Tung-Sol 12AX7 (ECC83) Preamp Vacuum Tube
From our review of this tube: "There are only so many ways to describe vacuum tube tone and most have become cliches. The Tung Sol 12AX7 preamp tube has the gain and drive of a Chinese 12AX7 and the pure tone of a Mullard or Brimar."
According to the manufacturer, this Tungsol 12AX7 is the Ultimate 12AX7. Big, warm, and musical. High Gain, ultra-low microphonics, and superb linearity with a dynamic 3-D sound.
One other note about the construction of these audio tubes is they have filaments that are almost completely encased in the plate structure. They don't "light up" brightly when working properly.
Note to audiophiles: These tubes are great for linestage preamps, but generally not phono stages where a very low noise floor is required.
Other Tung-Sol tubes 
12AX7 TypesAdditional Information and Downloads
Reviews:
12AX7 Tube Review
Tube Matching Information:
Matched Sections Service
Downloads:
Tung-Sol 12AX7 Datasheet (PDF)
Download Adobe Acrobat PDF reader
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
41 reviews
Best for the Crunch Channel
by Furious Phil
I tried this tube in both the "OD" and "Crunch" valve positions, and found it fit best in the Crunch role on my Jet City HDM. It gives this harmonically rich Hendrix'y tone when the gain is at about 33% on the crunch channel... a tone I have sought for quite some time actually!Couldn't be happier with my choice, and these reviews were highly instrumental towards my choices!
A rundown
by a guitar noob
All of this is my personal opinion and experience: I'd say that the Tungsol, JJ ECC83-S, Mullard CV4004 and the Shuguang/Ruby/China 9th Gen/HG have the same amount of gain. EQ-wise from clearest to grittiest with more low end:
Mullard CV4004 has very little low end, but a lot of gain. The EH is even clearer, has less low end and sounds perhaps even more open than the Mullard, but it has less gain.
Tungsol has a lot of gain. EQ-wise I'd say it is like the JJ ECC83-S - fairly balanced - but the JJ has much more grit/grain. I personally like the JJs better. The Tungsol has a higher quality sound on clean.
The China tubes have a tiny bit of heavy low end, I believe. They have insane amount of gain and they do have grit as well. 50% of my preamp tubes are Ruby/Shuguang/Chingchong, so that speaks for itself.
I am into fuzz, metal, grind, and stoner. I have Ruby in V1 in both of my amps. JJ ECC83-S in V2 and Ruby in V3 in the Dark Terror. Mullard in V2 and ECC83-S in V3 Valveking II. Basically, I could do with only Rubys and JJs.
Laney Lionheart
by Pete
I have found these to sound great plus they have a super low noise floor in my Class A Laney Lionhearts! My go to pre amp tube these days! Good price too
My favorite for Marshall Heads
by Roy Cox
So many people talk about the shrillness of these tungsol preamp tubes but I honestly don't hear it and I have tried and experimented with hundreds of tubes in my amp heads. I'm a big Marshall and Orange amp kind of guy and these have become my all time favorite preamp tubes. Nice full bottom end, punchy mids and a smooth top end. I have put everything from JJ to Genalex in my 1959 slp 100watt plexi and these or the gold pinned version of these are the tubes I kept in! Very well priced and affordable and an absolutely stellar choice for jcm900, jcm800, plexi vintage or reissues and orange OR 15-100 series heads.
Just one variable of "tone"....
by Rythm track
A few months ago an old, good friend of mine gave me a 'Rivera era' Fender Champ II amp. Yes...FREE!! I never had the money for a tube amp and played only solid state amps since I started playing. I tried different effects, etc.
Well, after four years of not playing I decided to mess with it again. The stock speaker was gone. It had been blown in a drunken feedback session and then used as a stereo!?
Since then it sat for 20 years and collected dust. I got these tubes as replacements for the original 7025s that were in it. They had good gain and were low noise. Compared to the original tubes it sounded very compressed and had a heavy bass response that sounded a little 'muddy'. I couldn't get the mid-top cut I liked about the stock tube. I'm thinking about running one of these tubes with the stock 7025 to see what it does.
I suppose I should say I'm running an Epi Les Paul Studio with a Seymor Duncan JB at the bridge and the SH in the neck position. The amp is going to a 2x12 cab loaded with Celestion A-Types.
I'll give this tube 4 stars based on the gain and clarity it has. When cranking the master to get the gain, it was too dark/muddy for my set up. I did get a nice clean sound, so if that is your deal this might be your tube. It just wasn't what I was looking for with my set up.