|
Post by Die Bullen on Jul 16, 2021 18:15:28 GMT
A quick update.....I cancelled the order with Antique Electronics Supply. It appears that Stewart MacDonald has stock again so I've ordered the power tubes from them. They're being shipped on Monday and I'll have them before the end of next week. Well StewMac is DEFINITELY reputable...
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2021 20:00:00 GMT
A quick update.....I cancelled the order with Antique Electronics Supply. It appears that Stewart MacDonald has stock again so I've ordered the power tubes from them. They're being shipped on Monday and I'll have them before the end of next week. Well StewMac is DEFINITELY reputable... Yes, I have a lot of respect for Stewart-MacDonald. I've been dealing with them for about fifteen years, and they invariably are prompt to ship, professional, and look after any problems right away. I'd have dealt with them in the first place when I wanted these power tubes, but they were out of stock. I chose Antique Electronic Supply as an alternative because the website seemed to indicate that they were professionals, they indicated that they had the tubes in stock, and they would accept my Paypal, which was my only means of paying at the time. When I found out this morning that my credit card (which I recently received) has still not been charged for the tubes, I investigated my account at Antique Electronics Supply, and discovered that the transaction hadn't been processed, they had no record of my order, and that they'd actually been out of the tubes I wanted and hadn't bothered to contact me....In other words, they really dropped the ball. I was angry beyond belief that they could screw up so badly in so many ways and cancelled the order. When I started looking for an alternative source to buy them, I discovered that Stewart MacDonald has fresh stock (contrary to Antique Electronic Supply's claim that there's no stock and are not available), so I ordered them from Stew-Mac, and as usual, they followed through, confirming the order by email in less than 10 minutes, and promising that the order would leave Monday, and I'd have it before the end of next week. In other words, Stew Mac is everything that those other turkeys lack in terms of professionalism. I will always use StewMac in the future, just because they're great to deal with.
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Jul 16, 2021 21:04:23 GMT
Well StewMac is DEFINITELY reputable... Yes, I have a lot of respect for Stewart-MacDonald. I've been dealing with them for about fifteen years, and they invariably are prompt to ship, professional, and look after any problems right away. I'd have dealt with them in the first place when I wanted these power tubes, but they were out of stock. I chose Antique Electronic Supply as an alternative because the website seemed to indicate that they were professionals, they indicated that they had the tubes in stock, and they would accept my Paypal, which was my only means of paying at the time. When I found out this morning that my credit card (which I recently received) has still not been charged for the tubes, I investigated my account at Antique Electronics Supply, and discovered that the transaction hadn't been processed, they had no record of my order, and that they'd actually been out of the tubes I wanted and hadn't bothered to contact me....In other words, they really dropped the ball. I was angry beyond belief that they could screw up so badly in so many ways and cancelled the order. When I started looking for an alternative source to buy them, I discovered that Stewart MacDonald has fresh stock (contrary to Antique Electronic Supply's claim that there's no stock and are not available), so I ordered them from Stew-Mac, and as usual, they followed through, confirming the order by email in less than 10 minutes, and promising that the order would leave Monday, and I'd have it before the end of next week. In other words, Stew Mac is everything that those other turkeys lack in terms of professionalism. I will always use StewMac in the future, just because they're great to deal with. Well I wouldn't trash AES too much. Most likely they are a very small outfit and they might not have automated order processing capability like StewMac. And just because StewMac has fresh stock, doesn't mean that AES does. That said, I have never dealt with AES and I have no relationship with them that I would defend them. Sometimes it is simply better to go with the big guy.
|
|
|
Post by infant on Jul 16, 2021 22:57:04 GMT
Yes, I have a lot of respect for Stewart-MacDonald. I've been dealing with them for about fifteen years, and they invariably are prompt to ship, professional, and look after any problems right away. I'd have dealt with them in the first place when I wanted these power tubes, but they were out of stock. I chose Antique Electronic Supply as an alternative because the website seemed to indicate that they were professionals, they indicated that they had the tubes in stock, and they would accept my Paypal, which was my only means of paying at the time. When I found out this morning that my credit card (which I recently received) has still not been charged for the tubes, I investigated my account at Antique Electronics Supply, and discovered that the transaction hadn't been processed, they had no record of my order, and that they'd actually been out of the tubes I wanted and hadn't bothered to contact me....In other words, they really dropped the ball. I was angry beyond belief that they could screw up so badly in so many ways and cancelled the order. When I started looking for an alternative source to buy them, I discovered that Stewart MacDonald has fresh stock (contrary to Antique Electronic Supply's claim that there's no stock and are not available), so I ordered them from Stew-Mac, and as usual, they followed through, confirming the order by email in less than 10 minutes, and promising that the order would leave Monday, and I'd have it before the end of next week. In other words, Stew Mac is everything that those other turkeys lack in terms of professionalism. I will always use StewMac in the future, just because they're great to deal with. Well I wouldn't trash AES too much. Most likely they are a very small outfit and they might not have automated order processing capability like StewMac. And just because StewMac has fresh stock, doesn't mean that AES does. That said, I have never dealt with AES and I have no relationship with them that I would defend them. Sometimes it is simply better to go with the big guy. Another thing to keep in mind is that the Tube Store was also out of stock with no idea when they’d get more stock
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2021 0:47:13 GMT
Well I wouldn't trash AES too much. Most likely they are a very small outfit and they might not have automated order processing capability like StewMac. And just because StewMac has fresh stock, doesn't mean that AES does. That said, I have never dealt with AES and I have no relationship with them that I would defend them. Sometimes it is simply better to go with the big guy. Another thing to keep in mind is that the Tube Store was also out of stock with no idea when they’d get more stock I have no issues with the fact that A.E.S. doesn't have stock.
What I really have problems with is the fact that 1) Their web page said they had stock the day I ordered the tubes 2) I spoke to them regarding my order later the same day and they made no mention of not having stock and they assured me my order was going to go out that day 3) I was told this morning by an AES rep that they knew they were out of stock ten days ago and were busy notifying people that their orders weren't available at the same time as they were telling me my order was being shipped 4) If I hadn't twigged to the problem by perusing my Mastercard statement, I'd still be expecting my order 5) In dicking me around, they've made it necessary for me to consider renting an amplifier from Long and McQuade which means extra cost, and an eighty mile round-trip to pick up a rental, and another eighty mile trip to return it, when I could have ordered from Stewart MacDonald and had the order in three days.
I heard the story this morning that the Chinese factory that's supplying Tube Amp Doctor had a fire in December and there's no fresh stock available from the factory. But...Knowing that stock quantities were limited and they couldn't reorder, a conscientious retailer would have kept an eye on stock, kept their web page updated regularly, and not made promises they couldn't keep. A lot of people who patronize an outlet that sells vacuum tubes are professional musicians whose livelihood depends on keeping their gear up and running, and the kind of piss-poor service that AES is providing could easily be costing people work and money.
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Jul 17, 2021 1:02:37 GMT
Another thing to keep in mind is that the Tube Store was also out of stock with no idea when they’d get more stock I have no issues with the fact that A.E.S. doesn't have stock.
What I really have problems with is the fact that 1) Their web page said they had stock the day I ordered the tubes 2) I spoke to them regarding my order later the same day and they made no mention of not having stock and they assured me my order was going to go out that day 3) I was told this morning by an AES rep that they knew they were out of stock ten days ago and were busy notifying people that their orders weren't available at the same time as they were telling me my order was being shipped 4) If I hadn't twigged to the problem by perusing my Mastercard statement, I'd still be expecting my order 5) In dicking me around, they've made it necessary for me to consider renting an amplifier from Long and McQuade which means extra cost, and an eighty mile round-trip to pick up a rental, and another eighty mile trip to return it, when I could have ordered from Stewart MacDonald and had the order in three days.
I heard the story this morning that the Chinese factory that's supplying Tube Amp Doctor had a fire in December and there's no fresh stock available from the factory. But...Knowing that stock quantities were limited and they couldn't reorder, a conscientious retailer would have kept an eye on stock, kept their web page updated regularly, and not made promises they couldn't keep. A lot of people who patronize an outlet that sells vacuum tubes are professional musicians whose livelihood depends on keeping their gear up and running, and the kind of piss-poor service that AES is providing could easily be costing people work and money.
Well I'm certainly glad that at least it all worked out in the end. It is an aggravating situation for sure- I suspect that AES simply doesn't have its house in order. You'd be surprised at how many people who work together don't communicate basic details, even though they sit next to each other.
|
|
|
Post by Boogieman on Jul 17, 2021 5:54:09 GMT
[/quote] I heard the story this morning that the Chinese factory that's supplying Tube Amp Doctor had a fire in December and there's no fresh stock available from the factory. [/div][/quote] The Shuguang Electronics' tube factory in Changsha, China had a fire in August 2019. The manufacturing facilities of the factory was not severely impacted. It was the scrapyard section that was completely gutted (per official investigation report, the fire started there, tore through the roof and the structure was subsequently burned down). After the fire, the factory issued a three-point statement at their web site in a bid to quell rumours regarding their tube production status: 1. As planned by the corporation HQ, the tube manufacturing subsidiary is currently at a state of "production halt, awaiting relocation". i.e. Shuguang is not manufacturing tubes anywhere in China. 2. The company has not resumed manufacturing "Shuguang"-branded tubes, or "SG"-branded tube amplifiers. 3. The company reserves the right to take legal action against anyone who makes unauthorized statements on behalf of the corporation. Here is the image of the official statement. In Chinese, of course. The statement was dated January 15, 2020. As of now, no further updates has been given officially regarding production resumption.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2021 18:45:14 GMT
That's interesting. I wonder how Stewart MacDonald is managing to replenish their stock if there's no more factory stock.
Incidentally, this is the first time I've had a Stewart MacDonald order delivered by Fed Ex. In the past, I've always had deliveries come by mail, but in this case I elected to pay a little more to get it here faster. What I hadn't anticipated is that Fed Ex called me and told me there was an additional 35.24 due before they'd deliver to me. When I called and prepaid it by phone, I inquired what that 35.24 was for. I was told that it was sales tax being collected plus a 10.50 "dispersal fee". I asked what that was, and apparently it's money that goes to Fed Ex, but couldn't get them to elaborate further. I'm suspicious of that, because the brokerage fees are supposed to be built into the price of international deliveries, so I don't know what they're justifying that dispersal fee as. In addition, all my previous deliveries that came by post just landed in my mailbox and there was no money collected by the post office to cover taxes, so this Fed Ex delivery's a really expensive way to get stuff delivered. (32.35 shipping plus 35.24 taxes and dispersal fees, so almost 68.00, when previous deliveries by mail were around 20.00)
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Jul 17, 2021 19:53:07 GMT
That's interesting. I wonder how Stewart MacDonald is managing to replenish their stock if there's no more factory stock. Incidentally, this is the first time I've had a Stewart MacDonald order delivered by Fed Ex. In the past, I've always had deliveries come by mail, but in this case I elected to pay a little more to get it here faster. What I hadn't anticipated is that Fed Ex called me and told me there was an additional 35.24 due before they'd deliver to me. When I called and prepaid it by phone, I inquired what that 35.24 was for. I was told that it was sales tax being collected plus a 10.50 "dispersal fee". I asked what that was, and apparently it's money that goes to Fed Ex, but couldn't get them to elaborate further. I'm suspicious of that, because the brokerage fees are supposed to be built into the price of international deliveries, so I don't know what they're justifying that dispersal fee as. In addition, all my previous deliveries that came by post just landed in my mailbox and there was no money collected by the post office to cover taxes, so this Fed Ex delivery's a really expensive way to get stuff delivered. (32.35 shipping plus 35.24 taxes and dispersal fees, so almost 68.00, when previous deliveries by mail were around 20.00) I'd call stew mac and ask about that
|
|
|
Post by Boogieman on Jul 17, 2021 21:23:11 GMT
That's interesting. I wonder how Stewart MacDonald is managing to replenish their stock if there's no more factory stock. Incidentally, this is the first time I've had a Stewart MacDonald order delivered by Fed Ex. In the past, I've always had deliveries come by mail, but in this case I elected to pay a little more to get it here faster. What I hadn't anticipated is that Fed Ex called me and told me there was an additional 35.24 due before they'd deliver to me. When I called and prepaid it by phone, I inquired what that 35.24 was for. I was told that it was sales tax being collected plus a 10.50 "dispersal fee". I asked what that was, and apparently it's money that goes to Fed Ex, but couldn't get them to elaborate further. I'm suspicious of that, because the brokerage fees are supposed to be built into the price of international deliveries, so I don't know what they're justifying that dispersal fee as. In addition, all my previous deliveries that came by post just landed in my mailbox and there was no money collected by the post office to cover taxes, so this Fed Ex delivery's a really expensive way to get stuff delivered. (32.35 shipping plus 35.24 taxes and dispersal fees, so almost 68.00, when previous deliveries by mail were around 20.00) Hopefully, Stew-Mac sourced their tubes from reputable suppliers. I had ordered tools and parts from Stew-Mac in the past and never had quality issues. AFAIK, Shuguang never had (and still doesn't) an official distributor for their tubes. Not even in China. They had (and may still have) an official account at Taobao that was set up for direct retail sales. For wholesales, it was done direct with the factory. FWIW, Shuguang supplied their tubes to brands such as Groove Tubes (Fender), Ruby and TAD. I think the Preferred Series 6L6 tubes sold by The Tube Store in Canada were also made by Shuguang. Unless TAD spec'ed their tubes to be made by Shuguang exclusively, like Ruby did, there is a chance that Ruby or Groove Tubes might have something similar to the TAD 6L6 tubes that you ordered. As to FedEx, a few months ago I had something shipped to me from the US that was worth about US$100. It was delivered but a week or so later, I got an email saying I owe FedEx about C$20 for GST and brokerage fee. Wary that it was a scam, I called FedEx Canada and sure enough, it was legit. I did not want to waste time fighting it or dealing with collection agencies. Paid it and will insist shipping via postal services from now on.
|
|
|
Post by infant on Jul 18, 2021 4:13:45 GMT
One thing that I look for when ordering from the US is whether or not I can get USPS shipping from the seller. I once bought an item on EBay worth $10 or $15 that was shipped to me by Fedex and I was charged $5 in duty and $25 in brokerage fees. Pretty much tripled the cost of the item. Then I noticed that when I had stuff sent by USPS, they hand it over to Canada Post and I pay nothing. So now, it's USPS or I don't order it.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2021 14:54:40 GMT
I've always opted for USPS delivery if it's available. They've never lost anything and never damaged anything, so I have very little negative to say about their service. Maybe only that it's slow....And, I'm not sure that's their fault, but anything USPS handles ends up stalled at Canada Customs, and I'm not sure USPS has any way to improve on that. In this case, time was a factor, and since a fair amount of time had passed when I thought AES had the package en-route, I needed to expedite the shipment from Stewart MacDonald. And, truthfully, although the shipping has been morbidly expensive, Fed Ex has done great in terms of time - I ordered Friday, and will get it tomorrow....Probably the second-fastest I've ever gotten something from a distance (Only surpassed by a parts shipment from Rockinger Guitars in Germany that I ordered Thursday and received via DHL on Saturday).
I hope I'm never put in this situation of being in a time crunch again. Hopefully the technician will do well at getting the tubes installed and the amp rebiased for me.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2021 19:40:46 GMT
I dropped my amp off earlier today to have the new power tubes installed and the bias adjusted. Should have it back in a day or two.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2021 0:48:06 GMT
Final chapter in the story....I just got my amp back, and it sounds better than it has in 15 years. The tech did great for me and was really reasonable on what he charged me as a pensioner. When the dust settled, the transaction including tubes, shipping, taxes and brokerage, plus the technician's charges cost me about 340.00. Not cheap, but I've got an amp that'll last me the rest of my life.
At some point in the future, I'll probably order two T.A.D. 7025's for V1 and V2, but for now, I'm happy.
|
|
|
Post by Die Bullen on Jul 22, 2021 1:15:08 GMT
Final chapter in the story....I just got my amp back, and it sounds better than it has in 15 years. The tech did great for me and was really reasonable on what he charged me as a pensioner. When the dust settled, the transaction including tubes, shipping, taxes and brokerage, plus the technician's charges cost me about 340.00. Not cheap, but I've got an amp that'll last me the rest of my life. At some point in the future, I'll probably order two T.A.D. 7025's for V1 and V2, but for now, I'm happy. Great to hear it- now get out there and knock 'em dead!
|
|
|
Post by infant on Jul 22, 2021 1:44:29 GMT
Final chapter in the story....I just got my amp back, and it sounds better than it has in 15 years. The tech did great for me and was really reasonable on what he charged me as a pensioner. When the dust settled, the transaction including tubes, shipping, taxes and brokerage, plus the technician's charges cost me about 340.00. Not cheap, but I've got an amp that'll last me the rest of my life. At some point in the future, I'll probably order two T.A.D. 7025's for V1 and V2, but for now, I'm happy. That’s a pretty good deal considering that the tubes probably accounted for 85% on the price. Now get out there and play the hell out of it.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2021 6:28:56 GMT
I'm hoping there'll be an opportunity at some point. This is, in truth, my guitar amp, but it's also the nicest bass head I've ever played through. If I'm going to play out somewhere, I really want to hear it at a higher volume. My guess is that the biggest benefits to the new tubes will be most apparent in the bottom end, so I'd like to play bass through it into my new Ampeg Portaflex 2 x10" cabinet (which I also haven't had chance to play at volume).
I was happy with the message I got back from the tech - " it is a very nice amp and very quiet too. Perfect shape...I had it on my oscilloscope to test the symmetry of the wave at full output and it was perfect...a beauty.."
All I know so far, is that it sounds good through headphones, and that's using a Weber Headphone Tap that samples the headphone output from the speaker signal.
|
|