Virtually all these firms specialise in hard-to-find material but read the whole list to find the people most likely to have what you want....

FINDCHIPS aims to perform the fastest, most complete distributor search available today on the Internet. After you enter a part number (or substring), FindChips.com will simultaneously query over 20 distributors, and return the responses to you in real time, in the order completed. FindChips.com searches distributor inventory for all types of electronics, including passives, connectors, optoelectronics, and more _not just chips. Watch for new facility to search over 70,000 datasheets and application notes by keyword.

• AGILE TOOLS, Box 1408, London, NW10 9ES. Early ICs and transistors.
• ANTIQUE AUDIO, 253 Blanche, Plymouth, MI 48170, USA. High-voltage capacitors and other components for valve circuitry.
• ANTIQUE ELECTRONIC SUPPLY, Box 27468, Tempe, AZ 85285-7468, USA. Comprehensive source of tubes, parts and supplies for restoring old radios. Elaborate 32-page catalogue free, mail order a speciality, credit cards taken. E-commerce enabled web site.
• ASK JAN FIRST GmbH & Co. KG Jan Philipp Wüsten, Preiler Ring 10, D- 25774 Lehe, Germany. Telephone: +49-4882-6054551. Transformers, unusual capacitors, cloth-covered wire. Very useful supplier.
• Michel BLANCHARD, 21 Lot Miailhe, F-33720 Barsac, France. Supplies cotton-covered wire.
• BULB DIRECT, Inc. 1 Fishers Road, Pittsford, NY 14534-9511, USA. Specialist instrument bulbs and other types of lamp.
• W. BURCHER, 676 Foxhall Road, Ipswich, IP3 8NQ. Valves and some other valve-era spares.Advertised a closing down sale so may have ceased trading.
• CENTRE ELECTRONICS, 345 Stockfield Road, Yardley, Birmingham, B25 8JP. Open Thursday-Saturday. Valves and other components.
• CIEL ELECTRONIQUE, ZI La Vallière - Bât 1, 06730 Saint André de la Roche, France, Europe. Wide range of components and valves for audio and radio enthusiasts. Order online.
• CHELMER VALVE COMPANY LTD., The Stables, Scatterbrook Farm, Rectory Lane, Latchingdon, Essex, CM3 6HB. Good stock of brand name valves, particularly audio.
• COMPAERO Military-type connectors of all kinds.
• CONNECTOR WORLD SUPPLY, Inc., Seattle, USA. Huge selection of plugs and sockets.
• DIAL ELECTRONICS Ltd., Unit E, Burnhope Road, Washington, Tyne and Wear, NE38 8HZ. Large resource for audio, radio parts and semiconductors.
• DIVERSE DEVICES, 75 Priory Road, St Denys, Southampton, SO17 2JQ. Large quantity of manuals and hard-to-find components, including some germanium transistors.
• DOUGLAS ELECTRONICS INDUSTRIES Ltd, 55 Eastfield Road, Louth, LN11 7AL. Wide range of transformers for 'valve' type HT voltages.
• DYPROM Ltd. Specialist suppliers of Plessey, Harris and Mitel semiconductors, including obsolete types.
• ELECTRONIQUE DIFFUSION, 15 rue de Rome, 59100 Roubaix, France. RF components including old-pattern valves.
• ETC ELECTRONICS, P.O. Box 253 Sandy, Utah 84091-0253. They buy and sell hard to find - new, old, vintage, obsolete, and current electronics parts and supplies. They sell: IC's, Tubes, Antique Radios, Test Equipment, Diodes, Relays, Capacitors, Industrial, Security, Lamps, LED's, Displays, Vintage Hi-Fi, etc.
• F.C. LANE ELECTRONICS Ltd, Slinfold Lodge, Slinfold, Horsham, RH13 7RE. Specialises in obsolete multipole connectors and has taken over the manufacture of some ranges, e.g. Plessey Company.
• J.A. CREW & COMPANY LTD. 6 Station Road, Woodford Halse, Daventry, Northants NN11 3RB. Model engineering tools, electronic components, surplus miscellany, materials and fastenings
• Jean-Luc FRADET, 9 rue de l'Égalité, 36130 Déois, France. Components for old radio and hi-fi, repairs.
• W.W. GRAINGER, USA (00 1800-323-0620). Acclaimed as a source of unusual bulbs such as lumiline tubes for Collins speakers and 656s for Johnson transmitters.
• JUST RADIOS, Dave and Babylyn Cantelon, 6 Ferncrest Gate, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, M1W 1C2. They specialize in antique radio schematics, capacitors and resistors for vintage radios.
• KAL UK Ltd, Box 84, Herne Bay, CT6 7GA; KAL Germany, Kraichbachstr 1a, D-68766 Hockenheim, Germany (tel/fax 00 49 6205-16504). Buy/sell vintage valves and audio equipment.
• KENZEN, Unit 9, 16-20 George Street, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, B12 9RG. (0121-446 4346, fax 0121-446 4245). Valves and valve-era components. Catalogue issued. Please ring for an appointment if you intend visiting the warehouse). This business also has an extensive range of new-production high-voltage electrolytics at advantageous prices. These are good quality, British-made caps, in fact the same brand as the Vintage Wireless Company of Bristol used to sell. They are ideal for replacing problematic caps in old valve equipment. Information sheet/price list will be sent in return for SAE.
• LIVING IN THE PASTl Range of original transformers and some other components available.
• LUMITRON Corporation, Box 267, Summit, NJ 07902, USA . Specialist instrument bulbs and other types of lamp.
• MAJESTIC TRANSFORMER COMPANY, 245 Rossmore Road, Parkstone, Poole, BH12 2HQ. Rewinds old transformers.
• MICROLAMP. Inc., 2942 NW 60th Street, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309, USA. Specialist instrument bulbs and other types of lamp.
• H.J. MORGAN-SMITH, Unit 3, Vernon Bldg., Westbourne Street, High Wycombe, HP11 2PX. Stock item and custom instrument cases, 19" rack cases & other metalwork spraying.
• MUSHROOM COMPONENTS, Unit 3 Bradfield Road, Finedon Road Industrial Estate, Wellingborough, NN8 4HB. Stocking distributor of electronic components specialising in obsolete semiconductors.
• OLD TIME SUPPLIES, PO Box 209, Banbury, OX16 1GR. Old radios, books and components.
• PREMIUM PARTS, Whitewater, WI, USA. Comprehensive source for all kinds of drive belts and wheels for tape recorders. They can custom-make stuff, too.
• PROBUS ELECTRONICS Ltd., Findon, Southill Lane, Eastcote, Pinner, HA5 2EQ. UK distributor of production and servicing products made by Caig Laboratories (USA).
• PROOPS BROTHERS, Saddington Road, Fleckney, Leicester LE8 8AW. A miscellany of all sorts of useful things for model engineers.
• RATA Ltd, Edge Bank House, Skelsmergh, Kendal, LA8 9AS. Some valves, valve bases and coolers, also high grade audiophile components and cables.
• ROCHESTER ELECTRONICS, 10 Malcolm Hoyt Drive, Newburyport, MA 01950, USA. Specialises in long-obsolete integrated circuits.
• 6V6 VINTAGE COMPONENTS, 3 Baskerville Road, Wandsworth Common, London, SW18 3RJ. A UK source of radio and audio restoration products and spare parts from the 1920's to the 1980's. E-commerce facility now online. They can supply valves, high voltage capacitors, radio kits (based on 1920's designs), transistors, crystal set spares (original and reproduction), and some downloadable circuit diagrams - free when you buy anything.
• SOWTER TRANSFORMERS, The Boatyard, Cullingham Road Ipswich IP1 2EG. Audio transformer specialist though all types of transformer can be supplied.
• STIFFKEY LAMP SHOP, Stiffkey, Wells-Next-Sea, NR23 1AJ. Fabric-covered mains cable (looks better than PVC-sheathed flex on vintage receivers but has modern blue, brown, yellow-green wires inside). Available in two colours, gold and dark brown; the conductors are twisted and each has its own fabric covering.
• T&J ENTERPRISES, Box 1963, Hall Green, Birmingham, B28 9LP. Specialist suppliers of Lucas electrical spares 1930 to date. Mainly automotive but many parts used in other low-voltage applications (e.g. festoon bulbs in radios).
• TECHNICAL LAMPS Ltd. Projector lamps and other specialist items.
• VINTAGE TV & RADIO SUPPLY, 3498 West 105th Street, Cleveland, OH 44111, USA. Components, refinishing supplies, reproduction parts, books and literature. Free catalogue.
• VINTAGE-PARTS.COM, 20 Webster Road, Stanford-Le-Hope, SS17 0BD. Useful web store for vintage parts, including germanium transistors.
• WHITE TOWN VINTAGE, 50 Meddon Street, Bideford, EX39 2EQ. Tudor Gwilliam Rees' new vintage electronics business following his sale of Savoy Hill Publications. He buys and sells most British audio, repairs vintage radios and supplies vintage-compatible capacitors and other parts. Also he now can repair damaged CDs and DVDs !   A monthly news sheet is available.