The TubeStore

admin · Post by **admin** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 5:00 am

I just ordered some tubes from the TheTubeStore and was most impressed with their customer service. Moreover, they have a well organized and informative site with competitive prices. I especially like the comparison tests that they have done with different tubes in guitar amplifiers. I have learned a great deal about tubes after only a couple of visits. Thanks goes out to TheTubeStore for making this an enjoyable experience.

bassman · Post by **bassman** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 5:45 am

You're right Peter, these guys are great. And better yet, they're located in Hamilton!
Who said Canada doesn't have any decent stores for musicians.

philco · Post by **philco** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 1:40 pm

Right, Peter, I have ordered from The Tube Store before and I got very good customer service. There is hardly any reason for a Canadian to go outside the country for modern tubes and pay extra shipping costs and hassles. I noticed they even had some decent NOS tubes the last time I visited their website. If ever you need some NOS tubes they don't have, then consider Triode Electronics in the Chicago area. The best prices on Ei preamp tubes still seems to be Angela Instruments in Maryland, $5 for single shiny plate ECC83's (10 for $45), and $8 for premium gray plate ECC83's (a copy of the Telefunken long plate ECC83). The Ei tubes sound great in Traynor YCV40 amps. Angela Instruments gives no warranty against microphonics, reflected in the incredibly low prices.

I also liked The Tube Store tube tests, but don't forget the tube tests in the Watford Valves website. Also some good Jensen and Celestion tests are there as well. They rate the speakers according to what kind of music you play and list them in order in various music style categories.

Also, while the cheaper lines of Celestion speakers are hard to find in the USA and Canada, they are readily available from UK Celestion dealers. I found the Super 8 used in the Kustom Tube 12 for only 9 pounds in a UK website.

toneman · Post by **toneman** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 7:02 am

Although I've never had the pleasure of doing business with them, I've never heard anything but great comments about them. Anything that's not NOS I usually get from CE Distributing(parent company of Antique Electronic supply). There's some great NOS guys out there as well. Mike at KCA NOS Tubes always comes across with great stuff and good prices that's tested & matched real well. Watford Valves is great too.
Hard to believe though that you can't get the lower line Celestion stuff in Canada. Seems like it would be easy since it's a member of the Commonwealth.