Found a NOS Mullard!

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ricorico Frets: 1220
Only trouble is, it's encased in an inch or two of clear resin. I was given this by my grandfather years and years ago and I found it in a drawer in my music room. Pretty cool I think!




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  • OssyrocksOssyrocks Frets: 1673
    That’s a piece of history right there.

    I worked at that plant in the 90’s, but valve production had long since stopped. One of the old guys found out I was into valve amps and he brought his stash in for me to look through. He let me have about a dozen from it, some of them I still have.

    I have a yellow label Mullard ECC83 in a display shelf in my lounge. Put it on show!

    Rob
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  • ThorpyFXThorpyFX Frets: 6089
    tFB Trader
    rico said:
    Only trouble is, it's encased in an inch or two of clear resin. I was given this by my grandfather years and years ago and I found it in a drawer in my music room. Pretty cool I think!




    To me that is beyond cool, a fantastic bit of history there. If you ever want to sell, let me know. 
    Adrian Thorpe MBE | Owner of ThorpyFx Ltd | Email: thorpy@thorpyfx.com | Twitter: @ThorpyFx | Facebook: ThorpyFx Ltd | Website: www.thorpyfx.com
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  • ThorpyFXThorpyFX Frets: 6089
    tFB Trader
    From a valve geek friend of mine........


    ” Let’s hope that EF86 was too noisy to use. Trivia: the yellow print ones were “seconds”! This one is a seventies one (the “Optimus Prime” logo, as I think of it), and EF86s (and the other 9-pin B9A type valves) were introduced around 1954, but yes 1940 would probably be when Mullard began: WW2 and all that. During that war, most military (and BBC) stuff used KT66’s for everything! When Philips took over Mullard in 1981, they allegedly crushed all the valves! Not sure that’s true of all, perhaps just the TV ones?”
    Adrian Thorpe MBE | Owner of ThorpyFx Ltd | Email: thorpy@thorpyfx.com | Twitter: @ThorpyFx | Facebook: ThorpyFx Ltd | Website: www.thorpyfx.com
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  • RiftAmpsRiftAmps Frets: 3113
    tFB Trader
    I have one of those in my workshop HiFi
    *I no longer offer replacement speaker baffles*
    Rift Amplification
    Handwired Guitar Amplifiers
    Brackley, Northamptonshire
    www.riftamps.co.uk

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  • DJH83004DJH83004 Frets: 196
    There is a lot of debate about the significance of the print colour on Mullard valves, and I think a number of Mullard valve historians would take issue with the statement ' Trivia: the yellow print ones were “seconds”! ' the consensus of opinion appears to be they used whatever drum of paint came out of the store on a particular production run. I have a good number of both colours and they sound & test the same  :s 
    I do think the resin encapsulated EF86 is super, that would def take pride of place in my workshop!  
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  • Three-ColourSunburstThree-ColourSunburst Frets: 1139
    edited December 2017
    rico said:
    Only trouble is, it's encased in an inch or two of clear resin. I was given this by my grandfather years and years ago and I found it in a drawer in my music room. Pretty cool I think!




    What a pity that, in order to 'commemorate over forty years of receiving valve production at Mullard Blackburn', they couldn't have found a valve made there, rather than using one stamped 'Foreign made'. or am I missing something?
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  • I wonder if that's the same valve as is in my ac15?

    Cool thing. 
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71950
    Three-ColourSunburst said:

    What a pity that, in order to 'commemorate over forty years of receiving valve production at Mullard Blackburn', they couldn't have found a valve made there, rather than using one stamped 'Foreign made'. or am I missing something? 
    No, you're not. By the early 80s Mullard were buying in and relabelling a lot of their valves from European factories, including in East Germany. I have a couple of RFT - easily identifiable by the wide bottles and distinctive 'aerofoil' plates - "Mullard" ECC83s, for example.

    The real irony is that the principal non-audio use for valves then was in military equipment, since valves are much less prone to damage from the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear explosion, compared to solid-state - ie NATO were planning to fight a potential WWIII using valves made by the other side...

    Yes, it's a bit sad that no-one thought to use a Blackburn-made valve.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • MayneheadMaynehead Frets: 1782

    What a pity that, in order to 'commemorate over forty years of receiving valve production at Mullard Blackburn', they couldn't have found a valve made there, rather than using one stamped 'Foreign made'. or am I missing something?
    I was about to say the same thing... commemorating valve production at the Blackburn plant using a rebranded German(!) Valvo valve?

    And nobody in the whole process of creating that ornament thought “hang on a minute...”?
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  • ricorico Frets: 1220
    Maynehead said:

    What a pity that, in order to 'commemorate over forty years of receiving valve production at Mullard Blackburn', they couldn't have found a valve made there, rather than using one stamped 'Foreign made'. or am I missing something?
    I was about to say the same thing... commemorating valve production at the Blackburn plant using a rebranded German(!) Valvo valve?

    And nobody in the whole process of creating that ornament thought “hang on a minute...”?
    To be honest I did think that! Either way, it’s a pretty cool thing to have. What would an EF86 have been used for? 
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  • exocetexocet Frets: 1947
    rico said:
    Maynehead said:

    What a pity that, in order to 'commemorate over forty years of receiving valve production at Mullard Blackburn', they couldn't have found a valve made there, rather than using one stamped 'Foreign made'. or am I missing something?
    I was about to say the same thing... commemorating valve production at the Blackburn plant using a rebranded German(!) Valvo valve?

    And nobody in the whole process of creating that ornament thought “hang on a minute...”?
    To be honest I did think that! Either way, it’s a pretty cool thing to have. What would an EF86 have been used for? 
    EF86 was used in radios a lot, as well as the "phono" input for HiFi gear.
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  • DJH83004DJH83004 Frets: 196
    You find EF86s in the AC30/4, early AC15, AC10 & AC4. Also used in quite a few Selmers like the Zodiac, Stadium, Mercury 5 etc. They would often be fitting into rubber mounted valve bases to isolate them from vibration as they are very prone to microphonics. They were also used in a lot of '60s Hi-Fi amps such as Leak, Quad, Armstrong, Rogers etc.     
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71950
    They’re quite fashionable with some makers and players now - quite a few high-end amps use them. Personally I don’t understand why - to me they sound a bit bland and yet also slightly odd, compared to the classic ECC83 (12AX7) circuits... too hi-fi when clean and a bit harsh overdriven.

    I have one in my old Centurion amp, and it’s just ‘OK’ - it doesn’t actually do anything other than very cleanly amplify the signal until the EL84 distorts. The amp sounds a bit dull without a pedal in front.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • RiftAmpsRiftAmps Frets: 3113
    tFB Trader
    The key to a really good EF86 channel is to drive one with an ECC83 triode stage and run it at quite low gain.
    *I no longer offer replacement speaker baffles*
    Rift Amplification
    Handwired Guitar Amplifiers
    Brackley, Northamptonshire
    www.riftamps.co.uk

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  • Moe_ZambeekMoe_Zambeek Frets: 3419
    edited December 2017
    My old Matchless C30s had the ef86 channel, which I always found had a metallic edge I didn't really gel with. Finding good EF86s that don't rattle too much in a combo is a hard task too. I much preferred the ECC83 channel.

    Having said that, the best I found were Mullard and Brimar.
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  • RiftAmps said:
    The key to a really good EF86 channel is to drive one with an ECC83 triode stage and run it at quite low gain.

    Exactly as I run mine - 12ax7 boost built into the amp and the gain moderate, then the power section loud. Beautiful and super responsive. 

    Not sure how much it gives versus just 12ax7 valves but it does sound lovely. Very clear but with a really nice break up. 
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  • nick79nick79 Frets: 252
    This seems as good a time to ask as any, what were/are 6bw7's used in?
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  • “Receiving valve” suggests to me that wireless radio sets were what they mainly used for.
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  • ricorico Frets: 1220
    “Receiving valve” suggests to me that wireless radio sets were what they mainly used for.
    I just realised what the text actually meant, cheers! 
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  • EF86 is a low-power pentode. You find them in Vox AC30s and Radford power amps (amongst other things).
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
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