With Western Electric producing the 300B tube that the new Sarah amp is voiced for, what else may we see with new made in the USA tubes? How good will they be? It's most possible WE will have the only USA factory for making tubes. If anyone knows of another company please share any info.
Steve writes in his Sarah amp description..."When we heard Western Electric was considering producing several common guitar amp tubes, many of which Decware amplifiers actually use, we knew the best way to fast track that effort was money."...
In her Stereophile Re-Tales #22 column (June 16, 2022), Julie Mullins writes..."Among those "others" is Western Electric and Charlie Whitener, the company's president and owner."... "The company was planning to expand and diversify tube production even before the Russian invasion, Whitener told me in a recent phone conversation. "We've had a lot of requests for other tubes, so we've put a project together to do that some time ago," he said. "We've been tooling up for producing other types of tubes for over a year." ...
"In 2020, they moved the company from Lee's Summit, Missouri, near Kansas City, to a brand-new factory in Rossville, Georgia. The new factory has infrastructure and capacity, Whitener told me, but they're still working on the tooling for specific parts. Soon, they plan to add 12AX7, 12AT7, 12AU7, 6550, and 6L6 tubes to the WE lineup..."
I for one would be super interested in some WE6550 tubes for my Decware SE34. New stock USA made tubes for a USA handmade amp sounds enticing.
Julie's column at:
https://www.stereophile.com/content/re-tales-22-it-time-tube-surgeJohn