2. vintage
  3. 183761-159766

Tubes, Tubes and more Tubes...

So I inherited probably over 500+ vintage tubes 9 pins, Octals, some strange ones that look like 16-pins and some 4-pins that look like mini 300Bs. They are from an old radio station that used them in their equipment and also in radio repair in the 50's through the 70's. Once they switched over to new equipment in the 70s and 80s all the tubes were all shelved. I've pulled the ones I can use for my equipment (6SN7GTBs, 12SN7GTB,s 6BQ7As, 12AU7,12AT7s) but I'm not sure what to do with the rest. They are 98% NOS in boxes, Mostly RCA but lots of Tung-Sol, Amprex and PhilipsECG with the used ones marked. I was thinking of listing them on Reverb but... It's soooo many it would take years and most are singles. What would you do? 

ruraldave1
whart's avatar
whart
3,050 posts
 

You could sell them as a lot to a tube dealer by taking photos and listing what you have but I wouldn't let them cherry pick- make them take 'em all- you'll get a fraction of what you might be able to sell some of them for at retail, but dealing with tire kickers, returns and shipping is a fair amount of work. The usual suspects:

Andy at Vintage Tube Services- my fav- but he is a little slow on the retail side- still a good guy to deal w/, knows his tubes;

Brent Jesse- well known in these parts;

Tube Depot and a couple other retailers of that ilk.

Brendon Bievers- Tube World (Express) 

I'm not friendly with the Upscale guy and don't do business with him- some folks like him.

I'm assuming you are in the States. If not, these dealers are probably not the droids you are looking for. 

Good luck- with the paucity of tubes, particularly NOS (and especially NIB NOS) you might make out ok if you aren't interested in top dollar. 

jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 

i agree

andy baumann or brent jesse, maybe jim mcshane as well, would be very happy to buy the lot for a reasonable bulk price and sort through... they do this all the time

dill
2,539 posts
 

They are not going to be worth much unless they have been tested. Tube dealers will want them super cheap. Even though they are in the boxes doesn't mean they are NOS, they need to test NOS. I have sold 3400 tubes in a year and a half using eBay & Craigslist. 

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