Ashwood1985 Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Hi guys, So first of all I would like to simply say WOW! The WT550 I picked up simply sounds beautiful! :-D tone and punch for days! Anyway - I thought I'd try vintage british mullard and brimar 83s in place of the stock JJ/tesla valve. The difference is very notable. The mullard's tops are a lo more back footed and the low mids are very warm. The brimar is less warm but has a tightness that the mullard lacks that really shows on quicker lines and he tops a crisper. So my current tastes have made me close the head up with the brimar in the driving seat. But - one weird thing.... After a few seconds from turning the head on, once the signal appears, there is a very loud hiss that gradually reduces over a period of around 20 seconds. Once it settles, I would say that it's louder than the stock tesla but this isn't the end of the world. I can live with this but I am a bit baffled as to whether this is something to do with the valve's design, the combination with the amp, the age of the tube (it's physically in mint shape btw), a fault creeping in? I'm new to the world of tubes so any wisdom shared on this would be appreciated as I'd like to understand what's happening to our my mind at rest. Cheers, Ash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Have a look at the internals of the mullard and Brimar. If they look the same, then the sounding different is because one of them is going a bit wrong. They are the same valve with different labelling, unless they were made far enough apart in time to have design changes (or possibly some of the foreign marked Brimars, I don't see that many of those). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Is this the Brimar you just picked up from me Ash? If so, it worked fine when I tried it, and I bought it from Mr.Foxen originally btw. Do you want to try the other Brimar I have, also from Oli, just to compare? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashwood1985 Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 That's a very kind offer Gareth thanks! [size=4]I'll drop you a text soon.[/size] Regarding tonality - I definitely hear more note to note clarity in the Brimar but I also understand they are of the same era so a little confused. I may take a snap shot of the two for the more experienced eyes on here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I vaguely recall discussion about 'foreign' marked valves when I was selling some on BC, which may well have been those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashwood1985 Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 (edited) No it's marked 'made in england' (I probably should have mentioned that by now!) [size=4] [/size] Edited February 22, 2013 by Ashwood1985 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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