If true, it could take a couple years to get the line up and running... producing good tubes after it’s going. I’ve got a friend with his ear to the rail to ask about this.
Bad news. I believe RF Parts sells Shuguang built 3-500z tubes. When stock runs out, the 3-500z will get very expensive. Also, no new 572B tubes either.
Ameritron will also buy a large lot of tubes for the AL-82 and AL-572 amplifiers if tube stocks are threatened and Federal law states they must supply replacements parts for 7 years.
13 February 2004 12:29 PM This is what I read. Not sure if limited to some industries. #1: The legal requirement is for a company to provide ‘support’ for their product for 10 years. Support comes in a variety of forms. Certainly spares for the first few years but it is not always possible to supply spare parts after a few years, the manufacturer of a sub-part may simply stop making that part (perhaps it was discovered to be flawed and was replaced). In that case the manufacturer is obliged to ‘support’ the product by providing part-replaced-by information. In the case of small things we are in a disposable society, if your tape player breaks a belt it’s usually cheaper to buy a new one than identify, dispatch and talk someone through replacing the belt. In the case of big things this is not the case. If someone has a PCB in control panel on a genset that fails we will provide them with a replacement PCB provided we can still get them. If not we are obliged to provide a replacement panel that will still interface to the remainder of their genset. It may be an ugly replacement (and will be expensive) but we are required to do so. If the customer requests it we are required to provide the technical manual for up to ten years. #2: From a quick look at the Federal Trade Commission site for the US, it might come down to an issue of warranty, how the product is marketed and which state you are in. Federal Warranty Law Under the implied warranty section it says that the normal statute of limitations is 4 years (parts) but you can add words like "as-is" to avoid it in certain states.
For something as tiny as an amp business Im sure the Fed wont get involved. Plus there are always loopholes in every law created by lawyers. Svetlana can maybe reintroduce a correct 572B and 811A. Someone will pay off the Changsha city government or "suggest" they cooperate. Id be willing to bet there are other Chinese companies ready to fill the gap.
