How Many Brimars Are There??
Brent Jessee of BRENT JESSEE RECORDING HOMEPAGE would most likely know. Here is a list of what he has in stock re: 12AX7 tubes: 12AX7 Tubes in Stock. I went blind trying to find what you asked for. If he doesn't have it in stock, he'll still know of it. All the best, Nonoise |
@nonoise , thanks. Brent is one of my go-to-guys and he describes the tubes pretty well, but his prices for Brimars seem very high. Here is a CV4004 boxplate, but don’t know anything about the dealer... https://www.kcanostubes.com/content/nos-brimar-12ax7cv4004 This is a CV492 with same plates as a CV4004. But much cheaper than CV4004’s... https://www.ebay.com/itm/True-NOS-Vintage-Brimar-CV492-Mil-Spec-12AX7-Long-Gray-Box-Plate-Vacuum-Tub... Here is a 6057 that the dealer states is the same as a CV4004, but Brent says... "One of the rarest Brimar made 12AX7 tubes is this long plate with the famous Yellow T decal on the glass. These are all the older long plate version that is so difficult to find today." And to make it more confusing, the "T" is not yellow. https://tubeworldexpress.com/products/copy-of-6057-cv4004-mullard-rebranded-brimar-t-nos-1981-gm-160... I’m wondering if many of these tubes are being re-branded. The safe bet would be to go with Brent, but first I’m hoping one of our members knows some Brimar history. |
Thanks, @nonoise . There's a good discussion over at Tube Asylum without any real consensus. One item up for discussion is about this dealer who has admitted his tubes are re-branded, but insists they are genuine NOS. http://www.tubeaudioproducts.com/Mullard-Brimar/Enlarge.aspx?ProductID=154 See the pretty label. UK does not use the 12AX7 code. |
"See the pretty label. UK does not use the 12AX7 code." I'm thinking they did. There's many Brimar tubes out there similar to that 12AX7. For over 20 years, I have had the remainder of a Brimar 12AT7 bulk pack. Originally had about 65 of a 100 tube box. They look like the 1955 red label in the Brimar picture here. The ragged old box also has the red Brimar name printed just like the tube. https://www.tubeworld.com/12at7.htm For years, I had no idea what they were, then found that picture. After finding it, I let a few friends try the tubes, and no one would give them back. They wanted to keep them because of how good they sounded. There's also a reference on Brent Jessee's site for this tube under 12AT7. The tube is a black plate with a square getter, and he said made for the military. That seems to make sense because of the bulk box of 100 and no individual boxes. |
British tubes were labelled 12AX7 if they were destined for the American market, because that’s what we called that tube. The British designation was C.V. 4004, Common Valve 4004. The European designation was ECC 83. I’m sure that Brimar painted all three designations on their tubes depending on who they expected to sell them to. Vivatubes.com on eBay has exactly what you described. I haven’t bought anything from them but they have 100% positive feedback on 21,573 transactions, so I would at least talk to them. www.ebay.com/p/Brimar-12AX7-ECC83-Vintage-Tube/166842589?iid=153041922562&_trkparms=aid%3D555018... |
Doesn’t Brimar stand for "British Made American Range" to enable the UK tube maker (it was part of ITT and got bought or renamed as STC if memory serves) to compete with the American tube configurations? I'm also not sure Brimar manufactured all the tubes bearing their brand, even though they did have a a factory in the '30s. I have a very nice GEC U-52 rectifier branded Brimar- cost me less than the same tube with the GEC label on it. There are also some Brimars that have been relabelled more recently, using other brands that draw more money. There are a few web articles on this, and I'm sure any old tube hand or good vendor could tell you more. Apparently, the brand was recently revived, but I didn't really look deeply into the details. |
@tls49 , @tomcy6 , Many thanks for the information. It makes sense that tubes were labelled for export, although I didn't know the Brit's did this. And tis49, I love the sound of my Brimars. No surprise that your friends wanted to keep those tubes. With regard to the Vivatubes Brimar, that's what I would expect some vintage tubes to look like...marked with the factory code. |
@whart , thanks for your comments. I find tube history very interesting, going back to when I would watch the TV repairman open the back of our B&W TV. Many people go for Mullards first w/o ever considering trying a Brimar. In fact, there is a lot of misinformation on the web that Brimar is made by Mullard. I found this quote from a startup company in the UK... The UK was the centre of thermionic valve (tubes for our U.S buddies) production for many years and we produced the best and most consistent products which are still highly sought after even now – nearly 50 years after production stopped. Our dream is to restart manufacturing of valves in the UK using existing knowledge and equipment but bringing it into the 21st century where not only consistency and performance are drivers but efficiency and the environment. http://brimaruk.com/menugbvp/great-british-valve-project/ |
