Metropoulos Forum

I've recently acquired some valves that are probably quite old (1970s?).
Does anyone have information on Mazda and Brimar?
Are they considered good, bad or indifferent?

Mazda ECC83s with gold pins -
Brimar EL34s -

I think Brimar is another Philips branding like Mullard, Amperex etc.... Look on those EL34s for an acid etched XF1(2,3 or 4) and a date code starting with B,they prolly mules.
Mazda ecc83 I've never tried but hear they are very high gain.

Thanks for the info Guitar-Sam.
I can't see anything etched on the EL34s, just the obvious logos.
Cheers.

Could you post a clearer shot of the Brimar EL34. From what I see it looks as if the plates are welded so if it is a Mullard that would make it an earlier XF2 possibly. Does it have a single halo getter or twin halos? As Guitar-Sam stated, if they are Mules they should have the series code and date code on the glass near the bottom but this can sometimes be very faded or missing completely. Matshushita was a Japanese based company that was set up by Mullard also. Their EL34 tubes look very similar to the Mullards but will not have the "b" code stamped on the glass and do not have the hole in the guide pin if I remember correctly.

The Brimar has twin halo getters and the plates do look welded. It definitely does not have any XF or date code marking.
Here's a close up of the Mullard and a Brimar(right). The Mullard clearly shows its XF2.
Excuse my ignorance, but what do you mean by "mules"? Is that just slang for Mullards?

Yes, "Mule" is just slang for Mullard. Its very hard to see the full structure of the tube from the photo so I can't say for sure what the Brimar tube may be. The bottom mica spacer appears different from the mullard tube. How about the hole in the guide pin? Does the Brimar have this like your Mullard does?

danman wrote:Its very hard to see the full structure of the tube from the photo so I can't say for sure what the Brimar tube may be.

No problem. You've given me some good info.

danman wrote:How about the hole in the guide pin? Does the Brimar have this like your Mullard does?

Sorry - I'm not sure. The valves are now back in an amp, in a box, in my garage. I'll dig them out again when I get some spare time and post more pics.
So if they do not have the hole in the guide pin, are you saying that they're made by Matshushita? And would that be good or bad?
I'm just curious about these brands because when I searched for some info, I was surprised to find almost nothing about them, especially Mazda.

Thanks for all the help.

Matshushita tubes are actually pretty good in my experience as their factory was set up by Mullard. They are just not quite as valued as the Mullards. I can not be sure that they are truly Matshushita though because Tesla also made an EL34 that closely resembles the Mullards. The old Teslas from the 60's are on par with the Mullards and even their 70's and 80's production are quite nice. They were eventually bought out by JJ and now you see the name JJ/Tesla used in ads even though Tesla has nothing to do with the production anymore.
Mazda and Brimar can be hard to find info on compared to some of the other brands and also harder to buy these days. I have managed to collect quite a few tubes over the years but I still do not have anything from either one of those companies. If your looking for alot of good info on old tubes check out the "Tubes, Transformers and Components" section at the "Vintage Amp Forum". There is years of good info on old stock tubes there if you have any questions about tubes.

So here's some more pics...

Brimar showing the dual halo getters and welds Brimar (left) compared to Mullard (right). Can see differences in construction. Bases of Brimar (brown, left) compared to Mullard (black, right)

Those Brimars are Tesla's. Probably Trinec's, rather than earlier Rosnov's.

I bet they have a slight heater filament rattle to them when you shake them in comparison to the Mullards...

Cheers demonufo.

I gave them a very weak shake and yes, the Brimar does rattle noticably more than the Mullard.

Does anyone know anything about those Mazda valves?

Can't see much from that pic (too much glare)

It almost looks like a box plate.

BUT, I'm thinking it could be a late Tesla frame grid E83CC (a very authentic copy of the Siemens E803CC which is probably the most sought after ECC83 type there is)

Compare it to this pic and let me know.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h ... CEcQ9QEwBA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If so, you just picked up a TRULY AWESOME tube. Probably one of the strongest phase inverters you'll ever find.