Rft Tubes? Any Fans?

[Tatzmann]

RFT Valves were produced at differrent factories in eastern Germany. The russians took over the private german companies in east Germany after WW2 and formed so called "VEBs" out of them, which were conglomerates out of all these former privately owned companies.

RFT had factories in Mühlhausen, Neuhaus am Rennweg, Sonneberg, Erfurt, Berlin and a couple more.

That is why there are all those different prints on them, like Neuhaus, RFT, Narva, Funkwerk Erfurt,...

And ofcourse, they were also rebranded for western countries.

The valves are technically the same.

 

[cyberpunk409]

About to change pre amp tubes and power amp tubes in my SV20 this weekend with NOS all RFT"a from East Germany

I'll post an update after I've had a play with the new tubes.....

 

[cyberpunk409]

Finally got around to installing a matched pair of RFT EL34's and an RFT ECC83 into V1.

The other RFT ECC83 I got (intended for V2) was microphonic. The seller was great to deal with and has posted out a replacement, which I haven't received yet.

Here's a small sample...
Marshall SV20 with RFT's



Keep in my mind, I had it ripping in 20W mode, my decimal meter was reading 112dB and I recorded it with my iPad microphone (probably clipping).

It sounded heavenly in the room!!! No pedals except a little reverb/delay.

I've got some Mullard I61's on their way as well to try in V1

 

[solarburn]

Finally got around to installing a matched pair of RFT EL34's and an RFT ECC83 into V1.

The other RFT ECC83 I got (intended for V2) was microphonic. The seller was great to deal with and has posted out a replacement, which I haven't received yet.

Here's a small sample...
Marshall SV20 with RFT's



Keep in my mind, I had it ripping in 20W mode, my decimal meter was reading 112dB and I recorded it with my iPad microphone (probably clipping).

It sounded heavenly in the room!!! No pedals except a little reverb/delay.

I've got some Mullard I61's on their way as well to try in V1

I’m at work right now. Listen to it when I get home.

I have quite a few RFT ecc 83’s. They can be noisy. Sound great in a bitey Marshall. Also had a set of 34’s too. Nice.

Congratz on the tubes. Be checking that clip soon.

 

[knulp]

They were stock in some Marshall in the 80’s and were perfect for those brighter circuits.

I got plenty of them for 12 euro each,great deal no more to be found

Very smooth overdrive,natural sounding rolled off top end and great mids .
Not very tight low end.
Strong and low noise,and long lasting

Not complex and elegant like tungsram for sure

But at current prices I would go for new production

 

[solarburn]

Finally got around to installing a matched pair of RFT EL34's and an RFT ECC83 into V1.

The other RFT ECC83 I got (intended for V2) was microphonic. The seller was great to deal with and has posted out a replacement, which I haven't received yet.

Here's a small sample...
Marshall SV20 with RFT's



Keep in my mind, I had it ripping in 20W mode, my decimal meter was reading 112dB and I recorded it with my iPad microphone (probably clipping).

It sounded heavenly in the room!!! No pedals except a little reverb/delay.

I've got some Mullard I61's on their way as well to try in V1

Sounds great man!

 

[cyberpunk409]

They were stock in some Marshall in the 80’s and were perfect for those brighter circuits.

I got plenty of them for 12 euro each,great deal no more to be found

Very smooth overdrive,natural sounding rolled off top end and great mids .
Not very tight low end.
Strong and low noise,and long lasting

Not complex and elegant like tungsram for sure

But at current prices I would go for new production

I just scored this rebranded RFT for around 20 euro in an eBay auction...



Still some good deals out there!

They definitely tame the shrill high-end on plexi style amps like my SV20.

I think the RFT EL34's make more difference than the 12AX7 in V1 though, maybe I'm wrong??

I've actually got a vintage 1959 Mullard I61 on the way in the mail, I'll pop that in V1 and see what difference it makes.

Tube rolling is fun!

 

[knulp]

I t

I just scored this rebranded RFT for around 20 euro in an eBay auction...

View attachment 156348

Still some good deals out there!

They definitely tame the shrill high-end on plexi style amps like my SV20.

I think the RFT EL34's make more difference than the 12AX7 in V1 though, maybe I'm wrong??

I've actually got a vintage 1959 Mullard I61 on the way in the mail, I'll pop that in V1 and see what difference it makes.

Tube rolling is fun!

I too would love to try a rftel34 but I had some very good trusted source that already sold all of his (very large) stock.
It was all military surplus from a nato base and I’m not going through the hassle of spare tubes found here and there,not tested.

Fact is there are very good new production tubes that are up there with vintage,expecially power tubes.
I remember my surprise when trying the el84cz for example or even the jj el34 mkii by watford valves.
A good selection provides excellent modern tubes.

Or the silver special ecc83..

But the rft ecc83..while good I don’t think it’s worth searching for them.
They are the Marshall of ecc83 tubes for me:good crunch but fizzy hi gain and they are somewhat boring and unidimensional unlike Marshall amps..
Also lacking in clean tone.
And be careful with their pins when tubes rolling as they are very delicate.

Now,when I tried tungsram..those are mind blowing:bright but very smooth,outstanding depth and armonics and just musical all around.
And incredibly tight: even flat out my jtm1h was NEVER flabby on the low end.
It happened only with tungsram.
Better than Mullard for me and the same apply to their el84,and they all feature unique and very beautiful construction that’s easily recognizable,so no scam out there.
But now they are finally well known so difficult to find cheap.

Nowadays I only keep nos for vintage circuits and my modern amps have new production,chosen for gain levels and among the best from very reputable source and I don’t miss for example the tungsram in my dsl1h or the slx.
But I have them in my modded dsl100h..

Overall tubes mast have to be decent for me

But pm if you find reasonable quality rft el34 for cheap!

 

[knulp]

Yeah in v1 they tame excessive brightness nicely

 

[DirtySteve]

I have 3 RFT 12ax7s and I'm finding out a little goes a long way with these things. I put all 3 of them in my SC20 and they killed it. They are way too smooth and the whole thing sounded muffled. With just one of them in V1 it's just right.

 

[nortiks]

I havnt used rft preamp tubes but my rft el34's were the balls..lasted about 20 years sounded great the whole time..still test..ok

Selling a pair of NOS RFT EL34 is one sale I truly regret. The other being selling a quad of NOS Ei EL84...

 

[Point 2 Point]

I just realized today that i sold my ‘87 2553 loaded with RFT’s
No wonder i couldn't find them.
Duh

 

[DirtySteve]

I just realized today that i sold my ‘87 2553 loaded with RFT’s
No wonder i couldn't find them.
Duh

Oh man, I know that feeling. I once sold a guitar on the fly and totally forgot what pickups were in it. It wasn't until some time later when I was looking for them that I realized it. It was after the guy that made the pickups for me quit making pickups so I could never replace them. I really liked those pickups.