Amperex Hammond 12AX7

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sixpakldp
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Amperex Hammond 12AX7

Post by sixpakldp » Thu Mar 10, 2016 9:40 pm

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Just picked up two red label Hammond 12AX7 by Amperex for $39.09. Figured it was worth the plunge. Anyone have any experience with these good or bad?

danman
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Re: Amperex Hammond 12AX7

Post by danman » Fri Mar 11, 2016 3:58 pm

They appear to be real Phillips/Holland manufactured tubes judging by the seams at the top and the plate structure. They should also have a Phillips code which looks like a small triangle followed by three letters/numbers. Same plant manufactured the famous "Bugle Boy" tubes. The flashing still looks strong but the pins are pretty crooked. You may want to straighten them out before inserting them into your amp's sockets. I usually use a pair of needle nose pliers and carefully bend them back into alignment. They should sound really good. The Holland made 12ax7's have a great top end with very good clarity.

sixpakldp
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Re: Amperex Hammond 12AX7

Post by sixpakldp » Fri Mar 11, 2016 8:03 pm

Thanks danman. I just bought a third one. I wanted to see what folks said as the third cost as much as the first two.

I went into the hunt looking for Mullards; I have one right now but it's the only European NOS pre amp tube I have. My others are sylvania 12ax7wa and RCA 7025. The mullard has a noticeable decrease in gain compared to those so I wanted to see if it was that particular tube or just how they are in general. However in my search I found these so I'll have to try my mullard hunt another time

It will drive me nuts not to have a triode.

danman
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Re: Amperex Hammond 12AX7

Post by danman » Sat Mar 12, 2016 9:53 am

I have several Mullard 12ax7's and they all seem to test lower on average than the Sylvanias I have. Even Nos examples that I purchased from reputable dealers. The Sylvanias on the other hand all test above average, so that may be why the Mullard that you tried seemed to be lower in gain. I really like the Phillips/Holland made tubes as they seem to have great clarity and overdrive very nicely. The blackplate Raytheon 12ax7 is another excellent sounding tube but they are getting harder to track down these days.

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Carbia
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Re: Amperex Hammond 12AX7

Post by Carbia » Thu May 19, 2016 4:42 am

Sylvanias are super strong. I have 12 sylvanias from different eras and almost all of them measures over 130%... While mullards, brimars, miniwatts use to test values around the 100%

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