Monster from the Radio Tube

20 Years Ago on FITK

Vacuum tubes (valves in the UK) are almost a thing of the past.

There are still four remaining uses for these elegant electronic devices:

1. Monitors & TVs. These seem to be on the way out, too heavy, full of lead, and being replaced by a variety of new technologies. Still in use by millions.
2. Microwave ovens have a tube that you never see (it is carefully shielded‚ these tubes put out a lot of energy.) Also used by millions.
3. Radio transmitters - again, lots of power handling, not for domestic use.
4. Audio amplifiers - mostly guitar amps and esoteric audiophile gear. While there is still a difference between tubes and modern solid—state equipment, I find it amusing seeing musicians playing through 50 or 60 year old amplifiers.

When I was young, transistors were just coming into the marketplace, most radios had these glowing glass jars in the back, each like a little ship-in-the-bottle or a snow globe, except instead of a yar vessel or a bucolic scene, there was a strange metal sculpture inside, the mad construct of a demented engineer. Some tubes had a blue glow that would pulse in sync with the music, all of them were HOT. My friend Andy even wrote a short story about one of these artifacts coming to life—growing in size and terrorizing the neighborhood. This update on “War Of The Worlds” ended with the malevolent tube being banished to the moon, where you could see its ruddy glow in the dark areas of a partial moon. In later years, I actually went the trouble of learning how tubes work, ultimately building my own guitar amplifier.

Every so often, if I am playing my guitar with the lights out, I’ll take a little peek at those “monsters” in the back of my amp, and recall Andy’s story with a smile.