Tube shortage coming?

...Besides, I am hardly what anyone could ever refer to as a socialist!

I don't think there's much doubt that prices will rise.....The North American cost of labour in itself will result in a big jump in prices. But, it's likely that the standards of quality will go up too, so we'll get more for our money than what Chinese and Russian tubes represent. There'll probably be a narrower range of tubes available too, but there are alternatives for guys like me that need short-bottle 6L6's....TAD isn't the only manufacturer building them, and although there might be some concessions as far as choice, I doubt that there'll be a critical shortage. It stands to reason too that even if Western Electric starts out with a limited range that addresses the common demand for tubes like 12AX7's and 6L6's, over time the choice of tube types will increase

If it's a small, boutique builder, maybe. But I think the reality is tube users are a small percentage of guitar players nowadays and an even smaller fringe of hi-fi enthusiasts (the only two groups I know that still use audio vacuum tubes). And guitar players and hi-fi people are already a pretty small group in the big picture.

And those groups are getting smaller every year, as the existing tube users get older and the younger musicians just don't care enough to justify the extra cost. Good luck to them, but I just don't see the numbers to cause significant investment and manufacturing.


Personally, I've got a pretty good stock of tubes - enough to last the rest of my life. Especially now that my Kemper gets the majority of play, whether I'm recording, practicing or gigging. If I didn't have any backup tubes, I'd still be OK because of the new digital tech. I could completely switch to that tomorrow and be very happy. Variety is nice but not essential, IMO.