You know it's funny. I went out and ran some errands and I came back home and decided to go on Ebay and look at 12AX7 tubes. I spent about thirty-five minutes doing this and then I had to start thinking about bidding. I had saved about 12 listings. Well the first batch of RCA black plates started low, but in 40 minutes had went over $140 so I wasn't interested in that. However, next up was a 1956 Sylvania gray plate that tested 129/130!!! Current bid was $11.50. I kid you not. With my trusty pocket watch and a deft move of my index finger, I was the winner at $15.50. (Five bucks to ship which is high, but oh well.)
The point I'm making is that I just won another ICBM for twenty bucks and I wasn't even trying. Ebay has sellers who list all of the new Tung-Sol and Mullard tubes and they want 20 bucks for one of those. Tomorrow, I will be bidding on some black plate Mullards (if they don't go sky high) and a lot of four JRC (Military) black plate 5751's. If they stay low, I'll bid on them, but I usually want 12AX7's. There are some other great deals on a pair of Telefunkens and a quad of Amperex (Holland made) 12AX7's.
I guess if you want to get your hands on some of these you will have to make time to do a little bidding during your time off. I think it's fun to use strategy to ensure a winning bid. My techniques give me around an 80 per cent chance on winning. I can't wait to get this old 1956 Sylvania. I know it's going to be a killer V1 or V2.
Cheers, Marty
