Valve Suppliers and Resellers (see note)
When your amp needs new valves no doubt you will read the reviews of all the differing manufacturers of amplifier valves and what they have to offer.
It appears that there are loads of different manufacturers but in fact there are only three main manufacturers on the planet. There are a few other specialists but they make so few and mostly for high end HiFi.
The companies that own the three main valve suppliers are :
- JJ Electronic, in the Slovak Republic
- New Sensor Inc, New York ( Electro Harmonix)
- Shuguang
There is a whole industry out there who buy from these three factories and who test them, do matching etc and then add their own logo and sell the valves as superior valves and no doubt charging a lot more for them.
One rule of physics is that you cannot improve the quality of a product that is already made !
Lets take a look at these manufacturers as they are the real source of the product.
Shuguang is in China and is the second largest valve supplier. They make a good range of valves.
New Sensor Inc in New York, USA is the largest guitar amp valve supplier. The company is better known as Electro Harmonix (EHX) . The manufacturing site is in Saratov, in Russia. The factory was purchased by the Electro Harmonix Group when the old Soviet Union became the Russian Federation. In Soviet times the factory was named Reflektor and made valves for the Russian consumer industry and the miltary. Today the production is mostly valves for consumer applications.
The Sovtek brand is effectively all the original Reflektor designs. EHX has bought valve designs and the licence to manufacture popular valves from Mullard ( Philips), Tung Sol ( USA), Genalex (Marconi Osram), and also brands valves as Electro Harmonix. You don’t see Mullard new valves officially sold in the UK, because the European licence only allows sales in Belgium. They are sold in the Far East and the Americas. Mullard valves for sales in the UK usually have been unofficially imported from another continent.
JJ Electronic, are based in Cadca in the Slovak Republic a smaller manufacturer making audio valves. JJ originally was the Tesla valve factory in the communist era. When communism vanished, the factory became a private enterprise and changed its name to JJ Electronic. Sometimes you see folks advertising JJ Tesla valves for sale. No such brand exists today. It is either NOS from the Tesla days or new stock from JJ Electronic. Their valves are sold under the JJ brand however some companies buy them and re-brand JJ valves perhaps buying un-boxed ones and re-boxing them
Resellers
There are a number of companies that buy from the above companies and do a combination of re-branding, re-testing, re-boxing the product. Sometimes part numbers are changed. I have made a small table of these resellers below
| | |||
| Brand Name | Manufacturer | ||
| Groove Tubes | EHX | ||
| Ruby Tubes | Shuguang, EHX | ||
| Harma | Unknown | ||
| TAD | Mixture of JJ and EHX | ||
| PS Vane | Shuguang | ||
| Bugera | Shuguang | ||
| Mesa Boogie | EHX |
Some of the big amp companies buy in such high volume that they have the factory stamp the amp company name on the valve. Looks impressive in their amp and reinforces their brand name .
Bugera and Marshall are a good examples of re-branding. Of course the amp companies do not make the valves but buy them from typically the China or Russian maker.
A reseller is likely to sell at a higher price to pay for his testing time, the re-branding of the valves and removing the original branding and marking with their own part numbers.
We are official dealers for the Electro Harmonix group and JJ Electronics so we deal direct with the source. We test every valve we sell to ensure you get the best quality possible. Do not forget this is old technology and there is an element of hand assembly in making valves. Buy with us with confidence !
Here are some manufacturer website links. Not all of them have dedicated websites
Tung Sol
JJ Electronic
Shuguang does not have a dedicated website
Sovtek does not have a dedicated website
Electro Harmonix
Genalex Gold Lion does not have a dedicated site.
have a look through our shop and see what a wide range we have. Just ask us if you need advice
Note: I have tried to make this information as accurate as I can – based on the information I have researched. If you have more information, or, this blog needs updating just let us know
