Pair of old stock 6L6 identification

[Phil_S]

This was a bargain purchase on eBait, making it a bit of a lark. Both are branded Realistic Lifetime. (Good luck with that warrantee ;-} ) One says Made in Holland, the other Made in Great Britain. To my eye, construction is identical.

Are these the real thing or counterfeit? If real, can we accept the Holland tube as Amperex? What about the GB tube. Did Mullard make 6L6GC? I know Brimar did, but the identical construction seems to rule out Brimar. Or do you figure these were made in the same factory?

Also, any insight on the Roman numerals etched into the top? One is VIII and the other either IX or XI.

The test like new. Va=260, Vg1 = 13, Ia = 82 and 80.

[Phil_S]

One more showing the Roman numerals.

[rooster]

Sorry, Phil. Those are Chinese without a doubt.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Sorry, Phil. Those are Chinese without a doubt.

That or made in USSR. Looks like Russki 6P3, cheapest of the 6L6 types. Giveaways are all the electrodes lined up and clamped in one long glass bead as they go out the base. Also the rectangular mica spacers at top of the plate.

In the bad ol' days of the cold war, you'd see these marked "Made in Western Germany" or "England" usually. They don't take as much plate power, don't generally deliver as much audio power, often microphonic/clanky/rattly. In spite of that I have occasionally seen some working well in an amp. I have a hard time telling the Russians from the Chinese unless there's a giveaway QTK stamp on the glass or Chinese markings on glass or base.

I've occasionally seen them in shoulder-tube or semi-shoulder glass. For a while, Groove tried to pass 'em off as a super duper 6V6 but of course plate current would run sky-high unless you adjusted bias accordingly - NOT a plug-in compatible 6V6. OOops. Sold by The New Tube, Audio Glassics and other GT wannabe outfits in the 80's. I've also seen them marked Westinghouse and (horrors!) RCA.

If yours work, use 'em and smile.

[Phil_S]

I didn't want to color the discussion. I think they look very much like a box of 6p3s tubes that i bought some time ago, but those were about $3/tube. I'm not feeling bad about this. With shipping, these were $17.50 for the pair. At that price, testing new, and reasonably matched, I may have paid a few dollars too much. As noted years ago, I've paid more for less of an education. Thanks for confirming.

Maybe I'll rotate them back to eBay and see what they will bring. If I do that, I'll indicate I think they are USSR because that's the right thing to do.

Meanwhile, it is surprising to think someone would go to all that trouble to brand them like they did. They even managed to antique the Realistic/Lifetime marking. <man shakes his head>

And know you know why this one was in the Garage and not the Technical section!

[Leo_Gnardo]

Meanwhile, it is surprising to think someone would go to all that trouble to brand them like they did. They even managed to antique the Realistic/Lifetime marking. <man shakes his head>

The markings may not have been done at manufacture although it's possible. Importers were trying to sneak these past US customs & shipping personnel who may not have been USSR-friendly. At the time it was risky to import anything from the "evil empire." Could be the shipment gets mysteriously damaged, or the receiver earns himself an FBI file. Hence markings from "England" or "Holland" or "Western Germany." Most items authentically imported from West Germany were marked as such, no "ern" so that was sort of a giveaway.

It's also likely the Realistic marking is genuinely aged. Lots of russki tubes passed thru Radio Shack. Somebody could have bought that 6L6 30-40 years ago and put it aside until it wound up in ebay.

[Reeltarded]

Kidding?

Eastern Europe is like Hell run by the mob. It's cheap to sell stolen soviet military gear.

[cbass]

6p3s-e is good strong like bull. 6p3s is weak like little girl

[Phil_S]

6p3s-e is good strong like bull. 6p3s is weak like little girl

LOL, I'm pretty sure I got the girl.

[Phil_S]

So, this story has a happy ending. I wrote what I think is a polite note to the seller:
I don't leave negative feedback on low priced items as it seems mean spirited. I wanted to advise you that i won't be leaving any feedback for this transaction. The reason is that on close inspection these tubes are clearly counterfeit made in USSR 6p3s tubes. In that respect, the price is a bit on the high side, but not that much so. They test as new tubes and are nearly matched at plate current of 80mA and 82mA. So, I'm going to keep them. I just can't justify leaving feedback and thought you should know. Thank you for shipping promptly.

I received two replies:
(1)I am very sorry ,I honestly had no Idea of counterfit tubes I did not know that they did that at all,I will have second thoughts before I ever sell another tube thank you for the information...I didnt sell them with any knowledge of that...I will send you some refund ,If I cant through paypal i will send you cash in mail is that ok ? i do not want any buyer unhappy I am not a ebay ripp off seller I am an honest person,,Again I am sorry you were not happy...Watch for refund..

(2)I sent you a refund on tubes..I really had no idea I just listed as I saw them, , I have a thousand tubes or more that will make for good target practice this summer I guess....Take care....

I received a refund via Paypal.
Message from merchant: I have refunded payment on tubes minus shipping cost...I hope this helps, again Im sorry this happened..

I sent him a nice note thanking him for his generosity, as this was not expected.

[Reeltarded]

Tell him we all love him.