostly bias) so that the amp sounds "good", which is a subjective choice. |
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Post by chessparov on Mar 26, 2023 12:06:46 GMT -6
John FWIW. In a real world situation with someone like Paul recording me... Worrying about a Tube in one of his microphones, is about the last thing I'd ever worry about. (Maybe just before the Sun finally burning out though  ) Now if it's ME judging a tube? LOL!  Chris |
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Post by paulcheeba on Mar 26, 2023 21:46:11 GMT -6
Whatever, I trust my ears and they haven’t failed me yet. Anyway isn’t that what I said? Jeez. Well, no - you appear to treat the words "Match", and "Tune"as being interchangeable (when applied to tubes) but in fact they are not. "Matched" refers to a specific technical process where tubes are measured to have exactly identical operating characteristics. "Tuned" refers to tweaking various parameters (but mostly bias) so that the amp sounds "good", which is a subjective choice. Whatever my terminology the fact remains I trust my ears to match NOS or crappy modern valves. I’m glad I gave you the opportunity to flex your muscles though I’m mentally quivering. P. S. Where exactly did I interchange tune and match? I bet you’re one of those people who can spend an evening dictating about the difference between polarity and phase when some poor newb makes the mistake of confusing them. |
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