Deceiving auctions, 12AX7 labeled RCA.

[BLUECASTER]

Originally Posted by kirkham13

I would have to say there are a lot of Holes of the Big A type selling wares on ebay and it does make the place less nice for sellers and buyers... as far as tubes go, you have to be savvy with the etched codes and the tube construction, and you have to take it all with a big grain of salt. That being said, if you have a few bucks to spare, its a lot of fun. Won this auction this AM, missed a couple similar (better) ones this week stumbling on the keyboard in the last seconds...not bad considering ive been studying tubes for only a couple weeks now.
[
ooops, just noticed I won the Amperex while I was out bowling.. yesss! LOL.

That's good for you, you have the chance to try some very nice tubes in
low prices.
As long as you know what you get for your money, it's pretty cool!
Enjoy

[BLUECASTER]

Originally Posted by Blue Strat

Buy it now? Missed that part. Still amazing. Does he have more? Maybe he's trying to create an illusion (with a shill bidder) that they're worth that much.

It is possible.

[BLUECASTER]

Originally Posted by Timbre Wolf

Yes - there is a lot of crap on eBay. Lesson learned!

Sometimes there are opportunities on eBay... for a savvy buyer who knows how to look inside the tube, and not be distracted by uninformed sellers, poor descriptions, logos, etc. That is a more hard-won lesson.

- Thom

hello Thom!
I agree.

[BLUECASTER]

Thom, do you know of a long smooth plates ECC83 of the Philips production?
Amperex, Mullard etc...?
Do you know of a long smooth plates ECC83 that flashes like a Mullard and it is not a EI?

[Timbre Wolf]

Originally Posted by BLUECASTER

Thom, do you know of a long smooth plates ECC83 of the Philips production?
Amperex, Mullard etc...?
Do you know of a long smooth plates ECC83 that flashes like a Mullard and it is not a EI?

Ei was set up in association with Philips, and had Philips-style etch codes.

Smooth-plate 12AX7 are either made by Telefunken (positive i.d. by diamond embossed in glass bottom between the pins) or Ei (no diamond).

Disregard the startup flash as a means of identifying origin - it is too inconsistent.

- T

[BLUECASTER]

Thanks Thom.
I have seen both Telefunken and EI tubes.
The superior quality of the Tele is more than obvious and it is easy to tell which is which,
very easy, when you have them both.
Don't you think?

[BLUECASTER]

Originally Posted by Timbre Wolf

Disregard the startup flash as a means of identifying origin - it is too inconsistent.

- T

Thanks for that info, I will remember.
But it doesn't exactly answers my question, which is kind of personal:

Do you know of a smooth plates 12AX7 that flashes and it is not a EI?

[BLUECASTER]

Ah, but you said smooth plates are either EI or Tele. That should be enough for me...

[diagrammatiks]

How was the seller in the auction that you won unscrupulous?

Did he state anywhere in the auction that the tube was for sure a mullard?

All I see is

RCA labeled Euro-Tube
flashes like a Mullard

If you bought that expecting it to be a Mullard how is that the seller's fault?

The auction for 388 is deceptive but if someone paid that much without checking the etch codes then they didn't do their homework and the seller is uninformed.

But I'm failing to see how the other two auctions you posted are deceptive.

They aren't EI's that somebody purposefully relabeled to pass them off as RCA/Mullards...

unless you count RCA themselves, in which case they contracted out to Philips/Siemen in this case so you're angry at the wrong people.

[Timbre Wolf]

Originally Posted by BLUECASTER

Thanks Thom.
I have seen both Telefunken and EI tubes.
The superior quality of the Tele is more than obvious and it is easy to tell witch is witch,
very easy, when you have them both.
Don't you think?

Honestly - I cannot discern a quality difference (especially the metallurgy) just by appearance. And, in my opinion, I don't hold Telefunken in such high esteem, or Ei in such low esteem as to make an obvious judgement as to which has superior quality.

Originally Posted by BLUECASTER

Do you know of a smooth plates 12AX7 that flashes and it is not a EI?

I know these are not the answers you're looking for. But, being as honest as possible... I have not paid attention to what flashes and what does not. I tend to really only be swayed by sonic qualities.

I will grant that I've seen many eBay auctions where sellers will hype by using the attention-grabbing Telefunkemullarkey terms. You've just got to learn to see through the b.s. Some sellers (most!) truly don't know what they've got, and default to the high-sales-driving terms.

- T

[BLUECASTER]

diagrammatiks@
First of all, I posted a thread about three auctions.
From what you just wrote I understand that you think the auctions are 4.
Maybe I am wrong, I don't speak the best English, but let's make this one clear: the auctions are 3.

The first one, the one I won, it is deceiving because the seller represents the tube as a tube very likely to be a Mullard.
It does not clearly says that it is a Mullard, it says it probably is one.
This person sells tubes on e-bay all the time and if you don't know about tubes, you take his word to be serious. The way I read the auction is:
"European ECC83 with long plates that could be a Mullard, but it is labeled RCA."
When I e-mailed him the first time he told me "I knew it was likely a EI from the first production but I was not sure, so I wrote it is European and flashes like a Mullard."
It is deceiving because if he thought it was a EI, which I believe is true,
he should say so on the auction. Not saying anything but "flashes like a Mullard", for me this is deceiving.

That is just me.
If you don't like the word "deceiving", replace it with another word.

The second auction ($388.80) is obviously deceiving, it clearly says the tubes are
Amperex, Holland made, hard to find.

The third auction wich is still running is deceiving because this particular seller sells original Mullard and Amperex tubes all the time, many other expensive NOS tubes too, and when he states "made in Gr. Britain, could be Mullard", the buyer thinks that he knows what he is talking about.
I am 100% sure that he knows these tubes could never be Mullard, he has sold many original Mullards and he should know the difference.


-Yianni.

[diagrammatiks]

I don't know where full and complete disclosure is ever required in order for an advertisement to not be deceiving.

The way you word it makes it sound like the seller was maliciously omitting information.
Would it be better if the auction read flashes like a mullard might be an ie?

This person sells tubes on e-bay all the time and if you don't know about tubes, you take his word to be serious.

How can how you interpretive what you read ever be someone else's fault?

Here's a doozie...those bottom 4 tubes in that picture you posted are silk screened made in gt britain right on the tube. They came out of the factory like that and RCA had no problem with that.

Are you going to write a letter campaign to RCA about that?

[BLUECASTER]

I don't understand what is your problem.
I posted a thread about three auctions, all with the same EI Yugoslavia tubes.
Two of them were stated "flashes like a Mullard, could be a Mullard", the other one says "Amperex, Holland made, hard to find".
I say these auctions are deceiving, and I am trying to protect my friends that pay big money for tubes.
If you don't believe the auctions were deceiving, that is your opinion.
Thanks for your opinion!

[sector9]

Ebay tube police

[t.hendrix]

Why did I bid on eBay tubes?