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Tubes Asylum Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ |
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Tubes Asylum Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ |
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In Reply to: 12A?7 - Why did they become standard? posted by Jayme on January 19, 2007 at 19:41:01:
Inertia! They were cheap, reliable, and available. One might also ask why such a cheap little connector such as the "RCA" phono jack ever became standard. After all these connectors were designed to be used inside a phonograph and, for all practical purposes, plugged in once and forgotten until the phonograph passed it's service life. Instead we have gold plated/solid versions! Then musicians such as myself are stuck with the PL55, et al, 1/4" "phone" plug/jack which are leftovers from turn of the 20th century switchboards. While quite a bit more rugged than the phono plug/jack the phone jack requires lotsa "real estate" within a chassis and they aren't "positive locking" (they pull out at the wrong time unless you loop your guitar cable under your strap, etc.)Unfortunately both the consumer and professional "publics" are stuck with the results of hurried decisions that somehow morphed/mutated into standards. In the guitar amp world it is the 12A_7s, the 6L6 and 6V6 and the EL34/84 despite there being much nicer tubes available (and some companies such as the original Ampeg in NJ did "think outside of the box" while Fender was as stodgy as possible).
Just to be ornery I like to design guitar amps using NOS "television" tubes - lotsa nice pentode/triodes and scads of BPTS.
Rob
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Follow Ups
- Re: 12A?7 - Why did they become standard? - Rob Mercure 04:38:27 01/21/07 (0)
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