I purchased one of the new tubes being made at the old Mullard factory in England the .TechTubeâ„¢ Blackburn Legacy Series E813CC valve which suppose to be a
12ax7/ecc83 direct replacement. I got the first one & put it in the V1 position of my guitar amp & it sounds amazing so I ordered another one. I got it
today & put it in the V2 position & it dropped the gain & volume way down & in the V3-V5 position it does not even work but works in the V1.
Any body know why?
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purchased New Microtech TechTubeâ„¢ Blackburn Legacy Series E813CC valve
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 blee |
purchased New Microtech TechTubeâ„¢ Blackburn Legacy Series E813CC valve |
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Posts: 1 (07/16/09 21:00) |
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SG123 |
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Posts: 8314 (07/17/09 08:06) |
Does the newer one work equally well as the first, ( and sound as good ) in the V1 position? If so, the only explanation I can think of is that your V1
position might only use one half of the dual triode and the newer tube has a dead or weak half. You might look to see if both filament halves are lighting in
the newer tube.
Conversely, have you tried the original tube in the other positions? It would be wierd if both of them exhibited the same behavior. Thanks for the review, and be sure to let us know how things work out.
So many
frequencies, so little time...
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blee |
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Posts: 2 (07/17/09 08:32) |
they both work equally well in the V1 but not in the other positions. I could be wrong but I think they are not dirrect replacements for 12ax7 or ecc83 as they state in all situations. Unless they sent me 2 defective tubes at different times which does not say good things of this tube either. My amp does use only half the dual triode but why would it not work in the other spots. When put in the V3-V5 spots it does not even have any sound come out. |
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StoSoStu |
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Posts: 558 (07/17/09 09:17) South of the Border..way South! |
Like SG says, it sounds to me like you have one valve with a dead side. Try measuring the voltages at each of the triode elements, particularly the grids, that
should disclose the problem.
Bob
The road goes on forever and the party never ends |
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blee |
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Posts: 3 (07/17/09 09:43) |
Okay went & had them tested & guess what. They both have a triode that is not working. They have the opposite triode on each tube not working so when
used together, they do not work. This is very disappointing because the tubes have great tone. Best I ever heard & I have mullards to compare them to. Very
full sounding & very detailed bass response. But his does not say much about thier quality control!
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SG123 |
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Posts: 8315 (07/17/09 11:11) |
"They both have a triode that is not working."
I hope their Customer Service department is better than their Quality Control department. Sounds like you should be able to get some free replacements. Again, let us know how things work out, and good luck.
So many
frequencies, so little time...
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Andy ZZ |
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Posts: 2540 (07/17/09 14:17) |
Wow, that's pretty odd. I always thought that tubes were tested, at least for operation, before hitting the packaging area.
Does Aspen Pittman have anything to do with this animal?? -andy-
It aint the years, it's the mileage...
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Old Tele man |
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Posts: 1455 (07/17/09 18:55) Techus Maximus |
...status:
technology: 1 quality control: 0 ...good news is the tube works, the bad news is only one-HALF of the tube works.
"...Renovatio, non Exauguratio..."
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SG123 |
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Posts: 8317 (07/17/09 20:04) |
Perhaps the assembly is a bit too delicate, and they were shipped via UPS.
So many
frequencies, so little time...
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blee |
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Posts: 4 (07/17/09 20:14) |
They come in this special little box that is probably durable enough but I was wondering about the shipping process my self. probably would of been good idead
to wait untill they finish ironing out everything. They just started shipping about a 2 weeks ago. Had to ship them the tubes back so they can check them out
but there is no doubt about the dead sides. I didn't get the matched triode tube which I figure if I did things might of turned out different. Said they
will ship new ones or give money back. Still very concerened about their quality control. If i was a company such as this I would not ship anything I was
absolutely sure about. Especially at first shipping.
Last Edited By: blee
07/17/09 20:32.
Edited 1 times.
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blee |
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Posts: 5 (07/17/09 20:33) |
by the way nice forum
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SG123 |
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Posts: 8320 (07/18/09 07:16) |
Thanks.
Just curious, was your purchase/return of the tubes an overseas shipment or are you more local to the manufacturer? [ E.U., etc.] Once they get their "process" problems resolved, I wonder if they will have some kind of distributorship here in the States or if they will continue to rely on direct shipments and sales?
So many
frequencies, so little time...
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blee |
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Posts: 6 (07/18/09 18:14) |
No I am from Texas - Here is their website - http://www.techtubevalves.com Even though it comes from the UK I got both tubes with in 4 days. UPS £8.69 plus duty & tax
charge £7.61. To buy 1 standard tube with shipping & (duty charge?) it was $62 I don't know the price of the tube exactly in US currency but it was
£26.09 for the standard & £34.78 for the matched. I got the standard. You can also get them at different gain ratings so you can have a consistent output
when replacing or if you just like 1 with more gain or less.
Even though I had problems I see that there is a lot of promise in this tube. Even with one dead side the tube sounded better than any tube I ever heard. Very full tone, euro like but with good presence. Kinda like a fuller sounding Telefunken. A tube that you could get a wide variety tones from from American to British. Would work good with single coil or Humbucker. I use strats. Fast playing if you understand what I mean guitar wise. Every note when I was playing was well defined. Very musical tube. Really hope they get it ironed out.
Last Edited By: blee
07/18/09 18:35.
Edited 10 times.
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BrownIsound |
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Posts: 39 (08/01/09 14:34) |
You should contact them about your problem...someone at TGP had a similar problem, and they sent him a replacement tube.
I bought 2 and have them in V1 and V3 of my superlead. They sound very nice, remind me of RCA's. They are microphonic, so I'm not sure how suitable they would be for V1 in a combo. They are fine in the superlead. |
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blee |
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Posts: 8 (08/04/09 12:23) |
After they got the tubes back
& tested them, they sent me this message.
With regard to the original tubes you received, we have now tested these and there does appear to be a deterioration in performance and they do not appear to respond to normal re-processing. Any other details that you could let us have with regard to the usage history would be really useful to us.
We hope that the new tubes will be OK for you, however if you need any further help or information, please let us know. |
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SG123 |
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Posts: 8331 (08/06/09 08:15) |
Well, the "usage history" part will be easy: Plugged them in - didn't work..
Very nice response from them. Once they've sorted out their issues, I'd consider a purchase.
So many
frequencies, so little time...
Last Edited By: SG123
08/06/09 08:18.
Edited 1 times.
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blee |
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Posts: 9 (08/06/09 16:47) |
Well I got the other 2 tubes they sent me in replacement of the other 2 & they are worse than the others. Both these tubes sound bad plus one I tested is
dead on both sides! Personally I am through with them! Gonna ship them back to see if they will give me my money back! If they don't it is a lesson learned
I quess?
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Psycho Bass Guy |
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Posts: 334 (09/22/09 06:34) |
..was looking over this thread and decided to check out the Blackburn site to see if there is any new news. I've thought some of their claims were BS
before and then I noticed something on thie tube spec page, this:
The input stage of some guitar amplifiers can swamp the sensitivity of the valve generating microphony so we recommend you not to use this release of TechTubeâ„¢ valve in this first valve position without using one of the many dampening devices available which we will currently supply free of charge.The input stage of some guitar amplifiers can swamp the sensitivity of the valve generating microphony so we recommend you not to use this release of TechTubeâ„¢ valve in this first valve position without using one of the many dampening devices available which we will currently supply free of charge.Microphony is a mechanical, re:construction of the tube, problem, NOT an electrical problem with an amp as this statement implies. I want new tubes to be good, but this looks like more "Aspen-y" snake oil and less of the high technology these guys tout so much.
"I'm the fly in the ointment, the monkey in the wrench, the pain in your ass."
Psycho >^} |
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jbmojo |
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Posts: 397 (09/22/09 07:06) |
"The input stage of some guitar amplifiers can swamp the sensitivity of the valve generating microphony so we recommend you not to use this release of
TechTubeâ„¢ valve in this first valve position without using one of the many dampening devices available which we will currently supply free of charge.The input
stage of some guitar amplifiers can swamp the sensitivity of the valve generating microphony so we recommend you not to use this release of TechTubeâ„¢ valve in
this first valve position without using one of the many dampening devices available which we will currently supply free of charge. "
Did they actually repeat themselves like the quote? Maybe their claims are not BS, but BMS, a specific type of BS. Me, I dunno. 
Ninty-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
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Psycho Bass Guy |
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Posts: 335 (09/22/09 09:23) |
Ahh.. the joys of Yuku. No Blackburn didn't repeat themselves. Yuku "hid" the first statement when I copied it over before posting.
"I'm the fly in the ointment, the monkey in the wrench, the pain in your ass."
Psycho >^} |
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SG123 |
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Posts: 8376 (09/22/09 16:26) |
We should refer them to the Department of Redundancy Department.
They should throw the bad ones out, instead of putting a "Band Aid" on them. The original problem mentioned in the thread wasn't microphonics related-so now they have TWO known issues. 
[ now as I re-read the thread, I see mention of a microphonic problem in Brownisound's posting ]
So many
frequencies, so little time...
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- Solid State Amps
- Effects
- Other British Amps
- Sound Reinforcement
- Recording
- Important Announcements
- Hammond Organs & Leslie Cabinets
- Shameless Promotion
- The Boiler Room
