Took a gamble. What is this 12AX7? Mullard? NOS guys?

[BBQLS1]

Gambled What is this 12AX7? Way cheap. Did I lose my tail? The guy said it was a mullard, tested good, has good feed back, matches other pics of mullards as far as I can tell. Date codes, hence the price? $18.50 shipped. Looks old!

[lo-watt]

No etched date codes at all?

[Turmoil]

Yep, looks like a Mullard allrighty

Tim

[LeeMo]

I've got an old Silvertone with the paint worn off of it (you can barely make out thetop and bottom of the "S" and the "IL". I hate to break it to ya but they look 'xactly alike. Maybe Mullard made them for Sears.


LeeMo

[Turmoil]

I've got an old Silvertone with the paint worn off of it (you can barely make out thetop and bottom of the "S" and the "IL". I hate to break it to ya but they look 'xactly alike. Maybe Mullard made them for Sears.


LeeMo

Here's one out of my collection. Silvertone made in Great Britain. Now you can both be happy

[BBQLS1]

I've got an old Silvertone with the paint worn off of it (you can barely make out thetop and bottom of the "S" and the "IL". I hate to break it to ya but they look 'xactly alike. Maybe Mullard made them for Sears.


LeeMo

I kind of doubt it, but I was reading that Mullard made some that were relabled in the US. The pics I saw looked really similar to other "mullard" pics, but I couldn't see the halo to be sure. I probably got screwed, but we'll see if it sounds better than what I got!

[BBQLS1]

I've got an old Silvertone with the paint worn off of it (you can barely make out thetop and bottom of the "S" and the "IL". I hate to break it to ya but they look 'xactly alike. Maybe Mullard made them for Sears.


LeeMo

Here's one out of my collection. Silvertone made in Great Britain. Now you can both be happy

Does the getter look the same? I can't tell.

[LeeMo]

Actually , mine looks more like the "Made in Great Br." one.
I got it out of an old 1484 that fried on me in 1972. I paid $100 for the amp. I kept the speakers and built them into a bed in the back of my van . Yep , Jensens. I left them in it when I sold it.



LeeMo

EDIT: same getter.

[BBQLS1]

Actually , mine looks more like the "Made in Great Br." one.
I got it out of an old 1484 that fried on me in 1972. I paid $100 for the amp. I kept the speakers and built them into a bed in the back of my van . Yep , Jensens. I left them in it when I sold it.



LeeMo

EDIT: same getter.

They all look the same as far as I can tell.

[LeeMo]

I'll try to find my PDA camera and get a Pseudo pic of it. The quality will be abismal.
I'm tellin' ya , it's the same tube. Looks like we both have Muley's.


LeeMo

[lo-watt]

Silvertone used Amperex and Mullard with Blackburn codes.I have quite a few from my Silvertones..

[BBQLS1]

I'll try to find my PDA camera and get a Pseudo pic of it. The quality will be abismal.
I'm tellin' ya , it's the same tube. Looks like we both have Muley's.


LeeMo

$18.50 Woot!

[Strat]

Mullards come with different getters, round and square, also different plate height too, approx. 15mm and 17mm (I'm not too keen on metric but this is one ares it works ok)

The Hi-Fi brigade apparently go for long plates and square getters. I've not carried out any ABing yet but must get round to it one day.

[LeeMo]

"Lost money" freebe.Woot Woot!

LeeMo

[dotfret]

OK, I'll pit my shaky memory against looking like a pumphead for the Nth squared time ...

Mullard were part of the immense Philips family, so they sold a lot of valves. Sometimes they bought valves in from other makers to avoid being unable to supply their customers, so you may buy a valve with Mullard written on it and find it is not quite what you expected. When it comes to the 12AX7, I have seen many exotic varieties. The main ones are
1) The 2A type code Kenley production - long grey plates, just as likely to be branded Philips. Sometimes made by Siemens and Halske when marked "foreign".
2) the r9 type code Blackburn production - also long grey plates, usually branded Mullard made in GB.
3) The I6 type code short plate is usually Blackburn, but it may be from Eindhoven (made in Holland), or occasionally from the ex-Tungsram Tottenham factory, which was revived for a brief period. The Tottenham production used heater/ cathode assemblies transported from Blackburn under a protective atmosphere, so these are intrinsically Blackburn Mullards. Mullard had spare capacity at Blackburn for production of such assemblies, which was originally for the export of the assemblies to the Philips/Mullard plant in Australia (which is why those Aussie valves are really good).
4) Outsourced 12AX7 marked Mullard Made in Great Britain are not unknown - they are usually Ediswan production, and are easily distinguished by a mark resembling a squared U ( a [ lying on its base) next to the label print.

That looks like a standard I6 design, but with no code it is difficult to say where it came from. It may be deliberate that the writing has been lost - it may even be a Tungsram from Hungary, that was once marked Mullard foreign. If it is an Ediswan, you may find the remains of a code ALONG the axis of the valve - the 4-5 heater connections look like Ediswan, rather than Mullard. But it could have been made anywhere in the world - the important point is that is has all the characteristics of the Philips/Mullard design. Not a bad deal - but I have to say I bought a NOS I6 Blackburn Mullard today for 13 euros - it is not marked Mullard, and the seller obviously doesn't know about the codes - the pic said it all. Keep looking, the truth is out there!

[allynmey]

Turmoil, the code starting with "B" would denote Mullard blackburn plant

Allyn

[baron55]

Yep it is a real Mullard, because you bought it from me:) I thought that tube looked familiar.

The reason it seems cheap, is because obviously it is not new, so I don't really think it should command the ridiculous cork sniffer prices. And I am not trying to profit from it. Plus I have about 20 more, so I really won't miss the few I sold too much. Just trying to thin out some stock.

here are larger resolution pictures, you can barely see date codes on the other side of the tube through the glass, but unfortunately hard to tell from the picture. I think you will be pretty happy with this tube.



I sold of a bunch of my Mullards and Amperex tubes.

[Turmoil]

Aint it a small world?

I just bought a bunch of stuff off of ebay from Jeremy Ledford
Builder Extroardinaire. His ebay handle doesn't give him away, but his email address did.

Turmoil

[baron55]

St Overdrive AKA Tube Tramp just bought a couple of my Amperex 12AX7's. Yes indeed a small world.

[pylet2000]

Sure looks like the 4 or 5 Mullard's I have from various sources and various "brands." Well done! This further proves it is possible to get a good used Mullard that performs solid, for the cost of one GT "re-issue" Mullard that sounds like any new-production-nothing-special tube.

Some of the traits of the Mullards I own, and likewise in the above pictures, are the two circular holes on the outer edges of the outer plates, the little vents at the top and bottom of the outer plate by the mica, and most but not all (two of mine will and two won't, exact same plate constructions from one to the next) will flash when first given heater voltage. A date/production code always helps affirm it.