EL34 question

[boogietone]

I just replaced my JJ EL34L's with RFT or Siemens NOS EL34's and noticed there are 8 pins in the RFT's
and only 7 pins in the JJ's. Is this normal?
Thanks!
The new tubes sound awesome BTW!

 

[94Tremoverb]

Yes, it's normal. Pin 6 is not used electrically in an EL34, so a lot of manufacturers leave it out entirely. Siemens fitted it, for whatever reason.

They do sound great, don't they!

 

[boogietone]

Thanks for the info 94Tremoverb! And yes, they sound great! Along with a preamp board of Amperex, Siemens and Phillips!
NOS tubes rule!
Thanks again!

 

[212Mavguy]

I bet your new el34's sound really rich, full, and balanced, don't they? Way to go!

 

[Facelift]

I just looked at the Mesa labeled el34s I have in my mark III and they look identicle to RFT el34s. Only difference i see is what hte OP says about 8 pins instead of 7, becasue mine have 7 pins. I also saw an auction stating that the mesa labeled el34 are str 450s, and are just relabeled rfts but mine say str 447. Is there a difference?

 

[boogietone]

Hey Facelift, STR450's are the Mesa relabeled NOS Siemens. Not sure what STR447's are. SED's maybe? I've never used 447's but seems I've somewhere
they sounded pretty good.

Hey Mav212! Yup they sound awesome. Did what you said recently to check'em and put them in. They sound great. I'm working on getting a
bias rite right now. So, now my board is:
RFT EL34's
V1-Siemens ECC83
V2-Amperex ECC83
V3-Amperex ECC83
V4-Sylvania 12ax7 (soon to be replaced with either a Siemens or RFT)
V5-Philips EF86 (reverb driver)
Just need a decent tube to replace my rectifier tube which is currently a JJ GZ34

 

[Facelift]

Thanks for the response. After looking up a little more info on the 447 vs 450, the 450 is indeed like you said a German made RFT whereas the 447 is a Russian Sovtek. The 447s sound pretty good but since I now love the RFT preamp tubes, it cant hurt to try RFT power tubes as well.

 

[boogietone]

Yup. RFT is awesome.