let's talk about tubes for Quickie

[Chris]

So, buying a "tested as new" tube is a gamble then? Do you stay away from tubes like that? or I am sure as usual, it all depends on the asking price etc..ok, so when a tube starts its gradual decline, can there still be thousands of hours of life and good sound left depending on the tube? Cuz, i hear tubes like teles can maybe be 100,000 hours.?.. thank you

[STURMJ]

I would stay away from any used tube, you have no idea of how many hours are on it.  NOS or new old stock, is the way to go, given that the seller is honest.

[Chris]

Yeah, you are right Sturm.... just opens up for fraud and bad purchase stories...

[Paul Birkeland]

I generally opt for used tubes, as very little new old stock is new.

[4krow]

 Kinda like buying a used car, eh? Once again, I refer to Vintage Tube Service. And yes, I'm sure that there are   others. I typically go for new tubes, but when I deal with Andy at VTL, I don't wonder so much. And then there is the group of sellers who THINK they know what they are talking about. It's a tough call for me at least.

[Chris]

Yeah, a trusted service is probably the best way to go.. and Yeah, PB, makes sense, most NOS tubes may not be new anyway... I will just avoid ebay...

[Paul Birkeland]

There's no reason to avoid eBay, it's easy enough to make returns.  It's also worth mentioning that a tube like the 3S4 will almost always be NOS, as used old stock of inexpensive tubes like these will generally be discarded as used pulls. 

Looking on eBay, all but one or two of the listings are almost certainly new old stock.

[earwaxxer]

I would second that in terms of the cheaper tubes. There is no profit in selling totally used 3s4's. They are cheap to begin with! Those that have them, they are probably going to be NOS. For $5 its worth a shot!

[charger]

OFF TOPIC

does Q , as the batteries lows down , needs to rise the volume pot ?

[Paul Joppa]

The gain should not change much with low battery operation, until the filament voltage gets too low to maintain emission. Usually this will be around 1.0 volt.