How Many Brimars Are There??


I've owned many of the Mullard ECC82 & ECC83 variants and currently have a pair of the Brimar CV4003/12AU7 Boxplates (love these tubes). Now I'm looking to replace a Mullard 12AX7/ECC83 with a Brimar, but how many versions of the 12AX7 Brimar are there?
  I'm looking for a legitimate CV4004 Half Wing/ Box plate, but I keep seeing Brimars marked as CV492, CV492/CV4004, 12AX7, and 7025. Most online dealers state that these versions are the same as the CV4004 Boxplate. This doesn't make sense since some of these tubes have long blackplates, some have gray short plates, and some have the Gray Half Wing/ Box plate.

I don't believe Brimar would mark their tubes "12AX7" at the factory since this UK tube is known as ECC83. It looks like some of the tubes for sale have been remarked with new Brimar logos; it's easy to tell when compared to a tube marked with a factory code.
Does anybody know the real story about the production of Brimar valves in the 1950's and 60's?


lowrider57

Showing 1 response by whart

Doesn’t Brimar stand for "British Made American Range" to enable the UK tube maker (it was part of ITT and got bought or renamed as STC if memory serves) to compete with the American tube configurations?
I'm also not sure Brimar manufactured all the tubes bearing their brand, even though they did have a a factory in the '30s. I have a very nice GEC U-52 rectifier branded Brimar- cost me less than the same tube with the GEC label on it. There are also some Brimars that have been relabelled more recently, using other brands that draw more money. There are a few web articles on this, and I'm sure any old tube hand or good vendor could tell you more. Apparently, the brand was recently revived, but I didn't really look deeply into the details.