I just discovered this company last year.
They seem to only make high end tubes such as 300B, but it appears the company actually is from the remains of Telefunken which brings into question if they still possess the original Telefunken tooling from their factory.
Would be great if they have all the company secrets from Telefunken, Im assuming someone out there still holds all this data?
Would be interested to know more, but at least there are other companies outside China and Russia who can make tubes.
If they are able to produce 12AX7 and other tubes like 6L6, EL34, etc, that would be awesome.
If they own the telefunken tooling, it may be possible to get reproduction Telefunken tubes, but the biggest secret with Telefunken tubes was the alloy formula for the cathode materials, this was a trade secret of Telefunken and not patented.
They seem to only make high end tubes such as 300B, but it appears the company actually is from the remains of Telefunken which brings into question if they still possess the original Telefunken tooling from their factory.
Would be great if they have all the company secrets from Telefunken, Im assuming someone out there still holds all this data?
Would be interested to know more, but at least there are other companies outside China and Russia who can make tubes.
If they are able to produce 12AX7 and other tubes like 6L6, EL34, etc, that would be awesome.
If they own the telefunken tooling, it may be possible to get reproduction Telefunken tubes, but the biggest secret with Telefunken tubes was the alloy formula for the cathode materials, this was a trade secret of Telefunken and not patented.
NO TFK tooling afaik, when they started tubes were pretty much made by hand. That could be the reason they only make 'big bottles' like 211 and 845. And they cost $$$$$$.
Very different from a 12AX7, I wouldn't hold my breath for them to start making those.
Very different from a 12AX7, I wouldn't hold my breath for them to start making those.
Even though they had their roots in Telefunken. The company was not making audio or related tubes for a very long time. In Europe old machines and tooling is not often stored. So as Miniwatt said: Don't hold your breath.
OK, so the whole Telefunken thing is just marketing essentially?
What actually was the fate of Telefunken anyway? I think they last made tubes at the end of the 60s?
I think some of the telefunken machinery went to the Ei factory along with the machines made by Philips, all that equipment is now in the UK in the process of being recommissioned.
What actually was the fate of Telefunken anyway? I think they last made tubes at the end of the 60s?
I think some of the telefunken machinery went to the Ei factory along with the machines made by Philips, all that equipment is now in the UK in the process of being recommissioned.
Does Elrog have a presence on here? Would be great to hear from them to learn more, I believe other manufactures such as Western electric are going to make such smaller tubes again such as 12AX7, etc for guitar amps, and I know they have publicly stated that they have the tooling to do so.
There is a huge market for guitar amp tubes and with the situation in Russia right now, its even more of a better time to get these tubes made elsewhere.
There is a huge market for guitar amp tubes and with the situation in Russia right now, its even more of a better time to get these tubes made elsewhere.
"The roots of the company reach all the way back to the famous Telefunken tube works in Ulm." Whatever that means 😉
Yes. Vinylsavor is Thomas Mayer the owner of Elrog. https://www.elrog.com/ and http://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/
It means that the founder of Elrog, Dr. Schaffernicht, used to work at Telefunken and learned his trade there. Later he founded his own company producing mainly cctv tubes/screens for fighter jets and the likes. Later he was approached by Thomas Mayer to make 211 and 845 tubes.
All Telefunken ,Philips and other machinery from EI-Nis electron tubes factory went to local scrap yard long time ago , so no one machine went to UK for sure .
There is an attempt to get the Brimar brand up and running again, and they have a very good deal on KT66s ...
Brimar matched pair KT66
Less than £100 for the pair is quite respectable I think, but I think it is just badge engineering, and there were some comments about a rectifier on the UK Vintage Radio site.
I think it is unlikely that Elrog would try and compete with noval base tubes unless they could get production costs right down so they can become a volume manufacturer. Better to be specialist suppliers.
Brimar matched pair KT66
Less than £100 for the pair is quite respectable I think, but I think it is just badge engineering, and there were some comments about a rectifier on the UK Vintage Radio site.
I think it is unlikely that Elrog would try and compete with noval base tubes unless they could get production costs right down so they can become a volume manufacturer. Better to be specialist suppliers.
Famous in the tube scene, have seen many postings by him, considered a luminary. He did buy someone’s tube factory, not TFK.
dave
Ok, that's cool. I had no idea it was him.
Yeah I agree, 300B are a much more simple tube, it's just a triode!
I don't think I would ever waste my time with them at the stupid prices they sell for.
That's incorrect, it was an urban legend, perhaps some items were scrapped, but all the machines or at least a good majority made their way back to the UK.
Briar UK who run the great British valve project have spent hours refurbishing the machines.
When I saw the photos of the machines that arrived I realized they looked identical to the ones that I had seen taken from I side the Ei plant!
I contacted them to confirm all of this and they confirmed that I was correct.
There was no one else in Eastern Europe who would have had all this gear, so it makes sense that the Ei plant was where they sourced it from.
Currently all the tubes they sell are either old stock brimar tubes or modern Russian tubes with their brand stamped on it.
They acquired the brimar trademark and are using it, but it can't be worse than what Mike Matthew's is doing with his badge engineering.
All he is doing is slapping on Telefunken or mullard logos on the same darn tubes from Russia, there is no difference between any of them.
Hopefully very soon we will see british made brimar tubes on the tooling that they sourced from the Ei plant.
It's all made by philips so is the real deal.
We will soon have the closest thing to the mullard / philips tubes we used to get from the Blackburn factory.
nzoomed,
If you are needing really good 12AX7 tubes, there are good ones being produced now.
For example, take a look at eurotubes.com
They retest all the JJ tubes that they get shipped directly from JJ in Slovakia.
The re-tests not only include the usual things including transconductance, etc.;
They also include noise, grid current, microphonics, balance, and more.
Eurotubes ships to many countries around the world; I have the blessing of being able to just drive there and get my tubes.
The JJ 12AX7 ECC83 include short plate, long plate, regular and gold pins, and frame grids.
Oh, did I forget to mention that the filaments are spirally wound, for better noise performance.
If you are needing really good 12AX7 tubes, there are good ones being produced now.
For example, take a look at eurotubes.com
They retest all the JJ tubes that they get shipped directly from JJ in Slovakia.
The re-tests not only include the usual things including transconductance, etc.;
They also include noise, grid current, microphonics, balance, and more.
Eurotubes ships to many countries around the world; I have the blessing of being able to just drive there and get my tubes.
The JJ 12AX7 ECC83 include short plate, long plate, regular and gold pins, and frame grids.
Oh, did I forget to mention that the filaments are spirally wound, for better noise performance.
Thats handy to know, I was always led to believe that JJ tubes were poor quality but I think their quality control has improved in more recent years.
I have quite a stash of NOS tubes of various brands along with many used ones that test OK, but its nice to know what new offerings are available.
I quite often find I can get away with using older used tubes in a guitar amp and they still work fine, in many cases even a pair of old used british tubes outlasts a new set of modern tubes.
I have quite a stash of NOS tubes of various brands along with many used ones that test OK, but its nice to know what new offerings are available.
I quite often find I can get away with using older used tubes in a guitar amp and they still work fine, in many cases even a pair of old used british tubes outlasts a new set of modern tubes.
Hi! As some already mentioned. The founder (Dr. Schaffernicht) of the now defunct company Elrog Elektronenröhren Gesellschaft GmbH was working at the Telefunken works in Ulm and at some point managed the production of some tube types there. in 1986 he founded Elrog in Lüneburg. He made CRT for Head up displays and scopes and also other specialised tubes. As demand for those went down he got approached and asked to make 211 and 845 (not by me). I met him in 2013 and started to use and distribute his tubes. I also convinced him to make a 300B with thoriated tungsten filaments as that would set it apart from all other 300Bs. It was released in 2014.
When he founded Elrog he did not have any Telefunken tooling or machinery. he managed to buy some Philips/Valvo machines which we still use today.
In 2016 the company was forced into insolvency and I bought all assets and the brand name and continued under a new company called Deutsche Elektronenröhren Manufaktur GmbH. I kept the name Elrog as brand name. I overhauled all the production line which was in a poor state. Also got all the tubes redesigned to improve quality and durability which was a bit shaky under the old company. We also developed new tube types.
Yes direct heated triodes are easier to produce than indirectly tubes like 12AX7 or EL34. But still producing tubes in series is extremely challenging to do nowadays. That is why you rarely see new companies starting up tube production. Probably never again unless someone has some old machines which he can use to start his business. But I doubt that and even if the machines will probably in a poor state and rotten beyond usability.
For those interested in the old Elrog company here is my visit report when i met Dr. Schaffernicht the first time:
https://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2013/05/211-and-845-triodes-made-in-germany.html
And here some posts from after I founded the new company. In some of them details of tube production are shown and also some videos:
https://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2016/09/news-from-elrog-tube-factory.html
https://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2016/11/news-from-elrog-tube-factory-2.html
https://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2017/02/news-from-elrog-tube-factory-4.html
https://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2018/02/news-from-elrog-tube-factory-9.html
https://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2018/05/news-from-elrog-tube-factory-11.html
https://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2020/08/deutsche-elektronenrohren-manufaktur.html
Best regards
Thomas
When he founded Elrog he did not have any Telefunken tooling or machinery. he managed to buy some Philips/Valvo machines which we still use today.
In 2016 the company was forced into insolvency and I bought all assets and the brand name and continued under a new company called Deutsche Elektronenröhren Manufaktur GmbH. I kept the name Elrog as brand name. I overhauled all the production line which was in a poor state. Also got all the tubes redesigned to improve quality and durability which was a bit shaky under the old company. We also developed new tube types.
Yes direct heated triodes are easier to produce than indirectly tubes like 12AX7 or EL34. But still producing tubes in series is extremely challenging to do nowadays. That is why you rarely see new companies starting up tube production. Probably never again unless someone has some old machines which he can use to start his business. But I doubt that and even if the machines will probably in a poor state and rotten beyond usability.
For those interested in the old Elrog company here is my visit report when i met Dr. Schaffernicht the first time:
https://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2013/05/211-and-845-triodes-made-in-germany.html
And here some posts from after I founded the new company. In some of them details of tube production are shown and also some videos:
https://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2016/09/news-from-elrog-tube-factory.html
https://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2016/11/news-from-elrog-tube-factory-2.html
https://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2017/02/news-from-elrog-tube-factory-4.html
https://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2018/02/news-from-elrog-tube-factory-9.html
https://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2018/05/news-from-elrog-tube-factory-11.html
https://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2020/08/deutsche-elektronenrohren-manufaktur.html
Best regards
Thomas
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Thanks for your reply Thomas, that was an interesting read!
Interesting to see you use a thorium coating in your tubes. Im assuming this assists with electron emission from the cathode.
Looks like quite alot of work goes into making one of these tubes. I dont have any 300B amplifier, but if I ever get one, I know what tubes to go for 🙂
Interesting to see you use a thorium coating in your tubes. Im assuming this assists with electron emission from the cathode.
Looks like quite alot of work goes into making one of these tubes. I dont have any 300B amplifier, but if I ever get one, I know what tubes to go for 🙂