Hey all,
I've been reading through the abundance of great topics regarding vintage tubes and had an inspired thought.... I remembered I had an old radio up in the attic and thought it may have some usable tubes in it. So I crawled around until I found it and I think I struck gold. I'll know as soon as I get a chance to plug them in my Studio Pre or MKIVa. I've only used stock Mesa tubes, so I'm hoping I have found some quiet bottles with sweet tone and no microphonics.
The donor radio...
This is my first foray into understanding what tubes are available and why they are desirable.
I've basically been the content Boogie owner who had no idea the sun could shine brighter... :lol:
I believe these are two 1959 Sylvania JHS long grey plate 12AX7 with round halo getter's. I figured that much out from scouring the internet last night (learning terms like 'getter') and finding pictures of similar tubes. The colored text on these is basically dust held on by static cling. I rubbed some of it off by just touching it to remove them. I expect there will be nothing there pretty soon by just handling them.
Internet reference pics...
The other tube I found in there was (I believe an RCA) short grey plate 12AX7A with round halo getter.
There is just enough of the label left to identify it as the second tube in the pic below.
Internet reference pic...
After staring at these and smiling while I found threads holding them in high regard, I had another inspired thought. I had put an Ampeg V4 in the closet 10 or 15 years ago because it needed reconditioning and 7027a tubes were not readily available. So I went digging again. This time I had more of an idea what I was looking for/at and was very careful to not grab the bottles below the tip. What I discovered was (3) 12AX7A tubes. Two had nothing on them (except the etched label). The third had just a trace of what looks like Magnavox in red. I found some references to RCA's being rebranded by Magnavox. They look exactly like the RCA short grey plate 12AX7A with round halo getter that I found in the radio. They even have the flat edges on the mica discs.
Can someone help me to understand the term 'Triple Mica'. Is that referring to a layered section of the top and bottom insulates above/below the plates? The Sylvania's look like a single thin layer, but the RCA's are thicker and look like they are a sandwich of multiple layers. Is this what that is?
What do you guys think?
Did I strike gold?
Should I have any concerns plugging them in. I'll watch them close on power up to make sure they don't light up like a fireball... I was thinking the RCA short plate would be a good one to try in R1 and the Sylvania's on down the line, but I'm probably going to roll them all around and see how it sounds.
Mongo happy....
I've been reading through the abundance of great topics regarding vintage tubes and had an inspired thought.... I remembered I had an old radio up in the attic and thought it may have some usable tubes in it. So I crawled around until I found it and I think I struck gold. I'll know as soon as I get a chance to plug them in my Studio Pre or MKIVa. I've only used stock Mesa tubes, so I'm hoping I have found some quiet bottles with sweet tone and no microphonics.
The donor radio...
This is my first foray into understanding what tubes are available and why they are desirable.
I've basically been the content Boogie owner who had no idea the sun could shine brighter... :lol:
I believe these are two 1959 Sylvania JHS long grey plate 12AX7 with round halo getter's. I figured that much out from scouring the internet last night (learning terms like 'getter') and finding pictures of similar tubes. The colored text on these is basically dust held on by static cling. I rubbed some of it off by just touching it to remove them. I expect there will be nothing there pretty soon by just handling them.
Internet reference pics...
The other tube I found in there was (I believe an RCA) short grey plate 12AX7A with round halo getter.
There is just enough of the label left to identify it as the second tube in the pic below.
Internet reference pic...
After staring at these and smiling while I found threads holding them in high regard, I had another inspired thought. I had put an Ampeg V4 in the closet 10 or 15 years ago because it needed reconditioning and 7027a tubes were not readily available. So I went digging again. This time I had more of an idea what I was looking for/at and was very careful to not grab the bottles below the tip. What I discovered was (3) 12AX7A tubes. Two had nothing on them (except the etched label). The third had just a trace of what looks like Magnavox in red. I found some references to RCA's being rebranded by Magnavox. They look exactly like the RCA short grey plate 12AX7A with round halo getter that I found in the radio. They even have the flat edges on the mica discs.
Can someone help me to understand the term 'Triple Mica'. Is that referring to a layered section of the top and bottom insulates above/below the plates? The Sylvania's look like a single thin layer, but the RCA's are thicker and look like they are a sandwich of multiple layers. Is this what that is?
What do you guys think?
Did I strike gold?
Should I have any concerns plugging them in. I'll watch them close on power up to make sure they don't light up like a fireball... I was thinking the RCA short plate would be a good one to try in R1 and the Sylvania's on down the line, but I'm probably going to roll them all around and see how it sounds.
Mongo happy....