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Vintage threads from the first ten years

12AX7 Tube...

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5/9/1998 2:49 AM
Peter	12AX7 Tube... I'm replacing (but not throwing away!) the tubes in my 1956 Fender Princeton -- 40+ years is probably long enough for the originals. I ordered a 12AX7 tube and instead received a 12AX7WA -- what's the difference and is it a big deal? Many thanks in advance! Peter

5/9/1998 7:19 AM
Dave	No big deal. The 'WA', suffix is just a way of saying its 'super-duper'. Actually, I think the X denotes military grade and the A denotes that its an improved version of the original tube. DR

5/9/1998 4:22 PM

In the old days....

The "W" stood for War Deppartment and indicated the "mil-spec" of their day.

These days....

The tube distributors (New Sensor, Ruby, Groove Tube, etc...) put the same designation on the tube for "marketing" purposes.

There should be no real problem, except for the tone (of course). That makes it sort of bad for a guy who just wants to buy some new tubes. You either have have to try different types and see what they sound like, or rely on someone elses description (warm, clean, bright, crisp, dark, brown, soft, etc, etc...), or live with what you have and/or receive. Those descriptions may vary as well, depending on the amp design.

It's a little like strings. They all carry descriptions, and everyone has opinions, but you won't know what they sound like on YOUR guitar, unless you try them out.

5/10/1998 8:36 PM
Ted Breaux	If the 12AX7WA you just bought are Sovteks, you'll likely find them to be brighter, more brittle sounding, and of lower gain then the originals. Different brands of preamp tubes make the amp sound considerably different. Ted B.

5/11/1998 12:12 AM

svetlana is delivering a great 12ax7 in about 8 months,the sovteks are all noise prone although the 12ax7wxt+select is a tested quieter version. the noise is due to there filaments, using dc greatly reduces this problem.there are other sovteks with less gain and more noise like the wa & wb these also dont sound very good to me.there is a yugoslavian tube stamped Ei that looks like a flat plate telefunken and sounds pretty good too, these are your best bet until the svetlana gets here.stay away from the chinese crap they stopped making these but there is plenty left on the market(ruby,mesa,groove,audio glassic)good luck hunting!........hit those ham fest's and get yourself some rca,ge,phillips,telefunken,amperex,mullard or other gems!

5/11/1998 1:46 AM

I must be lucky, since I've not had any real noisey Sovteks yet.

I did get a batch of GE made 12AT7's that were very noisey (from NS).

The Sovteks are always kind of spotty in the exact tone though. I have some older WA's and they were fine, then you couldn't get them anymore. Same for WB's. The WA's are now available again, and they told me that the WB's are rumored to be available in a few months.

It still boils down to: What will sound best in the specific amp in question? And you have to try a few types out to get the best answer.

5/12/1998 10:07 AM
Derrick	Hi, Ted. What do you like in your old amps? -Derrick

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