GE 12AX7

[martin manning]

Thanks, Steve, good stuff. Here's another small amp with a 50C5 output, 35W4, 12AU7, and series filaments: http://lectrolab.wordpress.com/lectrolab-models/r203/

[brentm]

I've really found the Made in India 12ax7 tubes (Mullard copies) to be excellent sounding tubes in these amps. These can be had for around 20 bucks a tube.

[Structo]

Some great stuff guys, thanks!

So say you have a hand full of these GE grey, short plate 12ax7's.

Which spot in the ODS are ideal for this tube?

V1?
V2?

Dumbleator?

I tend to take tubes that may be microphonic or other less than stellar performance and use them in the V3 phase inverter.

I would love to stumble into some RCA blackplates or of course the king of 12ax7's, the Telefunken.

[brentm]

I'd go for the GE in V2. With a good RCA in V1 possibly???

If you want to try a Telefunken, but don't want to shell out needless cash.. you might try the Ei tubes. They've become more and more scarce. I have a handful of these and they sound exactly like the Tele's are described to have sounded... I don't have a real Tele to A/B unfortunately. Ofcourse, I'd love to get my hands on a real telefunken, but they're just too pricey. I did just order a few of the Ei Smooth Plates from tubesandmore - couldn't pass up the NOS tube for 20 bucks a pop.