← Reference

12AX7

also ECC83 · 7025 · 12AX7A

High-mu (µ=100) dual triode — the universal gain stage, cathode follower, and phase inverter of guitar amplification. It appears in nearly every circuit in this archive.

Basing (pinout)

Bottom view — the socket as you see it from the wiring side. Hover, tap, or focus a pin to name it. Read from the datasheet basing diagram (how to read these →).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Hover, tap, or focus a pin to name it.

  • High voltage (B+)
  • Control grid
  • Cathode
  • Heater / filament

Viewed from below (socket / wiring side) · noval 9-pin (B9A) · basing 9A

⚡ Oxblood pins sit at B+ — hundreds of volts in service, lethal, and still charged after power-off.

Datasheets

Primary manufacturer data, via public tube-data archives. The model below is fitted to the tabulated "average characteristics" in these sheets; the datasheet files themselves are linked, never rehosted.

PublisherTypeSource
RCA 12AX7A frank.pocnet.net ↗
General Electric 12AX7 frank.pocnet.net ↗
Tung-Sol 12AX7 frank.pocnet.net ↗
Sylvania 12AX7 frank.pocnet.net ↗
Philips ECC83 frank.pocnet.net ↗

Circuit Codex model

A CC0 ngspice model in the Koren form, fitted here to the published anchor — no parameters copied from other model collections. Methodology →

Anchor
Va=250 V, Vg=-2 V → Ia=1.2 mA, gm=1600 µmho, µ=100
Source
RCA Receiving Tube Manual RC-19, 1959, average characteristics
Note
Two-point fit (adopted 2026-07-18 from the calibration study below): the plate-current curve is held at both tabulated operating points — 250 V/−2 V and 100 V/−1 V — which all four manufacturers print identically. The low-plate-voltage behaviour of this tube was the subject of the 12AX7 calibration study.
File
models/12ax7.inc ↗

Related study

Calibrating the 12AX7: which datasheet do you believe?
A metrology study behind the Circuit Codex tube models.