• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

Tesla E83CC Frame Grid Tube Purchase - Legitimate Production or Fakes?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hi, I made a few purchases after looking at some threads here, and it seemed to be extremely informative.

Now, using the fake and real comparison I purchased 5 Tesla E83CC tubes from a company called "Tube Maze", for $440, white front "Tesla" silk screening, with yellow crossed swords on the opposite side, gold pins, and the TFK ECC803s double getter supports, a perfect match the my TFK frame grid tube I have in stock. The codes sat KC36 in yellow, and IR382 in white.

I also just won an auction for 6 Tesla ECC803s tubes from the early 1960s, a seller with 10 Feedback, and the auction ended at $360. Those have all yellow silk screening, and lack the frame grid design, but the seller listed them as frame grid tubes and actually sent me a message verifying they were. I knew they weren't but I heard these were very good tubes, and worth about $80 a piece in their original boxes and never used. The auction had more then a few different bidders, so that made me a little more lax about bidding too.

Now I'm just wondering if these are definitely legit tubes and not JJs. I don't trust myself to make the call, and I only have 45 days to find out. I've posted two links here to my eBay auctions, and a third link to the seller's other auctions. That is what put up a red flag to me, this guy has even more of these unboxed, perfect Tesla E83CC tubes, and I know they aren't THAT easy to come by. Also how did they stay in such perfect condition without boxes for what one can assume is at least some portion of it's life. Any help would be very appreciated, thanks!

Tesla E83CC -

The Ultimate Tesla E83CC ECC803S 12AX7 Tube Ships from US | eBay

Tesla ECC803s -

Six ECC803S E83CC 12AX7 Tesla ECC803S Telefunken | eBay

New Tesla Auction -

E83CC from tubemazestore | eBay
 
Last edited:
$(KGrHqIOKosFHlzL-rKUBR7H7ZIVpQ~~60_57.JPG


$(KGrHqEOKpwFHcVK2kc5BR7H7Zq(,!~~60_57.JPG


$(KGrHqVHJE4FI,gjkSbkBSJ0EGr!7g~~60_57.JPG
 
First, all the Ebay links in your post are inactive or leads to a deleted/removed ad.
About 90% of the N.O.S Tesla E83CC's (and TELEFUNKEN ECC803S) offered on this auction site are "Legitimate Fakes" and actually rebranded cheap JJ tubes. Frame grid type construction is the most important feature to look at and you can already discard any tubes with a different internal structure. But this is not enough as some rebranders used other frame grid type tubes to make fake ECC803S / E83CC tubes. To add to the confusion, there were many variations in the original productions too and spotting a genuine ECC803S/ E83CC is not allways easy and sometimes requires careful visual inspection. Gold plated pins is the least reliable information because it's the easiest thing to duplicate. Beware of brand new looking tubes with shiny pins available in large quantities... There are VERY FEW genuine N.O.S ECC803S / E88CC's still left in the world. Be very careful and draw your own conclusions...
I suggest you to check the following website which gives all the details and informations you need to know:

ECC803S TESLA FAKE TUBES

FAKE TUBES LIKE ECC803S and others

(I have no affiliations with this website or his owner)
 
The last picture is not completely in focus, but it seems that some are labeled Tesla E83CC (frame grid type) and some Tesla ECC803S (which should be a standard grid type). Do you have sharp pictures of those?

No unfortunatly I dont have sharper pics. I knew the third picture tubes werent frame grid but my concern was authentication that none of them are JJ relabeled imposters. So your saying the Tesla E83CC s I have are legit? The seller has 2000+ feedback....so I would assume if he sold fake tubes he would have at least a few bad reviews...
 
I knew the third picture tubes werent frame grid.

All valves in your pictures are frame grid construction: very short anodes with a 'dent' where the anode gets close to the (frame)grid.
The Tesla ECC803S has a long anode. If any of the valves from picture 3 is indeed labeled Tesla ECC803S, there is something wrong.
I have a Tesla E83CC somewhere. If I can find it I will take some pictures. I got it somewhere in the 90s and it worked well in my guitar amps 😎
 
Tesla E83CC

Found it 🙂
I took some quick pictures with my phone, so sorry about the focus or lack thereof.
The most notable is the flattened top. JJ production has a rounder shape.
 

Attachments

  • WP_000783.jpg
    WP_000783.jpg
    122.2 KB · Views: 463
  • WP_000784.jpg
    WP_000784.jpg
    120.6 KB · Views: 438
  • WP_000785.jpg
    WP_000785.jpg
    94.9 KB · Views: 270
Status
Not open for further replies.