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Hi everyone, I have a question about vintage tubes: Are some of these "Holy Grail" tubes actually found in old machines (radios, medical eqipment, etc.) and if so what are the most common machines these bad-bottles may be found in? My cousin has what appears to be an early 50's tv set w/ TONS of old tubes in it. The TV make is DuMont. Some of the tube companies are: RCA, Philco, Sylvania and Hytron.
Also, my company moved in to an old dentist office where the basement is FULL of tube operated medical equipment. the doc is in his 80's and started his practice over 50 years ago!!!! Would it be worth the rummage through the basement? Let me know what you all think.
Thanks!!
Steve

Dentists are the coolest! They get all the cool toys!

I don't know if the TV would have any useful tubes, it would be worth a look.

I highly doubt the Dental equipt. has anything good. Maybe a belt driven handpiece that is similar to a dremel.

smsayre65 wrote: Also, my company moved in to an old dentist office where the basement is FULL of tube operated medical equipment

Might be something there. It's going to help immensely if you have cross-reference codes at your disposal. For example, 12AX7, ECC83, CV4004, 7025, etc. will all serve basically the same function in a guitar amp, even if their original specifications might have differed slightly.

Old organs, record players and PA systems are typically good donors. TV's are not, as most use tubes unique to that function. Some oscilloscopes, hearing test equipment, etc. might be harboring valuable glass.

Happy hunting .

Dave

Thanks! It's going to be a blast looking for stuff like that. I'll post pics of anything interesting I find.