Mullard Reissue 12AX7 ECC83

[J.J]

Generally I have not seen much info on these tubes so I bought one to try. To get the bad out of the way, sadly the Mullard RI does not sound like a real Mullard. If you buy one on those grounds you will be dissapointed.

Other than the cheap marketing tricks, the Mullard RI is a good tube. Its sound is along the lines of the Tungsol RI. It is clear and detailed and pretty well balanced, but has a little less sparkle. I tried it in my DRRI and botht he clean and gain sides of my ED. The Tungsol's went back into all the clean channel slots. The Mullard RI ended up staying in one of the vintage gain stages as it helped fatten up the tone and drops a little of the harshness.

In comparision to say a good old JJ that most people have heard I'd say the Mullard has more life and is less stiff sounding. Its definately a more interesting tube for both clean and overdrive.

 

[swbo101]

I found the Mullard RI a bit dark, but in the PI slot it rounds out the sound nicely. That's where I use it. I leave the V1 to the Tung-Sol RI.

 

[J.J]

Thanks! so basically it's good for overly bright amps? I also found out on the web the Mullard RI are best for Hifi stereo amp cuz they are flat and they don't color the tone? not well suited for Guitar tube amps ..

I have heard the Hifi thing too, but don't believe everything you hear. If your just talking about clean tone then yes, in my opinion there are more interesting tubes (I'd still use one over a Sovtek or JJ), but when you start talking about overdrive they can work really well.

I wouldn't just say only good for an overly bright amp. They still have good top end, but at high gain a lot of amps tend to get a bit fizzy. The Mullard seems to take a some of that nasty fizz out. The Tungsol RI is by far my favourite new tube, but in the gain side of my ED it is to much.

 

[stokes]

"Its sound is along the lines of the Tungsol RI."Theres a good reason for this.They are both re-labeled sovteks.Mike Matthews bought the rights to use the Mullard and Tung-Sol names and labels his sovteks as "re-issues".Problem I have with this is that you cant "re-issue" what you didnt issue to begin with.The only thing re-issued is the name.

 

[J.J]

Yeah, I'd mostly agree. The New sensor re-issues are not made like the originals and don't sound like them. Like I said, cheap marketing tricks.

Still as far as I am concerned the Tungsol and Mullard re-issues are not just relabeled Sovtek tubes. There are internal differences and they sound very different and they are still among the best new tubes you can get.

 

[crane]

they are still among the best new tubes you can get.

+1.

 

[swbo101]

they are still among the best new tubes you can get.

+1