Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some of the most frequently asked questions we have received. If you would like to ask a question about an individual product, please do so in the "Questions and Answers" section on each product page. If you have a question that you do not see answered here, please feel free to contact us. Click each question below to read the answer.

If you forget your password, please visit the Password Recovery Page. You will then receive an email with instructions to change your password.
Once logged in, you can change your password by visiting your account page and choosing to "edit".
We process and ship our orders Monday through Friday. Generally, if we receive a web order before 2:00pm Arizona time, we are able to process and ship it out that day.
We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express as well as PayPal.
Yes! We do accept Paypal.
We offer COD ordering via UPS. This service is subject to approval.
All items in our catalog are guaranteed to meet your satisfaction or they may be returned withing 10 days for exchange or credit, providing the item is in resellable condition. Any items that have leads cut, evidence of soldering or other signs of installation and/or use cannot be returned unless the product is defective Please note, opened software and cut-to-order items such as grill cloth, tolex, piping and wire cannot be returned. Defective software is returnable for exchange only. Please check and/or test your purchases upon receipt, even if the items are a back up set for future use and notify us of any problems within the warranty period. All new tubes (except horizontal amplifier tubes, also known as "linear" or "sweep" tubes) are guaranteed to meet manufacturers specifications for 90 days, except for breakage or when damaged by operation outside manufacturer's specified ratings. All used tubes are guaranteed to meet minimum industry standards for used tubes and are guaranteed for 30 days. The same exceptions and conditions as noted above for new tubes apply to used tubes. Linear/sweep tubes are guaranteed for 10 days except for breakage or damage caused by operation outside the tube manufacturer's specified ratings. Please check all linear/sweep tubes upon receipt. If there is a problem, please notify us immediately. After contacting us, we will take the tube back for evaluation by our technicians. We will notify you with a decision about our replacement or credit after the evaluation. If the linear/sweep tubes are out of the 10 day warranty period, we will not take them back under any circumstances. Should it be necessary to return merchandies for exchange or credit, email us or call with a reason for the return. Upon approval, you will be given a Return Authorization number (RA#). No returns should be made without contacting Customer Service for authorization. All returns should be sent promptly; we must receive all returns withing 30 days or the RA number will become invalid. The RA number must be placed on the outside of the package being returned in order to assure that your return is handled in a timely manner. We reserve the right to charge a restocking fee when no evidence of product failure exists if merchandise is returned after the 10-day period. Dealers and Resellers: we suggest you test all tubes and any type of electrical product upon receipt, as our warranty does not extend beyond you and ends when you resell the item.
Yes, we ship to Canada primarily via UPS Epacket and IPA (both services similar to USPS 1st class mail) and UPS PMI (similar to USPS Priority Mail). We also ship via UPS Expedited, UPS Express, DHL and USPS Express Mail. We do not recommend UPS Standard, as the brokerage fees are quite expensive. We do, however, provide it as an option.
Absolutely! We ship internationally using USPS, UPS or DHL. When you checkout you'll see available shipping methods and costs.
We do offer UPS 3-Day, 2-Day, and Next Day Air. These express services can be quite expensive; and larger packages are charged based on dimensional weight. If you do choose to have your order shipped using one of these services, please make sure you include your best available contact information (you can use the special instructions section at the end of the order).
We do not offer any sort of technical assistance. Please see our tech corner for answers to frequently asked technical questions. We also have a large selection of books that can help to further your knowledge.
If there is something you cannot find, please contact us
On August 30, 2018, California changed the legal requirements for the law commonly referred to as California Prop 65. It is now required that California customers be notified prior to completing checkout of any products that contain chemicals on the list published by the State of California. These warnings are now displayed to all California customers on our review order page and prior to the final submission. For more information, please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.
This is a shipment that will be packed in a box normally, but then placed in a "UPS Pak" bag. The advantage of this method is that it prevents small, lightweight packages from being rated for dimensional weight at 2 lbs and charges for only the actual weight, so you will be paying less to ship the same box.
We list the manufacturer and manufacturer part number on many of our products. If we have not done so, per company policy we consider our supplier information proprietary and we do not release it.
We can drop ship your order directly to your customer upon request. This service is only available for US addresses. A service charge of 10% of the order total ($5.00 minimum) will apply. Please note that this fee applies to each individual drop shipment that you place.
Due to regulations, we are required to include a fully-valued commercial invoice on all packages leaving the United States.
No. Due to limited supply of NOS tubes, we cannot offer matching of new-old-stock tubes. Our matched current-production power tube offering can be found under our vacuum tube listings.
Most of our power tubes are matched by the Apex matching system, a proprietary, multi-step process designed to ensure that you get the highest-quality matched tubes available. We perform extensive testing and analysis on each tube that runs through our system to provide an incredibly accurate and precision-matched tube set. Discover our process for matching tubes at ApexMatching.com.
We do not match dual triodes or other such preamp tubes, nor do we test for microphonics. We can match power tubes. If requested, there is a per-tube fee for matching.
It is possible that your confirmation email was blocked due to your service provider misidentifying the email as spam. Please check any bulk or spam folders you have on your email account. Additionally, you can check the status of your orders from your account page.
Please be conscientious about putting together your order. You should consider your order complete after you click the submit button at checkout. Due to the large volume of orders we receive and our extremely fast processing time, it is not always possible to add items to an order. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.
It is very difficult to accurately reproduce tolex and grill cloth colors and patterns electronically. If you would like a small sample to evaluate before you order, they are available. Tolex or grill cloth samples cost $1.00 each. Additionally, you can order an entire packet of the tolex samples (our part number S-GSG2) or a packet of all the grill cloth samples (part number S-GSG1).
We are constantly searching for new-old-stock vacuum tubes, and they come from a variety of surplus sources. One of our sources is our customers. If you have vacuum tubes that you would like to sell us, please request a bid list from our contact page.
For an additional $1.00 per vacuum tube, you can order specific brands of tubes. Please list any brand preferences in the comments section of your order. If we cannot fulfill this request, we will let you know
Generally our new-old-stock tubes were made by the major U.S. manufacturers, along with a small number of European manufacturers. If we have a large stock of a particular tube from a single manufacturer, we will designate the tube with its own part number. If you require a specific brand, we charge a fee of $1.00 per tube for selection.
You will see "Open Credit" in the purchase order number box in the upper left section of your invoice.
When you place your order, we do a preauthorization on your credit card to be certain there are funds available (the amount includes the cost of the parts and a shipping estimate). The preauthorization funds are released when we perform the postauthorization, which is the actual invoice amount (the cost of the goods, the cost to ship your order and any other applicable fees.) Debit cards may take an extra day for the funds to be released. If your preauthorization has not been released, please contact your bank directly.
Several common questions about Mod Kits are answered in the frequently asked questions section of http://www.modkitsdiy.com. Additional help is also available at http://www.modkitsdiy.com/contact.
If the getter flash has a milky white color, then it means air has leaked in and the tube is bad. Other discolorations are usually just due to differing speeds and temperatures at which the flashing was done and do not mean the tube is bad.
A blue glow on the surface of the glass, mica, or metal is fine. A blue or violet cloud within the tube structure is bad. An orange glow from the filament or cathode in the middle of the tube is normal and can vary from very bright to very dim depending on how it is covered from view by the surrounding structures. A red or orange glow on the surface of the plate is bad and is referred to as "red-plating." This is caused by setting the bias of the tube too hot.