Picked up a Tungsram 12AX7A...

[PlinytheWelder]

Mmmm, it flashes just like a Mullard... I have it now in V1 in my express and it's creamier that the tubes it replaced, a new Gold Lion which replaced a new Tung-Sol. The russian tubes are much more forward, this is jazzier.

So now I'm running the Tungsram in V1, an NOS Tung-Sol in V2 and an NOS Mullard 12AT7/CV4024 in V3 and it sounds pretty damned good!

[paulster]

Does it have a seam on the top like a Mullard?

Tungsrams don't flash at startup in my experience with them.

[PlinytheWelder]

Yeah,it seemed kind of odd to me, too.
Here's some pix, seems like a nice tube whatever it is....
[img:900:448]http://verosurfcam.com/TR1.jpg[/img]
[img:900:405]http://verosurfcam.com/TR2.jpg[/img]
[img:500:635]http://verosurfcam.com/TR3.jpg[/img]
[img:900:477]http://verosurfcam.com/TR4.jpg[/img]

[paulster]

That looks like a Philips family (which includes Mullard) tube that's been branded Tungsram. You should be able to find a code etched into the glass on it which will tell you which factory produced it and when.

Here's one from the Heerlen factory in Holland to compare against:
[img:550:600]http://www.tubemongerlib.com/gallery2/d ... olland.jpg[/img]

[rooster]

Yeah, paulster is telling you correct, this is not a Tungsram 12AX7. The Tungram does not have the molded glass seams - not any that I have seen. The flashing is sometimes typical for the Euro tube, and most notably with the Amperex brand, which is heavy on the glass seams, as well, just like yours. Whether Philips is involved with Amperex I cannot say. Me, I would have to say the tube you picture is Amperex.

[fishy]

All the Tungsram 12Ax7's I haver seen have the code tag inside also and I don't see that on the pics....

[FYL]

Whether Philips is involved with Amperex I cannot say.

Philips bought Amperex in 1955 and used it as an export brand for their own production as well as for US-made tubes using Philips everything. The brand is owned today by Richardson.

[FYL]

That looks like a Philips family (which includes Mullard) tube that's been branded Tungsram.

+1

BTW, I've got a few Tungsram 12AX7 in Mullard guise, so it also worked the other way around.

[paulster]

All the Tungsram 12Ax7's I haver seen have the code tag inside also and I don't see that on the pics....

I think that was only on the earliest ones. I'll need to double-check my stash when they finally finish their trip across the Atlantic but I think from memory that later ones may have dispensed with the tag.

This isn't a Tungsram for certain anyway!

[PlinytheWelder]

After a little research on the net, it looks like the tube is a Amperex/Phillips made in Austria on Mullard tooling.
Anyway, it's a nice sounding tube.

[tejastubes]

After a little research on the net, it looks like the tube is a Amperex/Phillips made in Austria on Mullard tooling.
Anyway, it's a nice sounding tube.

Correct. The Philips Mullard company had factories around the world. Tungsram also had plants elsewhere other than Hungary, so this is not the Hungarianmade Tungsram 12ax7 that wrok so well in the Trainwreck circuits but none the less I am sure it sounds very good. The Tungsram hungarian made will have a tag inside each tube which designates which station the tube was constructed at inside the factory.