Estate Find - Large Lot of Vintage Tubes (RCA, GE, Sylvania)

[Bill Duncan]

I recently picked up a sizable lot of vacuum tubes from an repairman's estate. Mostly RCA, GE, Sylvania, and other brands. They came in original chests and cartons, with a mix of boxed and loose tubes.

There’s a wide range of types like audio, radio, and some I don’t yet recognize. I’ve started sorting them and could use some guidance from folks who know which of these are most relevant to steel amp use or restoration work.

Appreciate any thoughts or advice.

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[Dennis Belt]

That’s a LOT of tubes! On casual viewing, I don’t see much amp related, perhaps a few that Gibson amps used. I’m certainly no expert, though, and many might be desirable to antique radio guys, HAM radio guys and such. Also be sure and cross reference the equivalent numbers, Good Luck!

[Tim Whitlock]

Wow - a wonderful collection of NOS and used tubes, if you are repairing old radios or TVs. Unfortunately, after scanning through them, I don't see any that would be useful in guitar amps. Maybe you will find a few in the unsorted box of loose tubes. Obviously you're looking for 6L6, 6V6 and 12a__ preamp tubes. Good luck!

[Dave Mudgett]

As stated, not a lot of guitar amp tubes in that pile. I noticed one 12AX7; and two 6FQ7/6CG7 preamp tubes that are used in some old Silvertone, Ampeg, Magnatone, and no doubt some others. But a lot, if not a significant majority, of work that electronics shops were doing circa 60 years ago were radio/TV, and that's what most of these are probably for.

[Bob Carlucci]

Lots of those tubes are virtually worthless. Most are old TV tubes as stated.. However, someone somewhere has a need for every one of them.. Problem is, its just not economically viable to list each rare old TV/radio tube on ebay and hope to get $5 +shipping for it... I would go through as many of the NOS tubes in boxes as you have time for, and see what they have sold for.. I did check out a few already and they go for a few bucks to maybe $5 + shipping.. You have a lot of tubes there, and you can probably make a few bucks, but not sure the return would be worth the effort.. As Dave said, you probably have a few oddball rare tubes that are highly desirable in a few amps that used unusual tubes. They can sell quite high, depending on what you have.. I saw a 6v6 in box, and a 5U4, those are worth some decent money. I have seen MANY large collections just like yours over the past several decades.. With NO exceptions each collection was totally cleaned out of just about every NOS tube that would be considered desirable in most tube amps, such as 6L6/12AX7/12AT7/5Y3/5U4 /7025 etc.. Guys knew even 40 years ago that high quality NOS tubes were in demand and would never be made again, and a LOT of the collections of retired/deceased radio tv repairmen were raided of the good stuff over the decades.. You might have some really rare hard to find stuff there, it just depends on how much time you want to spend finding those that are looking for it... There are a LOT more guys looking for tubes for vintage guitar amps than guys looking for tubes for TV's and radios.... bob

[David Ball]

I've gotten big lots of tubes like that in the past. They've always worked out to be worth what I paid for the small percentage of tubes that were actually useful to me. If only for the tube caddies, it's a good score.

Where I had a problem is when I downsized and moved into a much much smaller space, I didn't have room for all those tubes anymore. I basically gave the leftovers away to let them become someone else's issue. Had the same thing with 78 records. Took up a lot of space, I cherry picked and gave the others away with a certain guilty feeling. Didn't feel right about sending them to the dump.

If there's an antique radio group near you, there may be a swap meet where the ones you don't decide to keep can still be useful. Most of those tubes aren't made anymore, and for someone who restores old radios they could be very useful!

Dave

[Bob Sigafoos]

Per a google search...."Old vacuum tubes can be considered hazardous waste due to the potential presence of toxic materials like mercury or beryllium oxide, especially in older or specialized types. While most common receiving tubes don't contain these, it's best to handle them carefully and dispose of them properly through authorized recycling facilities or household hazardous waste programs" I agree with Bob C. that the useful tubes probably got picked over a long time ago. I have a few boxes of common tubes from all the Hi-Fi amps and guitar amps I've built but don't recognize any of the serial numbers in the photos although I did see one "Executone" 12AX7 (no such company but a rebrand). Have you pulled the tubes out of the sleeves to see if all the tubes were filed correctly? Are all the tubes new? Or duds that were put back in their boxes. Just throwing ideas out there. You could hit a few good ones but that seems like a lot of work. If the storage caddys with logos on them were in good shape they would be worth more than the tubes. Maybe donate the tubes to a local Ham radio club?

[Cartwright Thompson]

There’s one 6V6GT in there!
As has been noted, most of the old TV tubes are literally worthless. Another problem is that a lot of times when a repair man would replace a tube, they would put the bad one in the new tube’s box and throw it back into the caddy. What looks like n.o.s. often tests bad.

[Michael Brebes]

The 6AN8 tubes are used in many Sunn tube amps.