This subject has been bothering me for a while and more recently with yet again, receiving a product that had bad tubes and malfunctioning.
We are apparently fed so much outright crap and yada about tubes I feel it's time to open up some argument and discussion on the issue.
One reads reviews of various tube performance and quality and literally one can find a 5 star love and a 2 star bomb on the same exact tube.
They are fickle and despite all the hype we are often being sold bad goods.
It is rather conservative to state that perhaps 20% of all tubes are bad and the quality control on manufacturing is abhorrent with tubes being made overseas which is like all of the them.
Many are under a misconception some tube labels are making their own tubes when the majority are bought in bulk quantity low pricing and relabeled with the company name as if they make it. They do not. Now I do hear some of these companies like Electro-Harmonix, Groove Tubes (now owned by Fender I hear) are starting to make a couple types of tube but in general most labeled gear specific company named tubes are bulk Chinese and some Russian. Most of the tubes made are Chinese or Russian. And here it starts with the great and bad polemic of Chinese being the worse or great and Russian being better.
How many times now have I gotten a brand new piece of gear only to find that several of the tubes are bad. Some say they should remove the tubes out of the amp and pack in foam during shipping, others say it does not matter.
How many times buying a set of rather expensive tubes, install them only to find one or even two are bad and unusable.
Meanwhile we are constantly told that these relabeled tubes are tested and binned out as to their quality and electrical properties. Balanced triodes, picked ones for more gain, less microphonics and so on. This includes such rebrand Chinese as Ruby and others. They supposedly test tubes to make sure what goes out to the customer are quality and often extra charged for that quality and bin picked tube.
Sadly upon arrival some are bad. I have bought foam packed sets of good name tubes only to find one or two tubes so bad they cannot be used. Or how about buying an amp and when it comes some of the tubes are just ruined and the unit does not work.
So are we just being told a bunch of sales yada on all this testing and paying extra for various binned out or balanced sets?
Some say shipping tubes is of no concern, others claim it is killing them.
So what does one do, order double, pay twice the already high prices just so you can have enough to work? Tube quality control is horrendous despite the hype and yada we are being told about testing and quality checking. All this extra charge for better bins, just a rip off as well?
Now I know right off many are going to say, "I use this or have that" and they have been amazing and never had a bad one, which I find hard to believe your stars are that aligned or your god looks out for you. I keep getting good ones and bad ones and there seems to be no quality control despite many are claiming they bin out for quality.
We are apparently fed so much outright crap and yada about tubes I feel it's time to open up some argument and discussion on the issue.
One reads reviews of various tube performance and quality and literally one can find a 5 star love and a 2 star bomb on the same exact tube.
They are fickle and despite all the hype we are often being sold bad goods.
It is rather conservative to state that perhaps 20% of all tubes are bad and the quality control on manufacturing is abhorrent with tubes being made overseas which is like all of the them.
Many are under a misconception some tube labels are making their own tubes when the majority are bought in bulk quantity low pricing and relabeled with the company name as if they make it. They do not. Now I do hear some of these companies like Electro-Harmonix, Groove Tubes (now owned by Fender I hear) are starting to make a couple types of tube but in general most labeled gear specific company named tubes are bulk Chinese and some Russian. Most of the tubes made are Chinese or Russian. And here it starts with the great and bad polemic of Chinese being the worse or great and Russian being better.
How many times now have I gotten a brand new piece of gear only to find that several of the tubes are bad. Some say they should remove the tubes out of the amp and pack in foam during shipping, others say it does not matter.
How many times buying a set of rather expensive tubes, install them only to find one or even two are bad and unusable.
Meanwhile we are constantly told that these relabeled tubes are tested and binned out as to their quality and electrical properties. Balanced triodes, picked ones for more gain, less microphonics and so on. This includes such rebrand Chinese as Ruby and others. They supposedly test tubes to make sure what goes out to the customer are quality and often extra charged for that quality and bin picked tube.
Sadly upon arrival some are bad. I have bought foam packed sets of good name tubes only to find one or two tubes so bad they cannot be used. Or how about buying an amp and when it comes some of the tubes are just ruined and the unit does not work.
So are we just being told a bunch of sales yada on all this testing and paying extra for various binned out or balanced sets?
Some say shipping tubes is of no concern, others claim it is killing them.
So what does one do, order double, pay twice the already high prices just so you can have enough to work? Tube quality control is horrendous despite the hype and yada we are being told about testing and quality checking. All this extra charge for better bins, just a rip off as well?
Now I know right off many are going to say, "I use this or have that" and they have been amazing and never had a bad one, which I find hard to believe your stars are that aligned or your god looks out for you. I keep getting good ones and bad ones and there seems to be no quality control despite many are claiming they bin out for quality.
TUBES...getting bad ones, quality control, shipping??
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