Inherited over 100 tubes but lack knowledge for using them!

wimpers

Well-Known Member
Sep 25, 2017
2
0
83
43
Wevelgem, Belgium
Dear all,

I've inherited over 100 electron tubes a few months ago and I'd like to use them for building a compressor and perhaps a preamp and/or an amplifier (preferably for guitars) but I lack the knowledge for any of this...

Knowing where they came from they have probably all been tested, most of them are still in their original packing.
The guy who they are from used to work on radios and amps but this might been over 30 or 40 years ago.

A few types laying before me are PCF86, PFL200, 25Z5, AZ1, 6L6G and EBL1 but there are more of them.

I know I'll have to learn some stuff about tube types and applications (book and site recommendations are welcome) and I had a few years of electronics in high school and college but this is over 15 years ago so quite rusty and tubes were not covered. I can get some help but that guy is specialised in designing and testing hardware for 3D camera's, that's all digital electronics so probably not that useful.
So I don't know how hard it would prove to be but given proper instructions I should be able to make something out of them, it would be a shame to not use them.

Thanks,

Wim
 

DaveC

Industry Expert
Nov 16, 2014
3,899
2,141
495
Not sure about guitar amp designs, but tubecad journal is well worth checking out. It's pretty massive, I'd start with trying to understand his Aikido design as it's more than just good... mine has been preferred over some very highly regarded and expensive commercial gear.

http://www.tubecad.com/
 

cjfrbw

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
3,324
1,314
1,730
Pleasanton, CA
I have a closet full of NOS tubes that I have collected from gear gone by. I never thought of them as an investment, but they are probably worth a lot more than I paid for them. I am just too lazy to sort, test and market them.
 

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