Tubes getting hard to come by?

I have had good luck finding NOS tubes for my amp because it doesn't use common tubes like those in guitar amps.   It uses e180f type which are super cheap and plentiful.   NOS  Mullards are between $ 6 and $40 , I picked up a pair of JAN USA Amperex for $60,   Heerleen mfg 7788 for $50.    The rectifiers are 5r4gy , widely available.   I was lucky to get 6  JAN CRC circa 1956 for $89 ea.  Time capsule condition.  2    Ken Rad from 1945 $40 ea, also time capsule condition......   not really expensive for real deal NOS , most which are JAN military stock .  

 I also bought 2 pair of Western Electric 300b...... those were not cheap.   But they should last a long time .   

Unfortunately you need to be careful in these times.... just because you are paying premium prices, you aren't always getting premium tubes.   Lot of junk out there right now, especially due to the "purge" ....   by purge I mean all the "NOS" tubes that aren't really NOS.    As much as I hate eBay, I have received some holy grail tubes I could never find locally.   When you deal mostly in tubes and have 10,000 transactions like some of these guys with nearly perfect feedback I will take the chance.

Brent Jessee

Www.tubes.rs

Uncle Kevin

Those are the places I trust with respect to NOS.