The original chinese 12AX7's

[daz]

From the 80's....the ones that came in most amps including marshalls. I was trying to find some NOS and i emailed tubedepot or one of those about the chinese he has for sale and he said they are not the originals. When i asked what name to look fior in trying to locate some he said he doesn't know and that he doubts i will find any. Is this guy just BS'ing me in hopes i'll but something else from him? Or does anyone know who has these? I have about 10 of them but i've had them forever and wonder is they are worn much. So i wanted to get a few and compare.

[Pedro Vecino]

Old model is "pill in foil" getter. Actually is round getter. They sound differently.
I d´ont know anybody who sell them, but sometimes in ebay they are seen in small quantities.
It´s very possible that those that you has are in good condition

[daz]

Yeah, the ones with the little square foil getter, thats it. Mine may well be fine, but having had them so many years it seems unlikely. Another question....does anything today sound real close?

[Pedro Vecino]

The most nearby is the current version with round getter, but it has less compression and the seat of the overdrive is lightly different.
Besides the different compression level, the most linear behavior and extended treble in clean sounds it´s the one that establishes the difference in overdrive. The transition in the crunch is more softened in the older model. In the new ones it´s rawer.
To replace the older ones, TAD offers two versions of the same tube:
TAD 7025 HIGHGRADE Premium Selected
TAD 12AX7A/ECC83 Premium Selected
TAD Vorstufenröhren SELECTED, TAD Premium Tubes

[daz]

Wow, another mullard 12AX7 clone 1 Has anyone tried the RT011 or the high grade version? Are they any good? I tried the GT mullard clone a few years back and loved in in my classic 30, but in my marshall style build and a few other amps they were mediocre. Maybe these are better ?

[rockon1]

Ive got a bunch of Chinese square foil type getters. They are in a big box along with all my other "new" production 12AX7's! Guess Im spoiled. Bob