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Hand-Made Vacuum Tubes

Posted by kdawson on from the doesn't-suck dept.

djmoore writes "Over at Make Magazine, watch this video of a French amateur radio operator making and testing his own vacuum tubes. It looks like he built much of his own equipment as well. The Make poster notes: 'I love the ease with which he performs these rather high-end skills (like glass forming), the gestural flourishes (like it's hand magic), and the Zelig-esque soundtrack.'"

3 of 227 comments (clear)

  1. Re:"French amateur radio operator" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Neither Make nor Slashdot have the basic decency to name the man: Claude Paillard.

    What is it with acting like foreign nationals are some sort of trained monkey? C'mon folks.

    Anyway, here's a direct link to his site so you can skip the non-article at Make. Site includes much information (use the fish as needed), the streaming dailymotion vid, and a download link for those who can't see streams. Enjoy.
    http://paillard.claude.free.fr/

    Thanks Claude! That rocks.

  2. He not only made the tube, by Toinou · · Score: 5, Informative

    he also made all the necessary equipment, like vacuum pump. If you are interested in tubes, he says the "musée des arts et métiers" is a reference. This is an engeneering museum in Paris, which has an incredible collection. When I go there, I stay for hours. Do not mistake it with the science, the nature science, or the technology museum (which are also quite interesting).

  3. Re:We need this type of thing done in the classroo by DeathElk · · Score: 5, Informative

    The purpose of using vacuum tubes in a guitar amp is for the overdrive characteristics. When overdriven, solid state amplification circuitry clips the waveform to the voltage rails, resulting in a harsh sounding distortion due to the dissonant overtones.

    A tube amp driven to distortion compresses the waveform rather than hard clipping. This results in a waveform rich in harmonic overtones - the classic distorted guitar sound.

    Any person who is not tone deaf can tell the difference between solid state distortion and tube distortion. Please don't compare the basic principles of rock guitar with overpriced audiophile folly.