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Re: 6v6 question

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12/18/1999 7:06 PM

Re: 6v6 question

Hi Dom,

No the 7408 and the GT6V6HD are not the same tube. The 7408 is the industrial version of the 6V6GTA. AFIK, all 7408 tubes are NOS, no Chinese or Eastern Block versions have been made recently. The GT6V6HD is actually a 6L6 family tube currently made in Russia, imported by Sovtek. It is called a 6P3S in Roman letters or a 6[pi]3S in Cyrillic. Sovtek calls it a 6L6GB. It does have 2x the heater draw of a real 6V6 tube. Supposedly this is a weak 6L6, and does not last long in 6L6 circuits, but have never verified this myself.

12/19/1999 8:50 AM
John Stokes	Dom, bummer, sounds like you were ripped off. Who sold you this "stock" amp with all the non-original parts? Have you asked for a refund? Don't believe all the BS and misinformation from GT. A 7408 is the hi-fi or industrial version of the NOS 6V6. There are no current production 7408s. The GT6V6HD is a Russian 6L6 family tube, regardless of what you may read in GT literature.

12/19/1999 6:32 PM
Dom G	Steve and John, Thank you for the replies. Yeah, John, I really got ripped. I've been sick about it and can't do anything at all about it. It will be a long time before I do business on the net again. I should have used one of those third party money holding things. Se la vie? Dom

12/21/1999 9:22 PM

Be careful about what you think might be available only in NOS when it comes to tubes. Usually the 7408 is just an industrial numbered 6V6GT. We are not the only ones who are supposed to know this . . .

International (Servicemaster) has been selling tubes a long time, their 7408 is just a relabeled old type Sovtek 6V6GT, maybe they have even had these on the shelf many years, it is labeled Made in USSR.

Then one time I got some National (Richardson) JAN 7543's, which I assumed would be US made industrial 6AU6's, but NO . . . these have the typical Sovtek hardware for getter and shiny thin pins, they do appear ruggedized, and are date coded May 1985. They are labeled Made in Germany, but sure look Russian to me. Interestingly they are JAN tubes originally supplied to the US military by Richardson.

Then there are the NOS 6L6GC from Richardson that are over 10 years old, but unfortunately are just the original USSR Sovtek old type, not even as good as their 5881.

So buyer beware on tubes as well as amps, ask how old is the NOS and what country it was made in, maybe how long the present owner had them, where they came from, why they're selling, original boxes in good shape? tube printing perfectly intact? etc.

12/21/1999 11:56 PM
Mark Knapp	Interesting. JAN parts generally MUST be made either in the US or a friendly (usually NATO) country. Misrepresenting where something was made is a BIG no-no with Uncle Sam, though I am sure they started looking the other way when they wanted tubes and no one else was quoting manufacture...

12/13/1999 8:28 PM
Blues Lyne	Thanks John, I thought I had read somewhere that th 5y3's wouldn't work in this type amp. Is that only with the 6L6's in it? In other words it's ok to use the 5Y3 as long as I'm using 6V6's? Or am I totally wrong about the 5Y3? Blues

12/13/1999 10:13 PM
John Stokes	Blues, the 5Y3 should be safe with the 6V6s. I would NOT use a 5Y3 with 6L6s, even though I have seen it done in certain vintage amps. Best luck!!

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