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A.caddy full of tubes are coming my way.

at the rate that 6gh8a's last on my st-70 and sca-35, you've got a lifetime of them. I will sometimes leave these amps on for days, the tubes still test like new when I check them every 6 months
 
The box looks an awful lot like the old RTT (Regency Tube Trader) from here in Montreal. They were a huge re-branding operation. The majority of their tubes were of foreign manufacture, primarily Asian. BUT, many were also well known brands, and sometimes you'd get a real gem. Like a genuine Mullard GZ34.

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arts said:
The box looks an awful lot like the old RTT (Regency Tube Trader) from here in Montreal. They were a huge re-branding operation. The majority of their tubes were of foreign manufacture, primarily Asian. BUT, many were also well known brands, and sometimes you'd get a real gem. Like a genuine Mullard GZ34.

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Yes. So much commercial re-labeling, re-branding, and re-packaging went on from the late 1960s through the early 1990s — unless you have a good idea of the internal structures and how the pins were sealed in the glass, it's hard to know who made which tube and when.

Sometimes, it's easier to trace the specifics of mil-spec tubes. As they had to meet stricter labeling standards. :idea:
 
ceylon said:
looks like ITT (often japanese, as well) boxes
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I was thinking there was someone else that had a box just like that.

now I wonder if ITT and RTT were really the same company.

I have an oddball Mullard GZ34, labeled 6202 Valve. Its an odd tube though, insides are pretty obviously a Mullard, but it doesn't have any of the usual etch codes. I half wonder if it was a factory second from decades back. It works fine, currently listening to it in my Fisher 600.
 
gadget73 said:
now I wonder if ITT and RTT were really the same company. I have an oddball Mullard GZ34, labeled 6202 Valve.
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Boxes have the same color layout and font. Maybe just sold in different countries?

The 6202 is another name for the 6X4/EZ90, 9-pin mini rectifier. I'd say that box label was a boo-boo.
 
gadget73 said:
I was thinking there was someone else that had a box just like that.

now I wonder if ITT and RTT were really the same company.
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either that or RTT was an ITT subsidiary or regional branch.

gadget73 said:
I have an oddball Mullard GZ34, labeled 6202 Valve. Its an odd tube though, insides are pretty obviously a Mullard, but it doesn't have any of the usual etch codes. I half wonder if it was a factory second from decades back. It works fine, currently listening to it in my Fisher 600.
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interesting. codes on the base, maybe?
 
Mr Boochie said:
Sometimes, it's easier to trace the specifics of mil-spec tubes. As they had to meet stricter labeling standards. :idea:
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There is a well-known schmuck here in Montreal who "creates" very desirable tubes. What, in the old days, was known as a tube washer. Along with the usual, he also does desirable/rare/expensive military types. He's been doing this for decades, and has fleeced many less than savvy people.

He is able to print all of the logo's and other info on the tube, and even has somebody who can provide an appropriate box. Still surprised he hasn't been kneecapped yet....
 
arts said:
There is a well-known schmuck here in Montreal who "creates" very desirable tubes. What, in the old days, was known as a tube washer. Along with the usual, he also does desirable/rare/expensive military types. He's been doing this for decades, and has fleeced many less than savvy people.

He is able to print all of the logo's and other info on the tube, and even has somebody who can provide an appropriate box. Still surprised he hasn't been kneecapped yet....
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Yeah it's amazing how far back fake tubes go.
 
I read an article years ago about these fly by night tube companies. They would roll into town, sell a bunch of poorly made tubes and leave before too many caught wise. Then on to the next town.
One thing I noticed about these Japanese tube boxes I have is they're made with thicker card stock. For old tube boxes they're pretty rugged. They haven't become brittle or flaky at all. Ive run across old Kenrad, Mullard, etc, tube boxes that just fell apart in my hand.
 
in somewhat more recent history there were all those "Made In England" tubes that were actually made in Russia during the Cold War.

Even not quite going so far as to counterfeit a tube or re-mark it, I wouldn't be awfully surprised if some tube makers dumped their seconds on the discount reseller market without OEM markings to avoid blame.
 
gadget73 said:
in somewhat more recent history there were all those "Made In England" tubes that were actually made in Russia during the Cold War.
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i think most of those are just rebrands, like all the raytheon- and amperex usa jan-branded soviet tubes.there are so many.

gadget73 said:
Even not quite going so far as to counterfeit a tube or re-mark it, I wouldn't be awfully surprised if some tube makers dumped their seconds on the discount reseller market without OEM markings to avoid blame.
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i believe, i believe--psvane sells their duds and defects directly to their customers!
 
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