Northern Electric 12AX7 Preamp Vacuum Tube
The Northern Electric 12AX7 preamp tube is made with the highest quality materials. Everything is designed to give you unsurpassed audio quality. This tube has very large smooth plates. This design is much like a Telefunken 12AX7 / ECC83 smooth plate but a bit shorter. This design provides plenty of gain while maintaining an extremely low noise floor. It has been torture tested in a JTM 45, a Deluxe Reverb, anOrange 50 watt combo, and Bandmaster Reverb, with no failures or noise problems after hundreds of hours in clubs and studios. It doesn’t matter if you use an American or British design, this tube works.
In our listening tests it was easy to hear that the tube did not change the voice of the amplifier as some preamp tubes do. The Northern Electric enhances the sound across the entire spectrum. Our testers have reported no noticeable spikes or weakness in the lows, mids, or high end. The highs are very smooth with a balanced midrange response and warm, full bottom end.
Other Northern Electric tubes
12AX7 TypesAdditional Information and Downloads
Reviews:
12AX7 Tube Review
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Matched Sections Service
Warranty Information and Return Policy
Warranty Period: 6 monthsAll our tubes are guaranteed for 6 months from the date of purchase. (Any exceptions will be noted on that tube's Warranty tab)
If you receive a tube that does not perform to the manufacturer's specifications, please do the following:
- contact us to get a return authorization
- return it via regular mail within 180 days from when we shipped it, and we will provide an exchange or refund of the full purchase price of the tube.
Returns not related to warranty or defect will be considered at our discretion, and are subject to a 15% restocking fee.
We can not accept returns that don't have an authorization, are past 3 month, or are returned improperly.
These guidelines may be updated without notice.
Ratings & Reviews
40 reviews
On the Fence
by Michael Stamey
These tubes are great sounding tubes. However, the tubes I bought (2- 12AX7's) only lasted about a year. That was a year of very little playing time. I have found that for the price I payed for these, I could have bought NOS tubes, and I did. They have lasted for more than a year as well. I was looking for a new tube that I did not have to worry about the stocks running out. But, I have to consider their reliability as well. To sum it up, Great Sound, just not reliable for the price.
Surprised
by RKR
Ordered because one of my preamp tubes was producing a lot of white noise. Expected what I had before because I was happy with what I was hearing. Totally surprised with the improvement in range and everything just sounds better. Planning to order these for my separate preamp unit.
Fantastic in the Egnater Tweaker 15 and Vox Night Train
by Barry Joslin
I put these in to my Egnater Tweaker 15 and Vox Night Train 15 months ago. So I am reporting after about 6-8 months of steady usage. I won't repeat all the praise here, though I could, but though they are expensive, they are the best thing I've ever used. In some ways I wish I'd never tried them. Now I can't settle for anything else. These are outstanding in every way. It's made two decent amps sound WAY above their price range. Fan for life.
Just smooth. Predictable. No noise. I am a heavy pedal user, so the harshness of other 12AX7s were not at all working. Tried cheaper ones. None were good enough. These have been THE change I needed. Also changed the Tweaker over to 6L6 tubes and that was a big deal in the tweaker.
Love these tubes. Never be without them. And the cool boxes they come in are great.
BJ
Barry
Sounds great but...
by Eduardo
I purchased my tube during a sale and thought that it was a steal! The Northern Electric 12AX7 sounds great as expected until I noticed that there is something off about the tube I received, the right channel was noisy and sounded like there was air being blown thru a mic the left however was fine . Upon close inspection I noticed that the air bubble tip from this particular tube was missing like cut, but I only noticed it after the returns have expired, which means I could not have it changed. It sounded good with great potential but there is something wrong about the tube I received.
Not as good
by James L Gann
I have 4 of these and have tried them in my Victoria amp. All four are lower gain. I sent two back for replacement. I am not very satisfied with them. One howls at high volume. One has a popping noise every 10 sections or so. I ended up not using any of them in my amp. I recommend the Genalex for amps. Those sound much better and do not have the problems.