Ei 12ax7 smooth plate nos

[brentm]

Has anyone tried the NOS smooth plate Ei from Antique Electronic Supply in their d-style amp? They're 20 bucks a pop right now. Probably won't see this price for them again.

[brentm]

I should post that I picked up a handful of these.... There was some hesitation as I have several Ei ribbed plates that I've struggled to find positions for.

So out of the handful, I'm running two of these currently and have been quite surprised. One in V2 and one in the phase inverter position. Lead tone went from brittle to smooth by replacing both of these tubes. Most noticably, the PAB lead tone had a greater range of usefulness before it became brittle. I was previously running a Raytheon black plate in the PI. Just A/B-ing this position alone I was quite surprised.

I know some of you might be relucatant to swap your PI, given that you may need to adjust the trim.

[Structo]

From what I understand it depends on what era the EI tube is from as they were hit and miss a lot of the times.
I've read some people rave about them while others say they are not dependable.

So if you got some good ones that's great!

[renshen1957]

From what I understand it depends on what era the EI tube is from as they were hit and miss a lot of the times.
I've read some people rave about them while others say they are not dependable.

So if you got some good ones that's great!

Hi,

The EI's were made on Telefunken equipment, but the consensus has been that the Quality Control leaves much to be desired. Tubes could be equal to Telefunken NOS for tone, detail, and noise or be excessively microphonic and noisy. Maybe has to do with the day of the week they were assembled?

I wouldn't recommend EI's that are un-screened (checked out before they were sold) as it could be a crap shoot.

No disrespect to AES, CE or the new Amplified Parts (caters to guitarists), but unless they state that the tubes were matched or burned in or sold as a brand like TAD or Ruby (which screens tubes like Groove Tube says they do but don't, from my experience) have someone with a tube tester check them out.

I purchased several NOS JAN 6SH7GTs for a friend's Matchless amp from CE/AES which when checked on both my Hickok and Eico tube testers out of the box were shorted.

Best Regards,

Steve

PS Ei isn't out of business or destroyed by NATO bombs according to their website.

[Structo]

Yeah, I'll bet Mr. Matthews had something to do with that rumor........

[diagrammatiks]

dougstubes says in their blurb that the factory is shutdown.

I was under the impression that there were several distinct eras of EI branded tubes.

[jestaudio]

QC can be a issue but if you get some decent ones that have been tested they are great tubes, i have a few and love them

[cbass]

I bought several back when they were cheap (like 4 for $20).I've had one go microphonic but its still useable for A driver tube or in the PI.Guess I got lucky.Very good sounding tubes.

[brentm]

These have 2A1 on the first line and then what looks like an ohm symbol with a dot in center and 81 next to that. I guess that symbol is the factory code for Ei.

I'd been very happy with Ei tubes in another amp. In my existing batch of ribbed plate tubes I bought back in the "old" days , I had one go microphonic out of 6 or 8 tubes. I haven't gone through this current purchase, just the two I plugged in. So far so good!!!

At this point, very happy. It's always nice to find some good (and now NOS) cheap tubes.

As for their demise. I'd heard they were acquired by Western Electric. Maybe they'll start back up again someday!?

[sharkboy]

The Ei long plate 12AX7 is my favorite modern tube. I snagged a bunch after the factory closed. At the urging of another builder, I finally tried some New Sensor LPSs, and was still pretty happy.

I have a pair of Brimar CV4004s that I like most. More of everything. A few Telefunken pulls that still sound good at the probable end of their life, but I still am crazy about the sound of even some of the later Ei 12Ax7 long plates.