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Okay there's a dude here in Wellie with a couple of pristine specimens of these lying around and he wants to cream $100US for each one (justifying it as "E-Bay prices"). So I haven't got a lot of NOS suppliers to compare it with, but he seems like a nice enough guy when you talk to him, (and I've brought NOS Philips off him previously, although they were 1/3 of that price). Its just that I have an aversion to paying stupidly high prices (even if they are Mullards). So it got me to thinking - what are reasonable sellers in the US selling NOS Mullard 12AX7s for at the moment?
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Building a better world (one tube amp at a time)
"I have never had to invoke a formula to fight oscillation in a guitar amp."- Enzo -
That doesn't sound way above regular ebay, provided either he will test or warranty them on receipt for gain, noise and microphonics. You'll want these in V1 slot, but if you can't turn it up above 2 without it humming, hissing or howling then you aren't going to get $100 of benefit out of it. Peter.My band:- http://www.youtube.com/user/RedwingBand -
Just had a quick look on flea bay uk and they seem to be at the 150$ mark.
Can't say that i can tell the difference between Mullards and owt else meself.
The neuances are too subtle for my already addled brain, and the trusty phrase " I can smell shite" springs to mind!Comment
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I could never afford the NOS Mullards or Telefunkens but I picked up a whole sh*tload of tested old stock tubes with my $300 tax rebate back in 2001. They sure sound better than the current production tubes- I've only had one of them go bad when they were in my possession.
That being said, the new production Mullard tubes are pretty nice. I think that they are being made in Japan- some of them branded as M series Groove Tubes and some of them branded as Mullard.
The EI 12AX7's sound a lot like Mullards although they are very prone to microphonics. (FWIW I thought that the Sovtek WXT+ and LPS tubes kinda sounded like Telefunken). But the originals just seemed to have a more 3 dimensional sound to them...
Steve AholaThe Blue Guitar
www.blueguitar.org
Some recordings:
https://soundcloud.com/sssteeve/sets...e-blue-guitar/
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The EI 12AX7's were being made on old Telefunken equipment until EI stopped making tubes last year. Get them while you can....
GregComment
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Hi Greg,
Dpt.of correction,if you don't mind:
It's Philips,not Telefunken what they use in the EI Nis factory.Originally posted by soundmasterg View Post
The EI plant continues with the tube production,though they're now making a somewhat narrower pallete of choice,as compared to,say,20 years ago.Originally posted by soundmasterg View Post
Not necessarily...the EI QC fell drastically after the ex-Yugoslavian wars (90's) and also the good-quality material supplies shorted drastically so the tubes produced after this period are seriously lacking consistency and durability (the microphony is another serious issue).If you can get some older EI series of production,they're OK but forget the newer ones.Originally posted by soundmasterg View Post
Best regards,Comment
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Le Basseur,
Thanks for the correction of sorts on the Phillips/Telefunken info. I thought it was Telefunken but I stand corrected.
Regarding the info that they are still making tubes, perhaps you have better access to accurate info due to your location.....from everything I've seen here in the US, first it is said they stopped making tubes, then it is said their distributor isn't selling them anymore, then it is said that Western Electric bought the factory, etc. It would be really nice if they could get their QC and supplies sorted out and make some good tubes. They could have had the 12AX7 market cornered a long time ago if their quality and microphonics issues were sorted.
GregComment
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Geoff Edwards sells all kinds of tubes. He is based in Christchurch.Originally posted by tubeswell View Post
Great guy to deal with, good prices and product range.
tubehead@xtra.co.nzComment
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