RFT ECC83 / 12AX7 Preamp Vacuum Tube
RFT is a German brand. The RFT ECC83 / 12AX7 vacuum tube is a durable tube with very low microphonics. The RFT ECC83 preamp tube is well known as a fantastic hard rock "crunch" tube in Marshalls, Mesa-Boogies, and similar amps. They are slightly darker sounding than many other 12AX7/ECC83 tubes.
Our stock was received in bulk packs so we have packaged these ECC83 tubes in our own white boxes.
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Warranty Information and Return Policy
Warranty Period: 3 monthsAll our tubes are guaranteed for 3 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 90 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
23 reviews
A really great tube for Marshall goodness
by Marconi
Fantastic sound and gain in many amps, especially Marshall's. Smooth, tight and very full without being boomy. Love them.
Great tube for vintage hi-gain Laney's
by chris
Used these in V1 for two mid 80's Laney AOR50. Rounded out the sound significantly. Very quiet. Highly recommend.
Great for Bassmen (Bassman? Bassmans?...)
by DP, USA
This is a great preamp tube for Channel 1 (Bass channel) of my 1978 Fender Bassman 70. I use RFT ECC83's for both V1 and V2 preamp tubes for this channel. For guitar and electric piano on this channel, the RFT's lend a silky smooth clear and balanced tone with a mild midrange emphasis as well as a subtle treble de-emphasis without diminishing the upper mids. They work great with all my pedals on this channel, whether it's overdrive, fuzz, delay, reverb, phaser, whatever. Tube construction appears to be very robust and should last a long time. I've owned them about 1 year now with sporadic use and no problems.
I can't comment on the overdrive character of these tubes as this amp is an ultralinear design that is very difficult to overdrive. They sound great with overdrive and distortion pedals though.
I prefer this tube for the Bass Instrument channel of this amp, but it sounds great in both channels.
A highly recommended tube for this amp.
Way dark... but makes Gretas sing
by Dwes
Excellent tube. I've only tried them in two amps, but I can say that it tames the bejesus out of a Fender Greta with a NOS RCA 12at7 in the power section. I've played around with maybe a half dozen tubes in the preamp section, but this is the only tube I want there. It feels like the amp is alive now, and sounds like a much, much larger amp at a lower volume.
This is a very dark tube I find. It was too dark for my Peavey VK100 especially in V2, but I'm going to try out some new TAD 6L6's and fool around with it again.
RFT 12ax7-Blackstar Artist 15
by C Wilkins
I recently wrote a review about how good an NOS RFT 12ax7 sounded in v1 of my Blackstar Artist 15. Well I decided that I wanted to try a different tube in the PI slot so I bought a new issue Tung Sol 12ax7. This tube is bright with a lot of gain and really didn't like impress me. Well today I decided to swap the v1 and PI. Now I have the RFT in the PI and the Tung Sol in V1. I am completely f*cking blown away! The tone of this amp has been completely UNLEASHED. It sound and FEELS absolutely beautiful. Wow!!!! My tone now very clear, warm, smooth, and percussive. Very musical compared to the stock, out of the box tone. Also impressed with the super tight and clear bottom. Anyone that buys this amp will never experience its full tonal capabilities until they change the tubes!