On Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:41:08 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:


"Wayne.B" wrote in message
.. .

On Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:34:37 -0500, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

Heck, I go back even further. Our high school math club used to
program Sylvania's mainframe (this was '62) using phone jacks/plugs on
racks six feet tall and four wide - there were fifteen of them.

With vacuum tubes no less. :)

I get a warm feeling just thinking about it, nothing like the soft red
glow from a rack full of vacuum tube equipment on a cold winter's
night. :-)

Have either of you had to buy tubes lately? Good Grief!

Oh yeah - had to get new finals for my homebrew "California Kilowatt"
about two years ago- 3-500Cs. I got Russian tubes (Chinese tubes are
crap) and they were still $110 a piece.

Dude!!

I decided to re-tube both the B3 and the C3 Hammonds, a M3 Hammond, two
Leslie 122 speakers and two Hammond PR-20 Tone cabinets.

Started searching for tube sets and nearly fell off my chair. The last
American made set of push-pull finals (6550's) for the Leslie's are $329.95
for a matched pair. I'd need four pairs of these. Forget it!

http://thetubestore.com/ge-6550.html

Opted for some Russian made versions for 60 bucks a pair.

Know what - your better off too. I've got Russian tubes in my Dad's
Collins S-line and in the KWM-2 and they are solid as a rock. All the
Mac 50s have Svetlana 6L6GCs plus other tubes all Svetlana and they
sound just as good as they did the day I bought them.

Anyway, I cut back on re-tubing everything at once, and will just do one
organ/Leslie at a time. 13 tubes of various types.

I feel your pain - analog is expensive. :)

Even shopping around for the best prices for tube sets for everything was
adding up to about $1,600 - $2,000.

Yep - been there, done that. :)

It's a far cry from the old days of running down to Radio Shack, old tubes
in hand, using their tube tester and buying a couple of new tubes for a buck
or two each.

Gone - long gone. Finished.

Radio Shack is just another Best Buy now, only smaller with a little
more "stuff".

On Sat, 13 Dec 2008 06:18:13 -0500, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:41:08 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:


"Wayne.B" wrote in message
. ..

On Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:34:37 -0500, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

Heck, I go back even further. Our high school math club used to
program Sylvania's mainframe (this was '62) using phone jacks/plugs on
racks six feet tall and four wide - there were fifteen of them.

With vacuum tubes no less. :)

I get a warm feeling just thinking about it, nothing like the soft red
glow from a rack full of vacuum tube equipment on a cold winter's
night. :-)

Have either of you had to buy tubes lately? Good Grief!

Oh yeah - had to get new finals for my homebrew "California Kilowatt"
about two years ago- 3-500Cs. I got Russian tubes (Chinese tubes are
crap) and they were still $110 a piece.

Dude!!

I decided to re-tube both the B3 and the C3 Hammonds, a M3 Hammond, two
Leslie 122 speakers and two Hammond PR-20 Tone cabinets.


Have they all been re-capped? If not, they are long overdue!

wrote in message
...


Have they all been re-capped? If not, they are long overdue!



The C3, yes. (B3 in a full cabinet).
The B3, no.

And you can hear the difference.

I was going to order the cap set, but found a guy that rebuilds the preamps
and installs all new caps in the process. He takes your old one as a
"core" and installs a rebuilt from his stock. He also does a "tune" up ...
cleans the drawbars, key contacts, oils the tone generator, etc. I decided
that since I've never done this, it will be worth having it done by an
experienced Hammond tech.

He's also going to make a couple of popular modifications, including fixing
the upper drawbar volume attenuation when using percussion in the normal
setting.

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...


Have they all been re-capped? If not, they are long overdue!



BTW, the Leslie I got for the C3 is a not-so-old 122 overhauled by Goff.
It has the big, "Goff Professional" logo on it. It, with the C3, have an
unbelievable, powerful sound.

Eisboch

On Sat, 13 Dec 2008 06:47:24 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:


"Eisboch" wrote in message
m...

wrote in message
...


Have they all been re-capped? If not, they are long overdue!



BTW, the Leslie I got for the C3 is a not-so-old 122 overhauled by Goff.
It has the big, "Goff Professional" logo on it. It, with the C3, have an
unbelievable, powerful sound.

Eisboch


No doubt!

On Sat, 13 Dec 2008 06:42:43 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:


wrote in message
.. .


Have they all been re-capped? If not, they are long overdue!



The C3, yes. (B3 in a full cabinet).
The B3, no.

And you can hear the difference.

I was going to order the cap set, but found a guy that rebuilds the preamps
and installs all new caps in the process. He takes your old one as a
"core" and installs a rebuilt from his stock. He also does a "tune" up ...
cleans the drawbars, key contacts, oils the tone generator, etc. I decided
that since I've never done this, it will be worth having it done by an
experienced Hammond tech.

He's also going to make a couple of popular modifications, including fixing
the upper drawbar volume attenuation when using percussion in the normal
setting.

Eisboch


Those guys are a vanishing breed. I sold my M3 to our local Hammond
"collector" many years ago. He had a small warehouse full of old
organs and parts, and also did a lot of service work. His wife was not
happy about the stockpile! Mine, which was in great shape, eventually
went to a storefront church. I sold it too him very cheap because I
knew his circumstances, and what he was doing. The guy himself was not
in very good shape, and died about 10 years ago.

"Tom Francis - SWSports" wrote in
message ...
On Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:41:08 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:


"Wayne.B" wrote in message
. ..

On Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:34:37 -0500, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

Heck, I go back even further. Our high school math club used to
program Sylvania's mainframe (this was '62) using phone jacks/plugs on
racks six feet tall and four wide - there were fifteen of them.

With vacuum tubes no less. :)

I get a warm feeling just thinking about it, nothing like the soft red
glow from a rack full of vacuum tube equipment on a cold winter's
night. :-)

Have either of you had to buy tubes lately? Good Grief!

Oh yeah - had to get new finals for my homebrew "California Kilowatt"
about two years ago- 3-500Cs. I got Russian tubes (Chinese tubes are
crap) and they were still $110 a piece.

Dude!!

I decided to re-tube both the B3 and the C3 Hammonds, a M3 Hammond, two
Leslie 122 speakers and two Hammond PR-20 Tone cabinets.

Started searching for tube sets and nearly fell off my chair. The last
American made set of push-pull finals (6550's) for the Leslie's are
$329.95
for a matched pair. I'd need four pairs of these. Forget it!

http://thetubestore.com/ge-6550.html

Opted for some Russian made versions for 60 bucks a pair.

Know what - your better off too. I've got Russian tubes in my Dad's
Collins S-line and in the KWM-2 and they are solid as a rock. All the
Mac 50s have Svetlana 6L6GCs plus other tubes all Svetlana and they
sound just as good as they did the day I bought them.

Anyway, I cut back on re-tubing everything at once, and will just do one
organ/Leslie at a time. 13 tubes of various types.

I feel your pain - analog is expensive. :)

Even shopping around for the best prices for tube sets for everything was
adding up to about $1,600 - $2,000.

Yep - been there, done that. :)

It's a far cry from the old days of running down to Radio Shack, old tubes
in hand, using their tube tester and buying a couple of new tubes for a
buck
or two each.

Gone - long gone. Finished.

Radio Shack is just another Best Buy now, only smaller with a little
more "stuff".

More expensive than Best Buy also. Went in RS the other day for the first
time in years. To get a couple Lithium Batteries for my welding helmet.
Wal Mart in the same center was out of the batteries, and Walgreens only had
1. RS was 2 bucks more than Walgreens. Each.