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lipman!,It seems difficult to characterise Westinghouse tubes generally except to say that I'm almost always uncertain who their real maker might be. This uncertainlty for me- a lot are GEs, but they seem to have used sources from all over- meaning that unless the seller is very knowledgable and forthcoming about the real maker, it's too complicated to sort out.
Given that Westinghouse don't seem to have labelled tubes of higher desirability, I tend to steer away. With an RCA 6922, you sometimes are buying the best European makes- my RCA GZ34 is actually a Mullard for example and RCA 6922s are sometimes German, and perhaps Westinghouse did this too, but I haven't seen it.
A diligent, knowlwdgeable buyer might spot a screaming Westinghouse deal- the 12AX7s are really Amperex Bugle Boys- but generally this is so arcane and complicated, I just look for either direct brands or clear rebranding of the better makes. Consequently of this uncertainty, I have very few Westinghouse tubes- in fact of 500 NOS tubes I have only 5- a sleeve of Westinghouse black plate 12AT7s- and I'm not sure who made them!
Cheers,
fwiw I have Westinghouse labeled 7316 that are made by Amperex. Great tubes.
I have a pair of 1970 Amperex A-Frame 6dj8's with Westinghouse label.
Are you saying that Westinghouse wasn't a tube manufacturer, only a relabeler, or are you saying that there stuff is a mix of their own and relabeled stuff?
I think that Westinghouse did make some of there own tubes.
Correct me if I'm wrong (someone certainly will!), but I think the 7591 was a WestHouse design and manu. Most of the WestHouse stuff I have is indeed relabled, from different manu's, but I think I have some Westhouse 12AU7's that they made - nice blackplates.
Now, I could be totaly in left field in my comments here, so all you out there in tube land with the good scoop - please pass it on - we'd like to know!
Thanks in advance!
jstrm
Besides the 7591, Westinghouse also built a pretty amazing 6V6GTA. The latter actually shared some internal components with the 7591, including the plate structure. It resulted in a 6V6GT which could comfortably dissipate 33% greater wattage, compared to the tube manual spec. While the screens still must be kept within limits, the tube is incredibly tough.I am surprised it doesn't have its own cult following.
From about the early 1920s until early 1930s, they and GE were the sole suppliers for anything RCA sold. Not until after that did RCA build any of their own stuff. SO, if anything, they are one of the original tube manufacturers, amongst the oldest that ever made tubes commercially. The stuff they made in the old days was way different than modern stuff which they did relabel a fair bit, esp. into the 1960s and beyond. They did a lot of unique transmitting tubes, starting with the WL- prefix, which was where much of their focus was in the early tube heyday. by the time they got to octals and 9-pin minis, they did still make some of their own but also relabeled a fair bit. Tyne has a lot of good info on the early days in his book.
Hi,
Re the 7591 I concour about it being a Westinghouse design and manufacture. That Westinghouse tube was as good as any one elses and better than most 7591's. But they made few other tubes that wore their label.
lipman1,It's the general uncertainty that bothers me. I've heard of Westinghouse tubes as most ofen GE made, but I've heard also Raytheon, RCA, Sylvania, Ei/Yugo, Japanese, and others. Teh brand is so vague in my mind, after 15 years of NOS buying, I still don't know if Westinghouse ever made it's own tubes. The 5- Westinghouse tubes I have are old black plate GE 12AT7s- and the one I tried shorted after a few minutes!
As I mention, it's possible that some Westinghouse tubes are fabulous Eurpean or US items, and a person will get a Mullard or Siemens or something nice for next to nothing, but I don't know a way around a tremendous amount of research and semi-blind, highly speculative purchasing.
If you do a search of "Westinghouse" in the archives, almost every post seems to be a "What is it,..REALLY?" post.
Personally, rebranded tubes are such a huge subject, I stick to rebranded tubes that I know are likely to be bought from the better makers. If, for example, you buy a "Rogers", "Hoges", "Hewlett-Packard", or "Pope" 12AX7, it's quite likely to be a Philips/Amperex, an RCA 6922 might well be a Siemens, but with Westinghouse it could be anything and from only medium experience looking- most likely the tube won't be anything exotic or very exciting.
I hope those with more Westinghouse experience will comment.
Cheers,
Bambi B
Bambi -Westinghouse made receiving tubes in Elmira, NY until the late 1960's - after that they were just rebranders. To make matters worse, several dealers were licensed to brand and market Westinghouse tubes until about 1990, one in New York City (they also branded Dumont tubes) and another in Elmira, NY.
Both were large buyers of both OEM and surplus tubes during that period, buying fron Unity Electronices (Elizabeth, NJ) and others As a result, the "it could be anything" comment is right on the mark. Fortunately chinese tubes came on the market towards the end of the WL reign, so most were USSR, Euro or USA made - but theur pedigree nevertheless suspect,
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