Hi dotfret,
Thanks for clarifying my observation on plate-to-pin aligment (your english is far better than mine).
I'm glad this raises some discussions here, so I looked again at all my tubes sharing that same short gray ribbed plate (regardless of ventilation holes).
Everything has been said about original USA and European. However I do have a lot of Japan made ones (Matsush*ta I believe, with angled halo getter).
Well those all share identical construction, with same basic white made in Japan printing. However some have typical US direct base, while others have typical European angled base. They also have another yellow printing, either made to Raytheon specification (US base), or made to CGE specification (European base).
Again I still hear two distinctive sounds, typical Fender and Marshall, respectively.
Claude
Mystery Tubes - EL84s and 12AX7s Old-Stock
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dotfret
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Clobo - it has to be said that Japanese valves are something which it is difficult to get info on, and I am not the best person to comment. Here's why -
In N America, the price advantage of using them was considerable, so there were lots of them on the market - although most of the US distrusted them, because of the awful junk the Japanese were exporting in the early 60s. In late 60s UK, the pound was very low, and there was no price advantage for imported goods. The only reason we saw them was because most "Japanese Name" TV sets for the European market were made in Wales (Pays de Galles), which is the reason there are a few floating around from TV repair shops - but not many.
Prices for valves were agreed by the BVA (British Valve Manufacturers Association), and nothing foreign could compete with those prices. Frankly, Mullard are on record as having tried to REDUCE those prices on several occasions, but the other BVA members voted to keep the prices where they were. Japanese valves were only sold for maintenance purposes in UK - you could buy them, but they cost more than UK made, and they were not as good.
Nobody in the world could compete with Mullard on a "bang per buck" basis. Everybody used UK valves, except a few diehard Fender users who would insist on RCA, which cost over twice as much as Mullard. Only Tungsram and Tesla were able to provide quality products at a price which could argue with Mullard, and the UK market was sewn up.
I have learned more about Jap valves in the last three years than in the rest of my life (and I first fixed a radio in 1968), and I still don't know much.
I wish I could hear what you refer to, but the way I play differs from most of the guitar world. I like the overload sound to occur in the output tubes, not the pre-amp tubes (actually, it was Zaphod_Phil that pointed that out - he realised why I couldn't understand others' comments). I use peculiar old amps and guitars that other people don't bother with. My 18W is for doodling purposes at home.
The best offer I can make to you is that I can make posts on your behalf. You try and elucidate what you are saying, I put it into English. I speak fluent French (with a heavy Swiss accent, but on paper you can't hear that). Send me an email. Maybe if we work together, TimbreWolf can work out the significance of what you are saying.
In N America, the price advantage of using them was considerable, so there were lots of them on the market - although most of the US distrusted them, because of the awful junk the Japanese were exporting in the early 60s. In late 60s UK, the pound was very low, and there was no price advantage for imported goods. The only reason we saw them was because most "Japanese Name" TV sets for the European market were made in Wales (Pays de Galles), which is the reason there are a few floating around from TV repair shops - but not many.
Prices for valves were agreed by the BVA (British Valve Manufacturers Association), and nothing foreign could compete with those prices. Frankly, Mullard are on record as having tried to REDUCE those prices on several occasions, but the other BVA members voted to keep the prices where they were. Japanese valves were only sold for maintenance purposes in UK - you could buy them, but they cost more than UK made, and they were not as good.
Nobody in the world could compete with Mullard on a "bang per buck" basis. Everybody used UK valves, except a few diehard Fender users who would insist on RCA, which cost over twice as much as Mullard. Only Tungsram and Tesla were able to provide quality products at a price which could argue with Mullard, and the UK market was sewn up.
I have learned more about Jap valves in the last three years than in the rest of my life (and I first fixed a radio in 1968), and I still don't know much.
I wish I could hear what you refer to, but the way I play differs from most of the guitar world. I like the overload sound to occur in the output tubes, not the pre-amp tubes (actually, it was Zaphod_Phil that pointed that out - he realised why I couldn't understand others' comments). I use peculiar old amps and guitars that other people don't bother with. My 18W is for doodling purposes at home.
The best offer I can make to you is that I can make posts on your behalf. You try and elucidate what you are saying, I put it into English. I speak fluent French (with a heavy Swiss accent, but on paper you can't hear that). Send me an email. Maybe if we work together, TimbreWolf can work out the significance of what you are saying.
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