Legendary gear manufacturer Groove Tubes ceased to exist as an independent entity this weekend. The company was sold to Fender in June, and after manufacturing was moved to Mexico and operations were merged into Fender, most of the company’s employees were laid off and all of its original facilities were shut down. In a solid state (and now digital) era, Groove Tubes was one of the best places to get vacuum tubes and the equipment that used them. Fender has a history of buying up revered brands and sucking the life out of them, and this is probably what will happen to GT. Tubes probably aren’t headed the way of Polaroid film or reel-to-reel tape, but you never know. [LA Times]