Sovtek
Encyclopedia
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
owned by Mike Matthews's New Sensor Corporation and manufactured in Saratov
Saratov
-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. They are often used in guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
amplification
Guitar amplifier
A guitar amplifier is an electronic amplifier designed to make the signal of an electric or acoustic guitar louder so that it will produce sound through a loudspeaker...
and include the popular variants of the 12AX7
12AX7
12AX7 is a miniature dual triode vacuum tube with high voltage gain. It was developed around 1946 by RCA engineers in Harrison, New Jersey, under developmental number A-4522. It was released for public sale under the 12AX7 identifier on September 15, 1947. The 12AX7 was originally intended as...
, EL84
EL84
The EL84 is a vacuum tube of the power pentode type. It has a 9 pin Noval base and is found mainly in the final output stages of amplification circuits, most commonly now in guitar amplifiers, but originally in radios and many other devices of the pre-transistor era.It was developed to eliminate...
, EL34
EL34
The EL34 is a thermionic valve or vacuum tube of the power pentode type. It has an international octal base and is found mainly in the final output stages of audio amplification circuits and was designed to be suitable as a series regulator by virtue of its high permissible voltage between heater...
, and 6L6
6L6
6L6 is the designator for a vacuum tube introduced by Radio Corporation of America in July 1936. At the time Philips had already developed and patented power pentode designs, which were fast replacing power triodes due to their greater efficiency...
models. Many amplifiers in modern production come with Sovtek valves, due to their low noise performance and low prices.
In the 1990s, Sovtek also manufactured tube amplifiers at factories in St. Petersburg, Saratov
Saratov
-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...
, and Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the third-largest city in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,737 . It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...
. Several models were offered for guitar and bass. These amps were known for their high quality sound, PCB construction (some of them were point to point, for example mig-60), good reliability and low cost. Today, a decade after production ceased, these amps are considered collectible by some. Sovtek brand speaker cabinets fitted with US made Eminence speakers were also offered. At the same time, Sovtek manufactured variants of several effects pedals already manufactured in New York City, USA by Electro-Harmonix
Electro-Harmonix
Electro-Harmonix is a New York-based company that makes high-end electronic audio processors. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. They are most famous for a series of popular guitar effects pedals introduced in the 1970s and 1990s....
, another company owned by Mike Matthews. Sovtek released versions of the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff
Big Muff
The Big Muff is a fuzzbox produced in New York City by the Electro-Harmonix company, along with their Russian sister company Sovtek, primarily for use with the electric guitar...
and Small Stone pedals. Those pedals, along with the Bass Balls pedal, were later manufactured in both NYC and Russia, but only under the Electro-Harmonix name.. Electro-Harmonix does not currently manufacture pedals in Russia.
At this time Sovtek is used only as a nameplate for vacuum tubes manufactured by the New Sensor Corporation.
List of Sovtek Amps
- Mig 30
- Mig 50
- Mig 50H tube midget
- Mig 50B "Bass Blues Midget"
- Mig 60 "Siberia"
- Mig 100
- Mig 100H
- Mig 100B "Bassov Blues Boy"
- Mig 100U
External links
- Sovtek catalog
- Electro Harmonix
- Sovtek Mig-60 Photographs of the inside of a Sovtek Mig-60 Amp