Fleming Valves...

[CK-722]

Fleming Valves? Or A Far Out Cosmic Alien Girl Group?

[audiophile]

If there was Cosmic Alien Group, they have since di'ode out.

[FET-500]

Fleming Valves? Or A Far Out Cosmic Alien Girl Group?

Only old people or Canucks call them valves - Which are you?

[CK-722]

Before they were called tubes, they were called valves.

Vacuum tube guitar amplifier enthusiasts still call them valves, even the young ones.

[FET-500]

Before they were called tubes, they were called valves.

Vacuum tube guitar amplifier enthusiasts still call them valves, even the young ones.

I'm pretty sure that tubes is correct. De Forest invented the triode and reference to it is as a "tube". Valves for tubes is like spanner in exchange for wrench. I have gillions of the things- including a quad of Genalex KT-88s I used to run a 5.1 surround system that was vacuum tube powered. Until a few years ago, "valve" would be something that you would only see in an old Mullard manual.

[CK-722]

Do you frequent guitar and music stores? You say tube, they say valve. You say stop, and I say go, go, go. Fluidics was the basis of calling it a valve. Cardiovascular experts use fluid (and electrical/nerve) analogies all the time. It's what tubes do. Control current flow, like fluid valves control flow of liquids.

[FET-500]

Do you frequent guitar and music stores? You say tube, they say valve. You say stop, and I say go, go, go. Fluidics was the basis of calling it a valve. Cardiovascular experts use fluid (and electrical/nerve) analogies all the time. It's what tubes do. Control current flow, like fluid valves control flow of liquids.

The vacuum tube was invented in the U.S. by a guy named Lee de Forest. de Forest put a grid between the anode and cathode and created the first triode. He referred to his invention as a "tube".

"Valve" refers to only one kind of tube, a rectifier but there are actually many different kinds.


Way back in ancient times, the FCC required a fundamental comprehension of thermionic emission if you wanted to get a broadcast license. This is something I studied in high school.

Today, I just keep that stuff around because "I dig it". If you were to look in my home, you'd find tubes in boxes... A QUAD of GEC Genelex KT-88s, a QUAD of Tesla EL-34s, a QUAD of Svetlana 6550c and a QUAD of Sovek KT-88s. Those are just the "power pentodes", I have an entire collection of "small signal" tubes that go from vintage American and Euro tubes, to N.O.S. Military stuff fromthe U.S. and U.S.S.R. I have tubes from the microwave lab @ the University of Budapest as well as tubes from the radar consoles of B-52 bombers.

The use of "valve" in modern American English, is really just an affectation. Very much a kin to cyclists now referring to their equipment as "kit".

[FET-500]

...do I frequent guitar stores is really funny.


This old man is a friend.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrzP6WEgPP4

[CK-722]

When I went into a guitar store a few years ago, the owner/repair person had a 12AX7 on his table. My response was "a tube?", not realizing the prevalence of the retro guitar amp restoration movement. "Oh, you mean valve", was his response.

I wonder what the late Vinnie Bell called them.

[CK-722]

Merriam Webster Valve Definition. See Sense 1 c.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/valve

[FET-500]

As I stated, use of "valve" in the U.S. is an affectation. It is hipster-speak. Meanwhile...there is a pair of Telefunken 12AX7s that test new on my desk.

[FET-500]

When I went into a guitar store a few years ago, the owner/repair person had a 12AX7 on his table. My response was "a tube?", not realizing the prevalence of the retro guitar amp restoration movement. "Oh, you mean valve", was his response.

I wonder what the late Vinnie Bell called them.

...and but also, a 12AX7 is a TWIN TRIODE. Don't confuse them with rectifiers.

[CK-722]

When I went into a guitar store a few years ago, the owner/repair person had a 12AX7 on his table. My response was "a tube?", not realizing the prevalence of the retro guitar amp restoration movement. "Oh, you mean valve", was his response.

I wonder what the late Vinnie Bell called them.

...and but also, a 12AX7 is a TWIN TRIODE. Don't confuse them with rectifiers.

You say hipster, but someone here is being pedantic.

The 12AX7 is in the 1970 RCA Tube Manual we were given in 12th Grade Electronics. The teacher built all the audio equipment used for music and theater productions.

[FET-500]

When I went into a guitar store a few years ago, the owner/repair person had a 12AX7 on his table. My response was "a tube?", not realizing the prevalence of the retro guitar amp restoration movement. "Oh, you mean valve", was his response.

I wonder what the late Vinnie Bell called them.

...and but also, a 12AX7 is a TWIN TRIODE. Don't confuse them with rectifiers.

You say hipster, but someone here is being pedantic.

The 12AX7 is in the 1970 RCA Tube Manual we were given in 12th Grade Electronics. The teacher built all the audio equipment used for music and theater productions.

Yah, I bet it was; that is a VERY common triode. I have Mullards and Telefunkens, along with U.S. and Soviet military equivalents (5751 and 6N23P). Still, it remains true that the 12AX7 is not a valve (because it is a TRIODE).


THIS is a valve aka a DIODE:

[FET-500]

When I went into a guitar store a few years ago, the owner/repair person had a 12AX7 on his table. My response was "a tube?", not realizing the prevalence of the retro guitar amp restoration movement. "Oh, you mean valve", was his response.

I wonder what the late Vinnie Bell called them.

I'd be more interested in what David Hafler or Mike Sanders said... I was listening to one of Sanders' amps last night in my garage; a Quicksilver Mini-Mite mono. (The rectification is SILICON, so there are zero valves on this amp.)



My project for the winter, a pair of EICO HF-60 mono amps.
My wife picked them up at a local garage sale for $15. She sent me a photo of an Acrosound TO-330, and I about peed myself.

I started out with a box of 30 year old DynaJunk parts in 1990 and made an amp out of the mess. Dynaco, was a David Hafler company that sold tube amp kits. I believe it is still the largest selling tube amp to date. The EICO has Acrosound transformers, again with David Hafler.

The HF-60's will kick ass when I'm done...and yes, there will be a single "valve" (GZ-34) plugged into each of them.