Check out these cool old tubes!

[BrianS.]

These are tubes I got in trade for some work. They are the original tubes from a Vox "Pacemaker" amp made back in the mid '60s:







Not sure if the EL84s or the rectifier are good, but the 12AX7s work!

My research tells me that these are Mullard tubes made in the Blackburn factory and are quite rare. There are not many references to Vox branded Mullards out there, but I'm 99% sure that is what these are.

Anyway, I like nice old tubes, thought others might get a kick out seeing them, too.

 

[CTN]

Re: Check out these cool old tubes!

rad! old stuff rocks

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Check out these cool old tubes!

Mullards that look like they're shot. The pre tubes are probably good though.

 

[wahwah]

Re: Check out these cool old tubes!

Yes, they're Blackburn Mullards, but they're not exactly rare. That factory spat out a lot of tubes during its years of operation, many of them rebranded for a wide variety of manufacturers. The close up shot of the date code on the ECC83 tells us that it's from 1965, getting close to the sale of Mullard to IEC, and its inevitable downfall as the Golden Era came to an end. I like those short plate Mullards, in fact I prefer them to the earlier long plates in guitar amps. If those little guys still have some life left in them, they're a nice score for any British voiced amp with a classic circuit.



Cheers................................... wahwah

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Check out these cool old tubes!

Yeah the EL84's look like they are high mileage pieces. What was the trade? If it was next to nothin you came out good

 

[BrianS.]

Re: Check out these cool old tubes!

I figured the output tubes could possibly be shot and therefore worthless, but the preamp tubes work and sound great. The amp they came out of saw very little use over the years. Probably hadn't been played for literally decades.

 

[nedcronin]

Re: Check out these cool old tubes!

I would love to try those tubes in my TT. I bet those EL 84's will sound great if they are still breathing. Good luck! Please let us know how they are.