On Wed, 16 Jan 2019 18:43:45 -0800, Big Bad Bob   
    wrote:   
      
   >On 01/03/19 14:54, tubeguy@myshop.com wrote:   
   >> I am glad this forum is still here and sort of active. I enjoy working   
   >> on tube equip for my hobby. If I had to work on solid state stuff, my   
   >> soldering iron would have been packed away in the attic years ago. I do   
   >> on occasion work on some early transistor stuff, but when I see ICs, the   
   >> device goes right out the door, untouched.   
   >   
   >heh yeah, tubes made the electronics easier to deal with, that's for   
   >sure.  An IC with an OEM label on it is like a 'mystery black box' and   
   >if you don't have an adequate schematic for the thing, damn near   
   >impossible to troubleshoot.  I've had to deal with desoldering and   
   >replacing ICs and you can't do it to test-troubleshoot, especially CPUs   
   >and logic arrays.  Best method to deal with those is clip the leads,   
   >desolder them, then re-solder a new device where the old one was and   
   >hope that was it, unless you have some really detailed information on   
   >how to confirm that it's bad (etc.).   
   >   
   >Trying to desolder an IC such that you preserve it to re-solder back in   
   >place is likely to damage the circuit board.  That goes double with   
   >surface mount.   
      
   An 8 pin IC, like an op-amp can be desoldered, but not those big   
   suckers.... I'll work on some amps that have those small Op-amps, but I   
   dont care to work on any solid state stuff. If it wasn't for my 60 year   
   old tube signal tracer, to guide me thru the circuits, I'd probably   
   never fix that stuff.   
      
   Even so, working on solid state stuff just lacks something. It's like   
   working on rocks, and in many ways, silicon is a rock, so it's very   
   true. And it lacks the dangerous high voltages, which in some ways takes   
   away the thrill. Yea, I got zapped in the past and I learned to be safe   
   the hard way. But I often think that working on high voltage gear,   
   activates me. Some of that high voltage leaks into the air and i feel   
   it, even if its not shocking me.   
      
   >   
   >Tubes are also fun in that they actually look like they're doing   
   >something, especially beam power tubes with the blue glow.   
      
   You think like I do. Not long ago, I said something very similar. I   
   always find tubes to have some "life: to them. The filaments glow, and   
   that blue-purple glow is really cool. My favorite tube has always been   
   the 6L6. Those beam power pentodes are awesome. Being a guy raised in   
   the 50s and 60s, I think back and realize almost all the rock bands we   
   loved were using 6L6 outputs on their guitar amps. Even today, they are   
   still the most used tube in guitar amps, and no solid state amp can give   
   that warm tube sound. I built a 3 channel stereo back in the late 60s,   
   modeled after the Altec Lansing cinema systems. There were twelve 6L6   
   tubes in the system, plus six 5U4 rectifiers and nine more tubes. Thats   
   27 tubes (just in the power amps). It kicked out around 350 watts of   
   clean awesome RMS power. And I loved to sit back, drink some beers and   
   do some other funny stuff, and watch them 6L6s dance in blue. I still   
   recall the one night I opened it up wide open, and blew out several   
   windows in the house.   
      
   Yep, those were the days.... Almost makes me want to turn on some of my   
   Ventures albums and listen to that wonderful warm tube sound along with   
   those spring reverbs.... Now that was music.....   
      
   Unfortunately these days I am running solid state amps. 1100 watts RMS   
   to be exact. It has good sound, but there is still something missing,   
   namely the tubes.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)