Seeking Advice On Oscilloscope & Tube Tester

Here in my smaller sized town, at almost any opportunity I try and talk about tube electronics and related. I then get into talking about building guitar amps and ask if anyone, knows anyone, who may have an old amp or tubes kicking around. I do get leads and have uncovered some cool stuff, but I have yet to hit a jackpot. It'll happen one day. Last week someone recommended that I track down an older guy who used to run a local electronic repair business. They closed the doors for the last time 20 years ago. I did track him down and gave him a list of audio tubes I was interested in, for amps. A week later he called me back and said he was mostly into TV repair and he had none of the audio tubes I wanted.

He did however tell me he had a B&K 707 tube tester and a B&K Oscilloscope he'd be willing to let go. I asked him to name his price. He said he was interested in a trade. A trade for one of the tube amps I build.
I figure I need about $500 in supplies to build a half decent 5F1 or 5F2A. About the same to have a Weber full 5F1 kit shipped here.

I am wondering if I should consider a closer look at a scope & tube tester?Good stuff to have around for tube amp building, trouble shooting & repair?
I know I don't need these, as so far I did not need either to build the last 2 amps I assembled. However I can see myself getting more and more into this hobby. I enjoy it very much. Are these 2 items worth $500 bucks? I can go inspect them and take photos to gather more info. What say would you do?

Check ebay and craigslist to get a feel... Tube testers can hold their value... scopes? meh... I am thinking more like 200 - 300 hundred, at best. B-K equipment is OK... just OK. You can do nearly all amp work without either... really.

I wouldn't consider acquiring a tube tester unless I already knew I had a steady source of old tubes that needed evaluating.

I have way more tools than I can possibly justify. Having said that, it would be hard to justify that kind of investment.

I paid $50 plus shipping for my oscilloscope. It's not like there are millions of people waiting to snap them up.

Seems to me that you are considering giving him an amp worth at least a grand, for two items worth a total of $200.

Thanks guys. Sounds like a bad deal to me. I don't have a steady supply of old tubes, nor do I seem to need a scope. Pass...

He did however tell me he had a B&K 707 tube tester and a B&K Oscilloscope he'd be willing to let go. I asked him to name his price. He said he was interested in a trade. A trade for one of the tube amps I build.

I figure I need about $500 in supplies to build a half decent 5F1 or 5F2A. About the same to have a Weber full 5F1 kit shipped here.

B&K 707 is good. But then I have a 539C.

The 539C is the '59 'Burst of tube testers.


I'm a Weber customer. It's proprietary information so I won't be specific, I'll just say I sell 5F1s for $500 a pop. Should be more but it ain't.

I knock my cost down by buyin' the chassis and transformers. Build my own cabinets.

Build him a Dave kit. $100 for TDPRI members, another $100 for iron...

If it costs $500 for a 707 and a 'scope I'd say don't!


I have a basement full of 'scopes. I'm not kiddin'! I parted a truckload of old Tektronix 535s and 545s. That where all those ECC88s come from.

Nuthin' left of the pile of old Heathkits besides the tin from the chassis when I get done with 'em. I think I have at least two old DuMonts. Maybe a B&K in the pile, I'd have to look.

The old HP scopes came with a 5AR4 tube inside. Tossin' me a 5AR4 is like tossin' a steak to a shark. Next thing I know the 'scope is a pile scrap metal. Parts! :lol:

I have a couple old Eicos. Want 'em? Pay the shipping and they're yours! Umm... I borrowed a few parts. :lol: They come with three or four 6SN7s and a couple 5Y3s so you'll have to bring your own tubes. The knobs aren't 100% correct for early Ampegs but they're close enough. So I snagged the knobs. And, umm... in the interest of 100% disclosure each one came with a cool leather handle that seems to have gone missing... :lol:

I would be weary of an old scope, even a B&K, because of dodgy CRTs and controls. They become even more useless if they are only a single channel. You can get a 2 channel 40Mz USB scope for $250 or less. The Hantek DSO 2090 is a good one and for a few bucks more, the PicoScope 2204 also has a function generator. Run them right from your PC.

I used to work for a college and we had a number of scopes that went south and were not worth fixing, mind you students are hard on equipment. If it is not in 100% working order you pretty much need a scope to fix one. I have one of the castoffs that was on the way to recycling, nothing special but it is two channel and works ok. Upgraded the labs and tossed out 20 others, half may have worked and would have been all someone needs for amp work. Might ask around at any schools that still have electronic programs. A long shot but you might get lucky.

A tube tester might be nice but I would not pay much for one. Build a amp to throw the tube in and see what it is doing with the scope. Oh wait, need the scope.

I'm a Weber customer. It's proprietary information so I won't be specific, I'll just say I sell 5F1s for $500 a pop. Should be more but it ain't.

I knock my cost down by buyin' the chassis and transformers. Build my own cabinets.

Build him a Dave kit. $100 for TDPRI members, another $100 for iron...



I can't seem to get my costs down. I am not good at carpentry so building a cab it out. Freight is factor for me up here. I have scratched my head over getting my costs down, even considered using a used speaker. Here is where I get to:

5F1 Project:
Weber Signature Speaker $75 shipped
Boot Hill Kit $100
$10 boot hill shipping
Heyboer OT $35 HY022905 (I already have this on hand)
Weber off shore PT $60 shipped. Estimate.
Memphis Amps Cab $150 plus $15 shipping
Modern production tubes: Estimate $50
Above estimate: $495