What s the overall state of tube manufacturing today? How many separate manufacturers are actually making tubes for guitar amps, who are they, and where are they located?
VTV: The remaining largest American tube manufacturers such as GE, JAN/Philips, RCA, etc., shut their factories down from during the period of 1977 through 1987. Mullard and Siemens apparently shut their factory doors in the late 1970s. Demand for audio and guitar tubes continued, however, so existing tube factories in China, Eastern Europe and Russia were approached to make popular audio and guitar amp tubes. Now, the demand for tubes continues to grow, as there are more manufacturers of tube hi-fi and tube guitar amps than ever before. More companies, but considerably smaller, in terms of actual production figures. The following are the current main tube manufacturers, grouped by country: RUSSIA SED, (formerly Svetlana Electron Devices), St. Petersburg SED is a major Russian power-tube manufacturer. Formerly a part of the huge Svetlana collective factory, that is now independent. SED products are now marketed outside Russia by PM Components using the SED (Winged C logo). Audio and Gu
